Attuning to the Week Ahead with Cacao
Soulful Sundays is a weekly space designed for deep connection, reflection, and alignment with our higher selves. Each week, we explore a new theme that encourages personal growth, transformation, and spiritual alchemy. The practices, rituals, and reflections provided guide you to slow down, tune in, and explore the depths of your inner world while drawing strength from ancient practices, including the ceremonial use of cacao.
In previous sessions, we focused on grounding our ideas into reality and creating through the lens of higher consciousness. This week, we delve into Sovereignty – reclaiming power over your mind, body, and spirit.
Theme of the Week: Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the acknowledgement and practice of your supreme authority over yourself—your thoughts, actions, energy, and choices. This week, we’ll explore how to connect with your own sovereignty, recognise subtle manipulations (whether external or internal), and step fully into empowered action.
By practising mindful awareness, using cacao as a tool for grounding and clarity, reflecting deeply on what it means to be a sovereign being, and incorporating simple breathwork and embodiment practices, we will strengthen our alignment with higher consciousness.
About Our Rituals
Before diving into the daily rituals, we would like to acknowledge that our use of cacao in these practices is not the same as a traditional Indigenous cacao ceremony. We pay our respects to the original custodians of cacao and the lands where it is grown and cultivated. We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to use this powerful plant medicine and teacher as an ally in our personal rituals and practices. Our use of cacao is a way to connect to its essence and receive its guidance in our modern lives while honouring its rich cultural roots.
Each ritual can be done in the morning, or you can find time later in the day—perhaps before lunch or before bed—to carve out space for these moments of self-connection. Along with cacao, simple breathwork and embodiment practices are included to deepen your connection with your body and inner self.
The Daily Rituals
Day 1: Setting the Foundation
Practice:
Choose a time when you can sit quietly, whether in the morning or sometime during the day, and prepare a Cacao Ceremony. As you drink your cacao, set the intention to connect with your inner power and authority.
Breathwork: Take 3 deep breaths, slowly inhaling through the nose for 4 counts, holding for 4, and exhaling through the mouth for 6 counts. Let this breath ground you into the present moment.
Embodiment: As you finish your cacao, stand up and gently roll your shoulders, feeling your feet on the ground. Imagine your feet rooting into the earth as a symbol of grounding into your sovereignty.
Reflection Question: What does personal sovereignty feel like in my body, mind, and spirit?
Journal Prompt: Write about a time when you felt fully in control of your choices and actions. How did that feel, and how can you cultivate more of it?
Day 2: Exploring Manipulations
Practice:
Sometime before lunch, or during a pause in your day, sit quietly for 5-10 minutes. Scan your thoughts and experiences for subtle manipulations—are you being swayed by external forces or internal fears?
Breathwork: Practice Box Breathing – Inhale for 4 counts, hold for 4, exhale for 4, and hold again for 4. Repeat for 2-3 minutes to gain clarity.
Embodiment: Place your hand over your heart and gently sway side to side. As you sway, release any pressure or influence that feels out of alignment with your true self.
Reflection Question: Where in my life am I relinquishing power without realizing it?
Journal Prompt: Explore how external influences have shaped your choices recently. How can you reclaim sovereignty in those situations?
Day 3: Empowered Choices
Practice:
As you prepare and drink your cacao, either in the morning or at another peaceful time, reflect on the choices you made yesterday. Were they aligned with your true wishes?
Breathwork: Close your eyes and practice Alternate Nostril Breathing for 3-5 minutes. This helps balance your mind and energy before reflecting.
Nadi Shodhana:
- Sit comfortably with a straight spine.
- Close your right nostril with your right thumb.
- Inhale deeply through your left nostril.
- Close your left nostril with your ring finger, then release your right nostril.
- Exhale fully through your right nostril.
- Inhale through your right nostril.
- Close your right nostril, release your left nostril, and exhale through the left.
Repeat for several cycles, alternating nostrils. Finish by exhaling through the left.
Embodiment: Stretch your arms wide and open your chest, feeling the space you are creating for empowered choices. Hold this posture for a few breaths, then release.
Reflection Question: What does it mean to make empowered choices in my daily life?
Journal Prompt: List 3 decisions you made recently. Were they made from a place of power or pressure? How will you choose differently moving forward?
Day 4: Honouring Your Boundaries
Practice:
Before bed, or during a quiet moment in your day, reflect on your personal boundaries. Check in with yourself: are you honouring your energy and limits?
Breathwork: Practice deep belly breathing for 2 minutes. Breathe in deeply through your nose, filling your belly, and exhale through your mouth, releasing any energy that isn’t yours.
Embodiment: Stand tall, with feet hip-width apart. Take up space with your body by stretching out your arms and legs. Imagine an energetic boundary around you, shielding your sovereignty.
Reflection Question: Am I clear about my boundaries, and do I communicate them effectively?
Journal Prompt: Write about a boundary you wish to strengthen. How can you stand in your power when it’s challenged?
Day 5: Cultivating Discernment
Practice:
Drink your cacao at any time that feels right for you. Reflect on the information you’ve encountered; whether through media, conversations, or inner dialogue. Are you discerning truth from distortion?
Breathwork: Practice 4-7-8 Breathing – Inhale for 4 counts, hold for 7, and exhale for 8. Repeat for 3-4 cycles, allowing clarity to rise.
Embodiment: Sit in a comfortable position with your spine straight. Gently sway from side to side, feeling your body’s natural rhythm. Allow your inner knowing to guide you in discerning truth.
Reflection Question: How do I know when something is true for me?
Journal Prompt: Write about a moment when you exercised discernment and chose differently than the crowd. What did it feel like to follow your inner guidance?
Day 6: Sovereign Self-Care
Practice:
Carve out time for an act of self-care; whether it’s a walk, meditation, or nourishing your body with a simple, wholesome meal.
Breathwork: Practice Ocean Breathing (Ujjayi breath) by inhaling and exhaling through the nose while slightly constricting the back of your throat, so that your breath is audible (kind of like Darth Vader). Do this for 5 minutes, allowing a sense of calm and sovereignty to wash over you.
Embodiment: Lie on your back with your hands on your belly, and feel the rise and fall of each breath. This helps you connect deeply to your body’s needs.
Reflection Question: How does nurturing my body, mind, and spirit strengthen my sovereignty?
Journal Prompt: Create a self-care plan for the week ahead that honours your needs as a sovereign being.
Day 7: Integration and Celebration
Practice:
End your week with a ceremonial cacao practice. Reflect on the moments of sovereignty you have experienced throughout the week. Celebrate the strength you have cultivated and the lessons learned.
Breathwork: Practice deep, slow breathing for 3 minutes, inhaling and exhaling fully, as you acknowledge your growth.
Embodiment: Dance, sway, or move your body in a way that feels joyful and free. Celebrate your personal power with movement.
Reflection Question: What does sovereignty mean to me now, after this week of exploration?
Journal Prompt: Write a letter to your future self, outlining what you’ve learned about your personal power and how you will continue to embody it.
Final Note:
As we move through this week’s theme of Sovereignty, use cacao as a grounding tool to anchor your intentions. By incorporating breathwork, embodiment practices, and reflection, you will create a deep connection with your body, mind, and spirit, empowering yourself with clarity and personal authority.
Your ritual awaits.
