How to have a soulful Christmas - Lian Brook-Tyler
Episode 531, released 17th December 2025.
All The Everything is Lian’s solo show where she dives deep into a topic, often woven around a myth or fairytale that she’s been journeying with.
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Lian explores what creates a soulful Christmas, beginning with the way the season stirs old memories and sudden tenderness, then circling through the frantic pace that pulls so many of us away from what we actually long for. She speaks about ancient midwinter traditions flickering beneath the surface of modern life, the hush that falls when the light begins to change, and the quiet ache that arrives when we slow down enough to notice what is really happening inside us.
From there the conversation moves into the practices that help you hold your ground in the middle of family dynamics, sensory overwhelm and the expectations that seem to gather in the dark of December, settling finally on how vision, community and small daily gestures shape the kind of Christmas you actually want to live.
Listen if you have ever felt both joy and dread rising together, wondered why familiar patterns return each year, or longed for a holiday that welcomes every part of you.
We’d love to know what YOU think about this week’s show. Let’s carry on the conversation… please leave a comment below.
What you’ll receive from this episode:
How the old rhythms under Christmas reveal themselves once you stop trying to perform the holiday and start listening for what is already moving beneath it
Why acknowledging longing, memory and discomfort can create a steadier, warmer Christmas than pushing for cheer ever could
What happens when you root your Christmas in real soulful practices rather than pressure, and how this transforms the way you experience community, self-care and the season itself
The Soul Practices Lian invited you into:
🌿 AWAKENING YOUR WILDNESS PRACTICES
Wild Practice 1: Sunrise or Moon Greeting
Make an intentional devotional choice to go outside each morning or night (depending on whether you’re a morning or night person).
Go out even for a very short amount of time (even one minute).
Greet the sunrise or the moon.
Pause and commune with that great being.
Let the light (sunlight or moonlight) touch your face.
Imagine your breath matching its ancient rhythm.
Allow its blessing into you.
Receive the gift of light.
Wild Practice 2: Choose a Place in Nature & Make an Offering
Choose a place in nature (a sit spot, special tree, or a place you feel drawn to).
If you don’t have one, go and find one.
Take a small offering that won’t damage the environment or wildlife.
Offer it intentionally (for example, seeds for birds).
Whisper your gratitude.
Make this an intentional act of giving at Christmas in a way that is wilder and older.
The offering can be for the place itself or the creatures who live there.
Wild Practice 3: Mini Wild Wonder Walk
Go for a short walk (even five minutes).
Do not set a goal or destination.
Allow your belly button to lead you.
Notice your body and your breath as you walk.
Notice what shifts as you return to belonging to the earth.
Come out of the busy, material world and return to your body and the earth.
Do this intentionally, even briefly.
👑 ACTUALISING YOUR SOVEREIGNTY PRACTICES
Sovereign Practice 1: Inner Child Christmas Inquiry
Ask your inner child:
What do you wish for Christmas this year?
What do you fear?
What do you crave?
What do you long for?
What would allow you to feel safe and welcomed?
Allow your inner child to answer you.
This can be a daily practice, especially in the mornings.
Keep your inner child present with you through the Christmas period.
Sovereign Practice 2: Throne of Sovereignty (Before Family Gatherings)
Before a family gathering (or before guests descend):
Stand or sit with both feet on the ground.
Breathe into your belly.
Imagine yourself sitting on the throne of your life.
Feel yourself rooted to the earth.
Imagine a crown on your head, opening to spirit and allowing it to flow through you.
Let this remind you of being centred, grounded, and guided.
Return to this embodied memory whenever you feel pulled out of centre or old patterns arise.
Sovereign Practice 3: Permission to Leave the Room
If a situation becomes tense, difficult, or painful:
Give yourself permission to leave the room.
It can be brief.
Even knowing you have permission can be enough.
Use simple excuses if needed (loo, letting dogs out, stepping into the garden).
Take a moment to ground yourself, reconnect with your inner child, and return to yourself.
Recognise this as a sovereign choice.
✨ AWAKENING THE SOUL PRACTICES
Soul Practice 1: Read a Nourishing Poem
Read a poem that nourishes you.
Poets mentioned: David Whyte, Mary Oliver (or your own favourites).
Make it a daily ritual, ideally in the morning.
Notice the line that speaks to you that day.
Journey with that line throughout the day.
Ask:
What is it wanting your soul to know?
What is it opening your soul to?
Let the poem be a soul touchstone through the day.
Soul Practice 2: Soulful Meditation / Being With Your Soul
Meditate in whatever way feels nourishing.
It does not need to be long (even five minutes).
Avoid forcing or obligation.
Create beauty:
Light a candle.
Gaze into the flame.
Simply be with yourself and your soul.
This may not even feel like “meditation” — it is a moment of communion with your soul.
Soul Practice 3: Listen Deeply
Listen to something nourishing:
Music
An audio (e.g. Richard Rudd / Gene Keys)
Let one phrase, melody, or sound shape the tone of your day.
Allow it to move through you.
Notice what your soul is being called to.
Let it remind you of your inner light, especially in bleak or wintry times.
The questions Lian asked:
Question 1
“If I could shape Christmas around what my soul actually longs for this year, what would it look like?”
Question 2
“Will you hold that vision?”
Will you hold the vision of what Christmas would look like if your soul was met and fulfilled in what it longs for? It is a sovereign choice to hold a soul-aligned vision.
Resources and stuff Lian spoke about:
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Share what showed up for you listening to this show, including any questions, either in the Be Mythical facebook group or in UNIO.
Join UNIO, The Community for Wild Sovereign Souls: This is for the old souls in this new world… Discover your kin & unite with your soul’s calling to truly live your myth.
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Thank you!
Lian & Jonathan
Episode Transcript:
Please note: We are a small team and not able to check through the transcript our software provides. So you may find some words are out of place and a few sentences don’t make complete sense. If you do see something utterly ridiculous we’d love you to let us know so we can correct it. Please email any howlers with the time stamp to team@bemythical.com.
Lian (00:00)
Could Christmas go from feeling frantic and stressful to a rich and soulful time of year? That's the question we will be journeying with today. Hello, my beautiful souls and a huge warm welcome. So this episode is what's known as my All the Everything and it's my solo show where I dive deep into a topic in a way that is much more of a co-creation with you listening or watching. And it very much is the place that you can get up close and personal with me and get inside my head and heart and see what I'm journeying with and what's on my mind and what's showing up in the work that we do with others. And this episode is a special one for two reasons. It's firstly,
The first time I've done a full episode here live on YouTube. So you might be at this point listening to this in the future, not on YouTube, but this moment I'm actually creating this live on YouTube. And this will hopefully be the first of many, possibly even the first of many monthly episodes. Secondly, this episode is all about Christmas, but not just Christmas, soulful Christmas. And does it get any more magical than that? And so before we jump into all of that goodness, I would like to say again, if you've just arrived here, this is your first time here with me, welcome. And if you've come back again, welcome home.
And if you keep finding yourself here without subscribing, your soul clearly knows what it is doing. So honour the call and go ahead and subscribe. And if you're struggling with the challenges of walking your soul path in this crazy modern world, and honestly, I only see that becoming more of a challenge the longer we've been doing this work.
And if you would benefit from guidance, kinship and support, come join us in UNIO, which is the community for wild sovereign souls. UNIO is the living home for the wild sovereign soul path where together we reclaim our wildness, actualise our sovereignty and awaken our souls. We meet twice each month in our community guidance circle where Jonathan and I will meet you exactly where you are,and work with you in whatever challenges you're experiencing. Not to fix them, not to magic them away as much as I understand sometimes that is the wish, but it's to guide you to meet that material for liberation that your soul is calling you to. So you may become truly free, living the life your heart longs for, you can discover more and walk with us by hopping over to be mythical.com slash Unio or click the link in the description.
And those of you that are already in UNIO or perhaps will be joining UNIO after this episode, recognise that what has come up in this episode, what we'll be journeying with is absolutely something we will be deepening into in UNIO. And you can bring whatever this episode has activated in you into the guidance circle to be met there.
So bear that in mind because there could be all kinds of things that you recognise that you would love to go deeper with and receive mine and Jonathan's guidance with.
And now back to this episode. Let's dive in.
So if you're in a space that you can close your eyes and really go inwards, that's my invitation. If perhaps you're in a setting where that's not possible, particularly if you're driving, just listen along in a way that is good for you. So obviously make sure you're safe and this descent into the episode and into your own soul in whatever way is right for you. So if you can.
Gently allow your eyes to close, to rest, or simply soften your gaze. Allow your breath to settle into its own rhythm, its own way, its own time. This is body time.
recognise the ways that perhaps you've been holding or rushing your breath.
and allow its own rhythm to return.
Allow yourself to be held in this moment.
Just feel the texture of the moment, of the air around you, the surface holding you.
and invite you to envision yourself walking along a quiet path through the winter woods. The air is cold enough to wake your senses and yet still soft enough to feel welcoming.
Snow glimmers on the ground catching those last sun rays of the afternoon. There's no rush here, no noise, only the slow rhythm of your feet, and the soft rhythm of your own breath.
As you walk, you look ahead on the path and you see a small cottage tucked among the trees.
You notice smoke curling from the chimney and warm golden light spilling through the windows. You see that gentle flickering as if it's welcoming you, calling you.
Those of you that are familiar with the story of the fox woman perhaps is reminiscent of her cottage. When you reach the door you push it open and you step into a room that's lit by candles and firelight.
The heady scent of pine and something warm and spiced hangs in the air.
This space is simple and quiet and safe and utterly welcome. It's a place where you can come and set down everything you've been carrying.
So I suggest you do just that.
The chair by the fire holds a blanket. And when you sit, you feel the weight of the year slip from your shoulders.
You gaze into the fire and the flames are moving slowly, giving a steady glow that softens the corners of the room and softens the corners of your being. As you rest, you sense the soul of Christmas sitting beside you. And not that rushed glossy version, but the older spirit of the season, the ancient one, the one that knows all about darkness and light, endings and beginnings, longing and warmth.
It sits near you, not touching, but simply offering its presence. Allow yourself to breathe with it.
Allow yourself to be attuned to that ancient soul of Christmas.,
Let yourself remember what you actually want from this time of year.
and let yourself feel what really matters and what does not.
In this cottage, in this quiet light, you are allowed to be exactly as you are. All of you is welcome. Tired, hopeful, tender, unsure, full of longing, full of gratitude. All of it can be here.
Sit and feel the warmth of the fire.
Feel that softness of your body and feel the truth that this season can be different to the ones you've known before. Softer, deeper, more your own. Filled with soul. Recognise you're already choosing that by being here right now.
There's no rush, you can stay here a little longer, wrapped in the blanket, the fire casting its warm lights across the room. And as you settle in deeper, others arrive too. Fellow souls who carry their own mix of longing and hope, their own stories of Christmas past, their own longing for something more soulful.
They step through the door just like you did, shaking off the cold and the weight of the year. Finding their place by the fire. No one needs to speak. The warmth gathers around all of us like a gentle welcome.
A circle, forms as if by magic, chairs drawn close, blankets draped over knees, candles glowing on the windowsill. It feels like a small sanctuary, hidden in these winter woods. A place you can just be yourself. Everyone here, every one of us, has chosen depth and meaning and soul.
You notice that there's a low wooden table beside the fire and on it lies an ancient book, softened by many winters and many hands have come before us. It holds those forgotten roots of the season, those older stories, the symbols of wisdom, the soul that still lives beneath the noise, this modern Christmas we've come to know.
The book knows that we're ready. So for now, simply rest where you are, wrapped, snug in that blanket, warmed all the way through by the fire, surrounded by others who long for the same truth. We will open that book together and step into those deeper roots.
to stay that feeling that you're not alone in wanting a different kind of Christmas.
Once upon a time, Christmas was soulful.
So when we talk about a soulful Christmas, we're not inventing something that's something new that we're having to co-create. We are remembering something that always was, that was here for all of our ancestors.
Certainly not many generations back, but long before this time of glossy gifts and tinsel and that pressure to always look polished and joyful. People gathered at this time of year for reasons that were deep in their bones, moved to it in a way that was beyond a need to choose consciously, just a rhythm that we returned to year after year. And
That still lives in us, that still lives in our bones and it still lives in our soul.
For thousands of years, midwinter has been a time where the world gets stripped back to its essentials. We can see that in the trees. As I look out the window at the moment, I have a silver birch that's at top of my garden and I can see it where I work every day. And it's such a beautiful reminder of every season. It lives the seasons fully, more so than any other tree I know. And at the moment, the silver birch looks like a snow queen.
She's a very queenly tree anyway, but in this time of year, she is exquisite. Those bare white branches just showing us like, this is right, this is right, everything should be falling away. And what's left is what's true. And our ancestors knew this too. Of course, the trees are our ancestors.
But our human ancestors knew this. They knew this in a way that we currently call gnosis. And they live so close to the land, close to the firelight, close to edge of survival at times. And so when the darkness came, they gathered together, not just for festivity, but there was this again, instinctive movement, choosing warmth, choosing togetherness, as song and story and ritual. Because the human heart understands that we survive the winter together, or perhaps not at all. But it's not just about survival. Here in the Northern world, as you may know, I'm in England. And here in this part of the world, this season was marked by celebrations such as yule and people lit fires and gathered evergreens and brought them into their homes. And this signified this sense of life is continuing. Maybe less bright, less bold, less colorful than the flowers of summer, but it's still there, this hidden seam, even when everything looks barren. Again, looking at my, my silver birch, just as I looked up at it, I saw a bird alight on its branches as if to say, yes, still there's life.
So they gathered and they stayed awake into the night telling those stories that nourish the soul. Nourish the soul and that's something again that we've forgotten but I believe we are reclaiming. Some communities honour that turning of the sun, recognising that the light will soon be reborn
that return from darkness into lengthening days again.
Although the world looks dead, appearances can be deceptive. ⁓ If the work of the soul tells us anything, it's that. And the cycle, the turning of the wheel is happening. It's already happening beneath the soil, even if we can't see it. And of course later, Christians came and celebrated Nativity at this time of year. And...
The amazing thing is when we can look through the eyes of the soul, rather than dividing ourselves up into this religion and this spiritual tradition and that's nothing to do with me, we see these same truths echo through all of these different traditions. So of course, Christians honored the birth of Christ, but again, the light of the world entering the darkness.
And so of course for Christians, that's not a metaphor. It's a holy event. God choosing to come among us in humility and vulnerability and love. Baby boy. And the season of midwinter came to hold this mystery with this spiritual power reminding us that we most cherish light when the world feels dark. Jonathan and I were having a conversation earlier today. And it was such a mundane thing we were talking about really. We were talking about my ongoing challenge to have a new fridge freezer delivered and it has been quite a trial and it finally happened today and it really did entail miracles. It wouldn't have happened without a miracle.
Without getting into the miracle of my fridge freezer. That miracle and everything that led up to it was what Jonathan and were talking about. And he said that very thing. you know, Dawn, it's a particular quote, which I'm probably not going to remember word for word, but it's that kind of, it's, we know Dawn is coming when it's darkest. And so these are truths that we are closer to at this time of year, reminded of Christmas but of course these are truths that we can remember anytime particularly soul time.
So again, woven through this time is that spiritual truth that this season has always held and reminds us of midwinter is a threshold. It's a time where we can choose when again, this crazy modern world is busy hustling and bustling and looking out there, looking at kind of validation of why
What we believe is what we believe. This time is an invitation to remember what our ancestors knew. This is a time to look inward and to remind ourselves of the old stories. The old stories, our own stories, our collective stories and understand who we're becoming. Asking ourselves, what do we need to let go of?
What needs to be tended? What wants to grow?
This is also a time when ancestors are asking to be honored and we can give blessings for the coming year and we can feel gratitude for the fragility and the beauty of life.
So. As we explore this notion of a soulful Christmas, again, this is a return to something that we know, we know in our soul already. We are remembering the truth of Christmas, the firelight, the gathering, the stories, the sweetness.
I hope.
It's a time of truth, a time of warmth in a cold world and a moment when we can allow the light to return.
So together, as we already are, as I've said, you've already made the choice to have a soulful Christmas to be here. And let's together reclaim a wisdom that's been with us for lifetimes. That life, light always returns. We're not meant to journey alone. And even in the deepest winter, something new is stirring.
And what's important to recognise is...
As we're opening to the possibility of something beautiful, it's important not to dismiss or bypass that Christmas also reveals things that can be painful.
That ache of longing where the kind of Christmas we're about to have is not the Christmas we want. It could be memories from the past.
It can be fears of not wanting things to repeat that we've experienced before. And maybe it's something you've not yet noticed, but you will this year.
And as we journey through this time, looking through the eyes of soul, those experiences and those feelings aren't problems to fix. They are invitations, threads to pull that lead us deeper into our own soul. There is something so beautiful about that. The more that we're able to look at all of life through soul eyes, the more what we're leads us deeper into soul. It really is the most magical of win-wins. But again, this season comes with it with so many emotions, so many complexities that often we bottle up. It's perhaps the hardest time to feel some of these things because we feel like it's, well, perhaps a bit Grinchy. My dogs at the moment, know, the Grinch, the green Christmas creature. My dogs at the moment have got a toy that's created in the form of the Grinch. And so we've had the Grinch with us since early December. In fact, it's the only, apart from my little tree that you can see behind me, it's so far the only Christmassy thing we've got. Because of aforementioned fridge freezer saga, we haven't yet been able to decorate to Christmas. It's much later than we normally would. And so the Grinch has been this kind of constant reminder of Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming. But of course, the Grinch does not want Christmas to come. The Grinch does not want that joyousness and gaiety. And so I think there is that sense of, I don't want to be the Grinch.
And so these complicated feelings where we don't feel enough, we don't feel we've got enough. And this can be ⁓ money to pay for the kind of Christmas that we want for ourselves and for our families. It can be, I don't have enough resources. I don't have enough ⁓ family, friends to be with. All of these things often go unspoken even more this time of year.
We feel even more alone with them because we don't want to be the Grinch. And so if we're going to look through the eyes of soul at Christmas, it's so important that we do at least for ourselves. And again, my invitation is we're here together to acknowledge what's coming up for us. And again, these can be all kinds of things, but what I often notice is the the themes that come up for us at Christmas, it's a little bit like that, that kind of throw away, I don't know you'd call it, saying remark when people say, when people are drunk, it kind of only brings out who they already are. It doesn't kind of suddenly create a different version of themselves. It just kind of heightens who they already are. And I would say the same is true in this way for Christmas in that, I've noticed the kinds of fears and sadness and challenges that come up for us at Christmas are very often the same that we are journeying with all the way through the year, just magnified and therefore feel even more overwhelming and because of aforementioned Grinch avoidance are even harder to be with. And so again, my invitation is for you to recognise that what's coming up is not because, you know, there's something wrong with you, or this is something that only Christmas creates. Again, we can sometimes journey through life as a victim to outside circumstances as if it wasn't for Christmas, I wouldn't be feeling this way. But recognise that perhaps this season is more a mirror and a magnifier. And so...
This gives us an opportunity to meet that which, for whatever reason, we weren't able to meet as deeply before. And so again, these can come in, I'm going to give some examples, but it could be yours is different. Don't feel as though if I haven't mentioned the kind of thing that's coming up for you, that there's something wrong with you, I'm going to just name a couple. So I've already touched on that sense of aloneness and...
When we're coming to Christmas, the time that we all considers like, this is when you're meant to be with the people you love the most. It's when we most notice we're not with the people we love the most. And that can be because, for example, we would really love to have a partner and yet we're single. It could be because we've lost the people we love the most. I'm speaking personally, I've lost both of my parents and had some tenderness come up in that moment, which isn't often there when I'm talking about my parents. And I think it was really, really recognising that, again, the memories of Christmas is past and of course they can be beautiful Christmases or painful Christmases, but we do get taken back into those experiences, plunge back, you know, these markers.
across the year and particularly Christmas because it's so momentous culturally and collectively. We have those memories that are so embedded in that day. And in that moment where I mentioned my parents not being here, I was kind of thrust into the memory of Christmas is past. was raised ⁓ most of my childhood by my father. So we were a single parent family.
And there were times where we were living in such strange circumstances. mean, we, we traveled, we traveled around when we weren't traveling the world and we lived in tents and squats and all kinds of things. And we often didn't have much of anything actually. We didn't have much money at points. We didn't have much family. We didn't have often even a home and
My father somehow, my sister and I were talking about this the other day, even though we were brought up apart, had sometimes Christmases together. And my father somehow always made them so magical. He had that kind of touch of magic that some people do. And I don't recall ever feeling like we were lacking because of the the way he would make it such a magical day. so, you know, certainly for me, I recognise like my parents are not here. They are lacking if we were to look at it in that material way. And so again, that can absolutely be one of the ways that we find Christmas painful.
And then of course, on the flip side, it can be that we're spending Christmas for people that we find challenging, that trigger us. And again, sometimes this is because they're family, because we had those difficult experiences and created patterns of relating, that being together again at Christmas, like really triggers us back into those feelings.
And so again, it can be actually who we're with that can be really challenging at this time of year. So again, I'm not going to list all of the ways that we can struggle with Christmas, but you can hear that often these are themes that many of us journey with our own individual version of them. But chances are, whatever those tender places of Christmas are for you, you're not alone with that.
And so before we move on, I'm going to ask you and feel free to, if you're here with me live to share in the chat or if you would prefer or you're not here with me live, I would really invite you to sit with what I'm about to ask you and then capture it, capture it in writing.
So what part of Christmas feels most difficult for me? Almost tender. What part of Christmas feels most difficult for me? Almost tender.
Just sit a while and allow yourself to notice what arises. And of course that doesn't need to be in words. It could be in a memory, feeling, vision.
So I'll just give you a moment to touch into that.
And again, if you're here with me live, please feel free to share. Again, there's something about us journeying this way that really allows us to recognise we're not alone in the experiences we're having or indeed to have a soulful Christmas.
And again, I want to remind you that these places, these places that feel painful and feel tender, understandably, we would like to get rid of them. We'd like to fix them. We want to kind of brace ourselves against feeling them. But the invitation of a Soulful Christmas is to meet them differently this year with warmth and compassion and with soul.
So I'm going to share with you some ways that you might do that. Of course, you know, we've already begun, as I said, you being here is already starting to journey with Christmas differently. And now I'm going to share with you some practices you might choose into. My invitation very much is not to say I'm going to take on every one of those and be a brilliant student to the point where it just feels like yet another obligation, which can be very much a theme of Christmas. It's to, as I'm sharing them with you, notice those ones that you feel a sense of kind of, ⁓ like curiosity or tingle or excitement. Also notice there might be ones that trigger a real sense of resistance or, you know, like unworthiness because they can sometimes be the right ones to choose as well. So I would say from the smorgasbord of practices I'm about to invite you into, choose perhaps three. If you feel as though you want to choose more, please do. But again, don't feel that you must do all of these. Again, this really isn't about meeting some kind of idea of someone else's demands and expectations. It really isn't. And so
I'm going to share these practices, these soulful practices through the lens of the three, what we might call pillars or principles of the work we do. And so they are wild, sovereign and soul. And just briefly, I could say so much more about these three principles, these threads, these strands of the work. But they're very helpful because those moments where we do feel ungrounded, unanchored, sort of outside of our center, just even remembering almost as a mantra, wild sovereign soul, kind of can hook us back into something, something truer, something deeper into that recognition of, I realize I've come away from that truth of myself as a wild sovereign soul.
and therefore can start to call ourselves back. So I'm going to again, talk you through practices that align with those three strands for that reason. And so the first one is wild. So this idea of reclaiming our wildness, more than an idea of course, is an invitation, it's a life's work. It's something that for many of us is actually the first step on our soul path, this reclamation of our wildness. As this includes the wildness of the natural world, but also the wildness of our body and the cycles. And so we'll make sure actually that we capture these and ⁓ add them to the show notes afterwards. So feel free to make notes, but we will find a way of making sure we've captured these too. So go outside either depending on whether you're a morning person or a night person, I'm very much a night person.
Make an intentional devotional choice to go outside each morning or night. And it could be again, just for a very short space of time. None of these practices are meant to be these kind of very,grueling, rigorous practices meant to be sweet and soulful. So even could be a minute and either greet the sunrise or the moon, course, depending on what time of day you've gone out and really take a moment to pause and commune.
with that great being. Let the light, whether it's sunlight or moonlight, touch your face. Imagine your breath matching its ancient rhythm. Allow its blessing into you, this great gift of light.
So that's the first one. Second wild practice is three for each of the strands. So nine in total practices. So next one is choose a place in nature. And it could be, you have journeyed with this for a while, you probably have a sit spot or a special tree. If you don't, this is a perfect time to go and find one. And when you go, go and take it a Christmas present. Go and give it a small offering something that isn't going to damage the environment, of course, something that's not going to be poisonous to wildlife. Go and take that offering and whisper your gratitude.
It could be a handful of seeds for the birds. It doesn't have to be to the place. It could be to the creatures of that place as well. But really, again, make this an intentional act of giving at Christmas in a way that is wilder and older.
And then lastly, this is a kind of mini version of a wild wonder practice that we again, invite all of our students into at all kinds of points of their life. This is a very short kind of soulful Christmas wild wonder. So literally it could be five minutes and without a goal, without a destination that you've kind of created in your head, allow your belly button to lead you and as you walk, really notice your body, your breath.
Notice what's shifting as you return to belonging to the earth, coming out of this again, very busy material world that we've created that has its moments, has its pleasures. And yet it's very hard to really feel that ancient sense of connection to the earth when we're in, for example, a shopping mall.
And so really allow that to happen when you go on this walk, just return to your body and return to the earth in a very intentional way. But again, doesn't have to be for very long. So they are the wild soulful practices. It may be that you choose one from each strand. So they're the first three. So the sovereign practice. So the idea of actualizing, I keep saying the idea, which is really not the best word to use here, the work, the invitation of actualizing our sovereignty. So sovereignty isn't something that we kind of come out the womb with it very much is something that we need to choose into maturing actualizing. And it's really something we have to keep choosing as well is not a one and done for sure. And yet it's required really, in order to journey into the other two strands. So the other two strands again being reclamation of our wildness and the awakening of our soul that we'll come to in a moment, sovereignty often is absolutely required to choose what is needed for those other two. And so it is the most practical and empowering thing we can possibly do because of what it allows us to move into that otherwise wouldn't be the case. So these are the sovereign practices.
The first one is, if I could choose one practice that everyone here were going to do, it be this one.
So ask your inner child what they wish for Christmas. What do they wish for Christmas this year? And allow them to tell you also, what is it that they fear? What do they crave? What do they long for? What would allow them to feel safe and welcomed? And this again could be a daily practice that you do every morning to really keep your inner child present for you each day during this time of year. And I would say, ironically, even though we often say Christmas is for children, it's so often the time that actual children are most controlled and pressurized and unseen. At this time of year, I often have coming up in Facebook memories, memories and articles and things like that that I've shared in years past when my children were small and they were experiencing that kind of cliche of going out into the mainstream world and people would say to them things like have you been good this year? know so that Santa will visit and my daughter in particular is just She's got, she's got a particular way of being she's not what I'm about to say might sound very feisty and she isn't feisty in the way it sounds. She's actually got this very like, ray of sunshine, of irrepressible spirit. And so the way that I'm going to reply to this doesn't do her justice, but she would reply in this just gorgeous way of kind of like, we don't have to be good or bad. You know, Father Christmas loves us and will come to us anyway. She would say things like that.
And then one particularly memorable year, we'd taken them to go and see Father Christmas at a garden center, of, know, grotto type thing. And they were there sitting next to the Father Christmas and the Father Christmas went something like, ho, ho, ho. Have you? I was expecting to say ho, ho.
You're getting it all on this episode even by the Christmas images. So ho, ho, ho, have you been good little boy and girl? And my daughter said something like, no, that's just something that parents say to make their children behave. We don't believe in that in our house. Meanwhile, my son who's just a little bit older.
I was doing those kind of like throat cutting movements like stop, stop, stop. It absolutely cracked me up. was just, I was so proud in that moment. Like, yes, they know the truth. why was I telling that story? of course. Yeah. So of course it's this time of year, ironically, that we say it's for children that I would say it's least for what children really are, which is this like, you beautiful expression of all that's good. And instead of allowing that, we try and ⁓ create even more controlling and clamping down our behaviour than we do often the rest of the year. And the same goes for our own inner children, that it's when they're most neglected, most abandoned, most not listened to, most squished down. So let this be the Christmas where that changes.
The next sovereign practice before any family gathering, take a moment before the family descend or before they descend from the various places in the household if you've got household guests and stand or sit with both feet on the ground and breathe into your belly and imagine yourself sitting on this throne of your life, rooted to the earth, crown on your head, opening to spirit, allowing that to flow through you, allow it to remind you of that feeling of being centred and grounded, guided.
And come back to that when the time, those times where you start to feel pulled out of center, when those old patterns start to catalyze in you over the Christmas dinner table or wherever they do, just take a moment to come back into that embodied memory of what sovereignty feels like. I'm going through these quite quickly now, I appreciate, because this has ended up being quite a long episode, but hopefully, even if you do that once, you'll start to see what I mean, you can build on that.
Okay, last sovereign practice. And this is a kind of more of a practice in the moment, what we might call kind of like that daily training. So if you're in a room where it's starting to get tense, difficult, painful, give yourself permission to leave the room.
Really simple, but sometimes really hard to choose. Give yourself a moment to leave the room. And again, it can just be very brief. Sometimes it can be just like that knowing that we've got the permission actually means we don't need to do it. Or it can be just make an excuse to use the loo or whatever. For me, my dogs need to be let out 8 million times a day. So that's always a good way if someone does need a moment to themselves. And you can also obviously step out into the garden at the same time then.
Just even a moment of allowing yourself to choose to come back to yourself, ground yourself, touch in with your inner child can make all the difference. And it's a sovereign choice to know that you can choose that.
Okay. And then lastly, awakening your soul and the, that word awakening is important one because it's not awaken your soul is awakening because this is always an ongoing way of life is not that we kind of wake our soul at once. This is a communion, a devotion, a way of living that is ongoing. And the first one is to read a poem that nourishes you. And some of my favourites include David Whyte and Mary Oliver, but you might have different ones. So you probably is good. I've got tons and tons of poetry books. So it might be that you, if you haven't got one, that's a Christmas gift for yourself to, or I don't wait for Christmas perhaps to be asked, because I think this is something to begin as soon as you've listened to this episode. So you don't already have a poetry book. So if you can get hold of one.
and have that as a daily soulful ritual that you do perhaps first thing in the morning and read a poem each day and allow that one line that kind of really spoke to you, you you notice particularly as poets like David Whyte and Mary Oliver, they have this kind of like line and often it's a different line just to say it's not like it's the same line every time there's some lines in certain poems that literally every time I read them they're like Gosh, you know, bring me to tears or open my heart. But sometimes it's a different line. So notice which line speaks to you and then journey with it during that day. What is it wanting your soul to know? What is it opening your soul to? So really allow this poem to be that kind of touchstone of soul through the day. The next one is...
Meditate in whatever way. And again, this doesn't have to be a really long meditation. It could be, again, taking five minutes, but do it in a way that feels really nourishing. So not, not a sense of kind of, again, this, ⁓ I have to do this. This is a commitment I've got to make something that feels beautiful. Just, it could be as simple as lighting a candle and sitting with a candle and gazing into it for five minutes allowing yourself to be with yourself and your soul. So again this doesn't have to be some grand tradition of meditating. It may even be the word meditating isn't the right way to describe it for you. It is a moment to be with your soul. again, so allow yourself to be with that and create it in whatever way is right for you.
The last soulful practice is to listen to something. So similar to the first one in reading the poem, this time it's listening. And there's something about these different ways of allowing our senses to take in what's right for our soul and working with different courses, there's all kinds of senses that we can use. So these are just a couple. But listen to something. So it could be a piece of music, it could be one of say Richard Rudd's audios, Richard Rudd who created Gene Keys. So listen and again, let something from that could be one phrase, a particular melody, really shape the tone of your day. Really allow it to kind of keep moving through you and allow it to kind of again, see what your soul is being called to. You know, perhaps it's something that just allows you to remember your own inner light at a time where everything looks bleak and wintry. I had a moment of that just before this, this episode actually. So I was, I was trying to get all of this set up by all of this, if you're watching live, I mean the, the lighting, the everything and trying to get it all working with YouTube and some reason my lighting wasn't quite right. And then I didn't look right. And so I was, I was doing that. And so I was kind of going back and forth, kind of getting different things and turning things off. And then I needed to nip upstairs for something. By this point, I was about 10 minutes late and I was like, gosh, am I, am I going to be a point where I can go live? And I turned and noticed a print that's hanging on my bedroom wall that has been for many, many years. And those of you that have, um, listen to the podcast or read things I've written will probably know the piece of art that I mean. It's Waterhouse's Soul of the Rose. And it's my, to say it's my favourite picture, just doesn't even come close to describing what this painting is to me. It really is the North Star of my soul. And it's, when I have a moment of really communing with it, It does give me that moment of soul awakening again, reminds me of who I am. And if you're not familiar with that painting, the woman is, and my daughter has often said the woman looks so much like me. don't necessarily see it myself, but she used to actually say, that you in the picture, mommy? Which of course, I take as a huge compliment. And she's… got her eyes closed and she's smelling a rose and she's in this kind of very quintessential, what looks like probably a kind of English country house and an English country garden. And these beautiful robes of kind of greens and aquamarines and everything is exactly as it's meant to be. Just that moment of her just burrowing her face in this rose and breathing it in and I saw that I just passed it and it was just like that kind of wake up call, like literally a wake up call to my soul. And that is what I'm inviting you into. So of course, what I just described was a painting that just happened again. I'm kind of surrounded by things that do that for me. That one is probably the most like, yeah, if I, if I notice it in the right place in the right way, it will do that. But again, the invitation is, to find something to listen to that might do that for you.
Okay, so again, choose as many as you want. I would suggest choose one from each of those three strands.
So I'm going to ask you a question again and my invitation would be if you want to share it, if you're here with me live, please do. And if not, I would say again, after you've realised what the answer is, write it down. So the question is, if I could shape Christmas around what my soul actually longs for this year, what would it look like?
If I could shape Christmas around what my soul actually longs for this year, what would it look like? Take a moment to feel into, envision what that would be. And again, please do feel free to share.
And my next question is, will you hold that vision? That vision that's been illuminated for you of what your Christmas would look like if your soul was met, fulfilled in what it longs for. That vision, will you hold it? Again, it's a very sovereign choice to hold a vision, especially a soul aligned.
And again, I had a perfect example of the power of holding a vision earlier with the miracle that was my fridge freezer. Again, without going into the whole saga, it got to the point where everyone had given up on getting this freezer into the dining room. The reason why it's in the dining room I will not go into in this conversation, but this was the third attempt of having it delivered.
Everything had been tried. It was at that very point where everyone was kind of shrugging their shoulders with three delivery men, my husband, myself, and we're kind of okay. And I went into the loop, very similar to that sort of sovereign practice I mentioned earlier of like just taking a moment for yourself. So I went into the what's known as the loo of insights, because quite often I have these magical realizations in there. And I went into the loo and was just like, perhaps, perhaps I do need to just give up on this. Maybe, maybe reality is trying to tell me something that I'm arguing with and it's time for me to say to the men, yeah, it's okay. You've really tried your best. It's time to just give up on this idea. And so I was almost about to do that. And then I had this moment of, but what if it's actually a call for me to hold the vision and I was like, can I even envision the fridge freezer where I want it? And so I closed my eyes. So this was going on with the delivery men standing not far from where I was in this loo. You know, chatting amongst themselves, waiting for me to come out and probably a bit like that kind of Roman emperor kind of thumbs up, down moment. And I closed my eyes. I was like, can I actually envision it there?
And as soon as I did, I had the really clear picture of the fridge freeze exactly where I wanted it. And it was so clear. I was like, well, if I can see that that clearly, it must be possible. It must be possible. Okay. I'm going to hold that vision. I don't know how, cause we've tried absolutely everything at this point and everyone's fed up and wants to go home. But, um, I'm going to go out, hold that vision and see what happens.
And so, at that moment, the men sort of went, hello, because I've not been there for ages, but I don't think they knew where I was. So I came out, came back into the room, and they'd been there kind of, you know, trying to tilt this fridge freezer every which way to get it through this really tiny doorway. And it really, the more they did it, the more it looked like this is going to be impossible. And then I just had that idea that just came completely out the blue where it's hard to do this justice. It was so much more magical than I'm about to describe. I suddenly said, what if we took it back out of the room into the hall where there's more kind of headroom and tilted it there and then brought it into the room. It's not like a massive angle, it's a safe enough angle for a freezer, but not enough of an angle that we could create with the beamed ceiling of the room that was in. And we take it out into the room with a higher ceiling, we can tilt it at the angle there, bring it in and then straight through the doorway it can't get through it. And it was so funny because all the men were kind of looking at each other like, yes. And then they did just that. So within about five minutes of me having that moment in the loo, the fridge freezer was exactly where I had envisioned it. A very mundane kind of Christmas miracle, but a perfect example of the power of holding one's vision even when it is most tested. So I am going to read a poem to you. I think it feels like a fitting way to close on this soulful episode.
And as ever, when I read a poem, I invite you to close your eyes and allow the words to take you on a journey. And of course, this is by David Whyte It could have been by Mary Oliver, but this one's David Whyte. And it is beautifully called The Winter of Listening.
All this petty worry while the great cloak of the sky grows dark and intense around every living thing. All this trying to know who we are and all this wanting to know exactly what we must do. But what is precious inside us does not care to be known by the mind in ways that diminish its presence. What we strive for in perfection is not what turns us into the lit angel we desire. What disturbs and then nourishes has everything we need. What we hate in ourselves is what we cannot know in ourselves, but what is true to the pattern does not need to be explained. Inside every one of us is a great shout of joy waiting to be born.
So my dears, may this season meet you so gently, so beautifully. May you feel held by something so much older than expectation and obligation.
May you know the hush of winter, the softening of light, the places you can just be, those small moments that remind you of who you really are.
May what's tender in you be protected. May what's tired in you be given rest.
May what is longing to be welcomed, be welcomed without judgment.
Your Christmas be a returning home to your heart, to your body, to your rhythm and to your own soul.
May be returning home to the truth of this season that has been waiting with open arms since the day you were born.
Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
So I'm going to have a look at some of the many, many beautiful comments that have come in during this episode. my gosh, just, it's warming my heart so much to see what's been shared.
There's some real recognition of the pain of this time for some of us and the particular ways that can show up, letting people down in regards to connection and also ability to send gifts, past trauma that happened this time of year, my distance from others, not having the joy and laughter of community.
And one of the visions shared was my soul aches to show everyone how beautiful they are. Yes, me too. And a wish for threefold peace alignment. So I really hope there was something for you, a gift for you indeed.
in this episode and again that it isn't that a soulful Christmas is something you need to somehow create in the future, recognise you being here is already you choosing that, it's already begun, it's already begun, allow it to continue to flow. And so if you would like to hop on over to the show notes for the links and also again we'll make sure the practice is I mentioned a captured there,the show notes won't be quite live now if you're with me live, but in a few days they will be, and they'll be at be mythical.com slash podcast slash five three one. And as you heard me say earlier, if you are struggling with the challenges of walking your soul path in this crazy modern world, and with benefit from guidance, kinship and support, come join us in UNIO, the community for wild sovereign souls. UNIO is the living home for the wild sovereign soul path, which if you're not already in UNIO, you've got a taste of today. And again, it's the place where we reclaim our wildness, actualise our sovereignty and awaken our souls. If you could discover more and walk with us by hopping over to bemythical.com slash UNIO or click the link in the description.
And again, if you're already with us in UNIO, we can absolutely continue to journey with everything that we journeyed with today, more deeply in UNIO and including in the guidance circle, Let me find the date of that. Yes, next Thursday, 18th of December. And if you're not yet a member of UNIO, come join us and you can join us for that very guidance circle. And it's the opportunity again to be together in community. But also if you have a particular question or request for guidance to be met by myself or Jonathan in a very deep, soulful way. certainly isn't a place where it's kind of like, know, Q &A isn't really what it is. It very much is this kind of very… sovereign, loving, journeying together. And there's something magical that always happens where even if you aren't the one who's asking a question, we all have that experience of kind of feeling that something in whatever came up for that person asking is mirrored for us. And that includes myself and Jonathan. And if you don't want to miss out on next week's episode, well, actually, no edit myself here. This is actually our last episode for this year. We're taking a break. So this is our last episode for 2025. So we're taking a longer break than usual. And then we're back in the new year and we've actually got the reason we're taking a bit of a long break is very exciting. We've got some really beautiful creations to allow that wild sovereign soul path to be something that is a doorway that is so much more tangible, so much more accessible, that really is their opening for anyone whose soul is calling them to it. So that's to come in the new year. So again, we're taking a little bit of a longer break with a podcast in order to bring that into the world. But… If you don't want to miss out on the very next episode that comes out, head on over to your favourite podcasting app or platform, including of course YouTube where I'm right now and hit that subscribe or follow button. That way you'll get each episode delivered straight to your device auto magically as soon as it's released. Thank you so much for joining me. You've been wonderful. I'm sending you all my love. I'll catch you again next year.
I love to say that. And until then, go be mythical.