Five ways to start flourishing in all areas of life
The soundtrack of Sonia Bestulic’s childhood was the near-constant buzz of TV news. Confused by the parade of chaos and misfortune on the screen, she remembers firmly deciding to be, what she calls now, part of the solution.
"I felt the pain of the world and wanted to help," she says. "Everything – and everyone – seemed so fragmented."
From that crystal clear memory and detailing her feelings in a journal as a kid to the businesses and sage-like reputation she’s built as an adult, Bestulic’s been on a lifelong journey to this point, when she’s finally comfortable calling herself an intuitive.
"It was a really long journey," she says.
One that involved years of study and work in health and human sciences, nationally and internationally. Based in Australia, Bestulic studied and practiced speech pathology, energetic healing and intuitive life coaching, bridging Eastern and Western philosophies. She founded her own allied health company in her 20s, became a mother of three and wrote award-winning books.
And through it all, she developed her abilities.
"It was a lot of self-exploration and soul searching to understand myself and the intuition I’ve always had," she says. "Over time, my abilities have refined themselves more and more. They’ve always been there, to a degree."
Putting her gifts to use
Today, helping others fix the disconnection from themselves and each other – the energetic fragmentation she felt growing up – is how she uses her gifts.
Bestulic typically sees clients about five times over a 10-week period. In working together, people come to know what they truly need, she says. What they ask her for help with and what they actually want are often very different things.
"If there’s a part of your life where you'd like to see yourself flourishing in full glory – whatever that means for you – that needs a fully holistic approach at an energetic level."
Clients will ask, "How do I find my life partner?" or "Do I sell my business?" or "What should I do next?" she says. There’s almost always an element of stuckness, a moment just before transition.
"If there’s a part of your life where you'd like to see yourself flourishing in full glory – whatever that means for you – that needs a fully holistic approach at an energetic level."
In shifting energy, you’re shifting your life. Everything is connected. Your thoughts, beliefs, your parents’ programming, society’s expectations – all of that is energy," she says. "I come in and do a bit of reshuffling. Not creating what I believe is right, but helping you return to the high-vibration essence or truth of who you are."
Room for growth
Bestulic likens it to an energetic garden. She helps clients clear out the choking weeds so new, valuable seeds can thrive. Once in that flourishing, empowered state, you become aligned with yourself, able to live authentically and with clarity on your purpose and direction. Only then can you share yourself with others.
"It’s about honoring who you are and contributing your unique gifts to the world," Bestulic says. "And it doesn’t have to be on a massive scale. It can just be your circle. It’s how you interact day-to-day, how you smile at someone at the cash register. It’s every interaction that you have with yourself and others."
According to Bestulic, there’s an assortment of wonderful ways you might feel while in this empowered energy zone, from inspired and peaceful to courageous and joyful, even celebratory. You see things in new ways and trust life’s timing. You’re flowing and in the zone.
"When you learn more, it brings new decisions. It brings you to a different place."
This doesn’t mean everything is amazing and joyful all the time.
"Life is life," Bestulic says. But through the ups and downs, you can still feel grounded, centered and grateful. "When you believe that everything is happening in support of you and your evolution and growth, well, that changes everything."
She’s used these principles with thousands of people over the years while living and continuing to practice it herself.
"When you learn more, it brings new decisions. It brings you to a different place," she says. "I’m in a place now where my awareness is a lot higher than what it was. And because of this, it makes me ready for bigger challenges."
"But there’s always growth," she continues. "All of this is a practice. A process and a practice."
Here are five simple tools Bestulic uses herself and with clients to help realign energy. Think of these as circuit breakers or mini resets, she says.
"We’re in our heads so much. These help you come back home to your heart, to yourself."
1. Get moving
Movement, in essence, is something that brings you into your body, Bestulic says.
And the movement can be whatever feels right for you, whether that’s dance moves or simple stretching. Just move your body. Even better, close your eyes while doing so.
"When you’re closing your eyes and you’ve got your headphones in, it becomes an inner experience. You’re letting go," she says. "We’re rhythmic beings at the end of the day, engineered for movement and dance. It’s nothing new."
At work when the mood hits?
"Bring your phone and headphones into the bathroom," she says. "A song takes less than three minutes."
2. Practice equanimity
Rather than deciding something is good, bad or ugly, try applying non-judgment. Bestulic describes it as retaining your place at the steering wheel.
"You’re saying, ‘OK, I see this. I’m experiencing this, and this is what I would like to do with it,’ or, ‘This is the lesson I see,’" she says.
This helps keep you from energetically draining yourself over every little problem that comes up. You’re safeguarding your energy by not getting caught in a swirl of drama.
If something happens and you do start to spiral, "You’re in major energy leakage," she says. "You’re disempowering yourself and you can’t take action."
3. Hit (power) pause
For one to three minutes at a clip, practice taking some time for yourself.
"Close your eyes, put your hands over your heart and breathe into your chest, feeling gratitude. It’s not your head going, ‘I’m so thankful I have a roof over my head,’ but rather you’re generating a feeling of gratitude," she says.
If your mind does start to wander, let it do whatever. Your focus is your breath, moving into your nose, down the back of your throat and into your heart, where your hands lay.
When you do this, it’s a reset of your energy and where it’s going, she says.
4. Sip a cup of gratitude
Choose your favorite mug and make it your cup of gratitude. Whenever you drink from it, close your eyes and feel truly grateful for an aspect of yourself.
This isn’t about your circumstances, what you have or whether the kids are healthy. This cup is purely about you, Bestulic says. Your sense of humor. Your creativity.
And that’s for every sip from your cup. Whatever it is, it has to be about you.
5. Relish in golden silence
How you wake up creates the flow for the rest of your day.
When you relish in golden silence in the morning, it’s a way to be intentional with your flow from the moment your eyes open, Bestulic says. It’s creating time for you to listen to yourself, to visualize and feel how you’d like your day to go.
For her own wakeup routine, Bestulic likes to use essential oil, for an element of the multisensory.
But what’s key is that by creating this space, you’ve started the day looking inward.
"It communicates to yourself and your system that you matter, that you’re valued and loved, and you’re committed to caring for yourself," she says.