Connection to Self
Everything in this course flows from here. Before we talk about your body, your relationships, your money, or your career — we start with you. The relationship you have with yourself is the foundation every other spoke is built on. When this spoke is strong, everything else becomes more navigable. When it's shaky, even the good things in your life can feel hollow.
Connection to Self is the first spoke — and the most foundational. It is the lens through which you experience everything else on this wheel. It shapes how you see your relationships, your body, your work, your finances, and your worth. When this spoke is strong, you have access to something most people spend years searching for without knowing what they're looking for: your own internal compass. When it's shaky, even the good parts of your life can feel hollow or off — like you're living a version of yourself that doesn't quite fit.
At the core of this spoke is a simple but profound question: how connected are you to your actual feelings? Not what you think about your feelings — not the intellectual analysis of them — but the felt sense, in your body, of what's actually there. For many of us, the answer is: not as connected as we'd like. We were taught, in one way or another, that our emotions were too much, too inconvenient, or not safe to express. We learned to keep the peace. To stay quiet. To tuck things away and carry on. Those were survival strategies once — and they deserve to be honored as such. But at some point, survival strategies become cages. And this is where we begin the work of gently opening the door.
Connection to Self is also about understanding who you are versus who you have been shaped to be. How much of your personality, your choices, your career, your way of moving through the world has been built around what others expected of you — your family, your culture, your workplace, your social circle? It's worth asking honestly: is the life you're living the one you chose, or the one that happened to you because you never had enough space to figure out what you actually wanted? That isn't a judgment. It's one of the most important questions you can sit with.
A note: this spoke is spiritual for some and not for others, and both are welcome here. Whether your connection to self is grounded in a relationship with God, with source energy, with universal connection, with nature, or simply with your own body and inner life — all of it belongs. This is an open space. Bring whatever framework helps you feel most like yourself.
And finally: if something in this spoke feels sticky, uncomfortable, or like it's pulling on something deeper — that's okay. You are allowed to set it down and come back. You are allowed to go at your own pace. The goal here isn't to rip anything open. It's to expand your capacity to hold and know yourself, little by little, in ways that feel sustainable. Everywhere you go, there you are. This is the work of making sure that who shows up is actually you.
🌬 BREATHWORK PRACTICE
Left Nostril Breathing — 3 to 5 minutes. Close your right nostril with your thumb and breathe slowly in and out through the left nostril only. This calms the nervous system, boosts intuitive access, and quiets the analytical mind — creating the internal conditions where self-knowing becomes easier. Use this before journaling or any time you feel disconnected from yourself.
Reflection Questions
How would you describe your current connection to your own feelings — not your thoughts about your feelings, but the actual felt sense in your body? What makes that easy or difficult?
What did you learn, growing up, about whether it was safe to express your emotions? How is that still showing up in your life today?
How much of who you are right now — your personality, your choices, your career path — was shaped by what you genuinely wanted versus what was expected of you?
Where in your life do you most consistently set aside your own needs to make others comfortable? What is the cost of that pattern over time?
Is there a version of yourself — a passion, a desire, an expression — that you've been keeping 'on the side' because it didn't seem practical or expected? What would it mean to bring it forward?
What is one thing you know to be true about yourself that you haven't been living in alignment with?
If you stripped away your roles — parent, partner, employee, caretaker — who are you? What do you actually want, value, and need?
🌱 YOUR COMMITMENT THIS WEEK
What is one moment you will create this week just to listen to yourself? No agenda, no productivity, no output required. Maybe it's five minutes with a journal before the day starts. Maybe it's a walk without your phone. Maybe it's sitting quietly after the kids are in bed. Name it specifically — when, and what.
Write it down. A commitment you make to yourself is still a commitment.