Soul Centered Business: Daily Practice

In this week’s blog, I am thrilled to share Raven’s Soul Centered Business Daily Practice, taken from Embodied Awakening’s newly launched online course Soul Centered Business. Raven shared this practice with me a couple of years ago when I was really struggling to create effective work routines and flow in my life. This lead to a lot of stress and panic and also meant I was rarely working (and living) at my highest capacity, or enjoying my days, even though I love what I do.

This practice is one of the most significant changes I have made to how I spend my day and I can significantly tell the positive difference it makes on the days I do this compared to the days I don’t. I highly recommend you give it a go.

I always have a million things on my plate, love creating new projects, businesses and ventures and as a result, can start the day with a to-do list two or three pages long. Starting my day looking at this list instantly triggers feelings of overwhelm, stress and panic as to how I will get everything done. What’s more, I would often start the day checking emails and social media, adding even more new things to “do”, before I had even begun my day. This is not a good place to start working from. I know this, and yet, I have been trained and conditioned like most of us, to just knuckle down and to work hard and fast.

I am always grateful to have chosen a career that I love and to spend my time doing things I have genuine care and passion for. I made the decision to work for myself many years ago, so I could have the flexibility and freedom I crave. However, without a workplace setting work hours, or a team of colleagues to work with, I am often left to my own devices. I love choosing when my workday starts, or that I can take a day off here and there when I choose. However, the reality of how this actually looks is that I can be working in bed at 10pm, usually work over most weekends, and can spend a lot of my days drifting between work and rest, achieving neither state particularly well.

One of the biggest tips I received from the practice was to allocate realistic time frames to my daily list. How many of you set a to do list for the day without actually considering how long each task will realistically take? When I first started doing this practice I was shocked to see that my daily list of things to do, when given realistic time frames, was often well over 20-24 hours work. No wonder I was feeling like a failure at the end of each day!

Now I allocate realistic times frames to tasks, and most importantly, also allocate appropriate rest times too. By adding restful and joyful tasks to my list, I get the same positive endorphin hit from ticking off completing a break as I do from completing a task. This is a big shift from me regularly eating at my computer and plowing through the day until I fell in a heap.

By using the Soul Centred Business Daily Practice, I get a strong hit of endorphins right before my workday even begins. I check in and move my body. I get clear on my intentions. I create a clear, realistic daily list from a carefully considered master list. I take breaks. This not only makes me a better worker, but I am also able to more enjoy my time away from work.

-Erin Fowler

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Soul Centred Business Daily Practice

The following excerpt is take from the Soul Centred Business Manual by Chantelle Raven © 2020

Do you have a daily practice that keeps you on track, or do you prefer to go with the flow and have a rough idea in your head of what needs to be done?

The daily practice I am about to introduce is the best way to start your day, get you on track and keep you on track.  By following this practice, you will:

1. Keep you aligned to your purpose in a way that is enjoyable
2. Action your passion
3. Make you calmer, less stressed or overwhelmed, healthier, happier and most likely a lot better off financially
4. Help you to manifest the life of your dreams

Your daily practice is about taking action, staying on path, working smart and manifesting your vision.

Before You Begin

Please commit to the daily practice as THE FIRST THING YOU DO IN THE MORNING BEFORE CHECKING YOUR PHONE. Minimize distractions by silencing or turning off your mobile phone and letting others know you need silence and privacy for some time.

Snuggle your body a little and give yourself some love.  Say to yourself “I love you, I really, really love you”.  Do a few stretches and move your body a little, followed by making a lovely cup of tea or coffee.

As you do your daily practice, you can play the ‘Soul Centered Business Daily Practice’ playlist (Spotify account: Chantelle Raven).  This playlist has been designed to calm the mind, relax the body and open the heart.

1) Switch off, Prepare, Replenish and Move 

• Turn your phone off, drink water, make a cup of tea, stretch your body, get the Mastery & PurposeDaily Practice Spotify playlist ready and set-out all stationary for you lists.

2) Set Intentions 

• Place one hand on your heart and one hand on your belly, close your eyes and take 5 slow, deep breaths, suspending the in-breath for 7 seconds. Set an intention for the day to raise your standards of yourself. The best way you can do this is to call in the energy of a person who inspires you, that want to model yourself on.
• Now boost your intention with some life-affirming mantras. Breathe fully as you say them and feel them in your body.

Here are some example intentions:

1. Today is going to be a great day
2. I feel calm, confident and at ease
3. I joyfully commit to turning my passions into actions
4. I align myself with trust, grace and surrender
5. The only person’s approval I need is my own
6. Today I align myself with freedom, growth, and success
7. I am abundant and worthy of great success
8. Every adversity is a seed of greater success
9. I see the vision of the life I want as a reality that is manifesting

Use the mantras I have provided as a guide, and then modify them to suit you and/or add you own affirmations.  Whatever feels calming, empowering and inspiring for you.  These affirming mantras will help you build a belief system that is self-serving instead of debilitating and stressful.

3) Master List 

• Write a master list of all tasks you need to accomplish to turn your passions into reality.
• Larger tasks are unrealistic to achieve without actioning smaller tasks, so make sure your master list includes realistic, bite-size action steps. This will decrease procrastination and the feeling of overwhelm.
• Your master list should include both action steps directly associated with work, and activities that fill your cup so you don’t burn out (e.g. relaxation time, exercise and other activities).

List making is not just a matter of getting things down on paper or into a digital device; when you make a list of everything that is occupying your mind or distracting you, you can then identify:

• Which items are a priority
• Which items can be delegated to others
• Which items are not urgent and can be done in the future

4) Daily List 

• From your master list, write a separate list of everything that must be done TODAY, in the next 12 hours.
• This includes items from all four categories – work, life admin, social, fill your cup – so don’t forget things like free time, fun time, appointments etc.
• Be honest about how urgent things really are, how long they will take to action and what is most important for you to achieve today.Be realistic about the tasks you are putting on the daily list.
• It is better to have less tasks and know that you are going to achieve them, than having too many tasks which you can’t complete. When you don’t complete tasks on your daily list, it sends the message to your brain that you have failed and that you need to worry because you are now behind. All this does is cause stress in the body.  So be realistic when writing your daily task list.
• Celebrate your accomplishments as you check things off your list or hit a major milestone!

By committing to and completing your daily list, your life will become more self-loving and productive.

5) Delegation List 

• From your daily list, look for any tasks that can be done by others, especially if it’s not in your skill set or doesn’t juice you. These tasks can be delegated by payment of services or an exchange of some sort.
• Learning to delegate to others makes you more productive, less overwhelmed and helps you create community and connection.

6) Visualization 

• Now you’re ready to do some magic and manifest the life you love. Breathe deeply to bring yourself into a calm, centered state. Imagine your highest vision for your life – living your passion as if it has already happened. Feel the energy of what this would feel like in your body and breathe it into your being.
• Now step out of the vision in your mind and imagine you are holding this highest vision of your life in your hands, like a crystal ball. Now taking 4 deep breaths send this out to your future-life, and charge this image of you living in your highest vision.
• Close your eyes, settling back into your body and place your hands on your heart. Take a few quiet breaths and let your vision remain in your heart now and throughout the day.

7) Dance 

• With your day ahead of you and your vision felt, boost your serotonin and bring some breath, sound and movement into your body as you charge you day with dance. You can play the last song on the ‘Soul Centred Business Daily Practice’ Spotify Playlist ‘Good To Be Alive’).

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If this practice and blog resonates with you, I also encourage you to check out the Embodied Awakening online course, Soul Centered Business. During this course, Raven will guide you through strategies which acknowledge all parts of our human nature – the mind’s awareness, the body’s wisdom and the heart’s passion – to take your business to the next level.  Soul Centered Business teaches a holistic approach to business that facilitates true success; where expanded capability, physical abundance and emotional aliveness are all possible. To celebrate its release, for the next 7 days, this course has 50% off using 50SPECIAL if you CLICK HERE.

With Love,

Erin & Raven xx