I can’t believe it’s over! Read on to hear my personal highlights (and lowlights!) and to revisit the chakras that may resonate more for you now…
This post was first published in the Sole to Soul Circle on Substack
2024 has probably been the most transformational year of my life (in GOOD ways)
Between decades of personal trauma recovery work and a lifetime of (only recently diagnosed) ADHD, I’ve been working on myself for as long as I can remember. Attempting to navigate the things others seemed to not struggle with. Putting systems in place. Trying trying trying.
And this year has been challenging in positive ways as well as dealing with the kind of Life Struggles that I won’t go into here.
I FINALLY learned to drive, I learned to snorkel and I stepped into the Editor-in-Chief role of a journal (holy macaroni, they’re all steep learning curves but also brilliant).
I also realised, working through each chakra with you, how much I’d already integrated through my decades of working with the chakras and deep diving into each with the Love Your WHOLE Self chakra journey this year.
As each brought up unique challenges, I knew I’d been through tougher and I also knew enough to keep grounding, slow down and process properly.
I truly feel like this has been THE most transformational year of my life:
Working through the base chakra, more trauma recovery pain came up for healing AND I began the long slow process (I can see light at the end of this particular tunnel nearly a year later) of finally growing up around money – understanding more about my ADHD brain has helped me be kinder to myself and after 20+ years as my own boss, I’m finally UNDERSTANDING money more – because I gave myself permission (with the help of my new accountants) to be COMPLETELY lost.
Pleasure was my transpersonal quality / word for 2024 and even sharing that now shows how far I’ve come with my sacral chakra work over the decades. I work with self and Self care, embodiment and somatic practises because I was SO disembodied for so long myself. The JOY I’ve felt in my body this year has been delightful. Not just sex but being in the ocean at night. The joy of driving myself and loved ones. SO many different forms of pleasure.
And the driving taps into the solar plexus chakra work I’ve again been doing for DECADES but which I REALLY embodied when I got over my TERROR of putting the key in the ignition and somehow hurtling through the sky and landing on someone or something and hurting them and learning how to use that power (motorised vehicle) responsibly and joyfully. I keep stepping into my power more and more and while it always takes a lot, it gets SOOOOO much easier to know that I AM safe to be myself (and to work with the scared vulnerable parts of myself so they’re less likely to sabotage me).
The heart chakra has been a big issue this year as I await a cardiology appointment. I’m taking better care of my PHYSICAL heart as well as being more boundaried with others (and with myself. Although I’m working late again tonight, I’m having almost two whole weeks entirely off for Christmas for the first time EVER). In the past, I talked about my heart breaking over global horrorshows and while I still WANT to, Louise Hay’s ghost reminds me that the subconscious has no sense of humour and I remind myself that my suffering doesn’t reduce anyone else’s. SO I do my best to keep an open heart and to keep it open to myself too.
As a writer and presenter I’m used to working with the throat chakra and communicating. AND I’m used to endless self talk – increasingly positive after DECADES of retraining myself – which I now understand is, like so much of what I thought was my personality, ADHD Thanks to all the work I’ve done with the nervous system and vagus nerve (including Cat Coaching), I barely recognise my 49 year old self compared to when I was a self-loathing kid, teen, in my 20s and even 30s. AND it’s still not a natural thing to default to self-compassion and kindness. But sometimes, I can say, effortlessly, “I’m proud of you!” to my reflection. Like it’s the most natural thing in the world and not something I had to work SOOOOO hard to get to.
My third eye chakra has been HUGELY active this year as I’ve learned so much AND learned to befriend my own ADHD brain. The diagnosis of severe ADHD with combined presentation has been life changing in terms of helping me amp up the self compassion and have a better understanding of why I do certain things. Also, knowing that I’m naturally impulsive and that it’s a SYMPTOM (who knew? EVERYONE else apparently) means I catch myself, not always, but frequently, and remind myself that while it’s not natural YET, I can pause and wait and respond rather than react.
And the crown chakra work continues to astound me as life continues to surprise me and every time I get too hooked into my expectations and hopes and fears, the SECOND I remember to trust and surrender, things ease. I continue to ask for guidance every morning, every time I’m in the sea (and feel closest to the Divine) and many other times each day and in spite of the global horror shows, I have actually become more hopeful that we humans can decolonise ourselves and heal each other and the planet…
How about you? What have been YOUR highlights (and lowlights)?
Let me know!
Here are some crown chakra posts you may have missed
And here are the rest of the chakras, moving back down from the third eye to throat, heart, solar plexus, sacral and base chakras
If you’re not already a Half Moon, Full Moon or Super Moon member of the Sole to Soul Circle, now is a brilliant time to sign up.
le grá,
