When Spiritual Work Feels Stuck — What to Do Next
Feeling stuck despite doing “the work”? This is the only podcast for spiritual, self-help-curious midlifers where you can explore hidden blocks, soulful practices, and actionable tools to find clarity, calm, and progress. We interview inspiring guests who share insights to help you move forward, and your host, The Gentle Yoga Warrior, knows what it’s like to be stuck for years — offering guidance, meditations, and practical practices to support your growth.
Many episodes include a bonus optional meditation!
Formerly Awakened Conscious Conversations, we’ve rebranded with a new title: When Spiritual Work Feels Stuck — What to Do Next. This updated name more fully reflects the heart of our work, and we’re deeply grateful to our longtime listeners for growing with us—and to our new listeners for joining us on the journey. We’re so glad you’re here!
When Spiritual Work Feels Stuck — What to Do Next
Soulful December: A Journey Within – Releasing, Reflecting, and Preparing for the Light
The calendar may be crammed, but December itself invites a different pace—slower, quieter, deeply restorative. We lean into that invitation and map a soulful December that helps you release the weight of the year, reflect with clarity, and prepare for the returning light. From a simple five‑minute journaling ritual to a gentle dusk‑to‑dawn guided meditation, this conversation offers grounded practices that fit real life and bring your nervous system back to calm.
As the solstice approaches, we focus on preparing foundations for a brighter year without the pressure of brittle resolutions. Think mindful transitions.
The episode closes with a calming visualisation that carries you from dusk into darkness and out toward light—so you can meet January already steady, already rooted.
If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a breather, and leave a review to help more listeners find these practices. Then tell us: what are you ready to release before the new year?
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A note for every episode: we do not necessary agree with all the views on our podcast and leave listeners to make their own mind up with what they do or don't agree with.
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Hello everybody, I'm your host, the Gentle Yoga Warrior of Awakened Conscious Conversations Podcast, and I'm super delighted, still celebrating that we go over the 250th episode mark. And in this part of the world, right now, it is pretty cold. You may be listening to this in a country where it's really warm and not cold, and over here the days have been gradually getting longer up until the winter solstice, and then after that, they slowly start to get lighter. But if you're in a part of the world where it's doing the opposite way round, then there's still a lot of value in this podcast. So Soul for December, it's a journey to go within. Or of course, the opposite will be happening if you live in a different part of the world. So we're going to find a way to make our December soulful so that you, dear listener, can feel released from anything that's holding you back. You can reflect on what you've learned throughout the year, and you can prepare for the light of the new year. So these shorter days and nights create a way of telling us to slow down. Hopefully, I've been successful, a ladybird. I know it's sometimes called ladybug in different parts of the world. That was on my windowsill, and the ladybirds, ladybugs, sometimes hibernate within the cracks, and when you put the heating on, it wakes them up. So I prepared it like this little place where I put a leaf down and some water and some something sweet and some seeds and things just to kind of help it, and it was okay, but then it was wandering around. I thought actually it needs some darkness so it can go back to sleep. So I put a little I put a jar lid near it and it's climbed underneath it, and it made me think, you know what? That is ladybird symbolised to me what many of us are doing because we're running around for the holiday season where everyone's so desperate to get everything out of their in tray at this time of year that they're just being so desperate to get everything out of their in tray, and then what else happens is that we end up feeling like exhausted as we're trying to please so many people, and I talk I interview so many people that and they say that most people don't always get to do what they want around the December time, it's a lot of kind of feeling obliged, but of that's another podcast. But what I'm definitely trying to say here is that regardless of all the chaos and everything that's going around this energy of this time is really about going within oneself, connecting with nature, and offering us a chance to rest, or if you're living in a different part of the world and it's doing the opposite, a chance to have more vigour in your life. But I'm just going to share it from the point of view of it's it's this the nights are getting slower, so from the point of view that the nights are getting longer as we come up to this solstice part, it's a really good time to reconnect with oneself, and you know, like we are so kind of sharing parts of ourselves, don't we, with so many people and with so many commitments. But I'm not gonna say that I can magic away all the stuff that you have to do up until Christmas, but I am gonna offer you some places that you can feel that quietness, that renewal, and and to find what is gonna what served you this year, and what you want to let go of from this year, and what you wish to obtain for next year, too. And a lot of people do this in January, and it's quite a common thing, but I think it's a good time to start doing it now as it gives you a kind of compass, a guide mark, a place to go and find yourself in the new year and to let go of what no longer serves you. So, how can we do that? First of all, I would say the most important thing to do is amidst all this chaos of this month is to find times to slow down and be with yourself. And the best tool, the two toolkits that you can always have in your your spiritual toolbox is meditation and journaling. Journaling is what I would say quintessentially, you use to let go of stuff. So if there's things of about the year that you want to let go of, which you think, oh gosh, I really don't want this for next year, or I learned this lesson, but I'm ready to let it go. You can do a kind of thing where you write everything down on a piece of paper, and you can either safely burn it, but obviously, you need to know what you're doing, if not, bury it in the garden and let it go. And it can be very cathartic, but like anything, it's having the discipline to sit down and do it. So if your life is busy, I would suggest that you you get a notebook and you write like for five minutes a day, and you can fill that notebook, have it in two parts. So one side's the let go, and one side's the for next year what you want to manifest. But we'll get into the manifest bit next. So you're writing down everything that you no longer want to have in your life, and you can do that throughout the month, up and and then just before the winter solstices, you can either cut the pages out of the things that you don't want and bury them, or if you can safely dispose of them, maybe you want to shred them. That's still good and way to like let it go. Shred is quite good, and before we get on setting the new intentions, so going back to the theme of this podcast. So we're releasing, reflecting, and pairing for the light. So you release and you you release via the journaling, you're reflecting via the journaling. And what is a magical green ingredient to kind of be the bridge between that and what you want to set as your new intention? Gratitude, and gratitude is really set stepping into celebrating the way in which you have grown during this past year because we forget how much we have changed and what we are proud of. So, can you think of something that you're proud of? Ways in which you have grown during the past year. It might be that instead of let's think of an example, you have learnt that everyone's doing their own journey in this life, and not to take things so personally. That could be one way you've grown, or you've learned not to react to people who don't see things the same way as you. That could be another way you have grown. You've learnt to stop spending as badly as you did the year before. That's another example. I'm just picking these out of my head, but because we're all going to have different things, and think of something that you're really proud of of that out of that, whatever it is that you feel that you have grown with in the last year, and then another thing you can do is write down three things. I like to just start with free because free is an easier thing. If I say 10 things, you're gonna be like, Oh, gentle yoga warrior, I'm overwhelmed. So, three things that you're grateful for this year, so it can be like an amazing and a connection with amazing friend. Like, I'm grateful that I got to see a couple of old friends this year after a long period of time, and it made me realize how important friendships are. It could be like some experiences, like I'm super grateful that I got to visit the city of Manchester. I think it's really iconic. I'm super grateful that I'm less reactive to how other people are, and I've learned that I'm not responsible for everyone else's feelings. So there's some examples, so you can write three things down, and gratitude helps uplift and uplift your spirit. So I also teach yoga online, and I'm doing a gratitude yoga class tomorrow. I will record it. So if you happen to hear this in the future and you would like a copy of that yoga class, do let me know. Just drop me a line, and you can either join in real time or in future time. Anyway, let's get back to what we're talking about. So it's for gratitude. There's different ways you can feel gratitude. We can feel grateful for every sip of water you have. There's some places where people do not have water, you can be very grateful that you had a choice of food to have in your stomach today. Not everyone has that choice. You may feel grateful that you've got a roof over your head, not everyone has that. That's not to say that you should feel guilty for having a roof over your head, it's more about being grateful, but then also sending healing, love, and support to those who don't. Because you know what? Life can change in an instant. One day we're high, and the next day we can be having trouble. So I always think compassion goes a very, very long way in all of this. So we have, as a recap, we're looking at how to be more soulful. So soulful is about going within deepness, some depth, but some rich and nurturing qualities. We've released, we reflected, and now we're preparing for the light of the new year, which is would you believe it, at the time of recording this, five weeks away. So in five weeks from recording this, we will be in a new year, the new year of 2026. But of course, you might be listening to this podcast several years down the line, which was quite interesting to know. So if you are, thank you. So, preparing for the light. So, as we come up to the winter solstice, it's it's a time of new beginnings, and that solstice isn't gonna be until around the 20th of December. I always seem to think it's the 21st, right? But it's like kind of around the 20th, 23rd, depends kind of what's going on in the sky. So, if you want to know from like uh if you like looking at the stars, etc. The solstice happens when the earth is tilted from its farthest point from the sun. So the northern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun, and the sun's rays hit the part of the earth at a much shallower angle, hence why it leads to less daylight in this part of the world. But obviously, if you're in the southern hemisphere, the situation is the opposite, and you are experiencing the summer solstice where there's the most light. So the solstice is kind of a very I would say right, it's kind of like the the tipping point in a good way where we've been in this kind of darkness, and and of course the winter will continue here for a few months after that, but then it becomes the rebirth because the light, the days start to very gradually start to get longer, or like I said, if you're in the um opposite hemisphere, the southern hemisphere, they'll start to get shorter, like so. It's the opposite, and and what happens is it gives us the time to really rest. So if you need a bit of extra sleep and you're on vacation, take that bit of extra sleep. If you feel like you need to sit and read a book or do something really nurturing instead of like going out partying, then that's probably what your body needs. What about like some wholesome root vegetable stews brings to mind and comforting cups of hot chocolate and warm blankets? So the cycle of the light is after the solstice in the northern hemisphere as the days begin to lengthen. So just think if it's a tiny bit of like really stuck elastic, so it's it just starts to pull very gently and as it gets longer and longer, but it'll still be very dark for a while, it'll be so subtle you won't really notice the difference, and it's about preparing for a brand new and fantastic new year. So, as I was saying earlier, it's a time that we can start to prepare for the new year, and I've done this before in episode 13, but on season 17, and the title is From Resolutions to Mindful Transitions Mini Thoughts. How do you want to be rebirthed as the new version of you for 2026 or whatever future yeah you're listening to us? What are the foundations that you wish to set? Now I know they're very popular, like these mood boards, but I'm quite a visual person, and I like to do one in Canva, you know, Canva, the software thing, but I'm sure there's loads of other ones, and you can just put them in different sections. But please listen to episode 13 on season 17, and that will give you full details of how to do that. But just to give a kind of brief thing on this, what is it that your heart wants to sing with this year? What is it that you wish to achieve? What limitations do you wish to overcome? And you can start thinking about this, and maybe in another journal, just start writing ideas down, and then if you want to, you can create that dream board in Canva. And I try and approach it from a normal kind of fluffy way, in a sense that you've got to do a bit of the work, you can't just make a dream board and then expect everything to happen. It's a fine balance between action and no action. Here's some things I just want to leave you with. Make time to care for yourself, make sure you drink enough water, make sure you get enough rest, make sure you set boundaries. So obviously, there is going to be family commitments, but also make sure you set boundaries so that you have some time for yourself, so everything in balance, find a time to be quiet, so it's a really special time to meditate and go within. If you can get to a sound healing bath, there's so many gong things these days, that might be a wonderful way for you to start. Yeah. If you listen to my previous episode with Lindsay Makovic from season 7, episode 11, which I did on the Psaltice a few years ago. That meditation at the end is an actual sound healing experience, so do have check that out. So the whole month will be themed towards helping you navigate through this wonderful month of December, and it is when my heart just to help spread a bit of joy to help you chip away those things that kind of hold you back, but also help you see and love yourself as the beautiful being you are. I want to encourage a wonderful meditation now to help you step into your darkness in a sense of going within, like you're going back into the womb, this sense of renew, and at the end of this meditation, we will come into the light. So it's a contraction and then an expansion of the being. As promised, here is your meditation inspired by today's show. Top tips for the meditation is either sit nice and cross-legged on the floor with a nice straight back, always nice to sit on a block or a cushion, or that's not available for you. You sit in a chair with the back nice and straight. The important thing is you're not slouching. And if you're doing something that requires little concentration, all you need to do is just pause this and you can reconvene the meditation at a time that is good for you. If you're doing the meditation, let's begin. So we're going to use an imaginary meditation. So as you close the eyes, just make sure that you're nice and warm and you're in a comfortable position. And just imagine a cold starlit sky.
SPEAKER_00:And then imagine a dusk just before it gets dark. And imagine the first rays of light just as it becomes morning. But we will start this journey now as we close our eyes.
SPEAKER_01:It is the time of dust.
SPEAKER_00:The last of the birds are flying frantically to find their place for the night.
SPEAKER_01:For in the distance, the sound of an owl. But this place is safe for you. Even though it's dark and cold, you are wrapped up in some of the warmest clothes. So you feel really comfortable. The ground is quite crispy between your foot and the ground. As the coldness creates almost like a starlit path of frost. The holly tree is rich with red berries, a sign that it's going to be a cold winter ahead. There's a kind of coldness to the mud on the outer edges of this path, but you take slow, calm steps. And as you walk along, you see the most beautiful little shed. This shed is like a cuddle from the universe. It is warm and it is comforting. And it has a sign on it. Please meditate here. Your intuition signals how safe that you feel. How safe in your being as you sit down on the soft woolen cushions.
SPEAKER_00:There is a faint scent of frankincense.
SPEAKER_01:And beside you is a flask of hot chocolate made with ever milk that you find comforting. For we all have different preferences. And you take a sip from this imaginary hot chocolate.
SPEAKER_00:And as you take a sip, you remember that this is the time to release and let go.
SPEAKER_01:And the rhythm has a reassurance that makes you reflect on a time in your life that you were very proud of something that you had achieved. And that thought comes into your mind without having you having to elaborate, you just feel it. Next, you feel something come up, just like a gentle cough, that you wish to release from your year, and you just think it for a moment, but then you don't dwell on it, you just allow it to go and you blow it with your hand, and it floats out of this shed. And then in the sky, the moon, a beautiful full moon, casting even more beauty and magical sparkles across the landscape as you watch it from the shed. And this moon, as it rises into the sky, is a sign of your the frutations of the year, and it is a symbology of what you should be proud of as you've achieved over this past year. And then just as quickly as it comes, it is gone, and you're back in the darkness. But this darkness has a womb-like quality where you feel safe and you feel nurtured, and within this darkness, you picture a flicker of light in front of you as a sign of the new year that is about to become in the next four weeks, or whenever you're listening to this, and that light grows and grows and grows until it's apparent what it is that you wish to shine your light on for the coming year. And you just allow yourself to feel this, remember it, and allow it to be within. And now there's nothing to do but just simply breathe and relax for a bit longer. For this is a time when we tend to get up, but I invite you to be slow, steady, and calm. And then you're going to slowly come back into the moment, come back into the room, knowing that this is going to be a soulful December. Thank you for listening.
