In this episode of Wellspringwords: The Podcast, Nkem closes out a beautiful season 3 with a discussion on feeling the intensity of our own personal essence. She connects the season’s theme of “returning to wholeness” to the larger idea of taking the time to go inward, cultivate and be with our own energy, and feel at home in our bodies. Take a walk around your neighborhood and enjoy this episode as you help us wrap up season 3 of this podcast!
Nkem is back in Mexico and feeling good as she opens up the closing episode of this season. If you hear any birds, cars, or people outside, it’s because life is happening. The people of Mexico are open, free, and connected to the land and that includes the sounds of the land. Reflecting, this past season and chapter have been intense. Intensity can be useful, especially now, when our society is in many ways trying to blunt and diminish our intensity, making us fearful of our (or anyone else’s) deep and intimate realms. Nkem, however, doesn’t shy away from intensity. Her fiery spirit and depths make her a deeply passionate person. She’s feeling this a lot right now at the time of recording with the full lunar eclipse in Scorpio since she has Pluto in Scorpio in her eighth house. To help with these feelings, Nkem did a yoga flow that was moon salutation based and watery. A yoga flow like this can be super beneficial when feeling stagnant and rigid to reintroduce yourself to the depths of abundance and vitality life has to offer. This yoga flow involved pigeon pose, which brought her that feeling the most — it’s hip-opening and makes for an amazing stretch. The kind of stretch that allows you to truly feel.
In moments like these, full of feeling, Nkem thinks, “What would it be like to be 100% you?” To take a moment to focus on what it feels like to be yourself unattached from institutions, identities, philosophies, and other “isms”. We are tethered to many things, but what happens if we allow a breath of “I am here; I am me in my body; when I close my eyes, I recognize myself as me, and I don't see anyone else.” This process of questioning and reminding is necessary in Nkem’s life because when you have deep chameleon-like empathy, it's easy to get into the mode of believing you're someone else or believing you’re living a life that is not even your own. Take a moment to think about the ways in which you’ve adapted to someone else's personality and energy — especially if you’re with the same people regularly.
As Nkem is recording this episode, it is mid-May 2022, which is Taurus season! Nkem just recently realized how much she loves Taurus season because of how it calls us to go inward and be at home. Home can be many things but Nkem believes it is always your body, first and foremost. A close second home to the body is the womb we were created within. Being in the body is about using the body to sense the world, hence sensuality. It’s about feeling your skin, and when emotions and thoughts arise, identifying where you feel these emotions and thoughts in your body. However, now that the episode is out, it’s August and Leo season! Leo season teaches us about joy, celebration, being light and allowing our spirit to shine, connecting with people, opening up, expressing ourselves, and being truthful and authentic, and the list goes on. So the question for reflection is: how can you remain rooted and connected to your sense of home while expanding and expressing your light?
As this season of the podcast comes to a close, Nkem would like to thank everyone for coming along to return to wholeness. A big part of returning to wholeness is dedicating energy and time to think about what it feels like to be in your own essence. It’s an entirely different feeling and process to create art from a space of “this is me and my essence and I’m making something authentic that doesn't need to be graded against external standards”. Whichever parts of you represent your inner essence, whether that be writing, cooking, your behavior, how you dress, or just conversation — if these parts of you are being emulated off of someone else or some standard outside of you, your heart and soul remain in yearning. Emulating an essence that is not yours can lead to internal disconnect and dissonance without proper alignment, ultimately manifesting a feeling of self-abandonment and self-rejection. So, take some precious time now and again to connect with yourself just for the sake of knowing and feeling the true you!
Thinking about what’s ahead, Nkem will start recording Season 4 of the podcast next year. Throughout this journey, Wellspringwords has become a robustly meaningful and comprehensive platform for writer development, human and spiritual development, and care & support. In other words, a home. It has been so wonderful to have people share their words and expressions to connect using the platform, whether that be through the podcast, writing workshops, writing fellowship program, or one on one coaching. All of the above have been incredibly inspiring. All that being said, life is good! Take this moment to feel it.
This platform has been a manifestation of Nkem’s inner dreams of connecting with people from all over the world. She has found that using this space to talk to herself, you all, and the podcast guests, has allowed her to broadcast what she’s working on internally. Her fire energy is expressive, teaching, a seeker of truth, wants to be heard, and be received. In all of that comes a sense of validation that this podcast provides. Even if she never hears from you, she knows the podcast has made an impact. While the platform has grown immensely this year, the second half of the year will be about grounding down while letting the creative process settle.
To conclude this season, thank you for engaging and opening up to yourselves, because while opening up can have an initial discomfort, we soon realize we can swim in our internal waters, that it can be fun, and that there aren't monsters inside us but friends looking to feel our personal love and light. Keep being authentic with how you want to feel in this life — alive, connected, happy, and everything you could possibly want. Let us know if this conversation brought anything to mind or heart for you in a podcast review on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser, on Instagram, or via email at bewell@wellspringwords.love. Be well!