Soul Food

I've been on the precipice of defining what it is that I do because, well, clarity is imperative if you want to share a message.  

The nagging question, "what can my readers expect by reading my blog?"  lingered with no clear definition.  Thus, the spotty blog entries.  

Thanks to Kick Ass Mentors, Michele Woodward and Pam Slim, the light bulb finally switched on.

So, my blogger's oath is to consistently "Deliver Soul Food to the Feast of Life."  

You know, soul food?  No, I'm not talkin' mustard greens and ham hocks.  That's soul food of the physical variety.  

I'm talking soul food of the spiritual kind.  Whether or not we are conscious, we are soulful beings. 

By formal definition soul is:

 The animating and vital principle in human beings, credited with the faculties of thought, action, and emotion and often conceived as an immaterial entity.    The spiritual nature of human beings, regarded as immortal, separable from the body at death, and susceptible to happiness or misery in a future state.  

My favorite definition is:

The vital core of a human being.

Strengthening our "core" for overall health and fitness is vogue.  If our core isn't strong, our backs are weak.  A Pilates' workout is built around strengthening the core.  In yoga, you must have a strong core to hold the pose.  

We talk about the "core of the matter" in conversations.

Our core is centered in our  Solar Plexus chakra which is associated with our spiritual wisdom, pleasure, expansiveness and consciousness of universality of life.  Our core tells us who we are within the universe.  

The soul is the core of who we are beyond our physical bodies, our spirits.  

It's not:

The roles we play, mother, sister, VP, teacher, musician.

Successes and failures.

What other people say about us.

What we believe about ourselves.

It's deeper.  

Your soul was present as you were being knit together in your mother's womb…thus saith the Christian Bible.

Soul is present in comatose people.

Soul is present in prisons.

Soul is present when there are no words.

We can touch soul to soul with a stranger standing in the grocery line.  

Soul communication is how we can communicate with people who speak a different language than us.  Soul touches soul.  I've experienced it.  I bet you have too.  

Encounters of the Soulful kind!  

So what is soul food?    Our soul gets thirsty.  And hungry.    Just as we all like different food for our physical bodies, our souls require different types of nourishment.  

Soul awareness is essential for soul nourishment. 

Can you recall the desires of your heart when you were a child?

How about your five physical senses, what do you love to see, hear, touch, taste and smell?  Your senses can be a window into your soul.  Your soul has likes and dislikes, nourish your soul with your likes and diminish the dislikes.  

What activity makes you lose track of time?  Those are the times when your soul is satisfied.  

Do you believe in God?  Is God attached to religion or relationship?  Religion tends to squelch the spirit, relationship opens the soul and indicates communication.  Some call it prayer, meditation.  Soul is spirit and spirit communicates in spirit.  How do you imagine your soul wants to communicate?  Have you ever listened to it?  Would you be willing to try?

Maybe it's been silent because there hasn't been an opening or request for the soul to communicate.  

Sit quietly in a comfortable spot.  Feel yourself grounded to the earth.  Breath deeply, slowly, quietly and rhythmically.  

Your breath is the physical expression of your soul.  When your breath is settled, listen.  Allow your thoughts to pass by, keeping your heart and ear attentive to the voice of your soul.  It may be still.  You may hear a nudge.  I promise when your soul speaks, you will know it because it is a part of you.  The soul's voice will be recognizably different from your thoughts.  

Practice this exercise a few days.  Quietness is not required to hear the soul's voice but in our hectic world, we may need to practice listening in silence because noise drowns out the voice of the soul.

Soul food makes life DeLighFull! 

Hey sister, you've got soul!