The fastest way to shut someone down is to “help” them while they’re still trying to speak. If you have ever felt the pressure to soothe, solve, or say the perfect thing, you’ll recognize what I’m unpacking here: for recovering people pleasers and codependent fixers, listening can be the hardest spiritual practice and the most healing one.

As recovering people pleasers and codependents, we can become so focused on helping, fixing, and making things more comfortable for the people around us that we forget to simply listen. We may already be thinking about what to say, how to solve the problem, or how to take away someone's discomfort before they've even finished speaking.

In this Soul Practice, I'm exploring what it means to listen from the heart. To pause, quiet our own minds, release judgment and the need for an outcome, and allow someone else to have their own experience without trying to change it.

I'll share some of what I'm learning in my own relationships and in the groups I facilitate, including how being a better listener can create more safety, deeper connection, and space for people to share what is really going on. We'll also explore how this practice extends to listening to ourselves, our intuition, our Higher Self, and the wisdom that becomes available when we get quiet enough to hear it.

What if you aren't here to fix anyone? What if one of the greatest gifts you can offer is your presence?

This is a practice I'm still learning, too. I hope you'll join me in exploring what it means to listen with more compassion, openness, and love.

Send a one way text to Rev Rachel 🦋

The Recovery Your Soul Podcast courses and content is for educational purposes only and is not affiliated with or representative of any organization, recovery group, or religion. And reflect the personal experience and opinions of Rev Rachel Harrison and her guests. RYS claims no responsibility, any person or entity for any loss, liability, damage caused or alleged to be caused, direct or indirectly by the use application or interpretation of the information presented within.

Support the show

• FREE Mini Recover Your Soul 9-Step Workbook
• FREE Support Group on Zoom 6-7PM MT on the 1st Monday of the Month
• Self Study collective & Soul Circles to walk the Recover Your Soul Steps in Community
• Get the Book Recover Your Soul, Rev. Rachel’s spiritual memoir
• 1:1 Spiritual Coaching with Rev Rachel TRYASESSION for 40% off 1st session
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• Transcripts
  
  

Does the world feel like a lot to hold right now? I know I’ve been feeling it. There is so much happening around us, so much uncertainty, so much that can leave us feeling worried, unsettled, or wondering how we’re supposed to find our peace in the middle of it all.

And sometimes it isn’t just the world. It’s our families, our relationships, the people we love, and the things happening in our own lives that we wish we could make better.

In this episode of the Recover Your Soul Podcast, I’m sharing something I continue to learn in my own life: the difference between caring deeply and trying to control what isn’t ours to control.

I share a recent conversation with my husband, Rich, and how I noticed an old pattern in myself wanting to jump in and make things better when he was feeling overwhelmed. It was a familiar people-pleasing, codependent response. I wanted to help him feel better, but I’m learning that sometimes the most loving thing we can do is simply listen, be present, and allow another person to have their own experience.

This is such an important part of the Recover Your Soul process. We can’t control what other people think, feel, believe, or choose. We can’t make the world unfold the way we want it to. But we can begin to let go of that exhausting effort to manage everything around us and gently bring our attention back to ourselves.

That doesn’t mean we stop caring. It doesn’t mean we look away from what’s happening or stop speaking up for what matters to us. We can take action, have opinions, make choices, and love the people around us. The invitation is to do those things from a place of connection and inner strength, rather than allowing fear to take over.

If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed by the state of the world, struggling with family dynamics, navigating codependency, or simply feeling tired of trying to make everything okay for everyone else, I hope this conversation meets you where you are.

We don’t have to carry the whole world on our shoulders. We can learn to recognize what is ours to hold and what we can lovingly release. We can come back to this moment, reconnect with our own hearts, and find a little more peace right where we are.

And maybe, as we each practice bringing more compassion into our own lives, those small acts of love can reach further than we know.

I’m so glad we’re walking this path together. Take what resonates and leave the rest.

With love,
Rev. Rachel 💛

Send a one way text to Rev Rachel 🦋

The Recovery Your Soul Podcast courses and content is for educational purposes only and is not affiliated with or representative of any organization, recovery group, or religion. And reflect the personal experience and opinions of Rev Rachel Harrison and her guests. RYS claims no responsibility, any person or entity for any loss, liability, damage caused or alleged to be caused, direct or indirectly by the use application or interpretation of the information presented within.

Support the show

• FREE Mini Recover Your Soul 9-Step Workbook
• FREE Support Group on Zoom 6-7PM MT on the 1st Monday of the Month
• Self Study collective & Soul Circles to walk the Recover Your Soul Steps in Community
• Get the Book Recover Your Soul, Rev. Rachel’s spiritual memoir
• 1:1 Spiritual Coaching with Rev Rachel TRYASESSION for 40% off 1st session
• Follow on Social Media
• RYS Bonus Podcast Patreon Member or subscribing on Apple Podcasts for corresponding episodes. Free Patreon Members get access to new episodes first few weeks.
• Transcripts