7 Pillars Of Awakening Inner Peace, Well-Being And Purpose.

An increasing number of awakening women suffer from stress-related health issues, anxiety, depression, disconnected relationships, and lack of meaning and purpose. These powerful soul nudges are urging us to reclaim our lives by applying what modern research and ancient wisdom point to as a way forward.

My journey began over ten years ago and was triggered by my desire to deal with stress and a sense that I was disconnected from myself. I had everything that was supposed to make me happy, but I felt something was missing and had what I later called soul hunger.

After years of practice and researching meditation, mindfulness, psychology, wisdom teachings, mind-body medicine, energy healing and the Enneagram of personality, I developed the “7 Pillars of Awakening” framework to provide a road map for women seeking inner peace, well-being and purpose.

Based on this deep dive and the countless women I’ve worked with worldwide, I’ve identified seven fundamental principles or key elements for becoming the best version of ourselves and living authentically.

These pillars represent essential aspects or guiding principles that support and facilitate personal growth, transformation, and the awakening of our true nature.

Each pillar corresponds to a specific focus or practice that awakens inner peace, well-being and authentic happiness. These foundational pillars provide strength, stability, and structure to discovering and becoming our future best selves.

The seven pillars of awakening are captured in the SPARKLE acronym:

1. SETTLE your mind and nervous system.

The first pillar on the awakening path requires learning to cultivate the ability to calm our minds, focus our attention and begin to regulate our nervous systems. Without this pillar being firmly established, it’s virtually impossible to progress in exploring and understanding the deeper sense of who we are.

I recommend folks start with a simple, core meditation practice. In the blog, With SO Many Choices, What’s The Best Meditation For Me,I provide practical tips on where to begin and links to helpful resources.

2. PRACTICE modern mindfulness.

With mindfulness, we cultivate the ability to pay attention to our thoughts, feelings and body in a kind and nonjudgemental way. This practice shifts our relationship with ourselves as we develop the ability to witness ourselves and others from a more compassionate and wise perspective.

While traditional mindfulness has been practiced for thousands of years, modern mindfulness takes our practices off the cushion and into the messy and often challenging parts of our lives. We use our day-to-day struggles to inspire our awakening and personal growth.

3. ARM yourself with self-compassion and self-love.

The awakening journey is often challenging as we’re beginning to see our blind spots and take radical responsibility for our lives.

Much like all relationships, when the initial honeymoon phase of inner practices wears off, we’re faced with the hard work of letting go, shifting established habits and finding the courage to do what often feels uncomfortable.

Having self-compassion and self-love for this part of the journey is necessary.

4. RELEASE and replace limiting beliefs and habits.

We all have limiting beliefs, emotional habits and behaviours that hold us back from growing into the best version of ourselves and who we’re meant to become. These beliefs are often hidden like an iceberg below the surface of our awareness.

This pillar involves illuminating these limiting beliefs often imposed on us by our parents, society, and culture so we can replace them with ones that support our health, relationships and a sense of purpose.

With the wisdom of the Enneagram of personality, we bring our gifts, blindspots and growth path into awareness, enabling us to take down the armour and grow into who we’re meant to become. I explain why this combination is so powerful in Meditation And The Enneagram: The Flourishing Dream Team.

5. KICKSTART the process of forgiveness.

This pillar requires that we forgive ourselves and others and enables us to harness expansive energy to fulfill our purpose.

It involves making peace with our past and integrating the lessons for creating our futures. This pillar humbles us and reminds us of our common humanity and that we all make mistakes. It enables us to develop the right relationship with ourselves, others and life’s mysteries.

6. LISTEN to your inner wisdom.

Awakening our true self requires learning to discern the difference between thoughts, emotions and actions that arise from our conditioned and true selves. It requires that we develop the capacity to use both sides of our brain, cultivate intuition, connect with our gut instincts and get in the flow of life to be open to synchronicities.

This pillar opens us up to navigating our lives from the inside out.

7. ENERGIZE your new way of being.

This pillar brings our soul’s energy to our actions and the ways we’re called to be of service.

Understanding and using the spiritual laws of the universe to manifest what wants to be brought forth through us for the betterment of ourselves and others is when we truly feel like we’re in the flow of life. Our actions arise from wisdom and are fueled by love.

The journey of awakening inner peace and authentic happiness is ironically paved with challenges, yet ultimately leads to living with more profound inner peace, joy and fulfillment.

I hope these seven pillars inspire and guide those responding to the call to awaken their true nature.

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