Soulfulness & Caring for the Soul
By Jenn Ryan
What is soul or soulfulness?
A simple definition of ‘soul’ as defined online by Merriam Webster is:
: the spiritual part of a person that is believed to give life to the body & in many religions is believed to live forever.
: a person's deeply felt moral & emotional nature.
: the ability of a person to feel kindness & sympathy for others, to appreciate beauty & art, etc.
Aha! There we go. Presence – the ability to notice & discern. Having gratitude, observing & finding reverence for the beauty that exists all around us, & in all of us.
A simple definition of ‘soulfulness’ also by Merriam Webster online is:
: full of or expressing feelings or emotion; soulful music.
My senior thesis in college was about care of the soul. When I think back upon what I was trying to tap into at the time, I was trying to show that for me anyway, delving into the poetry & prose of music & literature (specifically, the work of Tracy Chapman & Alice Walker), that I was nourishing myself, wholly. I found splendid refuge in the research dwellings of our college library aka “the stacks” for those old enough to remember the quiet, sometimes dimly let corners of sanctuary where all liberal arts nerds spent much of their waking hours. While in the stacks, I discovered more than the complete works of artists like Walker – I found my activist heart, my soul; it came alive, it welled-up in my eyes. It spilled down my cheeks & onto so many legal pads worth of scribbled notes. I’m sure I was born to live a life in academia. I only allowed myself this decadent pleasure for the four years I spent as an undergrad, however, in my life pursuits since that time, I have enjoyed many a continuing education hour learning myriad things that titillate the corners of my mind (& heart) it’s probably the main reason yoga teacher training has been such a fabulous fit & why I aspire to continue learning – from my library books, from my fellow teachers & guides, from the webinars & in-person workshops & from the world, outside of myself.
The affinity toward learning & the inevitable growth that comes is what allows me to tap into soulfulness. When I am at my best, I sweat (endorphins!), write, reading, painting, baking, cooking, listening, dancing in my kitchen & digging in the dirt. These past several months, I have been enjoying cultivating my first ‘crop’ of garden babies out of my very first greenhouse. It’s a small structure, built totally by hand by my sweetheart. I have named it, “The Solarium of Love.” More than a decade of collecting windows, doors, cedar timbers & more along with a pencil sketch on an old clipboard & the contemplative stance of said sweetheart standing out in the grass amongst my former perennial garden has resulted in the most wonderful space to dream, to heal, to be & to fulfill my solemn wish in this life, which is to fancy more moments than not. To fill them with joy. To not let the heart shattering agony of so much of this life break me. All these days & months of tending to garden babies – often while listening to classical favorites like Nadja Salerno Sonnenberg, & sipping coffee slowly, have been a kind of soul-uplifting-balm like none other. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to repay my sweetheart for this life-affirming gift, but I will work diligently, to share the fruits of my labor with him; providing nourishing eats & handmade treats & filling my own bucket with every moment spent within the windowed-walls & hopefully, sharing my more soulful self with him than my sometimes emotional, hormonally imbalanced perimenopausal self.
Dear ones, what fills your cup? What brings the soulfulness to the brim & spills forth for you? When’s the last time you thought about it? When’s the last time you did any of those favorite fill-your-cup activities? Why not make yourself a little list & challenge yourself to find some time to nourish yourself with some of that soul-affirming-yum!
Let me know how it goes. I’d love to hear about your practices & explorations into soulfulness.
Take a couple of moments and read over the list of questions below – if you’d like, take the time to grab a blank piece of paper or a journal and answer each question for yourself – something I enjoy doing is having a list of questions like these and asking myself the questions seasonally – dating my responses, so that I can take notice of areas in my life I may be overlooking. Sometimes, we let life get so ‘busy’ that we forget about the simple pleasure of knowing ourselves well enough to know what we need when we need it.
Know yourself – what do you enjoy? What makes you happy? What makes you sad? What gets you through?
What do you need? Make a list. Now start over, dig deeper, what do you REALLY need – food that nourishes? Enough hours of sleep every night. A healthful stress reliever? Exercise? When is the last time you find yourself on your mat for practice?
What brings you peace? Time set aside for meditation, writing morning pages, a walk in nature, a gentle yoga practice, and an appointment with your favorite bodyworker.
What nourishes you? Do you eat a balanced diet? Are you hydrating enough?
What keeps you active, physically? How often are you taking time to take care of your body? Do you have a daily routine? Is there a way to add a walk, hike, or run into your day? Have you ever considered the benefits of yoga or other movement practice?
What music do you love? Write down a couple of your favorite songs. When is the last time you listened to music, sang aloud, or danced?
Do you like to read? Do you have a library card, or do you belong to a book club? Make a list of at least two books you would like to read or a topic you’d like to research further. Give yourself the assignment of going to your local library. If you don’t already have a library card, I double-dog-dare you to get one!
Remember what Tracy Chapman said, “All that you have is your soul”. (From her 1989 Album Crossroads).
Hyperlink: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trVCbDpmIH0
Keeping this heartfelt message at center, give yourself permission to tap into something soulful this week.