Engaging in soul work is necessary for complete healing.
Anns Yusim, MD
Most psychiatrists discuss psychosis and medication, not souls and meaning. But Anna Yusim, MD, is an exception.
“Our souls are the blueprint we bring into this world of how we are meant to grow, change, transform, and meaningfully contribute to human kind…”
In her book, Fulfilled, Yusim delves into the psychological and spiritual tools she uses for herself and her patients to connect to their souls. She presents a jargon-free compendium of spiritual “self help” information and exercises, sprinkled with stories of her own soul journey.
Yusim says there are three core misconceptions responsible for most pain and suffering:
* I am unaware of my soul
* I give away my power
* I am disconnected and alone
REFLECT:
Do you have any of these misconceptions?
To align with the authentic self, these misconceptions must transform to positive states:
* I am deeply connected to my soul
* I restore and maintain my power
* I am interconnected to everybody and everything
APPLY:
Rate yourself on these positive states on a 1-10 scale.
Choose one area you want to strengthen.
Create a plan (with activities) to strengthen it.
ie meditate daily or practice assertiveness or spend time in nature…
In addition, Yusim feels life must be full of purpose and meaning. Two sources of meaning are
1. soul contributions – your unique gifts you came to share
2. soul corrections – challenges and obstacles your soul needs to work through to become the best version of yourself
Soul Contributions (purpose, mission, calling)
“Discovering our soul’s purpose is rarely an event, although epiphanies do happen. More often than not, it’s a process that requires patience and perseverance. To discover it, you must pay attention to what stirs your passions, lights you up, and just comes naturally. When you are living your soul’s purpose, you are often in the flow. You feel alive, useful, of service, and a part of all there is.
(for the ARE (Assoc. of Research and Enlightenment) perspective, see the blog on Discovering Your Soul’s Purpose).
Often, going in the “wrong” direction is a step in clarifying the “right” direction” — wrong careers, jobs, relationships, moves, homes, vacations, nutrition plans…
I experienced a significant “wrong” action while shifting career paths. After a decade of being a “dynamic and entertaining thought leader” public speaker / keynoter, I was burnt out. Despite my success (evals had comments like “on a scale of 1-10, Teri is a 20!), I knew it was time to shift to deeper spiritual work.
I lowered my income about 50% and relocated to Sedona, AZ – the perfect place for spiritual work and research for my Change Your Mind program.
When a conference planner called to hire me to keynote, I respectfully declined. She called back, saying the man sponsoring the conference wouldn’t do it without my name involved. I explained I was doing brain-based personal transformation research, and my only public speaking was how-to workshops on my discoveries. She grudgingly agreed to add the workshop to the conference agenda.
Two weeks before the conference, she called again to say the closing keynoter had cancelled and I HAD to help her out. Again, I declined. She increased the fee. Though “knowing” it was no longer my path, I accepted – for the money – and dutifully put together a presentation. But at the conference, I spontaneously changed the presentation to be more personal and spiritually based, which was TOTALLY wrong for the group (350 educators). It bombed completely, and on a scale of 1-10, the evaluations were mostly 2’s and averaged about 3.8. In contrast, the evals for the Change
Your Mind workshop to a small self-selecting group were 8-10’s. The message was painfully clear:
YOUR KEYNOTING DAYS ARE OVER!
DO SMALL GROUP PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION WORK!!!
Soul Corrections
Yusim posits there are several universal soul corrections. The primary one is to align with positive: light, goodness, optimism, hope, love, kindness, generosity, growth… neutralizing the the “adversarial forces” of negative: darkness, fear, anxiety, shame, blame, stagnation…
One of my morning “mantras” is
I am Aligned with Divine Spirit today and everyday in ease and grace
and I am grateful
This positions me to handle obstacles as “blessings” – which is an another important soul correction. Often, that means choosing the path of MOST resistance, doing the the most fearful, difficult and uncomfortable things with grace.
Yusim uses the Kabbalistic formula for handling obstacles, which is similar to these steps:
1. An obstacle occurs (anything that upsets or stresses you).
* Observe your reactions and feelings, and where you feel them in your body
* Focus on the feeling as you breathe deeply five times
2. Analyze your part in the obstacle and take responsibility as appropriate
(My declaration is: “I take responsibility for my part in this situation and I allow others responsibility for their part as appropriate”. This has transformed my relationships.)
2. Acknowledge the obstacle as an opportunity for growth and ask:
* How would my ego / personality respond?
* How can my soul respond?
(I call this taking the High Road)
3. Ask for guidance / support / help from Higher Source (I often ask my team of highest spiritual beings for help)
4. Choose to take the High Road (it’s faster: there’s less traffic)
5. Review the outcomes, and acknowledge and celebrate your growth
I continually refine my morning “mantras”. My current favorite is:
I am in Divine Right Timing taking Divine Right Action achieving Divine Right Outcomes in ease and grace and I am grateful
APPLY:
Create / adopt a daily soul connection affirmation
Create / adopt a daily soul correction affirmation
Fulfilled, How the Science of Spirituality Can Help You Live a Happier, More Meaningful Life, Anna Yusim, MD, Grand Central Lifestyle, New York, 2017
