Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Intuition Vs Fear


I love the idea of Intuition. In fact, if you think about it, before the written word, chances are- we probably communicated on a much different level. I like to believe that level of communication was actually a higher level than we use now- telepathy, intuition, psychically, energetically etc. There have been numerous studies done about whether it's real or not- but let me tell you something interesting- the government believed it was real enough during the Golf War, that they actually had people with ESP try to locate enemies etc. The study was remarkably successful, but because scientific evidence was lacking, it was shut down.
Human beings are remarkable. Our brains are so powerful that so much of what we experience and do on a large part it seemingly out of our control. We react before we even realize we are reacting. Our bodies tend to sense things before our brains do and yet- so many of us are in the dark about how to recognize these fantastic abilities that each one of us has. The problem lies in the fact that because we are such intelligent creatures, it's hard for us to take random flashes of images and acknowledge them as important or shrug them off as imagination, or worse obsess on them because we don't know if they are real or not. 

Intuition is really about noticing thoughts or images that pop into your mind, and noticing how your body reacts to those images simultaneously. If you can notice your immediate feelings about something, if it's wrong, you'll notice intense emotions and a tightening in your stomach aka your "gut." When things feel wrong, even before you notice on an intellectual level- it's important to trust those instincts.
Test what happens. If something is bothering you, test your body and your mind by asking questions. If you're worried about a change in career- say something like, "Should I quit my job." Focus on that statement for about 10 minutes and see how your body reacts. If your shoulders tighten, you notice a lump in your throat, you feel your stomach tying in knots, and in general start to feel heavy- then you know that isn't what you really want or should be doing. Start to notice what happens when you feel conflicted about something, see what happens when you listen to your intuition and what happens when you don't.  Try it for yourself, risk speaking up to someone about what you feel you know and see what happens. Risk being wrong if only for the sake of of stating your truth. Be okay with asking questions.

Sometimes it's really hard for us to decide whether to follow our head or our heart. Actions, behaviors, perceptions that are ruled by the word "should" tend to be more from our heads. When "Should" rules over our lives, we end up feeling a lot of guilt. We feel guilt because we are setting ourselves up for unrealistic expectations that are impossible to live up to. We are much more powerful when we surrender and accept ourselves in the present moment and trust our own natural rhythms.

Getting in touch with your heart means you need to STOP. You need to take time out for stillness. Business is a form of denial. When we fixate on our day to day mundane we aren't listening. In order to get in touch with your heart you need to get out of your head and into your body. Yoga, Meditation, or even just taking a quiet bath, walking outside for a few minutes- anything to turn your mind off and focus on your body. Once you listen to your body and start giving yourself permission to follow your own rhythm, we are much happier and healthier. "When we follow our whims, we're guided by wind."


Fear Vs. Intuition.

Fear is an emotion induced by a perceived threat. The more intimate you become with how fear in the mind looks and sounds, the more empowered you'll be. Fear feels like you're shrinking, you're operating at a lower vibration, you feel bad, tight, constrictive. Fear is harsh and judgmental with lists of horrible things that will happen.

Intuition is a knowing. It is beyond a feeling. It's a guided wisdom from within. Intuition is emotionally neutral and simple. Intuition feels like it's expansive, like it's rooted in the underlying feeling of your higher self. It's peaceful/uplifting/good.

It's important to ask if your higher self would be proud of you taking this action or not. True knowing is always available if you can help yourself pay attention and listen and allow yourself to follow what will ultimately make you happy.

We are in this era of instant gratification and it's difficult for us to trust the process and flow of things- because the process takes time. But there is a time for sewing and a time for reaping. Being OK with not knowing how things will turn out will leave space for spontaneity and flexibility. If we can relax into flow and enjoy the process more and be present, we are giving ourselves access to what our heart wants and less of what the mind thinks we SHOULD be wanting/doing.

Don't confuse intuition with a story that you are trying to convince yourself is true. All fear, anxiety, guilt is brought on by feelings of being too much in the past, too much in the future and too much in your head and ego and not enough in the present and in your heart. Situations are always neutral, it's ultimately in our control whether we make them have a positive or negative connotation.

So if something is bothering you, stop and listen, ask questions and focus on your bodies reaction. Don't follow the nagging "Should's" but follow the sweet and gentle inner you that is smiling and winking, that you already know the answer. Just like in the Wizard of Oz, "You always had the power my dear, you just had to believe in yourself first."



1 comment:

  1. Wow, this was extremely helpful. Thank you for creating this post. I love the smiling winking version of yourself that already knows the answer ;) thanks!

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