Setting boundaries becomes necessary when we start putting our spiritual selves "out there." While we may establish them in other areas of our lives, for most of us this area requires a little more oomph. And it requires more oomph because both physical and metaphysical boundaries need setting.

I acknowledge this is a deep topic - one that could easily fill several posts. Very intentionally, I'm choosing a scratch-the-surface approach and offering resources for deeper diving if desired.

Physical Boundaries

Setting boundaries in the physical sense requires that we define our boundaries with those around us. From friends and family to neighbors and co-workers or clients, we must make clear where we stand. We must identify and articulate what we accept and reject in terms of how we receive them.

Identify and Articulate

We first identify what we accept and reject by getting clear with ourselves. We may identify the seemingly mundane, such as acceptable call/visiting hours and when we respond to emails.

Perhaps we allow friends and family to call or drop by anytime. That's reasonable for some. However, those beyond that sphere have highly defined call and visit times. And maybe we respond to personal emails and texts from early morning into the late evening, and yet anything work-related fits within a much smaller time frame.

We may (hopefully) also identify how and by whom we allow access to our body. We decide for ourselves what degree of touch we're comfortable with. And we determine who may touch us in any given way and at any given time.

The identification practice becomes imperative so that we may articulate clearly what we accept and allow as necessary. This way, even though we might initially experience shock when a coworker touches us in a too-familiar way, we quickly recover and set them straight before we report them to HR. And because we're prepared, we may find it relatively easy to address the more mundane among the accepted and allowed.

Metaphysical Boundaries

Setting metaphysical boundaries bears some similarity to setting physical boundaries. The similarity resides almost exclusively with our need for identifying and articulating them. Even so, we must acknowledge the metaphysical requires a different articulation approach than the physical. It requires mostly internal articulation rather than external.

Beyond that, it requires a whole lot of intention. And even though intention may come into play with the physical, the metaphysical requires a different sort of intention.

Internal Articulation

With the metaphysical, even when goings-on appear external that may be a misconception on our part. Sometimes, we may find ourselves taking external action on a matter that really requires internal action. And that's understandable. It's likely a result of us attempting to make sense of something in a human context. So that approach probably feels more comfortable and less - well - weird. However...

We may inadvertently do ourselves a disservice through externalizing the internal. It may happen that we make things more difficult than necessary, or that we create an incomplete action.

Bringing it inside through internal articulation may actually widen the playing field for us. It may engage our spiritual nature at a deeper level by virtue of not relying on external forces and objects. In fact, it may engage our creative fire in conjunction with the task at hand, supersizing the intended effects.

Intention

Intention rules when we work with energy, and that's exactly what we're doing here. When we intend creating a boundary, we create it. When we intend reinforcing a boundary, we reinforce it. The intention may include visualization, and that visualization may then fine-tune our intention. We might find the co-creative combination outperforms our basic intention, no matter how powerful.

So, we may intend that we ground ourselves above and below for energetic stability. Then, through also visualizing the grounding mechanism (the cord above, the column below), we better understand the dynamics of it and the benefits of it. We perhaps see clearly our place in and connection to the bigger picture.

Or we may intend that we clear an energy out of alignment with our highest and best. Then, when we also visualize how the energy is cleared, we notice an extra measure (such as filling the space that energy inhabited with light) removes a necessary repeat of the action.

And then we may intend that we shield our energy, our home's energy, the planet's energy. Then, when we also enfold those intentions with a visualization of those shields, we create far superior shielding.

In Closing...

Setting boundaries for ourselves - for our inner and outer lives - is very much like laying a foundation for a house. It provides a solid and level ground upon which we may then build the structures of our life.

Have you identified and articulated your boundaries as needed?

Blessed be.

Support Resources

From The Holistic Psychologist (I'm such a fan):

• Boundaries: The Ultimate Life Hack (read)
• Establishing Healthy Boundaries and Self-Care for Healing (view)
• 4 Ways Boundaries are Violated and How to Heal Them (view)

The Owning Our Spiritual Nature Series

1. Exiting the Spiritual Closet
2. Experimenting with Spiritual Pursuits
3. Spiritual Comparison
4. Spiritual Awakening
5. Spiritual Activations
6. Specialness in Spirituality
7. The Wounded Healer’s Heart
8. Sharing Our Spiritual Nature
9. How Relationships Change with Spiritual Growth
10. Change is Constant with Spiritual Growth