Soul Care and the Work of Alignment
Lately, I’ve been realizing something about my work that feels important to name.
What I do is soul care.
That language resonates more deeply for me than “self-care.” Especially in February, when self-care is everywhere — often wrapped in Valentine’s Day messaging about loving ourselves better, treating ourselves, or indulging in a little pampering. And to be clear, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a manicure, a massage, or a quiet moment that feels nourishing. Those things can be lovely.
But soul care speaks to something deeper.
Soul care speaks to the wholeness, to the part of us that knows who we are beneath who we think we’re supposed to be. Because people can’t truly be well unless their lives are aligned with who they are at their core, not who they feel obligated to be. So much dis-ease comes from this misalignment, from living a life that looks “fine” on the outside but feels constricting or untrue on the inside.
I see this all the time in the clinic.
Just this week, I sat with a woman in her early forties. She has two school-aged children and works at their school, but what she really wants is to run a home-based early childhood program and have a small farm. She’s been putting that dream on hold — waiting until her daughter finishes at the school. And I get that. We all do some version of that some of the time.
But her perimenopause has been brutal. It was especially bad in September when she went back to work. As she spoke, she kept saying things like, “I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to do the drive. I want less chaos. I want to be at home.”
I couldn’t help but notice the connection.
Yes, we can support her with things like yam cream or ashwagandha tincture — and those have their place. But the nuance of the work, the deeper work, is tending to the soul. Listening for where life is out of alignment. Creating space for that truth to be acknowledged.
That’s soul care.
I’ve also been reading a book that’s been sitting with me in a powerful way: In the Absence of the Ordinary: Soul Care for Uncertain Times. Francis Weller speaks honestly about the state of the world — putting our current moment into historical context — and reminds us that this kind of work is still necessary, even when (and perhaps especially when) things feel chaotic.
He talks about how much we love stories of ascension — improvement, progress, gains — but that we may actually be living in a time of dissension. A necessary unraveling. And that this, too, is part of human evolution.
One word he uses keeps echoing for me: immensity.
He writes about the importance of having an immense heart right now — an expansive capacity for tolerance, compassion, and care. For people whose lives and identities are different from ours. For the earth. For the collective. For ourselves.
That word feels like an invitation.
Soul care, to me, is about cultivating that immensity — within our own hearts, within our bodies, and within our daily lives. It’s about tending to alignment, even gently, even imperfectly. And trusting that when we do, health often begins to reorganize itself from the inside out.
With care,
Carrie
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As with all of my articles, blogs, social media posts, etc, this article is educational and not a substitute for medical care. Please check with your clinician before changing your routine.