This post was originally published on the Cirkla blog at www.Cirkla.com.
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| Train by AussieGall on Flickr |
One day, I was helping a friend move. We were moving boxes from his old garage to his truck. He was handing boxes to me and I was handing them off to the truck. At one point he turned to me and said, “Hurry up!” I remember being surprised by his command. I put my box down, took a deep breath and responded, “The Universe never asked me to rush.” For a second, a stunned look froze his face, then it melted into laughter. We both laughed and continued at a relaxed pace.
“The Universe never asked me to rush,” was my meta-voice. Because I followed my 'gut feeling' and spoke the thought that had clearly popped into my mind, our moment was relaxed and joyful. In The Intuitive Advantage, Kathryn Harwig say's, “I use intuition to aid my life and I have one measurement. If it improves my life, I keep doing it. If it doesn't, I stop.” I would not have trusted this feeling in the past. I would not have had this thought in the past. It was my intuition guiding me, telling me my truth in this moment.
What is intuition? According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, “intuition is the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning. It's a thing that one knows or considers likely from instinctive feeling rather than conscious reasoning.” There is no right way to receive this information. It's often different for each person. It's like a radio station. My Highest Self or Higher Guidance is broadcasting a signal from the 'station' and in order to pick up the signal, I have to tune into my station's frequency. Only then can I 'receive' the broadcast and pick up the information being transmitted.
Growing up, I never considered myself to be very intuitive. I didn't know that everyone has a great capacity for intuition. I was taught not to trust it, so it went to sleep. If you don't believe your intuition exists, it's pretty hard to recognize it when you meet it. I started to wake up to my intuition in the process of looking for ways to get well. I had severe migraines, allergies, chronic hives and asthma, and was growing tired of prescription medications and dead-end answers to my questions about recovery. I was told to just take my medicine. Something told me that there had to be another way. I didn't know it then, but that was my intuition sending a signal.
Through study and research, I learned to practice a more holistic lifestyle. I started to practice self-hypnosis and insight meditation. This allowed me to focus on remembering who I was and what I came here to do, rather than on who I wasn't and what I didn't come here to do. This self-acceptance gave me the courage to question, re-frame and release my fearful, limiting and erroneous beliefs. It also woke up my intuition.
I also learned how to breathe, again. I learned to shift my breathing from my chest to my diaphragm, which signals the brain to flood the body with relaxing chemistry. Just these two uncomplicated actions allowed me to begin to create an interior calm and balance that felt like nothing I'd ever known before: the ability to end my own suffering. I call this awake. As I began to calm down and wake up, I was able to pay more attention to the signals coming in from my Higher Guidance. I began to pick up these signals. I began to trust my intuition. I began to heal. In Suzuki Roshi’s words, “we pay attention with respect and interest, not in order to manipulate, but to understand what is true. and seeing what is true, the heart becomes free.”
One of my biggest affirmations was an accident. A number of years ago, I went to Germany to study and travel for a month. At the end of a long day of traveling by car, my two companions and I were tired. I was driving and they were discussing how to locate our car rental office in downtown Munich, Germany. We kept missing the address as we circled the block, for the third time.
At a stop light, the discussion intensified. The GPS system kept insisting, 'turn left'', so when the light changed, I waited for a car to cross in front of us, then checked my left and pulled into my turn. A split second later I heard and felt a loud crash. I notice that we'd been hit. I remember asking, 'Will we be alright?' The answer came instantly. A voice in my head said, 'You'll be fine.' I was immediately calm, and felt no anxiety or fear from that moment on. As my senses cleared, I realized that the impact was on the driver's side and I had to be pulled out the passenger door across from me.
We'd been hit by a train. As I stood outside of our totaled car, looking at this massive commuter train, I remember staring at the train, thinking, 'It's not every day that you get hit by a train and can walk away to tell the story.' While the other two were being attended to by medics, I noticed a woman coming out of the crowd waving a small bottle. She approached the medics, as if offering her bottle, and I saw one of them wave her away. I 'knew' that this was for me. I felt a certainty and rise of energy as I moved toward her. It turns out, she was holding a bottle of Bach's Rescue Remedy. She put a few drops in the glass of water that she was holding, and motioned to a chair that had miraculously appeared (in the middle of eight lanes of rush hour traffic!). There was only one thing to do: sit and drink in the remedy.
As it turned out, we were all fine. The other two had some painful bumps and bruises. I had nothing, except a growing awareness of how good I felt. Not only was I fine, I felt better over the next two weeks than I'd felt in a long time. That voice in my head saying, 'You'll be fine,' was my Higher Guidance. Trusting it allowed me to know that I'd be OK, not just physically, but spiritually, mentally and emotionally. It allowed me to become clear and calm through the whole lengthy process of extricating ourselves from a rush-hour train crash, in a foreign country. It allowed me to extricate myself from a career path that didn't serve my greatest good.
It also allowed me to respond calmly to one of my traveling companions when she insisted, 'We almost died!' My response was simply, 'And we didn't.' It was clear to me that this was an exit point that none of us took. I didn't know why they didn't take theirs, but it was up to them to figure that out. It was up to me to figure out why I didn't take mine. I already had a clue. My Higher Guidance pointed out that my friends had been given traditional medical assistance, while I was guided to alternative assistance. Oddly, I never met with a medic that day.
I 'knew' this was a sign, for me to re-visit and trust the messages that I'd been getting. I'd been ignoring the signs to create an alternative healing practice rather than a traditional therapy practice. Not sure where to focus, I'd been going back and forth for a few years, taking lots of alternative courses while attending traditional graduate school for theology, then marriage and family therapy. Sitting in the middle of the chaos, drinking Bach's Rescue Remedy, I finally felt clear. I heard the 'voice' in my head, felt the knowing in my gut. Now, as I practice opening, asking, listening, trusting and taking action, I need fewer train accidents to get my attention.
There are many good classes, teachers and books available to guide you in opening to your own intuition. Jump in. It's a great Way to live. Start by simply noticing if something gives you energy (you talk about it, feel a thrill or curiosity, want to take a class in it), trust it. Follow it. This is your intuition, your inner guidance encouraging you to explore this area. If you feel your energy being drained (you feel ill, tired, oppressed or confused) trust this message and walk away from it. Always walk toward something that gives you energy.
With practice, I slowly began to hear my own 'meta-voice of truth' and notice signs from my Highest Self or Higher Guidance. As time went by, my noticings went from once-in-a-while to daily. I noticed that my Guides were so willing to communicate, that once they noticed I was paying attention to a particular sign form, they continued to communicate with this method. It took them a long time to get my attention, so they may as well stick with what works, right? I remain grateful for Higher Guidance and continue to evolve my ability to tune in. I get regular guidance through repeating numbers, coins, patterns, symbolic images and events. It's an amazing Way to live.
Tuning in can begin by creating a simple opening practice. Create your own opportunity every day. You have this same opportunity every hour, every minute and every second of your day. Clear your energy field and prepare yourself to receive your Higher Guidance.
Request for Higher Guidance: Morning Intentions
At the beginning of the day, upon arising, create a practice of opening yourself. Sit quietly, close your eyes and take three long, slow, deep breaths into your diaphragm. Exhale twice as long as you inhale (in to a 4 count, out to a 8 count, even pace). Now, inhale into your diaphragm and on the exhale, state one sentence of your intention. Repeat the breathing, with each statement, until you feel a shift, an opening in your state. Be delighted as you
open, ask, listen, trust and take action to signs around you!
I NOW remember who I AM.
I ask for my Highest Guidance today (regarding specific question, if you have one).
I NOW create my life's purpose guided by my Highest Wisdom.
I AM open to receive and understand my Highest Guidance, NOW.
I AM grateful for my Highest Guidance.
Request for Higher Guidance: Evening Intentions
At the end of the day, before sleeping, create a practice of clearing and releasing your day. Sit quietly, close your eyes and take three long, slow, deep breaths into your diaphragm. Exhale twice as long as you inhale (in to a 4 count, out to a 8 count, even pace). Now, inhale into your diaphragm and on the exhale, state one sentence of your intention. Repeat the breathing, with each statement, until you feel an ease, a letting go. Be delighted as you
open, ask, listen, trust and take action to signs around you!
I NOW remember who I AM.
I ask for my Highest Guidance tonight (regarding specific question, if you have one).
I NOW release my day to my Highest Wisdom.
I AM open to receive and understand my Highest Guidance, NOW.
I AM grateful for my Highest Guidance.
The Release
You review
the day from your bed,
and release
the things that have bled.
You preview
the morrow, less dread,
and release
expectations ahead.
You hug
your arms 'round your head,
and dream
the One Dream, instead.
Time to let go
and receive.
Ç Judith Froemming 2010
