5 Questions for Sera Beak

1. How can a novice begin the work of listening to their soul?

Every morning, silently or out loud, invite your soul to turn up its volume in your life. Then, throughout the day, pay attention to bodily sensations, feelings, signs, synchronicities, songs on the radio, conversations at work, nature, and your nightly dreams. Recording what you notice in a journal helps ground this practice and reinforces your soul’s reality. Our soul is constantly communicating with us, but it takes practice and dedication to recognize and translate our soul’s language.

2. You say that soul loss is an epidemic. How can we begin to reclaim the lost parts of our soul?

We begin by following the natural guidance of our body, acknowledging and expressing our feelings, learning to accept all parts of ourselves (light and dark), and consciously saying “yes” to being a messy, imperfect, beloved human. We lose our soul when we reject a part of ourselves. We reclaim our soul when we embrace ourselves—as we are, now.

3. Many people today identify as spiritual but not religious. You write that both are responsible for loss of the soul. Can spirituality help us embody our soul?

Spirituality can help us embody our soul if it encourages us to be real—not just a flawless, glowing, calm, and happy version of ourselves. Spirituality can help us embody our soul if it values our humanity as much as our divinity; encourages us to reintegrate the rejected (sometimes “unspiritual”) parts of ourselves; honors our soul’s sovereignty; supports our soul’s unique path, expression, and truth; roots us in our bodies and onto this planet; and helps us be genuinely, wildly alive.

4. Do you see soul work as part of the activism of the #MeToo movement?

Definitely. Speaking our truth, respecting our body (and all bodies), and standing for justice is soul work, and doing our personal soul work is what allows us to have the courage, strength, and stamina to do what is right not only for ourselves, but for others. In fact, Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. called the source that fueled their great work in the world Soul Force. Soul work takes us inward, so we can be more effective outward.

5. You write of a “Sacred Duty” to share your soul’s voice in a way that feels most authentic to you. How can we recognize that we’re doing that—or when we aren’t?

When we share our soul, we share ourselves. There’s no fluff, falsity, or unnatural filter. We feel empowered from the inside out and like we are (finally) living our truth. We will also feel naked, vulnerable, and some (or a lot of) fear because we live in a society where being authentic and soulful is rarely encouraged or valued. However, every time we dare to share our soul we encourage others to do the same, which has a positive and powerful impact on the entire planet.