Elena Angel is the "Ultimate Life-Sex Coach".Through her consulting practice, teachingand writing, Elena helps men and women tointegrate sexuality and spirituality, bringingnew joy, fulfilment and creativity into theirlives and relationships. Her work, includingthe very popular Soulmate Connectionsevenings and Heart & Soul workshop andretreat series, has attracted widespreadmedia attention and she is the first to bringthe Millennium Method, a radical Quantummodality, to Europe. www.elenaangel.com

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings havinga human experience.

Ultimately, we are all Souls, we are all connected, we are all Soul Mates, i.e. friends, team-players, partners in some way.

Having said that, there will be a smaller numberof people with whom we will feel this connection more strongly and more profoundly. There are also Soul Families, groups of people, who come together to support each other to grow, usually through supporting a common cause.

I start from the Soul perspective and understand the Soul to be the core, most authentic and Divine essence of us, coming into embodiment to express its unique qualities and gifts, to realize itself, learning lessons and helping others too alongthe way.

We come into contact with this part of ourselves in two main ways: - through our talents and passions, the activities and work we pursue most fervently that give us the most satisfaction and meaning. This is to do with our life / soul purpose. A more "masculine" expression. - through our relationships, the way in which we feel and express love, the unique qualities we bring to intimacy. A more "feminine" expression.

We often have to overcome challenges and learn lessons in order to express fully and to align theego self, the egoic personality, with the Higher Self, the Soul aspect. In the process, the personality is challenged, progressively healed and transformed.

When we are in alignment, we feel more trust in ourselves and in the world around us, we derive strength from within and enjoy more meaningful and satisfying lives. We are more creative and happier.

When we cultivate this connection in relating, we learn more from others, we learn more about ourselves and can experience great depth of emotion, intimacy and love, whilst feelingauthentic and free.

Soul Mates are other people, other Souls that hold keys for our growth — and vice versa. They can help us to find ourselves

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By Elena Angel

both in terms of soul purpose and also of loving, soulful connection — and we do the same for them, whether we realize this or not.

Soul Mates are not just romantic / sexual partners, it could be any person in our life. When we awaken to the Soul journey that we are actually on, we notice more of these connections and the lessons and growth can be easier and more rewarding. These connections don't have to last forever either. A person encounters many Soul Mates in a lifetime and will most likely choose one as a life partner.

When life partners connect in this way, they can weather just about any storm and constantly grow, learning and expanding. The relationship constantly evolves as the Soul expresses more of itself and more aspects come to light. There is a fantastic opportunity to open to one's full potential, healing wounds, overcoming limiting patterns and, ultimately, liberating oneself, as in the Tantric ideal.

As Tantric teachings suggest, any Tantric partner-ship can become a Soul Mate one — which makes absolute sense in this context. Life / love partners can really connect very profoundly in a total way, of course, not just on the Soul level, but on every level. If you think of the 7 Chakras, there can be a perfect union on all those levels. That really takes the Soul Mate Connection to a whole new level, although the ultimate Soul Mate is the one within: connecting with the One really means connecting with Self, integrating all aspects, finding Union, Wholeness, Oneness, Being the One Self, i.e. the Divine.

It is union with the Divine we are ultimately seeking — externalized as the search for the special Other.

But those connections can certainly help!

What would you say to those people that believe that we are no more than human bodies and this all sounds like esoteric madness?

The emphasis is not on any intellectual or philosophical understanding or belief in the Soul, the Divine — or on any of the conceptual frame-work I've been describing.

My coaching is, in fact, very experiential. What we're doing is coming to experience a particular quality in our sense of self, in relating, incommunication. This quality of experience

is available to all, irrespectively of any specific belief or lack of.

The terms I use and the conceptual framework I've described are useful as reference or as a naviga-tional tool, and my descriptions are an attempt to describe a particular quality of being and relating.

The experience itself carries what I can best describe as a Soul Mate experience, so the invitation is to come and try it. The experience speaks for itself.

Could you offer a story from your life or someone else's life about a special Soul Mate meeting?

I have been blessed with many Soul Mates, who have been instrumental in my life in many ways.

They became a stronger feature in my life after I consciously aligned with my Soul Purpose.

I write about it in "Me and My Soul Mates".

Essentially, I have been a spiritual seeker all my life, but was also passionate about music and my work in that discipline. One day, I meditated on my Soul purpose, intending to align fully with it. What happened surprised me completely. I realized that my Soul purpose for this lifetime was about spiritual attainment, rather than any artistic or other endeavor. After that, the synchronicities and magic became even more present in my life than before and really propelled my growth in ways I could never have imagined.

So, for me, my Soul Mates have been extremely important in helping me along my spiritual journey towards self-realization.

One important Soul Mate was a friend that was instrumental in my entering my first esoteric school in my early 20s. We shared a home and became fellow-students of the Kabbalah.

Another Soul Mate was responsible for me starting to dance. That led into my becoming an avid tango dancer, working my way through the tango scene internationally.

It was through the international dance scene thatI met another Soul Mate with whom I first

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experienced transcendental sex, soul recognition (past lives) and instant manifestation. This latter one "unlocked" the mysteries of my own heart and soul and really got me going on my exploration of Tantra, Taoism and inner alchemy.

Another Soul Mate helped to fire up my Tantric journey even more, to the point where I got to change my profession to what it is now.

There is an important Soul Mate in my life now. What I'm experiencing now is devotional relating, melting of egoic structures, integrating the personality, whilst we evoke the highest expression of the masculine & feminine principles in each other. It's now about grounding mysticism fullyin ordinary life.

How quickly did you know these people were Soul Mates? Is it when it becomes sexual and there is an extra layer of something there?

First of all, as I explained before, Soul Mates are not necessarily sexual partners. They can be friends, work associates, random people we meet at the bus stop or somewhere, and can be fleeting encounters or lengthier ones - or even life-long connections. Our parents are usually our firstSoul Mates.

The impact they have on us is a first sign. They can say one little thing that changes our life

completely. Just like the Soul Mate that suggested to me I take up tango dancing one day. It was just a simple suggestion. But, somehow, I listened and acted on the idea. And my life changed in a big way as a result.

We may feel more drawn to these people and feel we're on the same wave length or we may feel extra challenged by them and can have difficult relationships with them, as a result. They are activating us one way or another.

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“There will be a tendency to listen more carefully, pay more attention to Soul Mates, because they speak to a deeper part in us. This can be totally unconscious, but we can come more conscious of it - as I have and as I guide others to be.”

One thing is for sure. When they turn up, they will move us in some way. Chances are we will notice them.

The skill lies in identifying the lessons and keys these people hold to furthering our own Soul's journey. The sooner we do, the smoother the way.

Ok, so isn't it possible to improve our 'Soul Mate-ness'? Or is this just destiny playing out?

Let me answer the first question first:

Bringing more awareness to our Soul journeyand learning how to relate from that placemakes us a lot more receptive to all the magicalsynchronicities that will help us along our path. Ultimately, the Soul will unfold into fullness.

I compare it to a seed growing into the flower that it can grow into. Destiny just means that that particular seed will grow to be that particular flower — not a different flower or a tree. It is perfect, but it has a particular quality, oridentity, which will unfold.

The circumstances of the seed’s growth can vary and, coming back to us, as human beings, we are different in that we exercise free will and have a lot of choice around how this unfolding takes place. We are creative beings and co-create our lives — co-create with Grace — and discover ourselvesas we go along.

Our Soul Mates are our partners in this process of unfolding. And coming into consciousness and into alignment around this process makes for truly magical experiences.

So, isn't it time we start thinking ourselves as souls rather than these crazy gender roles we have in our culture? How might we startdoing that?

Yes, absolutely, there’s a lot tobe said about looking beyond

gender roles and connecting from a deeper place.

This connection is very liberating and profoundly honoring. It allows us to be ourselves and respected as unique human beings before all else.I love relationships where partners are dedicated to their growth, their own and their partner’s. It’s great to have the encouragement to live rich, authentic, meaningful lives and to realize our full potential. This is what Soul mates help us to do. When we bring this dimension into our loving, sexual partnerships, we have even more power to fuel our growth and transform our lives.

Should your readers want to experience this for themselves, there’s a chance to dive right in:

I’ve created a special promotional offer for my “Heart, Soul & Sun” holiday retreat in Paros,Greece this summer.

We’ll be aligning with our Soul purpose, exploring masculine & feminine principles and dynamics, learning how to connect deeply and magically. There’s Tantra Yoga, dance, a cacao ceremony and much more. It’s suitable for singles and couples.

Readers can find out more and downloada brochure fromhttps://soulmateretreat.eventbrite.co.ukQuote LOVE for 20% off all packages.

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