Trust Your Intuition
Articles By Jan Marie Dore
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 publishers are most welcome to reprint this article provided it is published in its entirety, without change, including contact and copyright information.
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Jan Marie Dore, Professional Certified Coach, Speaker, and Writer, publishes articles like this one in her free ezine 'Living From Intention', designed to inspire, challenge, and support you in creating a life that is meaningful, authentic, and a joy to wake up to every day. You can sign up for your own subscription by sending a blank email to [email protected]
Keywords: Trust Your Intuition, guiding voice, problem solving, Jan Marie Dore, Intuitive, article, Articles, UK, South Africa, Cape Town
