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How to Take a Sabbatical · Remember Why You Are Here

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That's the purpose of life, right? It's not happiness, it's aliveness.
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And so it brings you into this question of,
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What am I willing to risk in order to be alive?
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And when you focus on that,
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you realize that you're probably willing to risk quite a bit.
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Hello and welcome back to Remember Why You Are Here,
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a podcast for seekers and sensitives where you can relax, receive,
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reconnect yourself, and remember the most important thing of all:
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why you're here. I'm Asia Suler, author,
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earth intuitive, teacher, and in this episode,
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we're going to talk about something that's really close to my heart right now,
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which is how to take a sabbatical. So this is particularly close
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to my heart in this moment because I'm about to take my first ever sabbatical
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and I'm so excited.
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I am taking off the rest of the year from running courses,
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creating courses, answering emails,
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being on most social medias.
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I'm taking time off from all of those things to work on my next
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book, and I'm so excited about it.
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This book is a little bit of a secret because I haven't really talked about it
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very much yet,
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but I had this realization at some point that if I was going to
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write this book, I would likely have to do something like this:
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take off concentrated time to actually get it done.
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I've had the idea of this book swirling around my brain now for six years.
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And in the interim, I've had a child.
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I'm still very much in the thick of parenting a young one.
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And it just got increasingly clear that if I was going to
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accomplish this book, or the very least, be able to start it in a real,
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deep kind of way,
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that I would need to take special time in order to do this,
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time away, time to create. And so for the last two years actually,
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I've been figuring out how I could take a sizable sabbatical
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to work on this. And over that time I've really fallen in
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love with the concepts of sabbatical,
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doing all this research about how to take one,
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what you need to consider, what to expect once you're on a sabbatical.
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And so in this episode today, I want to share a little bit about my process,
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but also lay out a guide for you, a map.
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If you are someone who's feeling that call to take a sabbatical,
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then hopefully this map will really help you know how to take
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those first steps and know how to design something like this for yourself.
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Because here's the thing that really comes up for me with sabbaticals,
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is that we need to reclaim this in our culture at large,
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that we so often glorify the hustle.
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Especially where I live in the United States,
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the hustle's like one of our gods.
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And we glorify this sort of
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constant busyness, constant work, or it's opposite:
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like the total vacation or the time taken off where we're
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doing the opposite of work or just not having to think about anything or the
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time that we create to deal with burnout. Sabbatical is not any one
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of those things.
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There's something inherently spiritual about taking a sabbatical.
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And it's also a shorthand that a lot of people tend to
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understand. It's one thing if you say to people,
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I'm taking a vacation or I'm burnt out and I'm doing this,
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but if you say I'm taking a sabbatical,
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there's this sense of deep respect around the choice to do something like this,
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to choose to step away and go deep.
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So let's talk a little bit about what a sabbatical actually is,
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because I think this will help frame what it is that we're trying to do,
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what it is that I'm providing a roadmap for you for,
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and also why it makes sense that we have so much respect for this concept
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of a sabbatical in our culture. Growing up,
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I thought sabbaticals were only for people who were in academia.
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And this is a big part of academia, especially if you are a professor,
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that it's sort of built in to your career that you're expected to take a
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sabbatical at least once,
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that you're expected to take time away to work on a research project or a book.
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But sabbaticals don't just have to happen within academia.
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It's not just for professors. Sabbaticals are for all of us.
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Sabbaticals are a sacred pause. So again,
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sabbaticals aren't vacations,
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and they're not remedies for when you've pushed yourself too far.
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Sabbaticals are taking intentional time to create space -
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and this space could be space to focus on a book or another
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creative project.
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It could be to travel or go on pilgrimage - but there's this aspect of
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deep intentionality around a sabbatical,
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that you are purposefully stepping away from your normal work life,
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your normal routines, the way you go about things,
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to go deep inside yourself,
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to take a sabbatical from the daily
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existence,
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to take a sabbatical and see a different side of
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reality. There's a deep spiritual seeking that's kind of inherent to this word
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sabbatical,
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and it's almost like making this commitment to your spiritual unfoldment,
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like I'm taking this break away from life in the
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trajectory that it was going,
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in order for me to really focus on and listen to that soul calling.
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And so whether that soul calling is taking you to travel or volunteer,
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or complete some sort of project, or start some sort of project,
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sabbatical is you listening to that whisper of your soul and really
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giving yourself permission to take time to follow that whisper,
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to follow that nudging,
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and allowing the daily structure of your life to change,
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to allow your trajectory to possibly change.
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Often sabbaticals are life changing in this way. By their very nature,
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they help us rewire and rewrite the way we think about
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ourselves, our creations, productivity.
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We're going to get into that in just a moment. But I think in general,
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sabbaticals,
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you can imagine them as the fertile fallow period in a
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phase of gardening. It's like we are so productive all the time.
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We're always planting and pruning and harvesting.
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And a sabbatical is specifically deciding to let a garden bed rest
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for a season while you go inwards, while you focus on something else,
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while you direct your attention to the deep spiritual
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undertow within yourself, and whatever it is that is a part of that,
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whatever project or gleaning or aspiration that you have that's within
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that. And we know in a garden that these fallow periods,
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these periods where you're just letting that bed rest,
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or you're only sowing one cover crop,
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you've got your clover going or your oats going, or you're just letting it be,
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that that's really important for the garden's overall productivity.
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And this is true for ourselves as well,
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our creative minds,
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our spirit's ability to feel fully inhabited in this life.
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Sabbaticals are incredibly helpful and regenerative for our
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soul and for our creative spirit. This is not just time off,
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it's time in. It's choosing to spend time inwards.
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And I really want to normalize the taking of a sabbatical in
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our culture. I want this to become something that is just... yeah,
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something we hear about more often. Something that more people do.
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Something that everyone's expected to do and supported to do at some point in
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their life. So your sabbatical could be a moon cycle,
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it could just be from full moon to full moon. It could be several months long.
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It could be a year long. All of these things are going to require a certain
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amount of planning and consideration.
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But I think when we reframe, sometimes,
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the deep work that we're doing and that we're taking intentional time and space
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around, as a sabbatical,
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we help those around us to orient to what it is we're actually doing,
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and we flag what we're doing and the significance of it for our own spirit,
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for our own psyches and awareness that yes, I'm not just frittering time away.
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I'm not just taking a break, although breaks are great and we need them too,
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but there's something about the word "sabbatical" that really signals to our
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inner spirit, this is a deep time. This is a time of soul commitments,
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and I'm interested in seeing where it goes. So how do you know that you need a
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sabbatical? As I'm talking, you're probably thinking to yourself,
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I need a sabbatical.
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Because I think most of us do.
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But sabbaticals often come up when we are in a
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phase where we feel like we're sort of locked into a
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way of thinking or locked into a way of working,
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locked into a calendar or a schedule,
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where we don't feel like we have the space to lean into the nudgings or the
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whispers of our soul. Oftentimes the call to take a sabbatical begins with that
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whisper or that nudging inside of yourself, and that realization that,
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in the way my life is currently functioning, I don't have the space for this,
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and yet I feel my soul calling me towards this.
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That is a clear sign that it's time for sabbatical.
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Sabbaticals can also be taken in life transitions.
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Maybe you're moving from one country to another, one house to another,
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ending one relationship and opening to another.
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These are really beautiful times to intentionally decide to take a sabbatical,
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to be in deep listening with yourself. Anytime we experience a feeling of
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inner creative stagnation or clutter,
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it's often a sign that it's time to take this intentional season for
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ourselves to clear the decks, to open ourselves up,
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to have the space to be able to listen to our soul and to the
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soul-led creative projects, awarenesses,
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and openings that are calling to us.
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Anytime we have this feeling or this sense of, I need a time out of time,
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I need to touch another timeline, another way of being,
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that's often the call for a sabbatical as well. And there's
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this really interesting thing that happens within intentional periods like this
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where we do create new timelines for ourselves.
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So timelines in our life are the result of the way that we are
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currently operating, our current level of consciousness,
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the way that our day-to-day flows, the structure of our lives:
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that creates the timeline of our lives. When we shift those things up,
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our routines, our habits, our patterns,
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we create the possibility for new timelines,
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to jump into a different timeline of what's possible for us. And so anytime the
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timeline that you're on starts to feel like a little sticky or suffocating or
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just not like a big enough container for what it is you feel you're meant to do
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or meant to explore in this lifetime,
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that's also a sign that it is time for a sabbatical.
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And I think it's really important, especially for empaths and sensitives,
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for us to reframe the guilt that we can feel around this, the guilt that says,
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who am I to be taking this time?
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Who am I to have the privilege to take this? What are people going to think?
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People are going to feel like I'm not showing up for them.
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Are people going to be upset? And so all of this guilt is actually a sign that
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there's deep material here, and it's actually part of, I think,
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the purpose of a sabbatical like this...
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is to come up against the hard stuff within us, the stuff that tells us,
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I can't do this, for whatever reason.
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And we're going to dive deeper into that soon,
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but I want you to reframe this as like, you're not abandoning your life,
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you're tending it. You're tending the deeper currents of your life,
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who you truly are, why you're truly here.
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In fact, in our day-to-day lives, when we're just,
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whatever it is following the routine, following the schedule,
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doing all the things we think we should do,
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that's us abandoning our deeper lives. And we so often feel that right?
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We can feel that sense of having abandoned ourselves and it's so painful.
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And sabbaticals really help us reorient, to reclaim ourselves,
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to tend our lives in the way our soul is calling us to do. So
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how do you take a sabbatical?
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Let's get into the logistics on a physical level,
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but I also want to talk about the logistics on an emotional and spiritual level
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here as well. And I've been thinking about this a lot because I am,
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starting this week, taking my sabbatical until the end of the year.
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And so I've been in deep preparation mode to make this possible. Sabbaticals
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start long before they begin. What do I mean by that? Well, most of us,
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unless we have a lot of ease and financial abundance in our life,
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we're going to have to really make sure we plan this out.
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I recommend taking at least a whole year to figure out how your finances work.
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So if you are in a job where you're getting a steady paycheck,
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you're going to have a pretty good idea of how much money you make during that
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time, how much vacation days you have,
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how much time you can take off without being penalized or being able to come
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back to your job. All those logistics are really important.
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If you work for yourself or you have your own business,
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you might even need a couple years of legwork here to just really get the full
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picture of like, Okay,
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how much money can I expect to make during this time,
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if you have passive income, or,
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how much money do I need to save in order to make this possible?
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And so that's why I say sabbaticals start long before they begin,
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because there's often a long preparation period to make sure that,
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of cours,e you're going to be provided for,
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your family's going to be provided for that,
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that you have the kind of security that you do need to make sure that
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your basic needs in life are met and your family's basic needs are met. And so
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this planning phase,
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while it can feel like a little left-brained and
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logistical, at the same time,
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it's exciting because it really starts planting these seeds of possibility in
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your mind of what is possible for me?
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What can I do with the resources I have,
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with the potential that is in my life? And often actually,
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there's a lot more potential than we realize or than we
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currently see, or are telling ourselves as possible.
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If you do work for someone else, if you do work for a company,
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find out what the policies are.
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Sometimes there's actual sabbatical policies and you don't realize it until you
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read the fine print.
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But if you were to save up all your vacation and sick days...
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as much as possible, right?
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Because we do also need sick days from time to time.
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But if you took advantage of all of those things,
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how much paid time could you get off?
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How much unpaid time can you take off and still make sure you have that job
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security? Obviously, these are all important questions to ask and research.
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And in my experience, if we're feeling this deep call to sabbatical,
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there's going to be some way in which we can make it possible.
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And that the time that we find will meet the time that our
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soul is needing at this moment in our life.
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Once you figure out logistics of what is possible for you,
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tell everyone you can. There's a few reasons for this:
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Obviously we need to inform our employers, our employees,
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and people who do childcare for us, all the things.
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We need to make sure we inform people of this decision as far in advance,
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frankly as possible.
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Because it helps everyone orient to that. So of course there's a logistical
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reason behind telling everyone,
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but there's also a more emotional reason behind it.
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A psychological reason behind it is that if you tell everyone you're going to do
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this, you're going to feel beholden to actually do it.
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And so I started telling people that I wanted to take a sabbatical last year.
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And in fact, I didn't say "I want to take a sabbatical." I said,
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"I'm planning on taking a sabbatical." And it was like planting these
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inbred little sign markers or mile posts for me
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of accountability, of like,
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I have told people I will be taking a sabbatical at this date.
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I know when I see them again,
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if I run into them in the grocery store or whatever,
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they're going to ask me about it.
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And so I've planted for myself this roadmap,
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this insurance of having that little bit of
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positive pressure to make sure that I do it. So I encourage you,
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once you figure out the logistics and you come up with this plan,
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to start telling people about it. Because it's going to hold you accountable,
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and it's also going to give your community an opportunity to show up in support
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for you,
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to show up and be cheerleaders for you as you step into
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this time.
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And it's been such an interesting thing that when I tell someone I'm taking
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a vacation or I'm taking a break, people are like, okay.
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But when I tell someone I'm taking a sabbatical, it's like,
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I feel the whole field of their curiosity light up, and they're like,
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tell me more. What are you working on?
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And so it's also this intriguing bit of conversation too when you tell someone
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that you're taking a sabbatical, people are really interested.
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They want to know more.
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It opens up possibility for communication and connection. It's become one of
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those things that I really love and especially when you're...
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maybe you're at a dinner party or a gathering,
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and you're in sort of that small talk area of like, well,
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what have you been up to? What have you been up to?
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And it's like both of you are maybe slightly understimulated,
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but you also know this is part of connecting and
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developing relationship. And I find that bringing in the topic of,
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I'm about to take a sabbatical, it shakes everything up.
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And people get really intrigued and really interested. And I also start to see,
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a lot of the time, people's own inner wheels start turning to think about,
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could I take a sabbatical? If I took a sabbatical,
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what would I want to do during it?
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What is the creative projects that's calling to me?
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So it's a really great conversation piece as well as just this thing that will
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keep you accountable to this plan that you have for yourself. And of course,
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it's really important to set an intention and then set boundaries around your
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sabbatical. So the intention is,
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what do you want to do with your sabbatical time? What are you intending?
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Even if you don't have a very specific project you want to work on,
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there's still an inner project, there's a soul project,
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there's a psycho-emotional project that's important to you.
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Find a way to name that, to write it down,
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to have something that you're going to say when you tell people that you're
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taking a sabbatical, and they inevitably ask, oh,
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what is it you're going to be doing?
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So make sure you're clear on that intention.
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That intention is really going to give you the focus that will move you through
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this time,
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that will help you get to the deeper and deeper levels that you're here to
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experience within your sabbatical. And part of creating this focus and
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this goal, this thing that's going to lead you forward,
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is also creating boundaries around this. When we have a goal, we're saying,
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"This is what I'm focusing on,
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and I'm not focusing on all of this." And so I want you to be really clear when
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you're creating your sabbatical time, of like, what is my goal?
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What is my focus? And setting boundaries around everything that is not that.
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And you might have to be realistic here. Maybe you're like, okay,
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I can't not check my email for four months,
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but I can only check my email once a week.
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That's a boundary. Write these boundaries down beforehand.
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Get super clear about them, communicate about them with other people,
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because these boundaries are really going to help you stay on task with the
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deepening that is wanting to happen here through this experience. And perhaps
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the most important boundary of all is set a date and a timeframe and stick to
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it. And there's a piece here, right, where,
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no matter what we decide, there's going to be a part of us that is resistant.
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There's going to be a part of us that doubts that this is possible.
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There's always going to be more that you have to do.
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It's just the reality. But setting a date,
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setting a timeframe,
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and sticking to it is so important because you are signaling to your inner self,
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to your spiritual self and your soul that this matters.
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That your own inner discovery,
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your own unfoldment in this life matters,
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that you're willing to listen to the dictates of your soul and take those steps.
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So get this down in writing. Tell the people in your life,
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set the boundaries about what you will be doing, what you will be available for,
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and what you will not, and step into it bravely. Now,
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in all of this,
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I want to mention that there's going to be parts of you that say,
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there's no way I can do this.
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And I think sometimes during certain times of life, that's true, right?
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We do live in a physical reality with all of its limitations,
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with all of its sociopolitical complications, all of that is real.
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And, oftentimes,
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if we are feeling that deep inner nudge to take a sabbatical,
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that voice that says, there's no way I can do this,
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is actually a message coming from our own programming that is
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up to be released. And you will come up against this every
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step you take in planning your sabbatical. You will come up against this,
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I'm sure, during your sabbatical.
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You'll come up against this as you review all the details you need to make it
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possible.
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And instead of having that thought make you panic or make you
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think, I'm just not emotionally up to this,
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I'm not evolved enough to do this,
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know that this is part of what a sabbatical is designed to do.
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It's designed to make you question the things you thought you needed,
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the security that you thought you needed, the permission you thought you needed,
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the money you thought you needed in your life.
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All of that is going to come up to be questioned during this. So when you have
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that question come up of like, there's no way I can do this,
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it is asking you to be with and sit with,
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the part of yourself that is afraid,
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the part of yourself that is afraid of what you will lose and what that will
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mean.
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And I really encourage you when this thought comes up to sit with it
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and to see if there's any way in which you can actually work with that same
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statement to find truth.
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So what do I mean by this?
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I really love Byron Katie's process of "The Work" where she walks people
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through these statements that bring stress to our bodies and ourselves and our
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minds and our nervous systems,
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and turn them around to find how actually these statements that are causing
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stress are showing us where the truth lies.
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And it often lies on the opposite side of what it is that we're telling
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ourselves. So in the process of the work,
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when we have a stressful thought come up like,
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there's no way I can possibly do this, and it's causing us anxiety,
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first we ask ourselves, is this true? And sometimes we might say, yes,
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it is true for all these reasons. But then you follow up with,
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can I absolutely know this is true? Like beyond a shadow of a doubt,
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objectively, for sure, this is true.
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Most of the time the answer to that's going to be, no,
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I actually don't know for sure that that's true. I haven't even done it yet.
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I haven't even taken this sabbatical yet.
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There's magic and mystery to life that I can't conceive of.
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Then we ask ourselves, who would we be without that thought?
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And often the person that we would be without that thought is someone who is
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free, who is connected to themselves,
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who has the resources and the things they need to follow the guide-map of their
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soul,
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someone who does have the capacity to take a sabbatical. And then you look for
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the turnaround.
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And so the turnaround is like a 180 switch of that sentence or whatever the
24:26
phrase is, or the feeling or the thought that's coming up for you.
24:29
And so a turnaround might be something like,
24:33
there's no way I can possibly do this because I'm going to become
24:37
destitute and I'll let down my family and my friends and my employers.
24:42
A turnaround for that might be, if I don't do this,
24:46
I'm going to let down my family, my friends, my employers, and my soul,
24:51
because this is what I'm supposed to do in this lifetime and in this lifetime,
24:55
following what you're supposed to do is what brings the light that you're meant
25:00
to carry into this world into being.
25:03
Or there's no way I can do this,
25:06
original statement. Turnaround: there's no way I can't do this.
25:11
There's no way I can continue to live in my life and not do this for myself. So
25:15
you're going to find the turnarounds that work for you with whatever the
25:18
stressful thought is,
25:19
but I really encourage you to just be curious when you have those thoughts of
25:23
like, there's no way this can happen because..., come up,
25:26
play with it a little bit. Is this true? Do I know for sure that this is true?
25:31
Who would I be without that thought?
25:32
And what might a flipped version of that statement be that actually makes me
25:37
feel expanded and free and like something is possible.
25:40
That's pointing you towards truth.
25:42
And this will really help you to start to notice and dissolve some of these
25:45
programs that you have within yourself. There's also a very real
25:50
element, when you're preparing to do something like this,
25:53
where you have to ask yourself, what am I willing to risk?
25:58
Because there is a risk. Of course there's a risk in doing something like this,
26:03
in dashing the programs and changing the routines and stepping away and
26:08
being that fool on the edge of the cliff, like in the tarot card,
26:13
about to jump off. You don't know what's on the other side.
26:16
But asking yourself this question, what am I willing to risk,
26:20
can really bring you into the aliveness that's available for you here.
26:24
That's the purpose of life, right? It's not happiness, it's aliveness.
26:28
And so it brings you into this question of what am I willing to risk in
26:32
order to be alive? And when you focus on that,
26:36
you realize that you're probably willing to risk quite a bit. So for
26:41
me, in my experience,
26:43
I had already been planning this sabbatical this year when Hurricane Helene hit
26:48
our mountains last fall.
26:50
And when this major catastrophic event happened,
26:54
I lost my whole apothecary,
26:56
which was a significant portion of my income and my business's income.
27:01
And not only did I lose this significant portion of my business's
27:06
income,
27:07
but I also lost months of work because I was focused on
27:12
mutual aid, raising money for our communities, the rebuild,
27:17
as well as recovering myself. And so when this happened,
27:22
from the outside looking in, it would've been really easy to think,
27:27
there's no way I can do a sabbatical, this sabbatical, next year.
27:30
How am I going to take half of next year off after I lost a whole
27:35
quarter of work and a significant portion of our business' income that would
27:39
take a long time to build back if ever? And yet,
27:44
there was something else that happened for me in that moment,
27:47
where I touched the preciousness of life,
27:52
I touched the very real reality and significance of the
27:57
fact that life is short, nothing is guaranteed.
28:01
And I asked myself,
28:04
if I were to die tomorrow,
28:08
what would I have wanted to do with my life?
28:11
If another event like this swept through and I wasn't so
28:15
lucky to have only lost this,
28:19
what will I have been so glad that I took the time to do?
28:25
What am I here for if not saying yes to what my
28:30
soul is asking of me?
28:32
And I realize after this experience that I'm willing to take that
28:36
risk. And it's powerful to ask yourself,
28:40
what is it that you're truly worried about that you're going to risk? Of course,
28:45
for me, there is multiple levels, right?
28:48
As someone who's the breadwinner of my family,
28:50
I'm worried I'm not going to be able to support my family, support myself,
28:54
pay my mortgage, pay my healthcare. All of those things are really real.
28:58
But also,
28:58
really afraid of letting other people down.
29:03
Deep concerns around making sure I can still pay my employees,
29:06
like my amazing team. I want them to be supported.
29:09
I don't want them to lose their income.
29:13
This was essential to me. And this was something too,
29:17
these layers of things, were something that really,
29:21
at previous times in my life really held me back from making riskier decisions
29:26
because I wanted to make sure that there was enough safety and
29:31
security and assurance for everyone,
29:33
for all these things. And yet there was something about this threshold
29:37
moment of experiencing such a catastrophe,
29:42
of experiencing something where I was brought very close to that
29:46
veil and really asked, what do you want to do?
29:51
As Mary Oliver says,
29:52
what do you want to do with your one wild and precious life?
29:57
And the answer was so clear. It was this. This next book,
30:01
this is what I'm supposed to do. Take this time.
30:04
This is what I'm supposed to do.
30:06
And I'm willing to take the risks of what happens when I do
30:10
that. And that is such a powerful place to be in.
30:13
If you are willing to look at the things you're afraid of,
30:16
to name the things that is your worst fear of what you'd be
30:20
risking,
30:22
and decide that the aliveness of your own soul is more
30:27
important than the things that you fear, that is power.
30:32
To be willing to take the risk. And so often the stories we
30:37
tell ourselves about worst case scenario are just so far from the
30:42
reality of actually what's going to happen.
30:44
But it's important that we work with these parts of ourselves that have fear,
30:48
that we don't just shunt them away, that we are with them, that we be with them,
30:53
because this is the work. This is part of the work of the sabbatical.
30:56
It's not something that's getting in the way.
30:58
It is embedded in the spiritual journey of taking a sabbatical itself. So
31:03
all of this is going to come up as you approach your sabbatical,
31:07
as you get ready to take your sabbatical.
31:10
And so as someone now who has moved through a lot of
31:14
this, and I'm beginning the sabbatical now,
31:17
I'm going to tell you it's actually really important that as
31:22
you approach the date, your start date,
31:25
that you're aware of the things that come up,
31:27
that you continue to work with them,
31:29
and that you create an exit plan and stick to it. Because as I said before,
31:34
there's always going to be more that comes up.
31:35
There's always more that needs to be done. But really ask yourself,
31:39
get clear with yourself, what are the steps I need to take in that last,
31:43
whatever the timeframe is, six months, three months, one month,
31:48
several weeks?
31:49
What do I need to do to feel like I can step cleanly
31:53
into this sabbatical time? And I encourage you too,
31:57
as you create this exit plan, write it down,
32:01
know what you're doing each week,
32:03
have the tasks lists that you have to accomplish in order to really be
32:07
complete and step into this new phase, this new chapter, this new season.
32:12
I encourage you to include some sort of ritual of completion and
32:17
opening,
32:18
something that you can do to mark the end of that era and that timeline and the
32:23
beginning of this timeline of your sabbatical.
32:25
This sabbatical that is really a time out of time.
32:28
Rituals really help our psyches and our spirits to
32:33
orient to transition and change,
32:35
to bring themselves fully into the new chapter.
32:38
So design some sort of ritual for yourself that is marking the beginning
32:43
of your sabbatical, the end of what came before it,
32:46
and the beginning of this sacred time. And then you've
32:50
become. And then you are in your sabbatical.
32:53
And as someone who's just at the start of her sabbatical now,
32:57
there's a lot I'm going to be learning during this time.
32:59
And I hope to be able to pop back in and share more about what I am
33:03
learning as I go. But here are some of the things that I'm anticipating:
33:08
When we start a new chapter,
33:11
often things feel a little disorienting at the beginning,
33:14
especially if we've high expectations of ourselves around whatever it is we want
33:18
to accomplish or do. But expect to be disoriented for a little bit.
33:23
Expect when you step out of your routines, your habits, your programs,
33:27
to be like, okay, who am I and what am I doing again?
33:31
What am I doing here? Expect to have that voice of the inner critic come up who
33:35
says, Ah, you did all this work to take this sabbatical and look at you.
33:40
You can't even open that Word document. Or whatever it is.
33:43
Expect that to come up. It's a bit like jet lag.
33:47
Don't think that you're going to get to this new place and immediately be able
33:51
to just jump into adventuring or sightseeing or whatever it is.
33:55
You need a little bit of orientation time.
33:57
Your spirit needs a little bit of orientation time. So as much as you can,
34:01
be gentle with yourself in the beginning, give yourself less to do,
34:04
lower your expectations, and just get used to your new reality first,
34:09
before you try to really start crossing things off of your spiritual to-do
34:14
list. Because this is really an invitation to dive deep,
34:17
to touch the undercurrents of your life, to rediscover what inspires you,
34:21
to find new ways of working and being,
34:24
to let your routines and your programs transform,
34:28
and to allow all of the emotions that you have
34:33
around things like creativity, productivity,
34:37
the roles you play in your life, to allow that to come up,
34:41
because it's going to come up. But that's by design.
34:45
That's so much of what you're doing inside of the sabbatical is actually like
34:48
redefining your relationship to yourself, to the things that matter to you,
34:51
to other people, to your creative outpourings in life.
34:55
It will redefine your relationship to productivity and also your relationship to
35:00
what you feel is possible.
35:01
So allow emotions to come up. If the guilt is there,
35:06
notice the guilt. Ask yourself,
35:08
what is it that you think I should be doing in life? Look for those turnarounds.
35:12
Just be with what is because this is so much of the work that we are doing
35:15
inside of our sabbaticals. The whole goal here is to follow your soul,
35:20
not strategy. So you might have a schedule for yourself,
35:24
an idea of what you want to be doing.
35:26
You might have put certain things on the calendar, but be open to mystery.
35:30
This is you discovering how to more closely follow the GPS
35:34
of your own soul. And so be open to course redirections,
35:39
be open to listening, be open to things going differently than you planned.
35:44
And that's all part of the wider plan. But there is something that I definitely
35:49
want to orient you to and just have you be aware of,
35:53
because it always happens. And this is something I am preparing myself for,
35:57
and I'm reminding myself, Asia, you're going to experience this,
36:01
so don't be surprised.
36:03
And this is the mid trip slump Or in this case,
36:06
the mid sabbatical slump. So I'm very familiar with this,
36:10
with creative projects, with travel. Whenever you're in the middle of something,
36:15
there's going to be a slump. And it's a bit like when you're starting out
36:20
something big and you're at the beginning of a hike,
36:23
and you look out over the trailhead and the vista, and you're like,
36:26
I'm so ready.
36:27
And then you start walking and you get down to this valley and you're like,
36:31
I can't see anything. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know who I am.
36:34
Is this even worthwhile? I'm so tired. I don't want to do anything else.
36:39
That's the mid project slump, the mid sabbatical or trip slump.
36:43
And when you reach it,
36:44
it's a good sign because it means you've gotten to the heart of your experience.
36:47
It means you're right in the center point of this experience,
36:50
and you will climb back out. If you just keep hiking, keep walking,
36:53
you'll come back up the other side, up onto the vista, the end point, the view,
36:57
and go, huh, yeah, that wasn't so bad.
37:00
Now I look back on that valley and I see why I had to be there,
37:03
why that was important for the journey.
37:05
It was all built in to arriving to this place. But I just want you to be
37:10
prepared for this happening because it's super,
37:14
super common.
37:15
And I really think it's actually an important part where we go deep enough,
37:19
our spirit trusts us to go deep enough,
37:21
to do some of this deeper psychoemotional work inside of ourselves,
37:26
to release even more of these programs of limitations that we've been holding
37:29
onto. This could also look like boredom, confusion,
37:33
FOMO, doubt. All of that is part of this mid trip slump.
37:38
And the only thing you really have to do when this comes up is be with it.
37:43
If possible, name the feeling that you're experiencing.
37:46
Turn your attention inwards. Notice sensations in your body.
37:50
Where do you feel it? What does it feel like? Try to use descriptive words.
37:55
Breathe into the sensation. Allow it to be.
37:58
The resistance is part of what got us in this slump in the first
38:03
place, so stop resisting it. Just be in the schlump. Breathe it,
38:07
feel it,
38:08
name it in your body. This is a time to companion our bodies and our nervous
38:13
systems,
38:13
because what's happening is our nervous system is trying to rewire itself,
38:17
rewrite a new pattern and way of being.
38:20
And as it does that, what it needs is just presence from us:
38:25
presence, gentleness, acceptance,
38:28
the ability to breathe through what is happening,
38:30
to be with the sensations in our body. And it will shift.
38:33
There's that discomfort time when we're rewiring these patterns where, yeah,
38:38
it's uncomfortable, but it is going to shift.
38:40
And this is a big part of what you are doing and the kind of freedom you're
38:43
creating for yourself through this experience. It can also be really helpful to
38:48
dialogue with yourself during this time, to ask yourself,
38:50
the part of you that is having whatever these feelings are come up, and say,
38:54
what are you afraid of? What are you worried is going to happen?
38:58
What is the worst fear? And how can I show up for you?
39:02
What can I do to help you just survive this day or this
39:07
moment?
39:07
And companioning yourself this way will go so far in really
39:12
giving yourself the kind of support you need to just keep walking.
39:15
And that's what you're doing.
39:16
You're just going to keep walking. And all of sabbatical is a ceremony.
39:21
And with ceremonies, all the things come up.
39:25
Like in a really good,
39:26
soul-shaking ceremony,
39:29
it's not just daisies the whole time.
39:32
In a really powerful ceremony,
39:33
you're going to have elements come up that you need to work through.
39:36
You're going to have the big feelings, you're going to have the doubt.
39:40
That's all a part of the ceremony.
39:41
And so just reframe this whole experience of the sabbatical that you're taking
39:45
as a kind of ceremony, an extended ceremony that you're in.
39:49
And the fact that stuff is coming up is a really good sign. And this is the
39:53
other thing about ceremony. In true deep ceremony,
39:57
we do not leave as the same person we came into the ceremony as.
40:02
Ceremonies change you. That's what they're designed to do.
40:05
And so know that you will be transformed by this experience.
40:10
It might be gentle, it might be overt, it might be fantastical,
40:14
it might be subtle. But you will be changed by this experience.
40:19
So allow the change to happen and occur while you're within it.
40:24
During sabbaticals, when we give ourselves a sacred pause in the sacred space,
40:29
no matter what it is we're doing, we touch back into our life purpose.
40:32
Because so much of our life purpose as human beings is just to be.
40:38
It to be, to experience ourselves,
40:39
to know that our creative visions, our output,
40:44
our energy itself, is what is needed in this world,
40:48
is what we're being asked to bring.
40:49
And so you'll be reorienting yourself to your life purpose within this
40:53
sabbatical. And it's very rare that I hear anyone take a sabbatical and say,
40:58
"Oh, I wish I hadn't done that." Pretty much,
41:01
most people who take sabbaticals come back and say,
41:03
"I'm so glad I did that." And it changed my life.
41:08
It changed my relationship to myself, to my work, to my soul.
41:13
And the thing about sabbaticals, just like ceremonies,
41:17
is that they then give us the strength to step back into our life again,
41:22
to rewrite the way we are living,
41:24
to jump timelines by deciding on new programs, new habits,
41:28
new values for ourselves. And this is the power of a sabbatical.
41:32
A sabbatical can do all of this for us. So,
41:37
I'm hoping that through this episode,
41:40
you got some framework for how to take a sabbatical,
41:44
whether it's time for you to take one,
41:47
what might be coming up during your sabbatical, and perhaps,
41:50
some inspiration to really start working on this for yourself,
41:53
to start imagining what you need and to be in touch with your soul
41:58
and know that the risks that are inherent to saying yes
42:03
to your own soul's unfoldment are always worth it.
42:08
So wish me luck on my sabbatical.
42:11
We have designed it so that there will still be podcast episodes releasing each
42:16
week,
42:16
and I'm hoping to pop in for a couple episodes where I give you an update
42:21
about where I'm at on my sabbatical. So I'm super excited about that.
42:26
You'll hopefully be getting a little more details about what this book is that
42:29
I'm working on and what I've been doing behind the scenes.
42:32
So stay tuned for that coming up.
42:34
And know that this podcast is a huge reason why this
42:38
sabbatical is still happening.
42:40
Why even with the huge loss and reorientation that happened last year
42:45
for me inside of my business, that it's still happening this year,
42:49
that it's still possible for me. Your support, you listening,
42:53
you connecting in this way has really given me the strength
42:58
and the wings that I needed to feel like I could really
43:03
fly into this time. So thank you so much for that.
43:06
And one thing that you could do to support me on this sabbatical if you're
43:11
interested in doing that, is to leave a rating or review for this podcast.
43:15
It very literally means that all these platforms show this
43:20
podcast to more people when it has more ratings and more reviews.
43:25
So if you want to send me a little bit of magic as I begin the sabbatical,
43:30
leave a rating or review,
43:31
and I promise it will be like sprinkling fairy dust onto these wings that are
43:36
currently unfolding. I'm so, so grateful for you.
43:39
I'm so grateful for all the connections that have come about through this
43:43
podcast. I'm so excited for what's to come.
43:48
And I would love to hear if you end up taking a
43:51
sabbatical, what happens for you? Let's compare notes.
43:55
I'm super curious and I can't wait to let you know what it was like when I get
43:59
to the other side. So thank you so much for being here.
44:03
Know that the callings that you're feeling inside of yourself,
44:06
the nudgings that you're sensing from your soul, that they matter,
44:10
they're important,
44:11
that the space will be made for you to step
44:16
into those callings, that that's why they're there,
44:21
that you would not have those urgings, those callings,
44:24
if there wasn't going to be space for you to be met in those. So know that
44:28
whatever is moving you,
44:30
inspiring you at the end of this episode and in your life right now,
44:35
that it's there for a reason. It's there for a purpose,
44:37
that you have a really special,
44:40
powerful gift that you're here to bring to this world.
44:43
And thinking about taking a sabbatical or simply thinking about what it
44:48
is that you're called to, will bring you back,
44:52
will bring you back in ways that are so nourishing and so fulfilling,
44:56
to that thing that is the most important thing of all:
45:00
remembering why you're here.