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by
Aletheia Luna
January 31, 2024
from
LonerWolf Website
You feel lost in life.
You're sick of your job, your relationships
are mediocre at best, your friendships are boring and empty, you
feel dead inside, and you've lost the zest for life...
Can you relate to any of these feelings or
experiences?
If you can, you might be going through an increasingly common
experience known as the existential crisis.
In other words, you're at a crossroads in life:
you're feeling stuck, and you're starting to
crave a more meaningful existence.
So, what's the solution to this gnawing angst?
Soul searching...!
You might have heard this term before but not
given it much attention or importance.
Am I right?
Well, I'm here today to point out that,
-
you've arrived at this page for a
reason
-
soul searching is a vital part of every
life journey in this world...
In this article, my intention is to show you why
and how.
What Does Soul Searching Mean? -
Definition
Simply put,
soul searching is the quest
to answer life's problems and questions.
When most people refer to 'soul searching,' they
are often talking about uncovering truth and happiness by
questioning our thoughts, habits, and motivations.
But soul searching also has a deeper meaning.
At its core, soul searching is a desire to return to the center of
your being.
Quite literally,
it is a journey to find your Soul and
reconnect with your True Nature.
In other words, it is a spiritual path...!
And usually, it marks the beginning of the
spiritual
awakening journey.
Why Soul Loss is the Root Cause of
Soul Searching
Why do some of us have such an intense, visceral desire to soul
search? To find what is meaningful, true, authentic, and deep?
The answer is soul loss.
When we are disconnected from our souls, we feel anxious, depressed,
lonely, isolated, and chronically dissatisfied with life.
To overcome this pain, we need to reconnect with the deepest,
rawest, most alive, and fundamental part of ourselves.
Indigenous and shamanic cultures for thousands of years have known
about the phenomenon of soul loss, and it's an increasing epidemic
in our society.
In our age of technology, in a society run on materialistic ideals
and egotism, we are becoming increasingly disconnected from the
wild, raw, and primal Center of our being.
As teacher and author Gary Zukav writes:
We have not turned our attention to the needs
of the soul. We have not considered what is required by the soul
in order to be healthy.
We have not studied the soul, or sought to
help it attain what is necessary to its evolution and its
health.
Because we have been fivesensory, we have
focused upon the body and the personality. We have developed an
extensive knowledge of the physical apparatus that the soul
assumes when it incarnates.
We know of amino acids, neurotransmitters,
chromosomes, and enzymes, but we do not know of the soul...!
So, what exactly is soul loss?
As we explain in
our soul loss article:
When we experience Soul Loss, a part of our
Soul - or living essence - 'hides' or shuts away, hindering us
from expressing and experiencing our true potential and
wholeness as human beings.
Often times entire aspects of our psyches are
completely blocked out or repressed.
There are many causes of soul loss.
Some of the common reasons are listed below:
-
Childhood trauma (physical, emotional,
mental, or sexual abuse; divorce; immigration; death in the
family; abandonment, bullying, etc.)
-
Adult trauma (job loss, poverty, rape,
violence, divorce, mental health issues, isolation,
accidents, death of loved ones, discrimination, etc.)
-
Social conditioning
-
Religious brainwashing
-
Overuse of technology/entertainment
(i.e., a form of numbing and escapism)
-
Inherited ancestral trauma
-
Materialism
-
Scientific/reductionist values and
structure of society
...and the list goes on.
Essentially, anything that threatens our physical, mental, or
emotional survival - and any addictive, one-sided, suppressive
ideology or habit - causes soul loss.
As a result, most of us feel a nagging, looming feeling that
something is wrong...
Something is missing.
We're not happy with ourselves or our lives,
no matter how popular, successful, or attractive we are.
Something is always missing.
And what's missing is the connection we have with
our Soul, which is the doorway to our True Nature.
19 Signs You're a
Lost Soul
The truth is that most people in society are lost souls.
They don't know about their deeper Self, aren't interested in it,
and have never dipped into the vast waters of their True Nature.
Instead, they operate solely from
the ego, the false self, that was
constructed since childhood to defend against the overwhelming
magnitude of Life.
Even when such people do begin to hear the longing of the soul to
break free and be seen, they suppress it.
They go back to the beliefs, habits, and
structures in society that reinforce mindlessness and soullessness -
because it's easier, it's less intimidating and less confronting.
But eventually, the longing becomes so intense that they have no
choice but to listen.
This is the beginning of the spiritual awakening
process:
the dismantling of the ego and the blossoming
of our Soul, which longs to reunite with our True Nature as
Spirit or Consciousness...
However, there's an in-between place:
a limbo...!
This is the space where lost souls dwell.
In this limbo, a dance between the old dissolving and the new
not-yet-coming-into-being is deeply felt.
It's at this point that we tend to feel stuck, lost, empty, alone,
and scared. There is the temptation to go back to old ways of being,
but at the same time, there's a profound sense of dissatisfaction
with everything.
If you're stuck in this limbo, you might experience the following
symptoms:
-
You feel constantly lethargic and
fatigued
-
You have no motivation and feel restless
-
You feel alone
-
You feel unhappy with your life
-
You crave something 'more'
-
You've become the outsider or the black
sheep of the family
-
You're frequently irritable and moody
-
You're undergoing a mid-life or
quarter-life crisis
-
You're more prone to addictions
-
You struggle with self-loathing
-
You keep trying to numb the pain, but
nothing works
-
You feel fundamentally 'broken'
-
You struggle with existential depression
and anxiety
-
You feel like something is missing inside
of you
-
You're bored and dissatisfied with others
and life
-
You feel stuck and stranded
-
You struggle with feeling empty inside
-
You don't know who you are anymore
-
You want to know what the point of
everything is
Can you relate...?
If so, you're certainly not alone.
Welcome to the Lost Souls Club.
Motto:
I can't get no satisfaction...
How to Practice Soul
Searching (7 Paths)
It's because
we feel
separate from oneness
that we
begin to search,
the search
for completion,
the search
to come home.
Jeff Foster
It's easy to soul search in the modern secularized sense of the
term.
All we need to do is introspect a little and ask
ourselves some pointed questions. Traveling is often touted as a
great way to soul search for young, bright-eyed seekers.
But soul searching, in the spiritual sense of the term, goes
much deeper than just hopping on a plane to Bali. Nevertheless, to
my knowledge, it is the most worthy and important pursuit in
existence.
What could be more vital than connecting with your innate,
fundamental, spiritual Essence?
If you're seeking to answer questions about mundane issues (like
what job will I suit, should I get married, etc.) then perhaps the
below recommendations won't satisfy you.
On the other hand, if you're looking to dive deep, learn how to find
yourself, how to be true to yourself, and open a door to your True
Nature, keep reading:
1. Make
friends with solitude
Solitude will be your greatest
ally when it comes to soul searching.
You need to be a lone wolf.
How else can you listen to the whispers
of your soul in a chaotic, noisy world?
It's extremely difficult to go within unless
you have undergone years of rigorous meditation training (which,
mind you, most people haven't).
So make regular time and space to spend time in solitude by
yourself away from others - no technology interruptions either
(digital people are still people)!
Think about dedicating ten minutes to half an hour (or more)
each day to a solitary activity of your choice. You might choose
something passive, such as meditation, or active, such as taking
a stroll through the woods.
Honor your level of energy and go with it.
2. Explore the nature of your ego
If your soul is your true individuated essence, your ego is your
false self:
it's the mask you present to the world.
Your ego is much like a cloud.
It appears to have form, but it changes and
morphs constantly.
Question:
have you ever noticed that you put on
different roles with different people?
Yep. That's your ego in action - it's not
solid, and essentially, it's a misrepresentation of who you
really are.
Unfortunately, our ego genuinely believes it is who we really
are. Because it's so convinced that it's real, it will reject
any attempt to dismantle it because it perceives that as a death
threat.
And so, growth of any kind is extremely
difficult because the ego is always trying to protect itself.
As we can see, exploring the nature of your ego (and learning to
see through it gently) is a crucial step in your soul searching
journey.
In fact, it's the single biggest block to
embodying who you really are.
To explore the nature of the ego, we need a combination of inner
work and soul work.
Inner work deals with the dissolving of
blockages in our psyches, while soul work is the practice of
surrendering to the Divine.
Some ways to explore your ego that combine
inner work and soul work include:
-
Journaling - writing down your
thoughts, self-beliefs, habits, likes, dislikes, and so
on
-
Self-inquiry - looking within and
asking "Who am I?" and seeing what changes, fades, or
dies (these are your ego elements); paradoxically, we
discover who we are by seeing who we are not.
-
Various forms of spiritual meditation
- there are so many ways to learn how to witness your
thoughts and the stories constructed by the mind - one
of the most common types is vipassana meditation
These three simple practices can have a
tremendous impact on your ability to see clearly and experience
the truth of who you really are.
3. Reconnect with your child self
As author and psychotherapist Dr. Neal Marshall Goldsmith
writes:
The soul... is this part of us that is
the earliest, deepest, and the most authentic part of us.
Your inner child carries the original
qualities of your soul that you were born with. And thankfully,
it's not that difficult to reconnect with your inner child.
I've written a lot about
inner child work on this
website in the past, but to summarize, here are a few ways to
tap into your childhood self:
-
Write a letter to your inner child
-
Do an inner child visualization or
meditation (here are some free inner child healing
affirmations we've created and shared on YouTube)
-
Look at pictures of your inner child
-
Do something your inner child loved to do
when you were little
-
Start each morning with an inner child
journaling practice (see our highly rated Inner
Child Journal for in-depth
guidance!)
Approach these activities gently.
Make observations about your younger self and
what they want or need from you. Also, reflect on the you now
and the you then.
What qualities from your inner child can you
integrate more into your life?
4. Reflect, introspect, and visualize
Soul searching is an inner adventure.
Therefore, the practices and steps you take
toward finding your inner Center will often require reflection
and introspection.
Additionally, visualization enhances these two qualities and
helps you to retrieve knowledge and guidance through the power
of imagination.
Poet and philosopher Mark Nepo shares a beautiful
visualization in his book The Book of Awakening:
Close your eyes and breathe your way
beneath your troubles, the way a diver slips to that depth
of stillness that is always waiting beneath the churning of
the waves.
Now, consider two things you love doing, such as running,
drawing, singing, bird-watching, gardening, or reading.
Meditate on what it is in each of these that makes you feel
alive.
Hold what they have in common before you, and breathing
slowly, feel the spot of grace these dear things mirror
within you.
This example of reflection, introspection,
and visualization is perfect for soul searching as it gets you
in touch with your basic aliveness:
the essence of your soul.
You can listen to or create any visualization
that appeals to you; just make sure it's soul-directed.
5. Connect with nature and the wildness within
you
Nature is tremendously healing and revivifying to the human
soul.
We often think of ourselves as separate
from nature.
We're human and "above" nature, after
all, right?
Wrong...
We're an inseparable part of nature.
Our blood, bones, hair, skin, and entrails
are all stuff of the earth:
animalistic, carnal, and corporeal.
Despite centuries of domestication, the human
soul still retains its innate, fundamentally wild nature.
We are not wild in the sense of 'uncontrollable' or 'feral,' but
wild in the sense that the Center of our being can't fully be
tamed:
it is essentially free...!
We are, at our core, all free spirits.
We see this in moments of heroism, in the
primal screams of childbirth, in the grunts of lovemaking, and
in the belly-deep laughs of mirth.
To get in touch with our basic wildness, our inner wolf, is to
unite with a fundamental quality of the soul - and that can
easily be rediscovered in the domain of nature.
It's not difficult or taxing to reconnect with nature. All it
requires is just a couple of minutes a day outside, mindfully
observing the trees, the animals, the clouds, and the sun rays
beaming through the clouds.
If you're lucky enough to live close to a
natural reserve, you might like to practice the Japanese art of
Forest Bathing or take a blanket and have a picnic.
If you're in the city, there's still the opportunity to connect
with nature. Go to the local park, listen to sounds of nature on
your phone, or buy a potted plant.
When your heart is open, there are endless
ways for nature to creep, dig, weave, and sprout its way into
your life.
6. Ask some soul searching questions
Questions are simple and direct ways of finding your personal
truth.
And living truthfully is living
authentically:
it is respecting the nature of your own
soul.
Some questions you might like to ask during
your soul searching journey might include the following:
-
Who am I?
-
What do I want in life?
-
What is the meaning of life?
-
What is my true purpose?
-
What is authentic within me?
-
What is inauthentic within me?
-
What does happiness mean to me?
-
What would truly fulfill me?
-
Where is my ego an obstacle?
-
What is a soul quality of mine?
-
What legacy do I want to leave?
These are only a few examples of soul
searching questions, so feel free to create and ask your own.
If you need more guidance on journaling as a beginner, see my
free guide on how to journal (there are 19 essential tips, so be
sure to check them out!).
7. Find your soul space and place
Sound confusing? I'll explain...
A soul place is a physical location that deeply calls to you: it
speaks to your soul. You might feel a sense of nostalgic longing
for this place or a sense of deep resonance and almost mystical
significance.
Soul places can be mundane areas (such as your backyard),
untouched areas (such as a place in the wilderness), or holy
sites (such as Stonehenge, Uluru, Notre Dame Cathedral, etc.).
You will feel a sense of expansion in these places, deep peace,
and like you have finally 'found home.'
What happens when you feel this way is that
you've found an external representation of the inner heaven
within you. That's why soul places touch us so deeply.
Your soul space (as opposed to a soul place), on
the other hand, is an inner experience of your True Nature. We
often inhabit our soul spaces in moments of prayer,
contemplation, altered states of consciousness, and deep
meditation.
As Mark Nepo writes,
Each person is born with an unencumbered
spot - free of expectation and regret, free of ambition and
embarrassment, free of fear and worry - an umbilical spot of
grace where we were each first touched by God.
It is this spot of grace that issues
peace.
-
Psychologists call this spot the
Psyche
-
Theologians call it the Soul
-
Jung calls it the Seat of the
Unconscious
-
Hindu masters call it Atman
-
Buddhists call it Dharma
-
Rilke calls it Inwardness
-
Sufis call it Qalb
-
Jesus calls it the Center of our Love
To know this spot of Inwardness is to
know who we are, not by surface markers of identity, not by
where we work or what we wear or how we like to be
addressed, but by feeling our place in relation to the
Infinite and by inhabiting it.
To inhabit this soul space, we need to
break through the barriers of the ego through various
methods of inner work - that is the doing side of things.
The other side is being:
we need a practice that helps us to cultivate
inner stillness and silence (found
through the practice of soul work).
And the best method I know of for experiencing
this state is meditation.
Therefore, I recommend practicing meditation (or dwelling in your
soul place) regularly as you discover your soul space in this world
- one enhances the other in an electric sort of way.
A few deep meditations you can experiment with include using a
mantra such as "I Am," using the self-inquiry method of "Who am I?"
or practicing open awareness where you allow all sounds, sensations,
and thoughts to rise and fall like waves in the ocean.
I am the
drop that contains the sea.
How beautiful to be an ocean,
hidden within an infinite drop.
Yunus
Emre
To soul search is to be fully human and to embark on the greatest
journey that life offers us:
the spiritual quest...!
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