Slowing Down to Embody Your Higher Self | Episode 116: Check in with Syd
Your Higher Self is the version of you who is able to embody peace, trust, and strength throughout all phases of your life. This is because, in the spiritual conversation, your Higher Self is the energetic version of your Spirit that has already lived through all timelines. Your Higher Self is a Spirit Guide you can connect with in order to receive guidance and support on your soul path.
In this episode of the Carrying Connected Conversations podcast, co-hosts Syd & Ang discuss Syd’s recent experiences of embodying her Higher Self. As Syd shares the lessons she has learned and the steps she has recently taken, Ang and the listener gain a better understanding of how Syd is able to live from a peaceful and empowered state of being. Syd shares the biggest blocks she experienced in embodying her Higher Self as her ego is conditioned to prioritize hustling and working hard. Throughout Syd’s healing journey she began to understand that her Soul Truths and her inner spirit were guiding her in a different way than the outdated conditioning of hustle. The key lesson she was missing was learning the art of slowing down and how patience plays a huge part in embodying your Higher Self.
Listen to the podcast now to get a glimpse into Syd’s experience of embodying her Higher Self and the lessons that came through this part of her journey.
You can continue reading about the conversation Syd & Ang had on the podcast through the transcript below.
Ang: Hello and welcome back to another episode of Carrying Connected Conversations. This is Angie chatting at you and I am pretty excited about today’s chat with you guys because today is a check in all about Sydney. If you remember, last week we did a check in on me and this time it’s all about Syd. For Syd, what she really wants to talk about today is embodying her Higher Self and by doing so it takes patience and the need to slow down.
I really have no idea where Syd is wanting to take this conversation other than what she has told me to start off. Let’s go ahead and check in with Syd, see how she is doing and then let’s go ahead and dive deep into this wonderful conversation. I have so many questions for you Syd.
So, Syd, how are you doing today my friend?
Syd: Hello, I’m doing really well and I am also really excited for this conversation because it’s been a really impactful few months for me. I feel like today’s topic is really going to be talking about how I’ve moved through the past few months, who I am, and how it’s gotten me to this space of where I feel I am embodying my Higher Self on a regular basis. So, I'm super stoked to share about my own experiences, how I got to this space and what got me here. Before I jump in and start talking and blabbing about everything, I would love to know if you have a question to start the conversation off.
Ang: I do and I’m glad you said that because it’s a two part question. I feel like with where you are at right now you will be able to kind of take me through the question. The first part is, what is creating stillness look like for you now versus what it looked like for you beforehand?
Syd: Ooooo, now versus beforehand. That’s really good.
Ang: And do you want me to say the second part now or in a bit?
Syd: Ya. You can give me the second part now.
Ang: Love it! So the second part is in the difference between now and before, what’s made it easier for you? So what are some of the things that you’ve been doing to be able to create more patience for yourself and to be able to slow down more in order to embody your Higher Self?
Syd: Oh wow! Okay that’s good. I’m glad I asked you now what that second one was, but I might need you to repeat it later. Hahaha
Ang: Hahaha! Literally, no problem!
Syd: Okay, so what does creating stillness look like now versus beforehand. I think for me, and I think this is really common in the way we live our lives. I think for me, especially since starting my personal growth journey and diving into healing and what that looks like on my spiritual journey, is this idea of thinking. Trying to understand my thoughts and trying to think my way to an answer. Previously, I think stillness looked like journaling constantly and trying to process my thoughts and trying to guide myself to an answer. In that space I didn’t always like it because I didn’t like what my thoughts were saying. If I look back on my past, before this year, really before the last 5 months. If I look back on last year around this time, or last fall, stillness was something that was hard for me to do because I wasn’t fully comfortable in my emotions. I wasn’t fully comfortable with my emotions, I wasn’t fully comfortable with my thoughts and I wasn’t fully comfortable with who I was.
So it’s not to say that if the way I take stillness now, if I did that back then I would’ve been where I am today. I think I needed it, I think it’s a journey, I think I needed that version of stillness in order to guide me to this version of stillness. So that old version of stillness really was about trying to process my thoughts and trying to think my way to a solution.
Ang: So thinking and journaling all together right?
Syd: Ya, exactly. Exactly. So sometimes my thinking process looked like journaling because I could get a little more clarity that way, rather than just letting the thoughts spin and spin and spin. Writing them down actually allowed me to process them. Whereas sometimes, it was sitting in my thoughts and trying to think my way to an answer. Maybe I was resisting journaling and I didn’t actually want to write out all the heavy thoughts I was holding onto. Or maybe I was in a space where I couldn’t journal, but I still had the thoughts going and I would want to embody my Higher Self, so I would try to process the thoughts as I was going.
Whereas now, what stillness looks like for me is, finally recognizing that I’m not going to think my way to peace. I’m not going to think my way to feeling connected. That is how I embody my Higher Self. I feel at peace and I feel connected. I feel my Spirit, I feel connected to the Universe, I feel connected to whatever that means to me. Right?! My mind isn’t going to get me there. I have to feel it as an energy, as a state of being. So, I had to prioritize creating stillness in the process of calming my thoughts and actually dropping into my heart centered, rather than just being in my mind all of the time.
This has taken a lot of practice. I still will find myself today, in my thoughts trying to process something and trying to find a solution, trying to gain clarity. I’m trying to feel peace, but I’m trying to think my way to peace, when all of a sudden I catch myself and I say “wait wait wait, I know that this doesn’t work”. I can’t think in a state of peace, I have to feel in a state of peace.
Ang: I love this because it’s the idea that thoughts are just thoughts and sometimes there are feelings that come from our thoughts. So, rather than going right into the thought itself, because sometimes you can get stuck in the thoughts and the thoughts just start to become stories. You are more focused on the feelings that are brought to you from the thought. It’s a lot easier for you to manage the feelings than the thoughts. Or at least now, that’s the difference, right? You’re no longer journaling and thinking your way through it. You are focusing more on, how can I better support myself now to continue on with this good feeling. Or how can I create a better feeling than beforehand?
Syd: Ya. I think, because I definitely still journal and I still see the benefits of journaling and I still use that as a practice for me. But I think I use it in maybe a slightly bit of a different way. Kind of answering the second part of your question, what’s made it easier for me now versus the way that I used to do it; in the end of the winter this year, January, February, March of 2022, I really allowed myself to sit with my emotions. This has been a journey and it’s something I’ve been doing for the last several years, but I think I finally did it in a very non-judgmental way, a very supportive way. I did it not to try to get to a solution or not to try to get to a better space, but instead, finding acceptance in that moment for how I felt and finding compassion for myself in that moment for how it felt.
Now, when I am trying to embody my Higher Self or find a solution for a problem or am going through a struggle and I want to be centered and connected and calm; to me that is embodying my Higher Self, when I am centered, connected and calm in order to move through whatever is happening in my life. In order to get to that space, sometimes I need to journal, sometimes I need to meditate, sometimes I need to cry, but really what it is is allowing myself to be in my emotions and holding space for me in my emotions, in order to not rush ahead and get to the next space. I think that was the biggest thing for me, is really holding space for my emotions, no longer judging who I was but instead holding peace for who I was in that moment and being okay with it. I think in the past I was a lot more judgmental towards myself, mainly because I carried a lot more insecurities and I had a lot more self doubt. Through holding space for my emotions I was really able to work through that and find this sense of peace in who I am and a sense of confidence in who I am.
Ang: Absolutely. You said this, but I am saying it a little bit differently than how you said it and it’s finding acceptance before finding a solution. Right? Whereas before you were so focused on creating the end result when you didn’t need to create the end result because you were still so flustered with what was already going on. Hence, why acceptance was so important now, to then find that solution. I think that’s super amazing.
Syd: Ya, the way you said that is exactly. I know that I want to live a life that is peaceful, that doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. This doesn’t mean that I never hit a problem, or I never find myself in a challenge. It means that I am able to accept what is happening right now as it is and still be at peace, still move through that moment with compassion. Rather than saying, once I have the solution then I’ll be at peace, once the problem is solved then I’ll be at peace. So you are exactly right, the acceptance needed to come first in order for the clarity or the solution to find me when the time is right. This whole process of embodying my HIgher Self and allowing stillness to be my guide, has allowed me to really embody patience like never before in my life. I’ve been someone who has always been very patient towards other people. I easily dole out patience to everyone around me, if someone is late or someone has to change their schedule or whatever, I’m so patient. But I was never really able to hold that sense of patience for myself and now that’s really changed.
Ang: Absolutely. Now, I have another question that you did technically, kind of technically, answer it, but I want to know has there been a pivotal moment where you 100% realized that slowing down, as simple as it sounds, was all you needed to do or creating stillness? Was there ever an Ah-Ha moment or was it something you just decided over time to keep practicing that acceptance piece?
Syd: I don’t think there was a specific moment, I think there was a sequence of events. For me, what really held me accountable with slowing down and carrying patience, was a message that I channeled at the start of 2022. I channeled this message, originally I thought that it was for the collective, and I think it still is for the collective, but I really took it as my mantra for this year. My Spirit Guides told me, it’s time to leave pressure and find purpose. This mantra has been my guiding light in staying accountable with slowing down because I’ve realized that I can’t find purpose if I’m feeling pressure to move quickly and act fast and hustle my way to the solution. For me, purpose is about being able to embody peace and let passion lead me. Sometimes I’m not feeling passionate, sometimes I don’t have the energy to pursue my passions of helping people and serving my community. If I don’t feel that sense of passion, then where is the purpose? Am I going to pressure myself into the passion? Am I going to pressure myself into leading myself with purpose? No, because I gave myself that space at the start of the year to say, no we are going to try a different way. We are going to try something different and see what it creates. In the process of keeping myself accountable with this, and the sequence of events that have led me to go “Ahhhh”, the Ah-Ha of I am embodying my Higher Self, is every single day that I prioritize stillness and I prioritize slowing down and patience, I have felt at peace. I have felt connected. It’s in that space where my passion strengthens, my passion for my purpose. Both my internal purpose for myself, and my external purpose for my community and part of what I feel like I am here to do in this lifetime. Feeling the way I have felt throughout this entire year and the way that I have been living, that has been the sequence of events that have made me say, this is it, this is what I am living for. This is what I want to continue to experience on a daily basis.
Ang: Absolutely. I know that you and I obviously have our chats outside of the podcast and I remember at the start of the year you really wanted to remove that idea of pressure because we are all stuck in this mentality of hustle. We have to hustle and hurry up to get the next thing done or find the solution or go to the next thing right. But, if we can’t find acceptance or our purpose and remove that pressure, it makes it difficult to get rid of the hustle. In saying that, how would you look at the hustle mentality now knowing that you can embody stillness to still get the same results, or a better result then you did before?
Syd: The hustle mentality really, for me and a lot of people, but I don’t want to generalize and say for everyone because this is my experience. The hustle mentality really comes from the ego space and these subconscious conditioned beliefs that make me believe that I have to live a certain way in order to be successful. In that space of hustling there is so much pressure, there is so much pressure from the belief system of you have to go-go-go in order to make money, you have to always be taking action. For me, for the longest time, it’s always felt very disconnected. I have always felt a sense of resistance in that way of life.
In my process of healing and in my learning journey I have uncovered that when you feel resistance to something, it’s because that thing is not in alignment with you. It’s either not in alignment with where you are desiring to go or it’s not in alignment with your Soul Truths. Once I dug into that space of, where is this hustle coming from and this constantly needing to “work hard to get to where you want to go”. I’m not saying that you don’t need to work hard, I’m not saying that you don’t need to take action, but it’s that constant taking action and working hard. Why was I so resistant towards it? In that space of slowing down and finding stillness, what I uncovered is it's so much easier to hear the voice of my soul, to feel my intuition and to know how my intuition is guiding me rather than this outdated conditioned belief that is not serving me. Is it serving other people? Sure, maybe, but I’ve learned that I’m not living life for other people, I’m living life for me and my experience. If I want to experience happiness or joy or fulfillment or peace, I need to learn to create that for myself in a way that feels good. For me, that is listening to the voice of my soul, that is feeling connected to the Universe and my Spirit, that is honouring my spirituality and not hiding myself because other people don’t agree with it. Actually honouring myself and what I choose to believe as my path.
Leaving that sense of hustle has allowed me to let go of the pressure behind that belief system and learning to slow down before taking action has allowed me to shift my energy. This is so I can live in alignment with my Higher Self and I can know that this action is not only the direction I am being called to move in, but it’s the direction I want to move in and I am excited to move in it. Not, I’m feeling pressured to go and forced to act quickly.
Ang: Absolutely. It really puts you back into the place of focusing on who you need to be while you do said thing, rather than focusing on what you need to do next. We can easily get caught up in the mundane, I’ve got to do this, this, that and the other thing, whereas you are saying, no slow down before you do anything to give yourself that place to be. I’m a huge advocate of, it’s not a matter of what we do, it’s a matter of who we are while we do it. If we can focus on becoming, or being a lot more still, and a lot more focused with that purpose we can slow down before we take action. I don’t know about you Syd, but I’ve always, or at least I used to, do things out of impulse, I used to do things right away as if it was something to respond to. But when you give yourself that time to slow down, you realize you don’t need to do anything impulsively because you’re actually doing it from a very soul-centered space, rather than an ego-centered space, which I think is more impulsive.
Syd: Ya definitely. It’s really checking in with your intention behind the action you're taking. I think it comes down to this space of asking yourself “am I living this way because I feel like I should be or because I feel like other people want me to live this way?” Am I taking impulsive action because I feel like this has to be the step for me to move? I think the question to ask ourselves is, do I want to work hard to get to the point where I am happy with who I am, or do I want to be happy with who I am to enjoy my life right now? That is the difference, it’s hustling to get to some point in the future where you then accept yourself and you accept your life. You think it’s all these external things that are going to bring you a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction and joy, whereas what I am saying is, I have it right now. Do I have all the things I desire? Fuck no. But I am happy with who I am today and I am continuously growing and working towards receiving the things I desire. But I am not pressuring myself to get to that point because then I will think I am successful. No, I already know I am successful right now, I am happy with who I am today. I am accepting of what my life is today and in this process there is way less pressure to get to some future moment so there is so much more space for enjoyment of this present moment.
Ang: Yes. I absolutely love this. It’s like you are constantly in this space, at least now I mean, you are constantly in this space of reminding yourself of your Higher Self and what you are trying to create. Originally I had a question written down and it was, how do you remind yourself of your Higher Self now versus before? From what I am gathering from the conversation, is that you keep adding in stillness, you keep slowing down. It’s consistency and that consistency starts to become second nature.
I have a question for old Sydney. What would you tell old Sydney, who was struggling with the hustle mentality, to remove that pressure now knowing what you know?
Syd: What would I say to her? I would say, All is well. All is well. You are safe. You are safe. All is well. There is nothing you have to do or should be doing. You are safe right here and right now.
I think, honestly, the way with the first question you asked and then you answered it yourself, you were on point there. How do I remind myself to embody my Higher Self? It is stillness, it is practicing stillness. There are so many things that affect us and push us into that ego space of hustle and pressure and forcefulness and ultimately what it is is that we don’t feel safe. So, in the process of slowing down I’m not slowing down because that’s what life is asking of me. I’m slowing down because that’s what my Spirit is asking of me. My Spirit is saying, when you slow down Sydney you remove the mask of who you think you should be, you remove the layers of who you were told who you should be and you actually find out who you are. Not who I am as Sydney the human, but who I am a Spirit, and how I am as a soul and who I came here to be. This space of stillness in order to embody my Higher Self is about reminding myself, I already am who I meant to be. Every single day not only am I removing more layers of ego, layers of shame and guilt, and these shoulds that I’ve been carrying, whether I was conditioned to carry them or I am carrying wounds from the generations before me or I’m carrying my own wounds. I removing these layers, and what I am doing every single day in stillness is I am remembering that I am part of Mother Earth, I am part of the animals around me, I am part of the sky and the moon, and the sun, I am part of this entire Universe, which means I am not in the Universe, I am of the Universe. That gives me so much more empowering energy to embody on my journey.
Ang: Absolutely. Oh my goodness! I love this Syd. You are now in this mentality of “I already am” and I think that is so powerful to continue on. What is something that will help you remember, or help you continue on with the “I already am” energy?
Syd: I think this kind of really brings me back to something that I am reminding myself of and I think it’s something that everyone needs to remember. It’s that everything that I desire is not going to happen immediately, so I need to learn to be fulfilled in the now whether I have what I want or I don’t. To remember that I have time because there is no rush. I’m in my 30’s, I could live until I’m in my late 90’s. Why are we so rushed to accomplish everything at such a young age? Let’s enjoy our life and let’s feel that sense of fulfillment in the process. Embodying that level of patience has changed my experience because it’s allowed me to say, where is my energy at today and I need to get aligned first before I go and do the tasks on my list. If that means that I don’t accomplish as many tasks as I had originally planned, I remember it’s a new day tomorrow. I’ve got time tomorrow to do those things. I am not going to reach my desires from a space of misalignment and disconnection because my desires are about being aligned and connected.
Ang: Yes! I love that! I love the idea of having time because it comes from the hustle mentality, “we have to hurry up and do, we have to hurry up to have all the things. We have to hurry up and be better than silly Sally or Billy Joe.” No, we already are and we have time. I think that is so powerful Syd for you to be able to embody this every single day in and every single day out. I’m sure you have your moments that you forget. Right?
Syd: Totally!
Ang: Ya, so I’m not far off in saying that then.
Syd: Ya because it’s a process. I’m not always in a space where I am connected to Spirit because there is so much energy that surrounds us that I am not only being impacted by my past and these conditions I am trying to overcome, but I am being impacted by the people I am interacting with on a daily basis. I am picking up on other people’s emotions, I am picking up on the energy of the Moon which could be triggering old unsupportive thoughts. There is so much that pulls me out of Spirit and pulls me out of that space of embodiment, so it is a practice. I might wake up one day and realize, damn I had a conversation with someone and even though I was so aligned in the conversation, today I am waking up realizing I still took on some of their energy. So, it’s a practice of really checking in with myself and the only way I can check in with myself is when I prioritize stillness.
Ang: Absolutely. It’s a practice as you said, meaning it’s ongoing. Like you said, it’s a practice that you need to get good at, but here is the thing, with life you can’t just get good at life; you have to keep consistently practicing time and time again finding the things that bring you stillness in order to embody your Higher Self.
Syd: Ya. If the way I have felt over the last four months is what I get and how I get to feel by embodying this and practicing this, even though it takes work, I will do it every day for the rest of my life because it is worth it. It is worth it to feel that sense of peace. It is worth it to feel that sense of connection. It is worth it to know that I am aligned and I am moving forward in a way that feels good to me. So I will show up every single day and commit myself to this lifestyle of practicing stillness even in the uncomfortable moments, even in the moments where I don’t want to acknowledge my thoughts or how I feel because I know it’s worth it. I’ve been in the space where it feels good.
Ang: Oh my goodness this is so good Syd! I am in love. I am in love with who you are now, this is amazing, and who you are becoming. You are consistently giving yourself what you need in order for you to feel so fulfilled in life and I think that right there is the most important life lesson. How can you feel good? How can you create peace in your life? How can you create that stillness in order to keep moving on? I think this is something that everyone, including myself can bring into our lives, it’s just a matter of what you said earlier, practicing consistently over time and then eventually it becomes second nature.
Syd: Ya, exactly. In that practice, as a reminder for everyone, what that practice of stillness is is about finding acceptance for yourself, for who you are right now, even if you believe you are not who you want to be, you have to accept yourself first.
Ang: I love that. That is a perfect little tip/reminder for everybody, so thank you for that Syd. Is there anything else that you moved through in the four months prior to us recording this that you want to share before we close off today’s topic.
Syd: I think it’s really a reminder of how a lot of the people I work with and a lot of the people in my community and who I connect with, what to be able to listen to their intuition, they want to be able to follow the voice of their soul, their soul path and live out their soul purpose. For anyone listening, for yourself Ang, and even for myself, if that resonates with you it truly is a reminder that you’re the only one that can feel your intuition. You are the only one that can hear the voice of your soul or know the voice of your soul, you’re the only one that knows your soul path, you’re the only one that knows your soul purpose, you’re the only one that feels a calling in a certain direction. If you want to lead that intuitive lifestyle, the spiritual lifestyle of pursuing your purpose, you have to be willing to slow down and listen. In that stillness is when you feel your Spirit come through. Then you get to carry that connection for the rest of your life and it’s worth it.
Ang: Ooooo I love this! Well, thank you so much for sharing everything that you’ve been through Syd, especially being vulnerable. Let’s be real it's hard to be real with ourselves, it’s hard to continue to want to be real with ourselves because this is the hard stuff right here. It’s not necessarily about what we need to be doing, it’s really who we need to be while we are doing the things and this is what makes it so difficult. Again, as you said it’s so worth it.
Thank you so much for sharing, thank you so much for being vulnerable and showing up for yourself so that the rest of us can show up for ourselves. That being said, we are going to cut things here, but we will be back next week. Don’t forget new episodes are launched every single Monday at 3am EST which is 12am PST.
I’m going to give you guys a little bit of a teaser. Next week, because we decided to change how we are doing the podcast and the layout of it all, we have decided to start sharing our expertise. That means, me, myself and I, Angie, your physical wellness expert, aka personal trainer and lifestyle coach, I am so excited to be sharing with you guys the truth in weight loss as your coach. That is going to be my topic that is what we are talking about next week. Of course stay tuned for Sydney’s coming up right after that.
This is where we are going to love you guys and leave you guys. We will be chatting at you again next week. Bye everyone.
Syd: Bye everyone!