How Is Your Soul Doing?

Happy New Year ✨!

Let’s open the year with an important topic regarding self-leadership: Health.

Last Sunday, I hosted the first women’s circle as part of my new coaching program, ORIN (more details below). We started this journey with a discussion on health, and one powerful realization emerged from the group: most of us neglect our souls when we think about health.

How often do we consider our soul’s well-being when discussing taking care of ourselves?

The Missing Piece in Our Health Conversation

Typically, when we discuss health, we focus on mental health and physical health.

Mental health usually refers to how we feel. Are we rested, calm, and content? Or are we stressed, exhausted, and overwhelmed?

When we feel mentally depleted, we often try to “fix” it with rest—taking a break or going on a vacation. But do these solutions work? Do you feel truly rejuvenated when you return from a holiday and open your inbox? Or does the exhaustion linger, especially when you dive back into work?

Physical health, on the other hand, is about what we sense and see. With today’s advanced tools—smartwatches, fitness trackers, rings—we can monitor our heart rate variability, sleep cycles, VO2 max, resting heart rate, and more. When all these metrics are “green,” we assume we’re healthy.

Yet, some of us still feel off.

It can manifest as a pervasive lack of energy or enthusiasm for anything—a state some might label as burnout.

So, what’s missing?

Could it be that our heart—our soul—is craving something deeper and we have not been listening to it?

Tending to the Soul

How often do we pause to consider the needs of our soul? What does it even mean to care for it?

We can start by shifting focus to our heart and its quiet, persistent voice—the voice we’ve been conditioned to ignore. Listening to it can feel daunting, even scary, but it holds the answers we often seek elsewhere.

📝 Here are a few questions to reflect on as you examine the health of your heart and soul:

• What are you holding back in your heart—from the world and yourself?
• When was the last time you deeply connected with someone—a partner, friend, family member, or new acquaintance?
• When was the last time you felt free and light, like a child?
• What are you afraid will happen if you open your heart?

We tend to brush off these difficult questions, labeling them as “non-essential.” But when ignored, these unresolved feelings accumulate and leave a mark—on our bodies, our relationships, and our lives (as outlined in The Body Keeps the Score).

What Does Your Soul Want in 2025?

Listening to your heart and soul often means facing big, life-changing truths. It might mean:

• Moving (back) to a place that’s calling you.
• Shifting the course of your career or business.
• Reconnecting with your purpose inside or outside of your work.
• Summoning the courage to be vulnerable and reconnect with others again, being in love.

What is your soul asking of you this year?

For me, 2024 was a year of deep soul work. I had to let go of outdated patterns working in tech, and make space for my soul to lead, which led to create the ORIN executive retreats.

The Power of Community

Making significant life changes is challenging and will require courage, support, and connection.

That’s why I created the women’s circles as part of ORIN. In our first circle, I witnessed women encouraging and coaching one another to take brave steps forward. It was beautiful and inspiring, and I’m excited to continue this journey together.

With technology making our lives more efficient, wars and political changes making us feel more isolated, real human connections will become more and more essential.

Tight-knit communities and meaningful relationships nurture us in ways nothing else can, neither chatGPT nor our AI friend.

How are you nurturing your relationships and community this year?

Feeding Your Soul

Over the years, I’ve found a few practices that truly nurture my soul and that I keep prioritizing each year:

• Align my work with impact. Work with partners who align with my purpose ✨
• Nurturing my relationships (community, team, coachees, friends, partner, and family) 💕
• Connecting with women 💫
• Participating in retreats and transformative experiences 🔥
• Going on adventures solo or with my partner 🌎

Now it’s your turn. Grab a pen, let your mind wander freely, and write down everything that makes your soul feel alive for 2025 🌟

We are thrilled to announce PlaytestCloud as our key partner in expanding Rise and Play’s impact in 2025! Stay tuned for future events and insights ✨