0:00:01 - Speaker 1

Welcome to Elevate Daily, the podcast for those ready to elevate their life, one intentional day at a time. I'm your host, alexia Usgard, here to give you a permission slip to unapologetically savor the beauty and richness of life. Join me as we explore modern rituals, self-leadership, the gene keys and the art of elevating your health, wealth, love and leadership. It's time to elevate. Let's dive in Hello, hello and welcome back my love. So this episode is coming straight from the heart. I'm really here to share with you, unfiltered, what has been feeling deeply alive in my being these days, and I truly believe it's one of the most important conversations we need to be having right now. So I'm pulling back the curtain on a truth that's been loud in my body like really loud in my body, and it's that self-care isn't enough, not for the woman you're becoming, not for the soul work you're here to do. Today I'm sharing the difference between self-care and what I call soul care. The ritual-led identity, anchoring form of nourishment that I have seen over and over again holds the foundation for what I call feminine high performance and, frankly, this is about the kind of care that sustains your power, your presence, that devotional presence in you and your leadership, not just your image, not just your perceived identities, not just how people see you or think you should be in the world. So let's get cozy let's nest in. This one is going to be honest, this one's going to be intimate and just might change the way you lead yourself forever, because I know in my bones that self-care is no longer enough for the woman you're becoming, for the woman I'm becoming, for the souls and humans we're becoming, and so in today's conversation, I'm really enthused to actually share with you what I even see as the difference between self-care and soul care, why I'm so big on how this is the non-negotiable essential you need to be prioritizing in your life every single day, and why I think it's also going to be super important in keeping you centered and yourself and your unique visionary leadership in the age of AI and the ways in which I see the impact of it. So what's edgy about this conversation for me is, like I said, I just want to peel the curtain back, and just right now.

Honestly, fun fact about me is I am actually more of a natural night owl, and so I wanted to test out what it would be like to just put on the mic later in the day, in this time when I find that the world gets quiet. I know there's a lot of my beloved morning people who love the quiet that starts first thing in the day. I will say that I find the depths of my quiet in the evenings and drink a cup of something delicious and just be here with you and just share from my heart. So, yeah, here we are, and also I really want to take a moment to say thank you to those of you who are listening. I really am on this journey with you and I just found out that we have a good number of community that tune in to this podcast, that tune in and tap into this frequency the day each episode drops, and I really want to say thank you to you because it's through you, it's through this conversation, it's through us being on this journey together that fuels me and keeps me going.

And in these moments, right Like when, sometimes today was just one of those days, if I'm honest, where it just wasn't a day that felt completely in flow. All day, you know, because that's just how life is there's been things like taxes and random life. Admin, that has just given me a good opportunity to see the importance of this work, to come back and, on a deeper level, appreciate soul work, because it's really easy breezy to say we're great at our self-care and we're great at our soul care when everything's just working out for us, when all the lights are green on the way to the gym, when everything's just moving and grooving. And I think this is one of the things that has gotten to be a bit of a faux pas, in my opinion, in the feminine leadership perspective is this idea that it's just all meant to be flow, and I'm here to honor that. I do fully stand for flow and I honor that. Sometimes the flow gets choppy and sometimes we need to spend some time honoring the boundaries we've got to put up so the flow can evenpy. And sometimes we need to spend some time honoring the boundaries we've got to put up so the flow can even go with more direction, more clarity, more momentum.

And so, no matter what season you're in, no matter what you're navigating right now, no matter what externally might be stressing you out, may this be a conversation that gives you a deep exhale. May this be a conversation that brings you back into a frequency of knowing that you are whole. May this be a conversation that honors that. Your heart is the medicine the world needs most right now that your soul came here with a divine design, with a divine mission, with a sacred contribution that you're here to bring. And this is why I'm going to stand in deep commitment to you, showing up for your soul care, because I know that it's not enough to just take bubble baths, to just go on walks, to just drink lemon water. I love all of those things, I love all of them and it's just not enough and I'm just not afraid to say it.

So, for me, what I see as self-care is it's more of the surface level, often symptom-focused ways we can nourish ourselves that, I find, more than anything is marketed to our personas. So I definitely believe we all have personas, right, we all have these glorious personalities and I honor that part of us. I honor that it's part of the human experience. And, at the same time, what I'm so deeply committed to is knowing you on a soul level and being a mirror to support you in always coming back to honoring the multifaceted, multidimensional being that you are. And so, with self-care while don't get me wrong, taking a bubble bath can feel really the bubble bath for simple, quick relaxation and soul care. So for me, what I mean by soul care is it's a root level, it is a identity anchoring, it is a ritual-led form of nourishment that fuels everything. It fuels the multidimensional being that you are right On a soul level.

There is so much to us and I think why it can be so challenging to really connect with our souls is because we don't always make sense and we aren't linear. And one minute, one moment we are these wild, expressive, fiery, passionate beings and in the next moment we can feel so deeply taken down to our knees in grief and in tenderness and in compassion, and sometimes we can be all of it in one moment. And that's what I'm here for In my space. I don't need you to fit into a box, I don't need you to feel easy to understand, I don't need you to feel like one version of you is the part I find valuable and, honestly, I'll be very real with you. You can share all your personas with me and I will play along with them for a moment.

Yet, in the truth, don't be surprised when I start to really mirror back to you your soul, and your soul shows up in the simple moments. Soul shows up to speak to you in the quiet moments. Your soul shows up to speak to you also in the noisy moments. If you really allow yourself to hear yourself in the noisy moments, your soul is still there, trying to guide you. The question is will you allow it to be the voice that you truly hear, or will you allow all of the ego-driven external noise to have a louder volume? I really want that to land.

And so what really was my turning point? Gosh, I've had multiple turning points and y'all. I think that's the thing in life, right, we are just consistently at every growth edge, asked to meet the parts of ourselves that want to sabotage ourselves, the parts of ourselves that can let our ego take the wheel for moments, selves that can let our ego take the wheel for moments, the moments when our fear just has power. And I'm not here for perfection, I'm here to honor that I am so human and so imperfect and so humbled every day by the experience of living and loving and leading and showing up and doing my best to figure it all out and realizing that the more I think I know things, the more I feel like I don't know things, and the more I learn, the more I unlearn and the more that I feel deeply in love with people in life, the more I meet the depths of how much we are asked to die, to allow old parts of ourselves to die. I'm reminded that as I learn to surrender, I'm also equally asked to let go of the grip of control that makes me feel safe.

I get honored to see that when I look at every person in the eyes, I have the opportunity to meet the divine. I have this moment where, when I walk on the street and I feel the sun on my skin, I'm reminded that the sun shows up day in, day out, no matter what is happening, and that sun also lives within me. When the moon rises, when I watch it affect the tides of the ocean, I am invited to truly allow myself to honor my internal cycles, to honor the waves that move me, to honor the emotions Oof this makes me. I'm feeling this. This is for all of us that are listening right now. Can we honor the potent waves of emotions that move us, that are the artistry that pulses through us, and can we honor that these emotions are not only needed right now, they are the most needed right now, and so when I bring forward that soul care isn't a nice to have right now, it is a need to have.

It is coming from the depths of my own being to share this message, because it's the thing that I am reminded in every moment of my days, when I want to distract myself, when I want to numb myself, when I want to to really come into love my soul, to trust my soul, to get more quiet and to ask my soul how do you want me to move in this moment? How do you want me to feel in this moment? What do you want me to feel? What do you desire for me to show up for? How can I allow myself to get out of my ego and out of this fear-based mentality and really surrender into the bigger movement, the bigger calling, my sacred calling, the divine assignment I was here to actually bring forward, and this is why your soul care is essential.

And so, in my space, when you hear me talk about feminine high performance, what I'm really talking about is moving out of that ego based performance model, that hustle style performance model, the model that's so outside in focus, that's so focused on external validation and vanity metrics and feeling special in the eyes of others and I'm really really standing here with you honoring that. When we come into feminine high performance, we are calling ourselves into a way of getting really honest about who we truly are and focusing on soul-aligned leadership, leadership, soul aligned success. And, to me, where I was so humbled by so much of this is I have seen over and over again that when I just do self-care, yes, it can give me a little bit more energy. Yes, it can give me a little bit more energy. Yes, it can give me a little bit more creativity, yes, maybe a bit more vitality.

But in truth, it's only when I get radically honest about what supports my soul with feeling nourished and when I prioritize it and I do it. That's when I see big moments of growth, that's when I see sustainable creativity, that's when I feel my channel and my leadership feels like I can actually have the capacity to show up on another level for what I'm here for. And I can do so without feeling burdened and weighed down by expectations, by fear of being misunderstood, by the fear of being visible, by all of those dynamics, those internal voices that can make us say, okay, show up, but just enough. Not too much Lead, just enough, but not too much. Just enough, but not too much. Make yourself visible enough, but just enough, without, you know, ruffling too many feathers.

And again, I'm on the journey with you on this every day, and it was through me getting introduced to the gene keys and it was through me having language to get really honest about what uniquely nourishes me that has had the most significant difference for me, because oftentimes, when we get quiet enough, we can see and feel the answers. And I find that the Gene Keys just offers such an incredible map to know what your soul needs to support yourself in understanding what supports you in thriving in your relational dynamics, what supports you and nourishes you emotionally, mentally, spiritually, what is the key code for you? Understanding who are the aligned and nourishing soul level relationships in your life, what supports you on the depths of your health journey to feel soul nourished, what makes you feel so alive with joy and fulfilled that what you do truly matters, and what truly supports you on a soul level with attracting the money that is so here for you to circulate in this lifetime. And so what I find is that when you look at your gene keys and one of the things I'm paying attention so much when decoding your keys is. I'm really seeing the blueprint, your soul level blueprint, on what unique forms of soul care are non-negotiable for you and really forming rituals and systems and rhythms that support you with making those a priority. And this is your blueprint for sustainable power and long-lasting legacy, which is what I'm really here for, because, frankly, the world needs us to not just be around right now but to really honor that. We all have a unique thread that we're here to weave and it's time that we build a potent, very powerful new tapestry of humanity. And so a couple of specific examples that I have seen and how this plays out is actually I'll even use an example for Z and I.

So for myself, I have discovered, through my keys and through my blueprint, the importance of animals, so it's not just a nice to have that I have animals in my life. For me, when we got our puppy, it completely elevated so much of my leadership journey. He has really been such a catalyst in my creativity, in how I feel connected to my daily life, the way I go on walks with him, the level of intimacy I feel with my puppy has been massive for me, and I've seen such a big impact on my health and vitality and so many other areas. And it's no surprise, when you really look at my history, why I spent so much of my journey and my life with animals and why I spent my academic career preparing and studying to be a veterinarian. Right Like you, look back and you're like well, that all tracks. I knew that animals were such a key code to me thriving. And this isn't just surface level. Oh, I like animals. This is soul level. Animals are a mirror that support me with being the truest, most authentic version of me and honoring my gift and showing up in my highest expression.

Whereas, when I look at my husband, one of his things that's really potent in his soul's blueprint is that running is a very important part of how he stays in alignment with his soul. And this is where I just know that we are different. If you had that in my blueprint, I would go what? Because I desire a freaking like I do a dance party. When I run for five minutes, like for me, I go. This is accomplishment. I am proud of myself because I know the level of willpower it takes to get me to get there. Versus, for him, running is meditation, running is is. It supports him with processing on a deep level. And when I watch him run, there is such a naturalness to how he runs and moves, not just in his physicality and how he does it but just in his entire being, that can just show you that it's a soul level way he takes care of himself and you can feel that and it's literally in his gene keys.

This key code and then some other examples I've seen with clients is I've seen where it's been essential for one client in particular standing out, where for her simplicity is so important for her to prioritize in her life. Anytime she adds too much clutter or complexity to any area of her life her tech life, the way she thinks about her business models, the way she thinks about her wardrobe, her physical space any of that. Anytime she allows for things to get too complicated, too complex, it ruins her joy, it ruins her sense of being able to lead on the most effective and powerful way and it makes her feel it would make her soul feel like it's not truly nourished. Another client it's so clear in her chart how important it is for her to be consistently experimenting, to be consistently trying new things, to consistently allow herself to honor the creative, experimental process and, though it's really important, she focuses on being in that energy, from an energetic frequency of innovation, that she doesn't just experiment from an energy of chaos, because for her the shadow goes into this chaos frequency, where she just overcommits people, pleases as a million and one things for everybody and lets that take over. Her soul really is here for her to be very intentional about experimenting and trying new things and letting her playfulness run the show for her and be really a huge guide in her life. And though, again, it's a very big discernment for her, am I doing this next project? Am I doing this? Am I saying yes to this next commitment because it truly supports the innovations that are deeply fueling and inspiring me on a soul level? Or is this just like a nice fun distraction but ultimately, at the end of the day, like her ways that she would deplete herself is, she would end up just running around doing so many different things instead of really feeling like she was getting to meet the intimacy of her creativity and the intimacy of her innovative way of thinking and being.

And then let me tune in who's another? Let me end with one other example. And then let me tune in who's another? Let me end with one other example. Another example is I have another client who came in and she has so much in her gifts on a soul level linked to the way she hears, so her auditory gifts. She has very significant auditory gifts and so for her, on a soul level, it's actually very important that she's radically honest about the noise of spaces she's in, getting honest about ways in which she will put too many podcasts or too much information in her ears rather than really giving her the space to be quiet with her own internal voice, her own internal rhythm, the messages and the insights that actually wanna channel through her, because she's really here to be someone who has massive breakthrough epiphanies and so for her, a big part of when we think about her rituals and what's really important for her to be in a very honest cadence with herself is ensuring that there's enough quiet space, that there's a way in which she really honors and asks herself in physical spaces she's in.

Does this feel deeply nourishing for my body, for my being? What am I hearing, what am I noticing, what is coming up for me in my nervous system when I'm in this space? And so can you feel? There's such different examples, right Like I've seen others, where there's so much that's focused for them on sensuality, on deeply connecting to the somatics of their body and making sure that they are really doing active rituals and practices that support them with activating their different senses in general. So this is the type of person that I've definitely given potent rituals linked to connecting with flowers, connecting with scents, connecting with candles, creating a workspace that makes them feel really connected to all their different senses. And I've witnessed how, for her, the more she's done that, the more she's seen that she's really softened more into a new way of leading, a new way of trusting herself, and she's also made some really big, significant changes in her life because she was actually in the receptivity. So these are some beautiful examples, but they're all just fun little invitations and tidbits for you to go and get curious about what supports you on a soul level.

What is soul care for you? What would it look and feel like for you to care for yourself so deeply on a soul level? As you are a visionary leader, as you are someone who came here to do important work at this time, you're someone who came here to do important work at this time. You're someone who came here to show up for growth. You're someone here who's devoted to elevating daily, and to me that means you're someone that is not here to just let life pass by. You're truly someone who's here to honor that.

You want to be someone who looks back at the end of your life and knows that you gave it your all, and so if this conversation stirred something in you, if you're ready to stop operating from surface level self-care and strategies and truly start honoring your soul's deepest rhythm, then the best place to begin is in my Illuminate experience. This is my signature 90 minute one-on-one experience where we decode your gene keys and activate your feminine high-performance codes so you can lead, live and create in a way that actually feels aligned, energized and true to who you truly came here to be. So you'll walk away with a personalized map and follow-up support to help you integrate the codes that want to move through you now. This is where the next level of your leadership truly begins, and I find when people leave Illuminate Experiences, they just exhale on a deep level and feel so activated about what they're focusing on now. And if you already know you're craving a more intimate, longer-term space, I also offer two private pathways a three-month immersion for those in a sacred season of refinement and a year-long concierge experience with me for women ready to be deeply held, seen and supported as they scale their soul-aligned legacy. So you can book your Illuminate experience or inquire about private work through the links in the show notes.

You can also feel free to simply DM me if you're feeling the call and if this episode spoke to you. I would love to hear what landed. I'd love for you to send me a message, share your takeaway or even just say soul care, and let's keep this conversation alive. Feel free to share it with anyone in your life who really needs this message at this time, who needs to feel centered in the truth of their soul and always remember that we're on this journey and dancing through this life journey together. So until next time.

I just want to say I'm so grateful for you, I'm so grateful to be on this journey together and I hope you elevate your life one to do these three things. First, please follow or subscribe to Elevate Daily on your favorite podcast platform. When you do, you'll never miss an episode and it helps us keep bringing you the intentional inspiration you love. Just tap the plus sign or click follow on the show page wherever you listen. Second, if you're feeling generous, leave a quick five-star rating and review. Your words mean so much and help others discover this space where we elevate our lives together and finally share this episode with someone who could use a little elevation today. And, most importantly, thank you so much for being you. Thank you for being here. We're really on this journey together. Until next time, I hope you elevate your life one intentional day at a time.