A Guide to Using Your Soulbook

the How To Use Your Soulbook

The most important piece of truth I can give you about using your Soulbook is that you can’t do it wrong. Intention is everything. The intention of your Soulbook is for you to have a space to connect with you and to manifest the internal and external realities you desire, on your terms. 

Your Soulbook is filled with a variety of offerings. You can use all of them or some of them. 

Below you will find instructions and for parts of your Soulbook you may desire more guidance on how to use. If you continue to have questions after reviewing them, feel free to email me at brittanysophiataylor@gmail.com.

This section is organized chronologically, and the planner page I am referring to is indicated for each one. Some pages are self-explanatory and some need only a bit more instruction. 

Some pages in your Soulbook are intentionally left blank for you to have extra space for journaling, notes, etc. 

Page 1: Welcome
Write your chosen name, the quarter of the year, and your intention for your Soulbook. Why have you chosen this powerful tool? What are you hoping to gain from this time engaging with your Soulbook these next 12 weeks?

Pages 4-7: Life Evaluation – You can choose to do either the visual or written life evaluation, or both. The rating scale is from 0-10, where 0 is the inside of the visual pie chart and 10 is the outside.

The purpose of the life evaluation is to offer you a space to evaluate the entirety of your internal and external experience. With the awareness gained here, you can gain the knowledge you need to know what areas of your life are currently feeling aligned and adequately nourished, and where you are not. This often helps give shape to what you want to focus on during the quarter.

There is space to fill out an identical life evaluation at the end of your Soulbook (or if you buy another Soulbook you can omit it and fill out the one at the beginning of your new Soulbook. I encourage you to fill one out every 12 weeks, so that you can get a sense for what is in flow and what needs attention. Know that at different seasons of your life certain areas may be more nourished than others. The longer you complete these for you will witness the ebb and flow to this chart. It is ok. There is no perfection we are striving for here. This is merely a way of connecting with what is alive within you so we can better care for the entirety of you and your life experience.

Pages 4-5: Life Evaluation (Visual)

Rate the 16 areas of the life evaluation by making a mark in the middle of each pie piece corresponding to the area of your life it is indicating. Do this intuitively as much as possible. You can choose to write notes in the pie chart, outside of it, or use pages 6-7 to make notes in the corresponding areas. When you have completed putting dots in each of the pie pieces, you can connect them all, to make a shape. 

Pages 6-7: Life Evaluation (Written)

Rate the 16 areas of the life evaluation from 0-10. Do this intuitively as much as possible. Compare yourself to you only. For example, if you are not experiencing a romantic relationship and are not desiring one, you may choose to rate that area highly. It doesn’t have to be a zero if it doesn’t exist for you right now. The number is designed to help you see where you are compared to what you truly desire, with the later being the 10. Everyone rates themselves with a differently level of compassion or severity. Again, there is no comparison. 

Then, write some notes about the area. Perhaps what you are rocking in that area, or what you want to step into. If there is a challenge, note that.

The life evaluation is simply a tool. This is just between you and you. Use it however you see fit. 

Pages 8-9: Intention & Affirmation

The instructions for this section are provided on page 8 of your Soulbook.  

Pages 10-13: Aspirations & Goals

Aspirations and goals are often given similar definitions related to the hope or ambition of achieving something. For the sake of your Soulbook, we will refer to an aspiration as the larger vision and the goal a smaller chunk of it, something clear, concrete and measurable. Think of the goal as the vehicle for your aspiration.

The goals can range from small – large. They can be multi-faceted or simple. 

Check out page 13 before filling out page 11 or 12 to help you understand how tasks can help you decide what your goal and aspiration will be. Tasks are smaller action steps, which break down the goal. 

In all of this, set yourself up for success. Choose items that you can achieve. Start small, if you haven’t done this before or you aren’t sure of your rhythms in this type of work. More is not necessarily more. Building trust with yourself that you can and will show up for what you commit to is the most powerful action step you can take.

Example 1
Aspiration – Do a Handstand for 15 seconds
Goal –  Train handstands 3x a week for 45 minutes
Tasks – Find a training program to follow, get necessary materials for training, find a space to train in, set up the space or join the fitness club, etc, add handstand training to weekly ritual tracker and movement chart, train 3x a week for 45 mins, chart progress, set check in points with self to see if program is helping progress towards goal or if goal has shifted

Example 2
Aspiration – To earn $2000 a month from selling my art
Goal – Create 1 piece of art per week and post it on instagram to sell
Tasks – Get art materials, create or refine art space in home or studio, schedule time in weekly schedule for art creation, honor that time, story progress of art creation on instagram to get people interested, make a reel or post about it when the piece is complete, sell it for $500, do this every week for a month and assess how it went, if it moved me closer to my goal, if my goal has shifted, etc

Example 3 
Aspiration – To be a more loving, compassionate, and available partner and parent. 
Goal – To educate myself on compassionate communication, presence, gentle parenting and practice using it in my daily life 
Tasks – Research compassionate communication, presence, gentle parenting and find resources that resonate with me, reach out to people I admire in these areas and see if they have recommendations, commit to the resources I want to begin with, start with 1-2 resources (books, podcasts, audiobooks, videos, blogs, coaching, workbooks, exercises, etc), schedule 3-5 days a week to listen to or view resources for 30-45 minutes, schedule 2-3 times a week to engage in exercises recommended or to make up and carry out my own exercises, add these rituals to m weekly chart, carry them out and chart them, assess in 1 month’s time how I’ve progressed towards my goal or if it has shifted

Page 13: Virtues
Virtues are behaviors  of being. Virtues you may need to embody to do tasks could be patience, gratitude, curiosity, cleanliness, organization, courage, honesty, compassion, integrity, etc. 

Pages 14-15: Two exercises for your heart

You don’t need any instructions for these. I highly recommend them. They are two of my favorites that I’ve felt compelled to share here. 

Pages 16-21: Monthly Calendar

There are three monthly calendars in your Soulbook, one for each month of the quarter you are in. I recommend filling them out with the dates of the month, any holidays, perhaps the full and new moons, and then adding in events and appointments on your schedule. 

Intention: Write your intention for the month. This will be taken from your aspirations/goals/tasks if you are using them, or you can refer to your master affirmation. Break down. theoverall vision you have for yourself into the first 3rd you want to embody and accomplish and contense it into an inteition.

Affiirmation: Write your master affirmation or an affirmation that corresponds well with your intention for. the month.

Reflection: At the end of the month, reflect on your intention and how much you stay ed connected with it, as well as noting anything you want to celebrate about the month in general. Note any parts left undone for the month and internally reflect on why, refining for next month.

Focus & context: Each month week in the monthly calendar begins with a space to note the focus or context of the week ahead. 

Example of context: family visiting, start my cycle, my birthday week, partner traveling, kids start sports

Example of focuses: organize kitchen, rest and relax, accounting, travel, support child in new activity

Page 22: Movement & Restoration Chart

The purpose of this chart is to give you a quarterly space to chart your movement and restoration/recovery practices. Add each movement practice to your chart that you engage in. If you engage in a practice more than once per week, add it on multiple lines (example: yoga 1, yoga 2, yoga 3- or write the name of the class or practice you do if they differ). What you define as a movement activity will be unique to you and your life.

Examples of movement activities: hiking, walking, running, yoga, calisthenics, lower body strength, bent arm strength, straight arm strength, hand balancing and mobility, dance, biking, climbing, swimming, HIIT, ju jitsu, stretching

Examples of restoration activities: stretching, massage, chiropractic, walking, napping

I also like to note activities that I may choose any given week instead of movement/when I normally do movement. The reason I do this is so I can see why I may not have chosen to do movement that week.
Examples: began my cycle, extra family time, extra biz time, cooking, travel. 

You can start by filling out the chart with your well-known movement activities and then add more as you encounter them. I suggest doing movement at the top and restoration/other at the bottom

Pages 24-30: Moon Cycle/Menstrual Cycle Chart

There are 4 moon cycle charts in your Soulbook to chart your menstrual cycle, if you have one, throughout the quarter. If you do not identify as having a menstrual cycle, you may still enjoy charting your cycle, perhaps from new moon to new moon. 

The possibilities and intricacies of charting your cycle are vast. This chart has space for them all. You can use it to its fullest degree if you are aware of how to, you can educate yourself on how to chart your cycle by getting my program Moon Cycle Magic, booking a session with me by emailing brittanysophiataylor@gmail.com, or reading Talking Charge of Your Fertility. You can also just chart to the degree that feels fun and accessible to you, or skip the charts entirely. 

The moon cycle chart rows with common trends to energetic rhythms below the indications of cervical fluid. You can add your own as well. If you want to chart cervical position, you can do so in the notes section, along with any other notes you want to make about what was prevalent that day (travel, big work day, day unplugged, etc).

Use the blank page across from the chart to note anything else that stands out to you about your cycle. I like to indicate the day when I start an entry. 

If you move into another Soulbook next quarter, copy over the data from the chart that you are currently on, or remove and tape the page in.

Page 32: Last Week’s Reflections

There is one weekly reflection page for every week of the quarter. The first time you fill out a weekly reflection page, you won’t have the same data from the previous week to go on as you will moving forward, however you can still reflect on last week to the best of your ability without referring to your daily pages, or you can just skip it and start with “this week.” 

The purpose of this page is to give you a space to reflect on the previous week. The focuses and context of the previous week will have been outlined by you in your last “this week” section. 

I rocked it: this is a space to celebrate triumphs. Look over your rituals chart and your task list on your weekly pages. What did you rock? Look over your daily pages. What stands out to you in terms of movement, self care, tasks completed, gratitudes, check ins and journaling, and beyond. What do you feel like you rocked? Note it here. 

Challenges/I learned: this best relates to your “I transform” section on your daily pages. What challenges arose for you and how did you transform through them? You can highlight anything that is apparent through viewing your “this week” page. Were there any challenges with daily rituals? With completing tasks? Does your movement and restoration or cycle chart point to any challenges you are learning from? How about your task list? Did you set up more than you could accomplish? Perhaps your journal gives you a sense of how you are transforming. What are you learning through challenges this week?

Other reflections: this is a space for any other reflections about the last week. 

I embrace: What are you taking forward with you? What feels aligned and positive that you want to keep putting energy into? What themes are alive that you are saying yes to? What lessons did you learn that you want to keep front and center?

I release: What are you letting go of? What is no longer resonant for you? What has been highlighted this past week that you have grown through and are ready to say “thank you and goodbye” to?

Page 33: This Week
This week’s focuses: choose 1-3 things to focus on this week. These could come from your aspirations/goals/tasks on pages 10-13. They could come from the context of this week of your moth (ex: family visit, holiday, focus on accounting, support child in transition, big work week, rest and restore, etc). They could come from an intuitive knowing inside of you that this is what you need now. Set yourself up for success. If you have a tendency to over-commit, just choose one focus to start. 

This week’s context: As outlined in the monthly calendar, this is a place to share the context of what is happening this week

Tasks: This space is intentionally left open so you can organize your weekly tasks list however feels best for you. I tend to organize mine into categories, which break down various biz categories, life tasks, and so on. If you are working with the Aspirations/goals/tasks on pages 10-13, here is the place to bring the tasks you want to work on this week.

Rituals chart: This is a very powerful data tracker, that I highly recommend utilizing in your Soulbook. Use the rituals chart to help you create consistency with new rituals you want to adopt or current rituals that you want to be more regular with in your life. You may also choose to add a ritual/habit to this chart that you already do consistently, which brings you joy and a feeling of accomplishment to keep on your list and check off. In general, though, this is a space for fostering consistency in your routines. Once a ritual is integrated into your life, you can stop charting it. 

I recommend choosing 1 or 2 new rituals to integrate at a time. Once you have it dialed in, move on to another. Although there are 10 spaces on the chart, you can use anywhere from 1 to 10 of them. It is more important that you find a balance between expaanding to new versions of yourself and also not over-stressing your system with large visions that are hard to live up to. Less is more. Start small and you can always add more in the weeks that follow as you find consistency within yourself. 

In column 1, write the ritual, in column 2, write how many times you want to complete the ritual per week. Track daily. At the end of the week, tally how many times you completed each ritual, compare it to your goal, and reflect on why the outcome was this way. Use the data you gain for the following week’s chart. Rituals can be anything that make sense for you. 

Examples of rituals: morning Soulbook time, evening Soulbook time, 5 min meditation, mirror affirmation, movement (specific or general), drink water, self time, gratitude practice, daily 10m squat, self appreciation, eat 3 nourishing meals, etc.

Ritual Variations: I also utilize this chart for more specific data. For example, I have a line that is for “movement” where I write how long I do my movement practice for each day. I also like to track how much water I drink, and I use 2 “x” marks in one box, one for each water bottle full that I drink. I also like making my last line on my rituals chart a “feeling” percentage, where I give myself a percentage (1 out of 100) for how I feel each day. This is a personal rating, and it’s just about me being in flow with me. You can also use this for a specific goal. For example, if you are wanting to eat in a way that feels aligned for you, you can use a percentage to rate how much you ate in a way that felt great for you that day. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it’s just general data for you. 

The powers of the rituals chart are many. You will come to see trends in your data and how you feel each day (hence the encouragement for the % rating of how you feel). You will also see how much you are doing something compared to what you thought. You will get a sense of what you generally choose to do, what nourishes you, and how you feel about new rituals you have thought you may like to try for a while. 

Page 34-35: Daily Pages 

Last night’s sleep: write when you went to sleep, when you woke, and how many hours you got. I use this space to track my own sleep and also my young child’s, who I co-sleep with.

Cycle day: this refers to your menstrual cycle, if you have one.

Moon cycle: a space for you to draw the moon in its current phase in and write the day of the moon cycle. You can do this by observing the moon or by using “the moon” app.

Check in & envision: this is one of the most powerful ways to check in with yourself through your Soulbook. The intention is to help you understand what is alive within you, through your feelings and needs/desires, and to get in touch with strategies & intentions you want to invest in this day to help meet your needs. 

To assist you in this part, I recommend downloading the following lists from the CNVC website.
Feelings List
Needs List

If you want to further your understanding of nonviolent communication/compassionate communication, I highly recommend reading to or listening to the audiobook of Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg. However, even just practicing tuning into your feelings and needs on a daily basis will be powerful and transformative. 

When you begin doing this exercise, I recommend having your feelings and needs lists right out in front of you as you do (I have them taped into the back pages of my Soulbook). It can be easier to identify how we are feeling or what we are needing when we see them on a list. Also, strategies can often be confused with needs or needs with feelings, so the practice of noting the differences will be helping you understand yourself on a deeper level and how to speak about yourself. 

Examples of feelings: content, tired, alert, appreciative, relaxed, energetic, frustrated, numb, uninspired, creative, excited, and so on. Refer to the two feelings charts provided from the CNVC website. 

Also use this space to note feelings in your physical body, such as: neck ache, sinus pressure, tingly bliss, etc.

Examples of needs/desires: connection, love, play, freedom, effectiveness, fun, potency, inclusion, safety, to be understood, to see and be seen, authenticity, rest, sleep, sexual expression, touch, creativity, etc. (for the sake of this exercise, focus on the top unmet needs/ ie your top desires as you fill out your Soulbook).

Examples of strategies & intentions: take a nap, have a mindful meal, create 2 hours of uninterrupted biz time, go for a hike, share gratitude with a friend, listen to my audiobook, be present in nature, make love, listen to music and dance, tidy my home, etc. (The purpose of the strategies & intentions is to meet unmet needs you have identified. Choose something specific).

Affirmation/ I am: This is a place to write and say out-loud your master affirmation, as outlined on page 9, or to write another powerful affirmation that is important for you today. 

Movement: Write the movement practice/s you are choosing to engage in today. See the chart on page 22 for movement activities you love and choose. You may be having a very yin or a very yang day. Notice how you are feeling and what you are needing and what movement aligns with your energy today.

Self care & mindfulness: What self care and mindfulness practices are you choosing today? These may be made apparent through your strategies & intentions, your rituals chart, or your intuitive knowing about what you need. 

Examples of self care & mindfulness: journal (on the following page), Soulbook, meditation, bath, silent walk in nature, massage, mirror affirmation, having a mindful meal, a deep conversation with a loving friend, cuddling with a loved one, making love with yourself or another, and so on. The list is endless and personal to you. What do you need to nourish your mind, body and spirit today?

Tasks: There are spaces for 12 tasks to complete during the day. You do not have to fill them all up. I generally choose one column for biz tasks and one for life tasks, but you may do it however makes sense for you. Your tasks will come from your “this week” page. You may sometimes have new tasks to add that are not on your weekly page. It may be satisfying to add them to the “this week” page if you add them to your daily page. Make sure you are setting yourself up for success by choosing tasks that make sense based on your feelings, needs, and intentions for the day. Also make sure you are choosing an appropriate number of tasks to complete. If you finish them all and truly want to do more, you can!

Schedule: This is the place to write in your schedule for the day. The schedule begins at 5am and ends at 9pm to accommodate for most people’s schedules. Some of it will come from your monthly calendar. Some of it will come from a known schedule within you that you don’t have written down (ex: meals, errands, biz, bedtime). Most of it will come from everything you have just filled out on your daily page. Include movement, self care, tasks, and so on. If you want to do something today, make sure you are putting it in your schedule and can see how it will fit timing wise into your day. 

Journal: This is a frees space for you to journal about anything you desire. You may choose to journal when you wake up in the morning, or in the evening about your day. You may want to write about how you are feeling, something important you are processing, stream of consciousness, or appreciation for yourself, your life, or your loved ones. Some days journal entries may be long. Some days they may be short. You can also draw here. 

I celebrate: Write 7 things you want to celebrate about your day. They can be anything- appreciation about you, others, something cool that happened, how you handled something, the way the sun warmed your body, a convo with a co-worker, a delicious meal you had, completing all your tasks, not doing a task that didn’t feel aligned, engaging with your Soulbook, anything that brings you joy. Let’s highlight it. 

I transform: The purpose of this space is to offer you a place to note a challenge that you transformed through today, or a way you are currently growing. This is personal to you and your life. It gives you a space to acknowledge challenges and it gives you space to bring consciousness to how you are learning and growing through them. It can be something that feels “complete” or something that is still in process.

Examples for “I transform”: I choose to stick to my self-time when it was hard for me to not jump to meet others’ needs, I am noticing that I want to bring more consciousness and to transform the way that I engage with eating, I am so proud of how I handled this morning when my partner was overwhelmed, I’m feeling disconnected from myself and my power and feel inspired to tune in and transform through it, I am choosing to trust in the process of life and welcome all as it is. 

Pages 242-247: End of quarter reflection pages, which are self-explanatory.

Blank pages to follow for extra journaling, notes, drawing, etc.

If you have any remaining questions, feel free to email me at brittanysophiataylor@gmail.com. I am here, loving you and cheering you on. -Brittany