Today, my dears, I want to invite you to do a twenty-one day process I created that I call the, 21- Day Soul Integration Cleanse (21-Day Soul Cleanse for short). With the summer solstice that just passed earlier this week, along with the powerful full moon, right now is a perfect time for deep Soul healing.
In many spiritual traditions the number twenty-one is considered a sacred number, and behavioral research has suggested that it takes twenty-one days to form a new habit or release an old one. For instance, when you complete a Reiki training it is often tradition to follow the training with a twenty-one day integration and purification period. This is a time when students commit to doing self-reiki for twenty-one consecutive days in order to deepen their connection to the Reiki energy.
It’s important that this be twenty-one consecutive days, which means if you’re on, say, day eighteen, and you forget to do self-reiki (or whatever you committed to doing for twenty-one days), you must begin again. These twenty-one days become a time to release wounds, burdens, and beliefs that you’ve outgrown. The spiritual belief is that after these twenty-one days there is an important shift that happens that will continue to unfold long after the twenty-one days are over.
I have supported many clients through their own twenty-one day process. Every time they do this it leads to great release and great receiving–releasing what not longer serves and receiving blessings, miracles, and healing from their Soul.
The purpose of this 21-Day Soul Cleanse is to deepen your connection to your Soul so its energy and wisdom can become integrated into your everyday life. As this happens, you will increasingly be able to receive and follow your Soul’s guidance. This will naturally lead you to whatever work you are meant to be doing.
This work might be work for pay, or volunteer work. It might be work you do in addition to your full time job, or it might just be an enhanced way you share your unique gifts and talents with the world. Basically, it is how you express your Soul’s light, because no one else can do that for you, and the world sorely needs people who are shining their light.
Ready to do your own 21-Day Soul Cleanse?
The first step is to set the clear intention that you are committed to doing this 21-Day Soul Cleanse. You can do this simply by making this statement out loud or in your mind. If you want, you can say a prayer, light a candle, or anything else that brings you a feeling of sacredness as you do this.
Step two is to look at your calendar and mark off the 21 days. For example, if day 1 is today, June 23rd, then your twenty-one day Soul Cleanse would be from June 23rd to July 13th.
Your twenty-one day process will be unique to you, and I encourage you to pray and meditate to see what your Soul wants this to look like. For example, during the twenty-one days you might decide to connect with a beloved Spiritual guide, like Jesus, Mother Mary or Buddha, asking them for help and guidance. Or you may decide to remove something from your diet that you feel is blocking your intuition or harming you in some way. The key is that whatever you choose it is something that will enhance your Soul connection and help you release anything that’s blocking it. The possibilities are many and you can choose what feels right for you.
However, one thing that is mandatory during this cleanse is that you commit to doing an “Interrupter” ritual for those twenty-one days. I describe “Interrupter” rituals in my book, Answering Your Inner Calling. They are basically short, simple rituals that you do throughout the day to interrupt the pull that the external world has on you, and realign yourself with your Soul. These should be done 2-5 times per day and be quick and simple–1-5 minutes is good. However, remember that this twenty-one day process should stretch you, and move you beyond your comfort level, so choose something that feels like it’s expanding you. Below are some ideas:
- Self-reiki- If you know Reiki, do twenty-one days of consecutive self-reiki. For example, you can decide that when you wake up in the morning you’ll do a few minutes of self-reiki before you get up and then again at night before you go to sleep. You can also do more short intervals during the day. The key to success with this is to decide at the start of your twenty-one day process what times of the day you’ll be doing this so it becomes routine.
- Connect with your heart- Bring the palms of your hands to your heart. Take a deep inhale as you open yourself up to receive your Soul’s unconditional love and healing energy. You are putting yourself in a receptive space. There’s nothing else you need to do. This might be 1-3 minutes long. Your intention is to realign yourself with your Soul. You might decide that you will do this three times a day, or every time you get into your car, or every time you go to the bathroom. It sounds simple but it is transformational.
- Pray- Pray a specific prayer that’s very special to you. For example, I love St Francis’s prayer, Instrument of Peace. I could take the first line of that prayer, “Lord make me an instrument of thy peace,” and commit, for twenty-one days, to say this line to myself every time I’m feeling called to help someone and/or feeling judgemental towards someone.
- Eat mindfully- When you eat, just eat. This is something one of my coaches challenged me to do whenever I eat by myself. It’s not that I’d eat in front of the TV (OK, sometimes I would do that, but really not much), but I did often read, or look through my phone as I ate. At first, just eating was quite a challenge for me. But over time I started to notice how much calmer I was if I just allowed myself to eat and enjoy my food. I finally was letting myself be nourished. I realized that the way I eat is symbolic of letting myself receive from my Soul. Again, this sounds simple but it is actually rather profound.
- Soul dance- Dance with your Soul. Dance is powerful and healing. You can choose one song, or build a short playlist of songs made up of music that inspires you and opens your heart. Then commit to dancing to one of these songs every day for the twenty-one days. This is not choreographed dancing, but just allowing your body to move in the way that your Soul is guiding you to move. You’re dancing out what doesn’t serve you and dancing in all of your beautiful Soul qualities. Click here to watch examples of beautiful movement videos you can dance along with (by Rochelle Schieck, creator of Qoya, a movement system designed to help you remember who you are).
These are just a few ideas. Feel free to create your own “Interrupter” ritual. As I said earlier, don’t over complicate it. Choose something that feels like a stretch but is also simple and practical. I suggest you keep a journal for these twenty-one days where you write down a few lines (or more) every day about your 21-Day Soul Cleanse.
If you’re going to be doing the 21-Day Soul cleanse, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me directly to share or, better yet, post it on my Facebook page here. There is something quite powerful about letting others know.
Blessings and love!
Lisa