This past year I made a significant transition in my life. I moved – across country. As I considered the many decisions I had to make, I frequently listened to my intuition and checked in with my feelings to guide me.
Everyone has latent intuition, and it is available to anyone willing to hear it – but the busyness, noise, and clutter in our lives often keep us from listening to our own inner voice.
Picture two faculties in yourself -- an intuitive mind, and a logical mind. If you strengthen your intuitive mind, you can use both minds in tandem. We are well trained to listen to our logical mind and follow its advice. Yet, few of us have received guidance of how to tap into the innate wisdom of our intuitive mind. Intuition is a powerful kind of knowledge that many people overlook.
Intuition is a clear knowing, an insight. It is knowledge gained without factual, rational or logical information. Listening to the voice of your intuition is a way to access the power of your subconscious wisdom.
We are presented with an overwhelming amount of information on a daily
basis. Our intuition can be a clear guide to what to say yes to, and
what to say no to. Intuition can be a reality check for you, something
you can trust to lead you to the truth even when outside appearances
appear to say the opposite.
If you haven't relied on your intuition before, now is a good time to
start. Find ways to listen to your inner voice and connect to your
intuition on a regular basis.
Plan daily periods of ‘creative silence' to allow your intuition to
emerge. It's often very subtle and quiet when you first try to listen
or tune in to it, so you need to disengage from all the noise and
busyness of your daily life, even if only for a few moments.
Trusting your intuition can shorten the time it takes to make decisions, and can lead you to the best decisions for you.
Start trusting your intuition on smaller issues in order to develop
your wisdom faculty to guide you in making the larger life decisions.
Then, when the bigger decision come along, you'll be able to trust your
intuition to guide you to the perfect next right thing to do.
INTUITIVE PROBLEM SOLVING
Try this exercise to discover small ways to start to trust the voice of
your intuition. The sound of your inner voice is very subtle and can
get lost in the midst of the noise of everyday living. Start with a
very simple, basic problem or question. The problem could be a
perspective, an issue, a decision, understanding a person, or a next
step.
Start by writing the problem down as simply as possible, because the
intuitive mind speaks very basically. The act of writing it down really
commits it. Then, ask a question; for example, ‘Should I leave my job?'
Get very relaxed mentally and physically and center yourself. You can
center yourself by using a focusing word or phrase, such as ‘serenity'
or ‘peace, be still', by stating an affirmation, or by focusing on an
object, such as a flower or candle.
Become receptive -- use breathing and relaxation to release any tension
from your body and thoughts from your mind. This allows the logical
mind to recede and the intuitive mind to come forward. And at that
point, allow yourself to elicit imagery from your deeper, wise self --
an image, symbol, metaphor, or picture. This is what the intuitive mind
usually sends to you.
The images are most often metaphoric or symbolic, so you can then
interpret the image for what it might mean for you. If you don't get an
immediate interpretation, let it incubate for a few days.
You may get a ‘gut feel' of the best choice for you, or you may have a
sense of one path being open and wide, the other dark and narrow. This
is your intuition using imagery to help you make the choice.
Pay attention to your intuition and your feelings, and they will guide
you to making the right choices about what's important to you.
FINAL THOUGHT
"Every moment is a moment of creation, and each moment of creation
contains infinite possibilities. I can do things the way I've always
done them, or I can look at all the different alternatives, and try
something new and different and potentially more rewarding. Every
moment presents a new opportunity and a new decision."
~Shakti Gawain, 'Creative Visualization'
Copyright © 2005 Jan Marie Dore. All Rights Reserved. Newsletter
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Jan Marie Dore, Professional Certified Coach, Speaker, and Writer,
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