Showing Up Whole

When You Don't Have Time For Spirituality!

• Christina Fletcher • Season 4 • Episode 15

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Welcome back to another episode of Showing Up Whole, where we explore alignment in mind, body, heart, and spirit in all areas of life.
In today's episode, Christina Fletcher dives into the intricate relationship between time management and spiritual alignment.
 Often, self-care and spiritual development fall by the wayside due to time constraints. Christina discusses why prioritizing spiritual practices can lead to a more efficient and fulfilling life.
Key Takeaways:

  •  Time Constraints and Self-Care: Exploring why spiritual and self-development often take a backseat in our busy lives.
  • Cognitive vs. Embodiment: Understanding the difference between processing information cognitively and embodying spiritual growth.
  • Heart-Centered Practices: Emphasizing the importance of connecting with your heart for true spiritual alignment.
  • Energetic Boundaries: How setting strong energetic boundaries can help you feel safer and more grounded in your spiritual practices.
  • The Journey of the Heart: Insights into navigating the labyrinth of your heart to process and release emotional clutter.
  • Practical Tips: Simple practices to connect with your heart and embody your spiritual energy in daily life.

Resources Mentioned:
Summer Sanctuary Workshop Series: Dive deep into energetic boundaries and heart-centered practices during this powerful experience. NEXT WORKSHOP IS JULY 27th 2024. Get access to replays and community when you register for the whole event, or register for individual workshops. Register at Spiritually Aware Living.

Energy Alignment Quiz: Find out where your energetic flow is blocked and get personalized practices to restore alignment. Take the quiz at Spiritually Aware Living/quiz

Join the Conversation:
Share your experiences and insights on heart-centered living in the Spiritually Aware Living Facebook Community.

Embark on a journey to clear your heart, connect with your true self, and embody your spiritual pr

Christina Fletcher is a Spiritual Alignment coach, energy worker, author, speaker and host of the podcast Showing Up Whole.
She specialises in practical spirituality and integrating inner work with outer living, so you can get self development off of the hobby shelf and integrated as a powerful fuel to your life.

Through mindset, spiritual connection, intuitive guidance, manifestation, and mindfulness techniques Christina helps her clients overcome overwhelm and shame to find a place of flow, ease, and deep heart-centered connection.
Christina has been a spiritual alignment coach, healer and spiritually aware parent coach for 7 years and trained in Therapeutic Touch 8 years ago. She is also a meditation teacher and speaker.
For more information please visit her website www.spirituallyawareliving.com

Want to uncover where you need the most energy alignment?
Take her new Energy Alignment Quiz to identify which of your energetic worlds (mind, body, heart or spirit) needs aligning the most!

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Speaker 1:

Hi and welcome back to Showing Up Whole the place where we discuss alignment in mind, body, heart and spirit in every aspect of our lives. Today let's talk about time, that wonderful constraining thing that always seems to get in the way of alignment, of being true to ourselves and to practicing the things that we truly do want to practice. Hi and welcome back. I've had a number of conversations recently about how time can feel so restrictive and so often spiritual development, self-development, self-care can fall well down on the to-do list. There just never seems to be enough time. And it's a fascinating thing, because I think it is a pretty well-known fact that when you do actually practice the spiritual connection, when you actually do take care of yourself and you become more mindful, then everything on your to-do list does actually unfold in a much steadier process. It seems to flow just better when you've taken the time to feel well-grounded and connected to yourself. I know personally I notice a huge difference if I decide to do a few tasks before doing my meditation. I've learned a long time ago that that really isn't going to benefit me whatsoever and the work that I sit to do is going to be a lot sloppier and a whole lot more stressful. So why is it that we tell ourselves that we don't have time to take care of ourselves? What is it that makes us believe we should do all of the other things first? It's fascinating, isn't it? I'm not sure if it would be interesting to know if you see that within yourself, if you really resonate with the fact that you struggle to find the time to connect within. Why is it that we feel like we need to take care of everybody else's needs before our own? It's quite big, isn't it? And I think probably, if you ask yourself that question, you may find that you don't know the answer. It seems against even logic, but the truth is is that so often we see spiritual development or self-development, spiritual connection through our mind's eye. We explore the options of what that looks like. It's like all right, I want to meditate more, I need to make sure that I eat better, I need to make sure I do my yoga or my exercise. Maybe I should explore healing my inner child. Maybe I should explore frequencies or understanding energetic coding, or maybe I need to learn this or learn that. Or the to-do list that everyone becomes accustomed to keeping is then transferred over to the process of self-care. What should I do? What do I need to do? What are the steps I need to take? What do I do? First? It becomes yet another murky mire of understanding what needs to get done to practice self-care. But here's the interesting thing this is all done in your head and spiritual connection, grounding true self-care, actually takes place in your heart. Think about it.

Speaker 1:

You can gain all the information. You can study the books, you can listen to the podcasts and, by the way, I'll thank you very much for listening to this one but you can do all the things and you can learn all of the different practices that would help in your self-care. You can read about them, you can listen to about them, you can watch the videos, you can take the courses. All of that is information that you are gathering. You might listen to this podcast, process it cognitively, have that? Aha, she's right, that's totally true. This is being processed in my mind, and yet what's going to stop you from just going about your regular day after this podcast is finished? We process information cognitively. We process information cognitively.

Speaker 1:

However, spiritual growth, development, connection is about embodiment. You have to embody the spiritual shifts that are occurring in your life, the energetic changes, the changes and growth within yourself where all of a sudden, it lands in your heart and you feel yourself growing into the person that you've come to be. Embodiment is like a sense of realization. It's a deeper knowing and, quite honestly, when it happens, your brain does not know how to understand or conceive it. Instead, it observes it, it witnesses it and neural pathways will probably kick in to say, well, that change happened too fast, we need to actually rewind there that that felt too big of change. So let's like break that down right. So here we have the desire for spiritual growth, the desire for spiritual connection. We understand, cognitively and otherwise. We understand, that when you practice self-care, when you practice development within yourself, when you practice mindfulness, there's a shift that occurs. You land into a deeper sense of connection to yourself and to your spiritual source and life flows more effortlessly. Suddenly you find yourself in a state of synchronization. You find yourself having things just line up perfectly. You find that parking spot, you find the person that you need to talk to. It just unfolds. If you've been studying spirituality for any length of time, you know that life is more enriched, more enhanced, more in flow when you do practice your spirituality.

Speaker 1:

However, we have been trained to see that as hard. It has been seen as something that you have to try to make time for, and it then becomes a to-do list. Then our brains kick in and the brain says, well, this is hard, let's break this down into steps. What do we need to work on in order to find that state of flow? Now, immediately, we find ourselves in a funny situation because, in order to find flow, in order to find ease, we're starting something hard which is not a match. However, our brains are used to functioning in systematic ways and somewhere, probably subconsciously, our brains know that if we do the work, it's actually going to be kind of fired because we're going to start listening to our hearts instead. So therein lies the issue. We create this hard, systematic process, which is based in a lot of to-dos. It's based in a lot of practices and what needs to happen in order for us to align to who we came to be.

Speaker 1:

Now, here's the truth of the matter. Your heart knows who you came to be. In fact, all of the life experience that you've had, all of the things you've observed, all the things you've read, all the things you've listened to this podcast, everything that you are processing shifts from the head and the energy of it, the emotion of it, the frequency of it, falls into your heart and there it gets sifted and sorted and it needs to be processed. Now, sometimes, if all our energy is stuck in our heads because where attention goes, energy flows if you're so filled with overthinking and theorizing and figuring things out, then the energy doesn't actually flow to your heart in order to help your heart process and assimilate and sift and sort and processed to the point that it can actually offer you guidance. Instead, energy can get stuck.

Speaker 1:

We tell stories in our heads about how busy we are and how we need to do the inner work and how we have so much healing to do, and stack and stack and stack. And all of those stories then land into your heart and kind of create a stagnant energetic space heart and kind of create a stagnant energetic space. The heart's stories, the heart's gifts and information needs to be processed and you know, after your heart sorts and sifts, the energy continues to flow down and it flows down to your solar plexus and there in your solar plexus, it shines out. Your solar plexus is that wonderful generator. It's that inner fire that then consumes everything and says, okay, we're going to forge our new version of ourselves here and your heart rejoices. You know it's interesting. We're headed into the season of Lionsgate, which is something that always excites me, because things always really become really exciting or vibrant or clearer during Lionsgate.

Speaker 1:

There's a sense of you claiming your solar plexus self, really stepping into that sense of who you are, and there's a roaring sense, maybe like a Katy Perry song, where you just feel yourself stepping into yourself and that takes your heart to process what it needs to process before that information can truly be dropped into your solar plexus and forged. What do I mean by that? You know your heart is told a lot of stories. She's told she can be broken. She's told she can turn hard. She's told she should be listened to, and yet often that's also shied away from because we get scared. She's told that we need to live centered by her, and yet our heads are so good at arguing that point, our heads are so good at arguing that point.

Speaker 1:

What is it like to truly listen to your heart and how do you get there? Do you feel like you are continually seeking, trying to embody, to heal, to fix and show up, but you always find yourself running on empty. Let's look at finding you more energetic alignment. There's a good chance that one of your energetic worlds either your mental, emotional, spiritual or physical is out of balance, and with the right practice, you'll have you back in flow in no time. I'm Christina Fletcher, an energy alignment coach, and I want you to know that self-development doesn't always have to be another trip down a rabbit hole. Rather, let's figure out where your flow is blocked and go from there. Check out my free quiz over at spirituallyawarelivingcom backslash quiz and find out where you do need more energetic alignment. Then we can explore what simple practice will give you that shift. None of us are in alignment all the time, so let's get you what you need to be back in flow wherever you need.

Speaker 1:

I actually mentioned listening to your heart to a client of mine once, and she almost got panicky because she's like I don't understand the concept of listening to your heart. How do you hear your heart's voice? What does it sound like? You know, she described how she would try to listen to her heart and instead her head would kick in and she would be listening to these push and pull. Well, maybe I should do this, maybe I should do that? Oh, I need to do this first, I need to do that first. She's like which one of these choices come from my heart, and so I actually have been looking for other ways of talking about listening to your heart, because it actually is more a feeling of your heart. Your heart offers her wisdom in a sense of knowing. It's a whisper, there's a deep wisdom to her that you know from how you feel that you're on the right track. Feel that you're on the right track. There's a sense of satisfaction, a sense of fulfillment. There's a sense of deep appreciation, there's a sense of flow and knowing when your heart's voice becomes clear.

Speaker 1:

It's funny how we talk about choosing to listen to your head or your heart, because when your heart is given an opportunity to speak, you know, and the idea of not listening to it, of not following its guidance, suddenly feels foreign to you. It's like that moment where, all of a sudden, you go oh, I know what I need to do, we all have that right. It's that moment of just going oh, no, that's who I am, this is what I have to do. That's your heart, and so our brains love to tell us that this is hard. It becomes this challenging process where we need to do all these steps and pull out all the highlighters, and pull out all the post-its and all the to-do lists and read all the books and do all the things books and do all the things and instead what's actually needed in that brief moment that you have, because we're all talking about time? Instead, it's a question of actually finding the two minutes it takes to put your hands on your heart and tell your heart you're ready to listen and then you wait.

Speaker 1:

Okay, maybe I am oversimplifying, because the truth is is that if you aren't used to connecting to your heart, then your brain is going to get in the way. And also, if you're not used to connecting to your heart, there may be some layers that have been stacked apart upon it. That means that your heart is shuffling through a little too much, to speak. It's like I don't know. Whenever I talk about layers stacked upon our hearts that make it hard to hear your heart's whisper. I feel like you know when you're playing with a kid and they build like a pillow fort and they're stacking all the pillows and all the blankets and the fort gets higher and higher and it just feels like you kind of hear this small voice underneath this pile of clothes or something, and they just sound so muffled. To me, that's what the heart voice is like.

Speaker 1:

You have to clear the clutter. You have to clear out the resentment or the hurt or the stories of what you need to heal. It's not saying that you don't need to heal it. It's the stories that need to be cleared out. Your heart does know how to heal. Your heart does know how to process. Your heart does have the capacity to open open wide and lovingly flow out over all the challenges. At the same time, too, your heart does know how To put in energetic boundaries in place and create a safe space for you. So she's not exposed. She knows. And the reason why we know she knows Is because when you have an energetic boundary in place, she'll tell you yeah, that's it, it's in place. You know I'm in the middle of offering my Summer Sanctuary Workshop series.

Speaker 1:

In the first one we finished the first workshop. You can register for each individual workshop, that's not a problem. Or if you register for the whole series, you still get the first workshop as a replay. But we were talking about energetic boundaries in the first one and the openness that you feel, when you approach energetic boundaries, as not trying to protect your vulnerable self, of not seeing yourself as so exposed and needing to protect yourself. So bad because you don't feel strong in yourself. But instead, when you shift it around and you know that, with a strong, steady root chakra, with a strong, steady, physical energetic world in place, your solar plexus is shining bright and your heart is expanding wide and you are such a strong energetic force that those boundaries become natural, you're standing in your presence. And when you know how to do that, when you know how to stand in your presence so that you're just yourself and you don't have to worry about being so vulnerable or so exposed I mean you don't have to kind of cower in a corner saying I just need to keep safe Then suddenly your heart just goes there it is, that's who you are and she celebrates it. So when you have those energetic boundaries in place and your heart's ready to celebrate that, then that means you can start processing everything that you have been holding onto your heart, thinking that she's too weak to process and what you're scared is going to hurt, because the truth is is that your heart knows how to experience emotion. That's how she communicates to you. So she's waiting to help you process those things. And that's why I'm so excited about the workshop that's happening over this Saturday, because on the 27th of July is the next workshop of the series and we are diving in to the journey of your heart, the understanding that it's a labyrinth.

Speaker 1:

It is a question of tiptoeing in making sure you feel safe to love your heart space and to release what needs to be released in loving compassion, to feel safe to let go of the hurt and to start the process of allowing that to heal and then, from that space, feel that open expansion of who you are. You know your heart chakra is double-sided. The front of it expands outward, to the world, to those people in your life, the people you love. The love flows from it out in front, and so often when we think heart work, that's what we think of. We think of who we love, how we love. Oh, I have a block to love. Oh, I got hurt from love. Oh, I have to hold on to love. It's like this push and pull energy of others and us. But what's often not talked about is the back of your heart chakra. What's often not talked about is the back of your heart, chakra flows out behind you, and that is the love you have for yourself. It's your sense of self-acceptance, your sense of self-compassion.

Speaker 1:

And what's a beautiful thing is not that long ago, but four years ago, people started talking about how we are evolving energetically. Our energetic bodies are evolving and that evolvement is expanding into energetic wings. You are developing energetic wings and what's fascinating about this is when this first came up about four years ago. I remember I was doing a load of energy healings and at that time everyone was talking about shoulder pain and upper back pain and I just kept unlocking all of these wings and to this day, this is a huge element of my energetic healings, where we're just unlocking wings as people step into their whole selves.

Speaker 1:

This is the work. It doesn't take any time. You can start your day plugging into the universe, saying good morning to spirit, however you perceive that to be. Saying good morning to spirit, however you perceive that to be. Learn how to just allow that energy to flow through you and embody it. Connect to your heart rather than your head. Feel it, feel the shifts, feel the connection and allow it to flow through you and from you. Allow it to expand out around you, allow your wings to flow as you walk down the street, be true to yourself, embody your energy.

Speaker 1:

And yes, that's why the workshop series started with energetic boundaries, because I got to tell you, as soon as you do that your nervous system might flare up. Because if you start to expand out and you're not from a steady, grounded place, if you're not feeling safe within yourself, then, yeah, that might feel unsafe to you. That might feel unsafe to you. It's the same, too, as knowing that your neural pathways are programmed to keep things the same. You knew that right. Like your neural pathways are there to keep things the same. So, even something that is development, even something that is development, even something that is expansive, even something that flows from you and feels so aligned within you, even alignment is uncomfortable, for your brain wants to keep the unhealed parts of yourself unhealed, not for malice, but because it's what you know is safe. Your brain wants to keep your heart quiet, not a whisper, zilch, quiet, because it's what feels safe. So you make sure that you are feeling steady and know that your heart does have you.

Speaker 1:

Just take it slow, take a few minutes each day to just put your hands on your heart and tell her you're listening and, yeah, there are things to process and if you want, you can come over to the workshop and I will lead you through those things to process and we will get you well on your way. But I do want you to take this away from this today Spirituality does not need to take time, it just needs to take embodiment. You just need to drop into your heart and not tell the stories in your head. You need to feel true to yourself and to feel safe. To be true to yourself, sure, things will come up. Yeah, you might have all of a sudden half an hour, and doing an inner child practice will serve you really well. Your heart will tell you what you need. Your heart will tell you what you need to do. Your heart will tell you who you need to reach out to. Your heart will tell you everything and you will know that voice by a deep sense of knowing. You'll just feel it.

Speaker 1:

Whenever I say that, I always think of when I was in theater school, I had a teacher and he would continually just be like you've got to feel it, you've got to feel it, and I never really understood what he was talking about until I started my work as a spiritual awareness coach because it's like that's the point you have to get out of your head. I would have been such a better actor if I'd known what he was talking about at that time, because so often when you're an actor, you think, well, what should I be doing? What am I thinking? Wait, I processed that information that this is what my character thought or this is what my character did. It's not the point.

Speaker 1:

You have to feel it, and that's what spiritual alignment is all about. You have to feel it. I will spend well over my time with a client, you know, until I get that ping. I don't like leaving a session without a ping, because you have to feel it. You have to feel the alignment, and that means that you have to have your heart clear. You have to be ready to listen to your heart in order to feel the alignment, because then you feel the guidance and then you have a deep knowing of your spiritual connection and a deep knowing of who you are. So, with all of that said, I really do hope that you join me for the workshop on Saturday, because we are diving deep, deep, deep into your inner guidance system and how to feel it, and we are clearing up the clutter and the layers that might make that voice muffled.

Speaker 1:

So pop on over to the website spirituallyawarelivingcom. Backslash summer sanctuary. Also, the link will be down in the session notes or in the show notes. Pop over to social media as well. I've been talking a lot about it over in the Facebook group, which is the Spiritually Aware Living Community, and tell me how you find this. I want to know what are your indicators that you're listening to your heart. Do you have the sense of knowing? Do you feel it? What is that for you? What does that look like for you? Tell me where you are on this journey, because I'm eager to hear, and in all of that, I'm sending you all my deepest love and light and the deepest of heart connection. Be well.