Inula Austin Soul Growth

For most people, January is a month that is filled with good intentions.

Whether you are beginning a journey to better health, quitting a habit which you have out grown, climbing the corporate ladder or climbing actual mountains, then good luck to you!

Perhaps you are ready to tread a different path in 2024?

If you feel that over the last few years you have experienced an awakening, that grief or a loss of some kind has got you thinking about the ‘bigger picture’ or you just have a deep sense that there must be something other than ‘this’ (our shared experience) then I’d suggest making this new year all about your own Soul Growth.

It’s not by accident that this page and indeed my (for want of a better word) business is named ‘Soul Growth’. Through my own spiritual journey and inner work I know that the evolution of one’s Soul is of the greatest importance, on an individual and indeed, a collective level.

Let me explain.

If we take your Soul to mean that wonderful, infinite, everlasting and expansive part of your Self, it is that that I am referring to here. When I speak of the ‘Spirit’, I mean that aspect of your being that is the personality and individuality that you percieve as You. (Spirit has also been said to be the Spark of the Divine within each individual living thing.) If we were to talk about your Spiritual lineage in extremely simplified terms I would describe it thus; Source – Soul – Spirit – you (I have used the lower case ‘y’ on purpose here to emphasise that this is the physical, material frequency being that is perceived by self and others as ‘you’, yet it is the Soul Self is the ACTUAL YOU.)

The Soul Self is referred to by some as the Higher Self or Guardian Angel/Spirit, the part of you which resides outside of time and space, in close communion with the Great Source. The One who knows you better than you know Your Self. Thus, the Higher Self has access to all of your memories, incarnations, in-between life experiences and also Universal knowledge.

When I speak about ‘growing the Soul’ I mean the purposeful and committed practice of inner work to access and develop one’s spirit/soul self and personality through conscious self development. The expansion of your conscious awareness (through meditation), development of self awareness and renewed awareness of others which may also include uncovering innate spiritual faculties, soul senses (the ‘Clairs’), intuitive and empathic gifts.

Soul Growth begins with identifying the Real You. The peeling off of the many masks which you (and many others) have consciously and subconsciously put on you over the years. It means formulating your own system of beliefs. Deciding upon your own moral code. Healing past traumas and wounds. Setting healthy boundaries. Strengthening the connection with your inner being. Of course, there is usually no specific order in which these things are to be accomplished and anyone looking for a ‘How To’ manual is missing the point! Many of these steps along your pathway will occur simultaneously and it’s helpful to bear in mind that this process is ongoing, nobody ever completes the job of perfecting.

Soul Growth is an infinite process of refinement of the Self. Much like the process of turning a lump of carbon into a beautiful, sparkling, cut diamond; only we are much more than simply the carbon body which we currently inhabit (lumpy or otherwise!)

Some of the refinement that you undertake will seemingly happen accidently. This is because before beginning the journey proper, many of you will still be living unconsciously, moving from job to job, drama to drama, relationship to relationship without having the awareness to notice the patterns of your lives and therefore lacking the impetus to change them. With increased awareness all of this soon changes. Karma and the cyclical nature of incarnation on the 3d plane means that we will usually receive hints (in the form of repeated lessons) when there is something in our life which needs to be cleansed, healed and released.

You will usually know when your awareness has begun to shift and your journey of Soul Growth is underway, when you start to realise that there is no such thing as ‘coincidence’, only synchronicity and messages from your Higher Self, appearing in your reality as breadcrumbs to be followed.

(On this blog are many posts that I’ve written that can help you in the understanding of your True Self, so please do have a good look around.)

My greatest wish for you all in 2024 is that you dedicate yourselves to reconnecting with and honouring the Divine within You.

For some this might mean going on a retreat, taking a meditation class, maybe even moving city or finding a new job. All of these changes may be positive steps to help centre you, to heal you and start afresh. For others still, the call to awaken to Self will come about through tragedy, personal loss, illness or some other negative event.

Try to treat every opportunity for change as a gift, whether or not it is something that you would have chosen. You can only walk down a path leading away from your life purpose for so long before Source will find some way of dragging you back to where you need to be!

I don’t deal in ‘belief’. To believe one must simply accept that something is true. In this day and age that is not going to get you very far. So instead I shall tell you that based on my own experiences, I know 100% that You are a being born of divinity. That you are a child of Source (the term ‘God’ has unpallatable connotations for man) and that you carry within you an eternal connection to the Divine Spirit that can not be severed or eroded. You fully deserve to recognise this fact, not only in yourself but in every other living being who crosses your path.

It is only when we fully allow ourselves (through personal experience) to not only truly know and understand this fact, but also to live this awakened knowledge from our heart centres through practice, that real and lasting change in this World will happen.

We may only ever start by being the change we wish to see in the world (thanks Gandhi!).

It all begins with you.

There are many aspects external to you that benefit from having you believe that you are unable to make a difference in your life or the lives of others. But you are much more powerful and sacred than you can fathom in this moment.

Starting right now, see yourself through the eyes of Source, as the incredible being that you are; an everlasting out-picturing of infinite consciousness, focused into the physical vibration for a short while.

Begin this year by making a promise to your True Self that you will do your very best to think, speak and act from your Heart. That in doing so you will not only add to your own Soul but the Soul’s of others, heaping up the treasure of the Spirit and detracting from your Soul or other’s nothing. That in your eventual crossing to the Other World you would be illumined with Light and Wisdom, Understanding and Compassion.

Wishing You All A Very Blessed New Year

xoxo