11 Rules for Myself in My Spiritual Practice | Messages for the Empath Soul Podcast
There is always an ebb and flow on your spiritual journey, moments where you are thriving and surrounded by blessings, then moments where you feel yourself breaking down and confused as to why you're surrounded by darkness again. This is why being devoted to a spiritual practice that works with you is integral.
Over 8 years of walking the path of personal growth, spiritual healing, and soul expansion I have learned many lessons and unearthed a deep well of wisdom; all of this allows me to stay grounded and aligned on my soul path. Self discovery is never ending when you are devoted to your spiritual journey, especially when you embrace your multidimensional self.
Taking the time to reflect on your spiritual practice and do an inventory count of what's working and what's not working can help guide you into your next level of transformation and evolution. This is exactly what I'm doing as I lead you through 11 rules I have for myself in my spiritual practice.
These rules include emotional wellness practices, tuning into my intuition, strategies to stay grounded and aligned, and so much more.
Press play to feel inspired on your soul connection journey and to uncover some of the best practices I've cultivated for my spiritual expansion.
The 23rd episode is 11 Rules for Myself in My Spiritual practice.
Listen here, or scroll down to read more on what this episode is all about!
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Back to the blog - 11 Rules for Myself in My Spiritual Practice
Here I will share a transcript of the podcast episode. I highly encourage you to give it a listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
INTRO
Hello hello hello, welcome back to Messages for the Empath Soul!
I am really excited to be here, this is the first episode I am recording in 2026, so Happy New Year. If you are following along you’ve probably already listened to an episode from me this new year, called Fear is Loud, Trust is a Choice. That podcast was recorded a few months ago to say the least. I’ve been through some things, I’ve gone through new uplevels and downloads and channelings and expansions, honestly I feel like a whole new woman. Although if you talked to me yesterday from recording this, then I would not have agreed with that. Yesterday I was feeling heaviness from the first Full Moon of the new year. It’s just a reminder for me that we always go through waves of energy and emotions, even the best of us on this journey. Not the best of us, because it’s not like I’m better than you, we are all equal… divine oneness, hello.
More of what I was trying to say is, those of us that have been practicing our spirituality or personal growth for a long time, we still have the ebb and flow. Whether you’ve been on your journey for a couple of weeks or you’ve been on it for a few years, I’m sure you can agree with me that we all go through ebbs and flows and there is nothing that stops any one of us from still feeling the effects of the full moon.
The difference for today versus who I was seven years ago when it came to the full moon, is that I have a deep spiritual practice that I am tuned into; that I feel aligned with; that I have practiced so many times. I know how to help myself, I know how to guide myself through these moments. Yesterday during the Full Moon I messaged my mom, who I have a deep soulful connection with. My soul and her soul definitely chose to be united in this lifetime, to be guides for each other, to be mentors for each other, to be a support system for each other. I am grateful to have reached out to her, she was going through some of her own triggering moments from the Full Moon.
Just because this is the beginning of a new calendar year does not mean that all of a sudden the energy shifts. To be honest we are still in the energy of the snake, that shift from the year of the snake into the year of the horse doesn’t happen until February and I believe it’s closer to the end of February. It’s a reminder that we are still in snake season, we are still shedding.
For myself, yesterday with the heaviness that I was feeling and the energy that the full moon was bringing up was a reminder that I am still in this shedding season.
Now, enough of that, it’s not exactly what we are here for today. Today we are here for, to be honest, my spiritual practice. I want to share with you some of the rules or guidelines that I have cultivated in my spiritual practice. Everyone’s spiritual practice looks a little different and I think there is a huge benefit of getting a glimpse into someone else’s spiritual practice, especially if you feel like you are missing the mark on something or you feel stuck on your personal journey.
Ever since I consciously made the decision to walk a spiritual path I’ve moved through many different phases and cycles of spiritual growth. Through each phase I’ve learned new practices to keep myself grounded and aligned, but I’ve also learned new facets of myself and the multidimensional human that I am.
What better way to reflect on your growth than unpack the different rules or guidelines you’ve become devoted to in your spiritual practice. I hope by sharing my own, maybe they are similar to some of yours, maybe they inspire you to look at some of yours. Maybe some of my rules for my spiritual practice are things you want to pick up and carry in your life.
So, let’s not diddily daddle anymore.
Let’s jump right in.
This is your soul journey and I am here channeling messages from the Universe to help guide and support you.
This is Messages for the Empath Soul.
If you’re new here, I’m Sydney a ⅖ generator, with a deep intuitive connection. My mission is to empower as many spiritual empaths in this community, creating a ripple effect of compassion and peace that is felt around the world.
Today we are here together because I want to share with you 11 rules that I have for myself in my spiritual practice. You can say rules, you can say guidelines, you can say perspectives, whatever you want to call it. These are 11 things that I felt the need to write them out and share them with you today.
The reason why I wanted to share them with you is because…
I went for a walk with a friend recently and we were talking about personal growth, spiritual connection and more specifically, feeling purpose in life. My friend had mentioned that she was at a stage in her life where she didn’t really know what she desired for her future. She was going to be sitting down with another friend later that day and she was going to be creating a vision board for herself and she was really conflicted on what she would want to put on it. She’s been living in Canada for almost 8 months now and she can’t decide if she wants to continue living here or move back to the UK. She’s felt stuck in that place of indecision and she doesn’t know if it’s fear or intuition that is guiding her to possibly want to move back to the UK.
On top of that, she’s also been experiencing a lot of anxiety since she’s moved to Canada, which she had never experienced previously, or at least not to the level that she is experiencing it now. We dove into how being separated from her family at such a large distance and for such a long period of time and how that can really affect her. She also shared with me how at the 1 year mark of living somewhere usually gives her the itch to move to the next spot or to find the next adventure. This is when I reminded her that if she were to move, wherever she goes, she will just end up bringing her baggage with her. Slowing down to look at her fears, look at her anxiety and work through it, or work through the conflict that she feels in her family dynamics. Being here of course she is missing them, so that is having an affect on it, but she also knows that her relationship with them stirs up a lot of anxiety and frustration.
I started to share my own experience in moving as a way to find excitement in life when things felt stagnant and boring; and how I had a similar pattern to what she was explaining. Every 6 months or so after I had moved to a new place, I would say “okay let’s move to the next place” because I would get bored and I didn’t like the idea of settling. I wanted the excitement, and I believed at the time that I had to move to the next spot in order to experience the excitement I desired. There was a lot that I had to work through there, but in sharing that experience with my friend, she related a lot to it, and she asked me if I felt fulfilled and free in my life now. Especially because I had been living here for almost a year and half now with no desire to move. This is the first time that I’ve felt so grounded in my physical environment.
I didn’t even need a moment to think, when she asked me if I felt fulfilled and free in my life now, because I knew the answer was 1000 times yes. I told her I felt fulfilled and free on a regular basis in my life because of my spiritual practice. It has helped me to know who I am, who I came here to be, and how to live a life that fulfills me daily.
This conversation got me thinking about my spiritual practice, what works for me, and the guidelines or “rules” I’ve cultivated that allow me to feel aligned, purposeful, and divine in my daily life.
That is why I am bringing this to you, a simple conversation that I had with a dear friend sparked these thoughts within me. I thought “hey, I’m going to bring this list to all of my friends over on the podcast” just as a way to inspire you or motivate you to look at your spiritual practice. Whether you’ve had it for many years or you are just creating a spiritual practice for yourself, maybe some of the rules I have for myself are things you want to adopt into your life or mold into something that makes sense for you.
So let’s jump right in.
This is my list…
1 - Consistency isn’t rigid. It’s not every day at the same time, but it is showing up when I need it and when I don’t think I need it
My spiritual practice, I didn’t want to have this complex, rigid, scheduled idea around it. I wanted it to be free flowing depending on where my energy was at or what my schedule looked like that day. If I had plans to hang out with a friend or go for a morning bike ride or mid afternoon ski. I didn’t want to have to wake up, do my gratitude list, do my journaling, then my meditation for 15 minutes. I wanted there to be an idea of flow with my spiritual practice because I find that when I have more flow in how I’m showing up in something that makes me feel good, it allows me to flow throughout my life.
This is a great practice for me because there is so much that we don’t have control over, so if I’m feeling safe and grounded in a very controlled practice then I’m not building my own ability to go with the flow.
I love going with the flow. I have a really good friend who texted me the other day and said “I know you don’t like to plan”. It’s not that I don’t like to plan, it’s that I prefer to not to. Sometimes planning is necessary.
For my spiritual practice it’s been really important for me to see that consistency isn’t rigid, it’s not every day at the same time. I’ve tied this part of my spiritual practice into my physical practice of working out as well. I’ve never been a huge fan of working out, but for the last 8 months I’ve found really great consistency with using a pilates membership called The Peach Club. It’s amazing if you are looking for something, it’s also built and run by another Canadian woman. I love supporting other Canadian women. That is a side note, we can talk more about that another time if you’re interested.
With my spiritual practice I needed to know that I can show up when I need it and when I don’t think I need it. The reason why I say when I don’t think I need it is because I went through a period in my life when I only showed up to my spiritual practice when I was struggling or when I was going through something really heavy or when I was feeling caught up in my emotions or challenging thoughts.
I wasn’t prioritizing my spiritual practice on the good days and in the good moments because I thought “oh well I’m good, I don’t need this”; but it makes it that much harder to feel connected with your soul and to feel connected to the idea of trusting on your path, when you aren’t practicing in the good times. It’s so much harder to lean into it in the difficult moments. If I’m practicing it in the good moments, then it’s so much easier to come back to trust in the difficult moments as well.
So that is something that is really important for me that I learned throughout my journey.
Consistency isn’t rigid. It’s not every day at the same time, but it is showing up when I need it and when I don’t think I need it.
2 - Awareness is better than avoidance (AAR)
This is huge! As I mentioned earlier I have grown a beautiful practice of connecting with my mom in a very soulful way, so she has learned a lot from me, as I have learned a lot from her as well. She calls this practice A-A-R, which stands for Awareness, Acceptance, Release. I love it, she talks to her friends about this and teaches all her friends this, which I love because I think it’s a very important practice, and she has seen the benefits of it.
Awareness is better than avoidance, I really notice this in my emotional state and in my thoughts. When I embarked on my spiritual journey after my mental and emotional breakdown, I didn’t realize how many negative thoughts I had. I always thought I was a very positive person, now all of a sudden my level of awareness is strengthening, I’m noticing my thoughts more and more. All of those thoughts that lie at a subconscious level are now coming up in a very conscious way and I’m thinking “damn, I have a lot of doubt, I have a lot of worry. I have a lot of fear, I have a lot of overwhelm. I have a lot of self-judgement.” That is on the thought side of things, but also on the emotional side of things as a sensitive soul and an empath I feel depths of so many emotions pretty regularly in my life. The feeling of frustration or overwhelm really would take its toll on me. The feeling of sadness and those kinds of emotions really got the better of me.
I had cultivated a practice, prior to my spiritual awakening, or avoiding those things. Toxic positivity. Oh I can’t think this way, I can’t feel this way, I have to get back to positivity. I didn’t realize how that practice of avoiding, ignoring or denying was actually just creating a pattern of storing all of that information and energy deeper in my cells… because I wasn’t creating a practice of releasing it.
Awareness is better than avoidance because awareness is not shameful, it’s not judgmental, it’s not even blaming. It’s simply “oh this is what I’m feeling” or “oh this is the thought I’m having”. This leads you into the second part of AAR which is acceptance. Accepting that I’m feeling frustrated right now. If I’m in the middle of a task and frustration comes up, previously I would’ve just pushed through and I would’ve kept going. Now I have that moment of “oh, I’m feeling really frustrated and it’s okay that I am feeling frustrated”. Then through that I can release that energy and move into the next energetic state.
It is a practice that I have developed over many years, so I can move through this practice pretty quickly because it’s second nature to me now. It all started from that recognition that awareness is better than avoidance. If I keep avoiding this then how is it impacting me at a subconscious level, or even an unconscious level. If I’m choosing to turn a blind eye that means I’m choosing to let this pattern continue to be a pattern that affects me and affects the way I move through life. Once you are aware you can’t really turn a blind eye, you have the moment of thinking “oh, shit that habit that I have isn’t healthy” and then you make the choice of “well, I’m either going to continue to have that habit” or “I’m actively going to try and shift that habit”. That is part of being on a growth journey and it’s part of having a spiritual practice.
There is no amount of shame or judgment for when I’m feeling something that is heavy or when I’m noticing thought patterns that are more negative. It is simply that recognition of “oh ya this is part of the human behavior, this is part of being human”. As a spirit in this human experience I have to learn how to nurture myself and support myself through these challenging moments.
So, awareness is better than avoidance.
3 - Don’t subscribe to someone else’s voice too much, you might lose yourself in it
This is a really important lesson for me to learn and now rule for me to carry in my life. I am very easily influenced, both emotionally as an empath, but also through thought patterns and perspectives. If you know anything about Human Design, both the top two centres, the head and the ajna center, both of them are open for me. This means that I am not as clearly defined in my opinions or thoughts, or how I understand knowledge or take in information. If I am around someone who has a defined head or ajna I can be very easily impacted and influenced by their thoughts and the information they process.
I found very early on in my journey that if I listen to podcasts all of the time I became very attached to how somebody else perceives a situation or the thoughts and ideas that somebody else has. In this I developed almost a codependency on listening to podcasts as a way to process my thoughts rather than sitting with myself and processing my thoughts in my own energy. I also became really attached to listening to podcasts as a way to not be in my thoughts. Going back up to number two, awareness is better than avoidance, I kind of used them as a way to avoid.
It was pretty early on in my spiritual journey that I started to notice this need for podcasts. I stepped back from that for a moment and I acknowledged that I was prioritizing everyone else’s opinion over my own opinion, which is going to come up in point number 10. For now, it was this idea that I would lose my soul, I would lose the voice of my soul and I would lose who I truly am.
This is a reminder for you to not subscribe to someone else’s voice too much because you might lose yourself in it. I of course want you to come back and listen to my podcast and I want you to jump into my membership space, or if you already are a member come back to the sessions and partake in them. Not because I want you to listen to me and I want you to take my thoughts and ideas as your own, most so because I try my best to cultivate support as a way for you to connect deeper with yourself. It’s why in every single podcast I have I share self reflection prompts because I want you to connect back to yourself. I want you to learn what the voice of your soul sounds like or feels like. I don’t want you to lose yourself in who I am.
This is something that is really important to me and has definitely been a rule in my spiritual practice; don’t subscribe to someone else’s voice too much, you might lose yourself in it.
4 - Fresh air & time in nature is often the answer
Now this one comes from my Oma, my mom’s mother. She always used to say that fresh air could cure anything and it could heal anything. My mom always told me that anytime she was sick as a child or teenager, her mom would also tell her to go outside and get some fresh air. My mom even said the same thing to me and my brothers growing up. This has become a spiritual practice for me, it’s something that I have done my entire life. Before my spiritual journey I didn’t really see it as a spiritual practice, but now I can see why it’s a spiritual practice.
Especially if we spend so much time in a building, the four walls around us and the roof over our head, that can be pretty constricting for energy. It can be a lot harder for energy to flow and everything becomes a little more stagnant. Whether you are ill physically, or you are experiencing some mental rigidity, or you are experiencing a loss of self, or you are experiencing emotional overwhelm - whatever it is, fresh air and time in nature is often the answer.
When you get back outside you can connect with Mother Earth in a much deeper and clearer way. This can transmute your energy, it can shift the way you feel instantly. Especially if you are able to go for a walk in nature it can help you feel more connected to your soul. There is so much in that, whether you are connecting with the trees, the seasons, or the sky or the moon, or you see wildlife and you are connecting with animals. That is often the answer, and when I say answer I mean it’s the guidance, the support, it is the direct line back to your soul.
Fresh air & time in nature is often the answer.
5 - When feeling stuck on a problem, shift your energy and the clarity will come
This is kind of closely related to number 4, fresh air and time in nature is often the answer. It goes a little deeper.
I have noticed, I have learned in this lifetime that the energetic frequency of a problem is very stiff, it’s very heavy. That energy is very slow moving, it’s restrictive, it’s rigid, it feels dense. The energetic frequency of clarity is similar to that of relief in your body. It feels free, it feels light, it feels open, it feels fast, like energy moves quickly because there is so much space in that frequency.
Whenever you feel stuck on a problem, if you stay focused on that problem it makes it extremely challenging for clarity, or solutions or answers, to come and find you; because energetically your body, you mind, your emotions, your spirit is staying in that dense, heavy energy from the problem you are focused on. The moment you are able to shift your energy, whether you step away from the problem and focus on something else, you go take a shower, you go meditate - not on the problem, but meditate to clear your mind. You call a friend to chat with them, again not about the problem, maybe you mention the problem briefly, then you move onto something else. That shift in energy allows your energetic frequency to shift, the moment your energetic frequency shifts it becomes more open and magnetizing for the clarity to find you.
This is something that I have proved to be true time and time and time again in my life. Anytime that I notice a problem occurring or that I feel stuck in a problem, I go focus on something else. I actively practice shifting the energy that I feel in my body, in my mind and in my emotions and then all of a sudden the clarity finds me. If you go in search of the clarity you are actually still holding onto the energy of the problem and so you are resisting that clarity.
I remember talking to one of my mentoring clients recently and we were talking about this idea she said “oh my gosh that is so true, I just never had words to explain it. But anytime I would remove myself from the problem and I would focus on something else, all of a sudden the answer to that original problem pops into my head”. I said that is shifting your energy to allow the clarity to come.
So number five, when feeling stuck on a problem, shift your energy and the clarity will come.
6 - Joy and fun are healing energies
This one is very important and I actually pinpointed this one at the very beginning stages of my spiritual awakening journey after my mental breakdown.
I can see now how they are healing energies, I maybe didn’t notice back then how they were healing energies. I just knew that I needed to seek more joy and fun. After my mental breakdown I left a toxic environment. When I left that toxic environment I started to realize how I had formed my entire life around that environment. I didn’t know what brought me joy, I couldn’t remember. There were a couple things that I thought I remembered that brought me joy, but I was walking this new path, this journey of self discovery, where I had decided that just because something had brought me joy in the past I didn’t want to necessarily say that it brought me joy now. I am starting fresh.
I went on this self discovery of creating a joy list and deciding that I wanted to add as many things possible onto this list that could bring me joy. Because I had spent 5 years forming my life around a job that had become a toxic environment and I didn’t have a life outside of that job. I vowed to myself that I would never do that again. I would never remove everything from my life to just focus on one thing; because when you don’t have that one thing any more, what do you have to bring you joy? That is where I found myself.
For the last 8 years I have actively been adding more and more things to my joy list and I have reawakened this childlike version of myself that I haven’t experienced since I was 8 years old. It’s the version of me that has so much fun in her goofiness and her silliness. On a daily basis, as a 35 year old woman, I feel like I am 6 year old child, just being so silly. Putting on a show hoping the people around me laugh because I love making people life, but ultimately if they laugh or don’t laugh I don’t really care because I am having fun. I’m enjoying the goofy side of me.
This is a rule in my spiritual practice that I will take to the grave with me. I will hold onto it and I will tell everyone about it and I will continue to practice this because I feel so healed in who I am because I’ve allowed myself to experience more joy and more fun in my life.
Joy and fun are healing energies.
7 - Ask my divine team for protection
This one is really important, especially as an empath because my energy is so easily influenced and impacted by the people around me. I mentioned earlier about not subscribing to someone else’s voice too much because you might lose yourself in it. That is one of the ways that my energy can be impacted by somebody else, but there are so many other ways.
It has been really important for me to cultivate a practice of creating a protective shield around my energetic aura. Now this protective shield doesn’t stop me from experiencing a deep connection with someone else, what it stops is, it slows down the current of heavy frequencies from entering my energetic aura.
To ask my divine team for protection there are a couple key spirit beings that I call on. I call on Archangel Michael, I call on my spirit guide named Alexandra, she is my protective spirit guide; then I also call on Wolf medicine, the wolf is such a protective energy, they are guardians. I call these 3 spirit beings into my space and I put up a protective shield. I visualize a bubble around my energy and I ask “Archangel Michael, Alexandra, Wolf medicine, please guard and protect my energy. Protect me from any low, heavy vibrational energy. Allow only light and uplifting energy into my protective shield”.
That is a practice that I bring into my daily life. Of course there are some days that I forget because consistency isn’t rigid. Oftentimes if I know I’m going into a new environment, if I know I’m going into a difficult environment, or if I know that my energy is already feeling a little slower, or I’m feeling a little lower, those are key moments that I will always put up a protective shield.
So, number 7, Ask my divine team for protection
8 - Open sacred space first
This one has become a really important practice for me, not just in my personal spiritual practice that I do for myself, whether I am meditating, journaling or going out and living life for the day or leading myself through a ceremony. This is also really important in my work as a spiritual mentor. This helps me to get grounded and aligned and to ensure that I am coming from a soul led energy. It also is really helpful to ensure that I am tapping into my feminine energy.
There are many different ways that I open sacred space, it’s actually a practice that I bring into my membership. Every single session that I lead I will open sacred space because I believe that setting that intention and taking a moment to slow down and tune into your soul’s frequency, is what starts off that ceremony in a beautiful moment.
If I am going to write, if I am going to channel a podcast episode, if I am going to hop on a call with a mentoring client, if I am going to record a session for my membership, if I am going to meditate - whatever it is that I’m going to do - there is usually one main practice that I do and then often I add in different things.
The one main practice is that I open up my different channels in order to allow a higher frequency to lead me. I will place my hand on my gut and I will say “I open my intuition to allow the messages to move through me”; then I place my hand on my heart and I say “I open my heart centre to allow compassion and kindness to flow from me”; I place my hand on my throat and I say “I open my throat centre so I can communicate clearly”; then I place my hand on my third eye and my crown and I say “I open my third eye and my crown so I can trust any messages that are meant to be leading me”.
This is a beautiful sacred practice that I have cultivated to help me to open that sacred space in that moment, to feel aligned, to feel grounded and to feel intentional about my next actions forward.
That is number 8 open sacred space first.
9 - Don’t underestimate the power of planting a seed
I think this one is really important for myself, but it’s also really important for me to remember about all the people I connect to in life, whether it’s a friend, a family member, a client, a stranger, whoever it is. This is a reminder for me that I am not here to change anybody, I don’t have the power of changing anybody else. I can't force somebody to awaken on their path. I cannot force somebody to see my perspective. I cannot force somebody else to learn a lesson.
But, I also don’t want to underestimate the power of planting a seed. Whenever you are sharing a thought or an idea with somebody else, that is a seed that you are planting in their mind and in their being. It may take three weeks for that seed to sprout, it may take three years for that seed to sprout, but you have planted it and you must trust that whatever is meant to be for that person will be. If that idea of that concept or that lesson is something that they are meant to learn or hone or practice in this lifetime, it will grow into the plant that they need it to grow into.
This is also important for myself on my journey when I am manifesting, or visioning for my future, or holding onto a desire that I have for myself, or even learning a new lesson in my own life. It is a reminder that the seed has been planted because I’ve had that thought, or that vision has been placed within me, or that desire has been placed within me. That is the seed and it will grow, as long as I continue to nurture it in a loving and healthy way.
If I continue to badger that seed, if I continue to dig up the soul by questioning or second-guessing, then that seed is not going to grow, it’s not going to be healthy. It is about not underestimating the power of planting a seed and it’s reminder that it is a seed, sometimes it needs time and space to grow. Sometimes it needs light and love, sometimes it needs energy to be poured into it, and sometimes it just needs trust and blessings.
Don’t underestimate the power of planting a seed.
10 - Have an opinion, even if you keep it to yourself at least you know where you stand
This one ties back to “don’t subscribe to someone else’s voice too much, you might lose yourself in it”, but it needed its own point for me because this is really important for me to practice.
As a libra, my sun sign is in libra, if you know a libra, we love to keep the peace. We love to make sure that everyone else is happy. We love to remind people that there is always another side of things, and if we see two people in an argument we are going to try and be the mediator. We are going to try and make sure that each person sees the other viewpoint. The balance, the power of scales and balancing things out, harmonizing things.
Being a libra I learnt from a pretty young age some unhealthy people pleasing tendencies. I don’t think this is just in regards to being a libra, I think this is also being an empath and a sensitive soul, there are many different effects that led me to becoming a people pleaser. Ultimately through that journey, I’m going to call it, in being a people pleaser, I forgot to have an opinion. I didn’t feel safe in having my own opinion because I was terrified of being judged and rejected by the people around me.
I grew up in a household where my oldest brother was always very opinionated and he was going to make sure that everyone knew his opinion. He has a very big, strong energy. He is very loving and very family oriented and as adults I have grown a beautiful connection with him that I am very grateful for. On top of that, in my spiritual journey I had to learn how I carried a lot of trauma and a lot of , what do I want to call it, I guess self-judgment, that’s not quite the word I’m looking for. But, I carried a lot of self-judgment on how other people perceived me because I didn’t want to do wrong by them.
I held my brother on a pedestal. I thought he was the most amazing person ever and I wanted to be just like him, but it’s not actually that I wanted to be just like him, that’s what I thought it was. On a deeper level it was that I wanted to be accepted by him, now my brother loves me and he has always loved me. I have had some beautiful conversations with my mom about how my brother saw me, or how she perceived he saw me based on what he said to her when I was younger. But I didn’t see that when I was younger, I just saw this older brother who was very opinionated.
Anyways, all of this to say, I had to learn how to have an opinion, how to be okay with having an opinion, and how to be okay with other people not agreeing with my opinion. I lost myself in this idea of needing to be liked and needing to be accepted and needing to be validated by other people by trying to be who I thought they needed me to be. I would mould myself and redefine myself through the lens of how I thought someone else saw me, or how I thought they would appreciate me.
A lot of opinions that I had would be built around “do I think this person is going to agree with that opinion? What is their opinion? I have to jump onto their side”. Which is why number 3 was don’t subscribe to someone else’s voice too much, you might lose yourself in it. Number 10, have an opinion, even if you keep it to yourself, at least you know where you stand. This has been a really important spiritual practice for me and it’s not to say that I can’t change my opinion, I very much can change my opinion. I’m allowed to, I’m human, you’re allowed to as well.
It’s more about actually knowing what I think, to take a moment and ask yourself “what do you think about this? What feels true to you? What feels aligned for you?”. Not, what should you hold onto so people accept you, or what should you let go of so people like you. But instead, how can you like yourself? How can you know yourself?
Have an opinion and believe in something. There are going to be moments where you are going to share that opinion, but there are going to be moments where you don’t feel called to share that opinion. At least know where you stand.
This is really funny, I had a moment recently with a coworker, I work part time at a vet clinic. I was talking to a coworker about dog training and dog behaviour. I've learnt a lot in my experience, I was a dog sled guide for many years, I’ve had my own dogs, and I’ve learned from other dog behaviorists. Anyways, I was sharing my opinion with her and she had a completely opposite opinion then me and she was going hard at it. I had a moment where I had to say in my head “Sydney, you don’t want to get into an argument right now, that’s not where your energy is needed. You know what your opinion is. You know where you stand. It’s okay if she doesn’t agree with you. You know where you stand.” I was able to peacefully remove myself from that conversation. For me, I don’t need to debate, I don’t want to debate. I don’t need to prove my opinion as true, that’s not healthy for me and it doesn’t feel good for me. What does feel healthy for me is knowing I have an opinion that feels true for me and knowing where I stand on something and walking away from the situations and conversations that don’t feel aligned.
So, number 10, have an opinion, even if you keep it to yourself at least you know where you stand.
11 - Self reflection creates soul connection
This is the last rule that I am going to share today, and obviously this is not an exhaustive rulebook for me. There are many other things that I believe and that I practice, but I think this list creates a really beautiful, wide range of things that I have learned, that I have worked on and that I have practiced in my life.
If you’ve been around for a little while now with my podcast you’ll know that I have a section in every episode called self reflection creates soul connection and that is why this is number 11.
I truly truly believe in this, I feel more and more connected to my soul and who I am on a deeper level because of all the self reflection that I have practiced. Taking a look at my thought patterns, noticing when I feel triggered, noticing which emotions are harder to move through than others; noticing different past wounds that come up and what I think about them; noticing belief systems, noticing conditioning and programming that I have taken on from my childhood, my parents, or my grandparents, and how that has impacted me and working through that. All of that self reflection work allows me to get deeper into my soul's core. It allows me to understand myself better, it allows me to be kinder to myself, and it allows me to encourage myself to continue moving forwards as I build a life filled with my dreams.
So, number 11 self reflection creates soul connection.
A quick jump through the entire list:
1 - Consistency isn’t rigid. It’s not every day at the same time, but it is showing up when I need it and when I don’t think I need it
2 - Awareness is better than avoidance (AAR)
3 - Don’t subscribe to someone else’s voice too much, you might lose yourself in it
4 - Fresh air & time in nature is often the answer
5 - When feeling stuck on a problem, shift your energy and the clarity will come
6 - Joy and fun are healing energies
7 - Ask my divine team for protection
8 - Open sacred space first
9 - Don’t underestimate the power of planting a seed
10 - Have an opinion, even if you keep it to yourself at least you know where you stand
11 - Self reflection creates soul connection
Practicing these 11 things, among many other things, over the last 8 years has been necessary in my soul growth and my soul expansion and along my healing journey. I truly believe that these are some of the guideposts that have helped me to create a life that feels more fulfilling and freeing than ever before. These rules allow me to feel aligned, purposeful and divine in my daily life.
SELF REFLECTION CREATES SOUL CONNECTION
None of this matters, none of this information is going to impact you and your life if you don’t take the time to integrate what you’ve learned here. Just listening to my voice all of the time, it can affect you in losing your own connection.
I want you to take what I’ve shared with a grain of salt, whatever resonates, take it and if it doesn’t resonate then leave it. But I want you to apply it to your life, I want you to take time right now to reflect on what feels true to you. What is your soul saying? How are you feeling guided? What are the spiritual practices that are rules in your life? Or are guidelines for you?
Self reflection is a powerful tool that helps you to better understand yourself and strengthen your connection with the Universe. Which is where you build trust and find a way to surrender more easily.
Use these journal prompts to strengthen your own spiritual practice.
1 - What practice helps you to feel calmer?
What is something you already do? Acknowledge it.
2 - What are 3 perspectives that feel true to you as guidelines for your life?
You can take something that I already mentioned today. If one of my list you thought “yes I truly believe this”. For instance, if you are my mom listening right now you might say “oh my god, fresh air and time in nature is often the answer, Yes I believe that.” But if one of the other things I mentioned is something that resonates with you, take that, go for it. I also want you to look at your own perspectives, what are things you already practice. What are beliefs or truths that you hold onto that feel aligned as guidelines in your life, or rules for your own spiritual practice?
3 - When do you feel most connected to your soul?
The answers to these questions can change over time, that is okay. I just want you to acknowledge where you are at right now.
4 - What practice or belief do you want to integrate into your life more?
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
I want to thank you so much for being here, for choosing to press play on this episode. For listening to the rules that I have for myself in my spiritual practice. I really hope that some of them resonate for you, maybe some of them will open your eyes. Maybe for some of them you thought “oh I never really thought about that as a rule, but I can see how it would be”. That was the point of this, I wanted to open your eyes to something different, a different way of looking at things, and also as a way to come back to yourself. To remember your soul, your spiritual practice and what you are cultivating in your daily life.
So thank you for being here.
GOODBYE
Remember, your life is happening right now. There is not some future moment you need to rush forward to. Be here, take a deep breath, know that you are meant to be in this moment.
Life will always bring more lessons.
Your soul will always guide you to more healing.
Your mind will always require support to see from a bigger perspective.
You will always desire to be seen, heard and understood.
Be here now for yourself. In time you will feel the call to share more light and compassion with the world.
I’m Sydney, signing off and saying thank you, thank you, thank you.
Take your spiritual growth journey to the NEXT LEVEL and start creating real, positive changes in your life now.
You want to live more authentically.
You want to feel more fulfilled.
You are tired of feeling like you’re in the wrong place, working towards the wrong things, or surrounded by people who don’t get you.
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Until next time, sending love & light on your spiritual journey,
Sydney Smith
Spiritual Mentor
Founder of Adventuring with Poseidon Wellness
