India, April 14 -- Have you ever felt like you are doing everything right, yet you are not able to move ahead in life, and something invisible keeps holding you back? Like you have outgrown a phase of your life, but it has not quite let go of you yet? Many people experience this quiet resistance at some point, and sometimes, it's not about effort or ability at all. It's about old emotional or energetic patterns we're still tied to.

This is where the idea of 'soul contracts' comes in, explains Akashic Records teacher Rita Ellen Mirchandani. People often think of soul contracts in big, dramatic ways: like being destined to meet a soulmate or having a purpose to heal others. But in reality, these contracts can be much more subtle. They exis...