Voice

"Mom, do you know about swim caps?  When you put them on and you're under the water all you can hear is your own voice. It's so relaxing."

She wasn't talking about her audible voice, eh?   Esther was tapping into her voice that comes from within, soul's voice. 

It's the knowing deep within what is good, right and true within yourself.  

Children seem to just know it.  

They automatically trust it.

They don't analyze  their "inside" voice, they just follow it.  At least those who have been raised in healthy environments.  For our daughter, finding her voice has been a long journey.  She was abandoned at one and a half, adopted at age three and was in constant search outside herself for recognition, love, acceptance and attention. However, with consistent nurturing, love and guidance, she has found her voice, evident in who she is today.  

Finding one's voice makes us confident, increases our personal sovereignty  and keeps us calm and centered.  

To use Esther's words, it feels "relaxing."  Oh, from the mouths of babes!

I decided to take her description to heart so I went to my handy Thesaurus widget and typed  "relaxing."  

Relaxing unwind, loosen up, slow down, de-stress, unbend, rest, put one's feet up, take it easy.

Antonym be tense.  This is how we feel when we are at the whim of other's voices.  

Listening to soul's voice has value added benefits like de-stressing and calming.  

It's simple.  When we need to take a deep breath (remember the Centering Pause), if we return to our soul's voice and listen, trust and follow it, we are delivered a banquet of relaxation and calm.  

How did we get from the child who listens trustfully to soul's voice to the adult who is a stranger, skeptic or fearful of soul's voice?  

Through the growing years, we are exposed to a chorus of other voices from  family, culture, teachers, other influential adults and friends.  Depending upon those influences, we learn to trust or distrust our own voice and thus begins the process of connection or disconnection to soul's voice.   In Esther's situation, she lived in survival mode for the first impressionable years of her life.  No nurture, no security, no love; her system  was in a constant state of fight or flight.   When our mind, body system is set on fight and flight, it must be retrained to relax and stop fighting and fleeing.  It can be done and we have a little ten year old to show us the way.   If you feel like you're stuck in fight or flight, please call me, let's talk.   I have tools to share that can unlock the grip of fight and flight. 

Nothing can validate what is true for you like your soul's voice.  Outside voices do not deliver or sustain us like the wisdom that comes from within.  

At some point, you must decide which voice gets reception in your life.  

It's never too late to hear soul's voice.  It's always present, forgiving, faithful. 

Connecting to soul's voice is  essential because it is essentially you.