Intuitive Wellness---And Recovery
We are all born naturally intuitive and aware. We literally absorb data from the energy fields and subfields within which we and all else exist. We automatically seek out the data that applies most directly to us, whether it is data about opportunity or danger. Some people are born into families with at least one person who nourishes their intuitive traits, but many are born into families conditioned to disregard the intuitive in favor of reason and facts only.
While reason can take us far, and it is the tool of choice in areas in which deduction can reveal truth, or clues leading to truth, reason cannot always do the job. It can only examine the surface of things. How many times have you opted for reason and disregarded feelings and found out that the feelings were right on? You "knew" you should have listened to your gut feelings or instincts or that stray thought or impression that seemed to come out of nowhere, but you didn't because you were conditioned to disregard them.
While reason can take us far, and it is the tool of choice in areas in which deduction can reveal truth, or clues leading to truth, reason cannot always do the job. It can only examine the surface of things. How many times have you opted for reason and disregarded feelings and found out that the feelings were right on? You "knew" you should have listened to your gut feelings or instincts or that stray thought or impression that seemed to come out of nowhere, but you didn't because you were conditioned to disregard them.
Purple Triangle Flowers
The first step to intuitive wellness and recovery begins with getting in touch with your fears about intuition. Even if you are highly intuitive already, maybe even a professional, you might examine yourself for underlying anxiety or gray areas of doubt or uncertainty you have not yet thoroughly explored.
The great majority of us have suffered intuitive abuse and injury through social and religious conditioning and are afraid of our own intuitive nature. We have learned to censor intuitive information as soon as it comes through. The fearful part of us quickly scans it for dangerous content.
Dangerous content is content that our group or "tribe" disapproves of, or content that we know about but don't want to face (such as that we are in a wrong relationship or job or we have a motive for doing something that doesn't meet our own ethical standards).
Even when intuitive information has no "dangerous" content, we often destroy it as soon as it arises because of our fear that it will bring about change. Even a change for the better might be threatening to us if we fear we cannot control the rate and order of events.
The first step to intuitive recovery is to become aware of all the fears we have about using our intuition and receiving inner guidance. Many people want guidance but they are afraid to receive it.
What fears do you have about being highly intuitive, about being able to get information easily and know the truth about things?
What is the worst thing that could happen to you if answers came to you too easily? Get in touch with your fears!
One way Caroline Myss defines intuition is "your capacity to receive data without rejecting it." "How fast can you respond to new information? Real intuition is always about the truth," she asks. "How comfortable are you with the speed at which truth comes in?" (If you don't know who Caroline Myss is, search for her work at Sounds True.)
If you have downloaded Contemplation with Cerule's Runes of Love, read the chapter on Aihwaz, the rune of truth. You'll find questions about truth that you've never thought of before! Cerule, who helped me write the book, is good at asking questions.
The great majority of us have suffered intuitive abuse and injury through social and religious conditioning and are afraid of our own intuitive nature. We have learned to censor intuitive information as soon as it comes through. The fearful part of us quickly scans it for dangerous content.
Dangerous content is content that our group or "tribe" disapproves of, or content that we know about but don't want to face (such as that we are in a wrong relationship or job or we have a motive for doing something that doesn't meet our own ethical standards).
Even when intuitive information has no "dangerous" content, we often destroy it as soon as it arises because of our fear that it will bring about change. Even a change for the better might be threatening to us if we fear we cannot control the rate and order of events.
The first step to intuitive recovery is to become aware of all the fears we have about using our intuition and receiving inner guidance. Many people want guidance but they are afraid to receive it.
What fears do you have about being highly intuitive, about being able to get information easily and know the truth about things?
What is the worst thing that could happen to you if answers came to you too easily? Get in touch with your fears!
One way Caroline Myss defines intuition is "your capacity to receive data without rejecting it." "How fast can you respond to new information? Real intuition is always about the truth," she asks. "How comfortable are you with the speed at which truth comes in?" (If you don't know who Caroline Myss is, search for her work at Sounds True.)
If you have downloaded Contemplation with Cerule's Runes of Love, read the chapter on Aihwaz, the rune of truth. You'll find questions about truth that you've never thought of before! Cerule, who helped me write the book, is good at asking questions.
Facing Your Fears
Here are some common fears about using our intuition. Which ones do you have? Do you have any fears that are not listed here?
- My intuition might not agree with what my parents and teachers have told me is true. Then I would have to choose between my inner truth and my group. I don't want to risk being an outcast.
- My intuition might tell me something I don't want to hear. Therefore, it's safer never to listen to it at all.
- If my intuition tells me something and I disregard it, I might be punished.
- If my intuition tells me something, I would have to follow it even if I don't want to.
- My intuition might expose something that would make me unhappy. I'd rather not know than to be sad.
- If I faced the truth, my life would have to change. I'm not sure I want that. I wouldn't know what would happen. As long as I prevent change, at least I know what I've got and what to expect.
- I don't listen to my intuition because I don't know if it's true or not. I don't know where it's coming from. Maybe it is coming from ego or something bad, even a bad spirit.
- I might discover something bad about myself if I listened to my intuition and I don't want to open that closet.
- I might not be able to hear my intuition, so I'd rather not try than fail. What if I'm not worthy of receiving guidance? I've been told over and over that I am not worthy. Don't you have to be worthy to receive guidance?
- I might misinterpret my intuition and do something foolish.
Some of the fears we have about intuition come from the idea of a punishing God or demanding parent. "I told you what to do, and you didn't do it. Now you'll suffer for it." People whose religion features a warlike, wrathful God are especially afraid of intuition. They'd rather lay low and not know, follow directions from authority figures and not make waves.
We all have some of this in us because we were all children at one time and we know what it's like to be helpless and at the mercy of adults. Not even the best of adults are always right in their decisions and actions, and we've all had mean teachers. Some people have also been very abused by adults. We learned early how to win the approval of adults to have our desires and needs met. In doing this, sometimes we had to go against our truth. Sometimes we smiled and delighted adults while crying and dying inside.
Fear of intuition can stem from fear of not getting the "right" answer or the answer right, as if we were taking a test. In our educational system, we have been taught that there is only one right answer, and if we don't get the right answer, we fail.
We have been taught to not trust ourselves. Subjective, direct experience is suspect. Anything you can't dissect unemotionally in a lab and weigh and measure on a scale might as well not exist. Feelings, especially ones that we can't explain factually, are disparaged.
Most people have been psychically lobotomized to one extent or another. I say "most" people because a very small percentage escaped the net and kept swimming.
Fortunately, there is a cure! You can recover your psyche. The first step is identifying and facing your fears. This requires self-knowledge and reflection as well as a great desire for truth and development. Read about and explore the process of Self-Inquiry.
When you identify a fear, be with it and question it. Embrace it---then let it go at the right time. Allow enthusiasm to take its place---enthusiasm for life, for following your interests, for letting intuition be your friend.
Take some quiet time every day. Rejoice in your senses. Intuition speaks in many ways, but it is always translated by the body and brain; if it isn't, you can't know it as the human on the earth plane that you are! Yes, you are more than a human on the earth plane, but your human aspect can only know what your body/brain is capable of delivering to you. Psychic impressions come to us through our neurology. So take care of your body; it is your means of expression, exploration, and communication here on earth.
We all have some of this in us because we were all children at one time and we know what it's like to be helpless and at the mercy of adults. Not even the best of adults are always right in their decisions and actions, and we've all had mean teachers. Some people have also been very abused by adults. We learned early how to win the approval of adults to have our desires and needs met. In doing this, sometimes we had to go against our truth. Sometimes we smiled and delighted adults while crying and dying inside.
Fear of intuition can stem from fear of not getting the "right" answer or the answer right, as if we were taking a test. In our educational system, we have been taught that there is only one right answer, and if we don't get the right answer, we fail.
We have been taught to not trust ourselves. Subjective, direct experience is suspect. Anything you can't dissect unemotionally in a lab and weigh and measure on a scale might as well not exist. Feelings, especially ones that we can't explain factually, are disparaged.
Most people have been psychically lobotomized to one extent or another. I say "most" people because a very small percentage escaped the net and kept swimming.
Fortunately, there is a cure! You can recover your psyche. The first step is identifying and facing your fears. This requires self-knowledge and reflection as well as a great desire for truth and development. Read about and explore the process of Self-Inquiry.
When you identify a fear, be with it and question it. Embrace it---then let it go at the right time. Allow enthusiasm to take its place---enthusiasm for life, for following your interests, for letting intuition be your friend.
Take some quiet time every day. Rejoice in your senses. Intuition speaks in many ways, but it is always translated by the body and brain; if it isn't, you can't know it as the human on the earth plane that you are! Yes, you are more than a human on the earth plane, but your human aspect can only know what your body/brain is capable of delivering to you. Psychic impressions come to us through our neurology. So take care of your body; it is your means of expression, exploration, and communication here on earth.
How to Receive Clear Intuitive Knowledge
When you truly desire intuitive development, you are saying, “I want to take more responsibility for the choices I make in life. I want to live more consciously. I want to focus my energies and fulfill my life purpose.”
We all want to receive clear intuitive knowledge to help us out in life and to help us to help others, especially our loved ones. How do we set up the optimal conditions for receiving information that is useful, timely, and accurate?
Desire to know the truth. Remember that only the truth serves us. Anything less will lead us astray. At the least, fantasy and misinformation will waste our time, and at the worst, it will result in suffering. Only the truth sets us free to take real action in response to the real. This may seem obvious, but we are not always rational; sometimes we would prefer the truth to be something other than what it is, so we have to keep an eye out for this. (In fact, we always tend to believe a news story featuring the best or worst about a public figure if it goes along with our beliefs about the person. Question, question, question; and do fact checking, too! See my blog on the topic! Follow the fact checking procedure and become familiar with fact checking organizations. Sometimes emotional preference masquerades as intuition.)
Be impartial and prepared to receive any kind of information. Even when we wholeheartedly want the truth, we have to be alert to the temptation to disregard the truth if it’s something we don’t want to hear. This temptation is subtle and can sneak up on us. We don’t want to know the tire is flat, there’s a hole in the road, or the bridge is washed out. We don’t want that to be true. But what happens when we disregard intuitive warnings? We wish we’d listened! How many times have we said, “I knew I should have waited, but I went ahead anyway.” It’s practical to get in the habit of thinking in terms of accurate and useful information, NOT “good” (pleasing) and “bad” (unpleasing) information. When we perceive without agenda (as Caroline Myss puts it), it’s easier to see what is actually before us.
To the person who tunes in to every disaster and bad thing that comes along, who calls being sensitive a curse, I say: “Set your parameters. Affirm that you will only receive information that is useful, timely, beneficial, and pertinent to yourself and those you are close to or responsible for. No more drama. You are the gatekeeper of your mind. Use your psychic sensitivity to help and to heal, not to attract pointless negativity.”
Practice meditation by whatever name. Regular meditation increases our overall awareness. Increased awareness means we receive more insights about who we are and what is going on in our life. We come to know our own essence energy and can distinguish it from outside energy. We become attuned to fine shifts in energy within ourselves and in the environment.
I like to call meditation “having a quiet time.” It’s a time to release and let go of the world and return to myself. To just be. Not to think about things, but to take time off from thinking about things. To be in observation. Extraordinary things happen when we meditate. In the first stage of learning how to meditate, we must put forth effort. We must discipline ourselves to take the time to cultivate inner stillness. In the second stage, meditation becomes much easier. When we sit to meditate, we go right into a clear, high state. In the third stage, we are in a state of meditation most of the time, no matter what we are doing. When we realize we’ve fallen out of the meditative state, it’s easy to get back into the flow.
It’s important to realize that the true meditative state, as used here and in the Tibetan, zen, and other traditions, is a state of waking up and being fully present to our direct experience. It’s not a state of “altered” consciousness or fantasizing. But it can help with creative pursuits, akashic reading, and remote viewing because it teaches focus, flow, and steadiness. The true meditative state of being in touch with reality is a firm foundation for all other pursuits.
Become aware of why you make the choices that you do. This helps us uncover our motivations, fears, hopes, beliefs, values, and dreams, all of which influence our perceptions, both inner and outer. This is an excellent exercise for gaining self-knowledge, and a high degree of self-knowledge is essential to receiving clear intuitive information. It shows us how we invest our life force energy, and we become aware of the return we’re getting on our investment.
Note that you only need to pick out a choice, a perception, or a conclusion once in a while during the day when you catch yourself making them. Maybe a few times a day, ask yourself, “Why did I make that choice?” Or catch yourself doing something or not doing something because of what someone said years ago. For example, imagine a person attracted to buying art materials, but she doesn’t. If she is aware, she will ask herself why. She might remember something like, "My fourth-grade teacher told me I'd never be an artist.”
Notice what you notice. As we go through our day, we can become more consciously aware of what we usually notice and what we usually disregard. For example, do you see colors but not shapes, architecture but not landscaping, people but not backgrounds, sounds but not smells, or the other way around? Becoming observant of how we use our senses to perceive and interact with the world helps us decode intuitive impressions that are symbolic as well as impressions that may be literal or a combination. Also, become aware of what you habitually fail to notice. What are you not seeing?
Become aware of your conclusions about yourself, others, life, and the world, and where they came from. We are full of many hundreds of conclusions we have gathered from different sources over the years. Some of these conclusions may block us from seeing what is right in front of us, or cause us to distort an insight because it just doesn’t fit in with what we think could be possible or true. Exploring our conclusions will help us avoid blocking out intuitive information that doesn’t fit our preconceptions.
Be honest with yourself: Self-honesty is essential to receiving clear intuitive knowledge. Without honesty, there is no hope of clarity. A person might say, “I quit my job because I didn’t like the management” when the truth is, “I quit my job because I hated it!” Often people don’t say the truth because they don’t want to take responsibility for their actions. They want to blame some other entity so that if their choice turns out to be wrong, they won’t be criticized or held responsible. However, if we want to receive clear intuitive knowledge, we must be honest with ourselves about why we do what we do. We must commit to wanting the truth.
Take responsibility for your life. This is a part of being honest with ourselves, being aware of the choices we make, and becoming conscious of our conclusions about ourselves and life. The more responsibility we take for our life, the more power we will have in our life. We need to consciously commit to accepting responsibility. This is very important. Without conscious commitment, we can feel resentment, and resentment will influence every area of our life negatively.
Heal yourself of low self-esteem. Low self-esteem means that we doubt ourselves. We believe we cannot take care of ourselves, that we must please others, that others know better than we do the truth of who we are, what we should do, and how we should be. We fear loss of love, approval, and support if we listen to our heart and follow it. Low self-esteem also causes us to misinterpret accurate intuitive impressions that do get through. We will twist them to be about us in some negative way; we caused something, or someone is disapproving of us. The more nonjudgmental or objective we can be toward ourselves, the more we will be able to see what is actually the case. We won’t distort our perceptions by trying to figure out what we should be doing or seeing from someone else’s perspective.
The great majority of human beings are set up for low self-esteem from the beginning. Organized religion tells us there is something basically wrong with us and science tells us we are selfish, purposeless bags of elements and chemical reactions. We survive our first years by trying to please the adults around us to ensure we are not abandoned. We grow up trying to meet all the requirements of our culture and group and figuring out what we can do to please everyone. So, if you have low self-esteem, you have a lot of company. We all have to work on valuing ourselves, especially if we are "different."
Cultivate trust. We can’t get around this one. We may not be able to prove that there is meaning and purpose in life, but we can’t get very far without assuming that there is. Until we know for certain as enlightened beings, we can take it on faith as a working hypothesis.
Be ready for change. Many people block their intuition because they are afraid that acknowledging it will change their lives. And they are right: new information means some degree of change, even if it’s only change of an opinion. It might be a little change but sometimes it’s a big change. If we really want clear intuitive knowledge, we have to be ready to roll with what’s really going on. We have to be willing to give up fantasy and embrace reality. We have to be ready to shift on a dime.
Allow head and heart to work together, each performing its correct function. The head is great for gathering information, analyzing information, logistics, and logical development, but the heart knows value, meaning, purpose, and timing. The heart is the real power center, decision maker, and truth teller. If our heart’s not in something, we won’t truly succeed. Even if we gain materially, we won’t be happy. We’ll be depleted. It is not “stress” that is the problem of our time. It is working hard on things that the heart has no interest in doing. To receive clear intuitive knowledge, we run the facts through the truth center in the heart.
There are three general kinds of intuition: survival, emotional, and visionary. Our survival intuition is our gut instinct and ability to sense ambience (the energetic atmosphere of a place, person, or object). We have this kind of intuition to keep us and our loved ones safe in the world. Most people in modern culture have been instinct-injured and don’t know how to use their survival intuition to its fullest potential. Unnatural stress and false dangers have confused our ability to sense and respond to real danger. An educational emphasis on intellect, technology, and hard science has further deadened our ability to respond to gut instinct. But reason and technology cannot take the place of consciousness skills. At some point, the limits of technology will become clear.
Only we can know our purpose in life or assess the meaning and value of facts by running them through our heart center. Only the heart knows right from wrong; the head can rationalize any atrocity with hard factual arguments based on empirical data. The head can take data and create any system it wants for whatever purpose. This is why it can never figure out whether something is right or wrong in an ethical sense. It doesn’t have the equipment to make this determination.
Emotional intuition relates to our personal life and loved ones. We receive their feelings empathy. We resonate to how they feel. It’s important to know when a feeling is our own and when it belongs to someone else. Meditation and observation in daily life can help us know the difference. Self-knowledge is essential. If you know your own typical energy states under different conditions, you will be able to detect when you are taking on the energy of another person, group, the mass consciousness, or things happening in the environment.
Our visionary intuition comes in divine downloads that are bigger than our personal life, such as creative projects that will benefit others as well as ourselves. Visionary intuition comes as inspiration. It is impersonal. It is not about us, but it comes to us because we happen to be in the right state to receive it. We attract a visionary download because we were thinking along those lines, or similar lines, and our energy is in a high, receptive state. We may or may not be capable of acting on it, yet it does carry a responsibility to explore the possibility. Sometimes we receive an inspiration we can pass on to another person who is ready to act on it.
When you ask for clear intuitive knowledge, or guidance, it comes at once. All the information we need is available to us in every moment. However, it may need time to unfold in the right sequence. Often it does not come translated into conscious awareness at the time of asking. We may even feel it there and wonder why we can't grasp it. Be assured that it will be translated when it can best be understood and used. Translation might be delayed to prevent us from taking a premature action, for example. It will happen at the best time to help us prepare for a coming event, or to help us respond to an immediate situation. If we are alert. Also, it's good to keep in mind that asking for information or guidance is not about being told what to do, nor is it about getting the universe or divinity to do our personal will. Nor is it about abnegating responsibility for making decisions. It's about getting information so we can make good decisions. Receiving clear intuitive knowledge helps us go about responding intelligently to life.
Also, be aware that you may only gets parts of a whole, especially if you're exploring a complex subject or a string of events. Don't jump to conclusions, don't stop too soon---just note it down and wait for the next piece of the jigsaw puzzle. There is always another piece. Furthermore, the puzzle will never be completely finished.
Symptoms of blocking intuition/inner knowing include: depression, irritation, frustration, anger, distraction, depersonalization, alienation, feeling spacy or absent, and internal conflict and turmoil. When we block our natural knowing, we are miserable. We try to go north and south at the same time and get nowhere. Blocking may also result in physical illness. Heartbreak, rage, and outbursts come from allowing others to invest our energy (make our choices) for us. We all know when we’re blocking, and we know when we’re pretending that we aren’t blocking, and we know when we’re pretending that we don’t know we know.
Set firm boundaries. We are each the doorkeeper of our intuitive self. Affirm: “I will only become intuitively aware of what is useful, beneficial, timely, and relevant to me and those connected to me.” Even though we are connected to everything in all of creation, we are connected to some people, events, and things more closely than others. What we do, how we are as an individual, and what we have to contribute will affect them the most. Therefore, I find it easiest to say, “… those connected to me.” As we gain self-mastery we can use our ability to access intuitive knowledge clearly and purposefully.
We all want to receive clear intuitive knowledge to help us out in life and to help us to help others, especially our loved ones. How do we set up the optimal conditions for receiving information that is useful, timely, and accurate?
Desire to know the truth. Remember that only the truth serves us. Anything less will lead us astray. At the least, fantasy and misinformation will waste our time, and at the worst, it will result in suffering. Only the truth sets us free to take real action in response to the real. This may seem obvious, but we are not always rational; sometimes we would prefer the truth to be something other than what it is, so we have to keep an eye out for this. (In fact, we always tend to believe a news story featuring the best or worst about a public figure if it goes along with our beliefs about the person. Question, question, question; and do fact checking, too! See my blog on the topic! Follow the fact checking procedure and become familiar with fact checking organizations. Sometimes emotional preference masquerades as intuition.)
Be impartial and prepared to receive any kind of information. Even when we wholeheartedly want the truth, we have to be alert to the temptation to disregard the truth if it’s something we don’t want to hear. This temptation is subtle and can sneak up on us. We don’t want to know the tire is flat, there’s a hole in the road, or the bridge is washed out. We don’t want that to be true. But what happens when we disregard intuitive warnings? We wish we’d listened! How many times have we said, “I knew I should have waited, but I went ahead anyway.” It’s practical to get in the habit of thinking in terms of accurate and useful information, NOT “good” (pleasing) and “bad” (unpleasing) information. When we perceive without agenda (as Caroline Myss puts it), it’s easier to see what is actually before us.
To the person who tunes in to every disaster and bad thing that comes along, who calls being sensitive a curse, I say: “Set your parameters. Affirm that you will only receive information that is useful, timely, beneficial, and pertinent to yourself and those you are close to or responsible for. No more drama. You are the gatekeeper of your mind. Use your psychic sensitivity to help and to heal, not to attract pointless negativity.”
Practice meditation by whatever name. Regular meditation increases our overall awareness. Increased awareness means we receive more insights about who we are and what is going on in our life. We come to know our own essence energy and can distinguish it from outside energy. We become attuned to fine shifts in energy within ourselves and in the environment.
I like to call meditation “having a quiet time.” It’s a time to release and let go of the world and return to myself. To just be. Not to think about things, but to take time off from thinking about things. To be in observation. Extraordinary things happen when we meditate. In the first stage of learning how to meditate, we must put forth effort. We must discipline ourselves to take the time to cultivate inner stillness. In the second stage, meditation becomes much easier. When we sit to meditate, we go right into a clear, high state. In the third stage, we are in a state of meditation most of the time, no matter what we are doing. When we realize we’ve fallen out of the meditative state, it’s easy to get back into the flow.
It’s important to realize that the true meditative state, as used here and in the Tibetan, zen, and other traditions, is a state of waking up and being fully present to our direct experience. It’s not a state of “altered” consciousness or fantasizing. But it can help with creative pursuits, akashic reading, and remote viewing because it teaches focus, flow, and steadiness. The true meditative state of being in touch with reality is a firm foundation for all other pursuits.
Become aware of why you make the choices that you do. This helps us uncover our motivations, fears, hopes, beliefs, values, and dreams, all of which influence our perceptions, both inner and outer. This is an excellent exercise for gaining self-knowledge, and a high degree of self-knowledge is essential to receiving clear intuitive information. It shows us how we invest our life force energy, and we become aware of the return we’re getting on our investment.
Note that you only need to pick out a choice, a perception, or a conclusion once in a while during the day when you catch yourself making them. Maybe a few times a day, ask yourself, “Why did I make that choice?” Or catch yourself doing something or not doing something because of what someone said years ago. For example, imagine a person attracted to buying art materials, but she doesn’t. If she is aware, she will ask herself why. She might remember something like, "My fourth-grade teacher told me I'd never be an artist.”
Notice what you notice. As we go through our day, we can become more consciously aware of what we usually notice and what we usually disregard. For example, do you see colors but not shapes, architecture but not landscaping, people but not backgrounds, sounds but not smells, or the other way around? Becoming observant of how we use our senses to perceive and interact with the world helps us decode intuitive impressions that are symbolic as well as impressions that may be literal or a combination. Also, become aware of what you habitually fail to notice. What are you not seeing?
Become aware of your conclusions about yourself, others, life, and the world, and where they came from. We are full of many hundreds of conclusions we have gathered from different sources over the years. Some of these conclusions may block us from seeing what is right in front of us, or cause us to distort an insight because it just doesn’t fit in with what we think could be possible or true. Exploring our conclusions will help us avoid blocking out intuitive information that doesn’t fit our preconceptions.
Be honest with yourself: Self-honesty is essential to receiving clear intuitive knowledge. Without honesty, there is no hope of clarity. A person might say, “I quit my job because I didn’t like the management” when the truth is, “I quit my job because I hated it!” Often people don’t say the truth because they don’t want to take responsibility for their actions. They want to blame some other entity so that if their choice turns out to be wrong, they won’t be criticized or held responsible. However, if we want to receive clear intuitive knowledge, we must be honest with ourselves about why we do what we do. We must commit to wanting the truth.
Take responsibility for your life. This is a part of being honest with ourselves, being aware of the choices we make, and becoming conscious of our conclusions about ourselves and life. The more responsibility we take for our life, the more power we will have in our life. We need to consciously commit to accepting responsibility. This is very important. Without conscious commitment, we can feel resentment, and resentment will influence every area of our life negatively.
Heal yourself of low self-esteem. Low self-esteem means that we doubt ourselves. We believe we cannot take care of ourselves, that we must please others, that others know better than we do the truth of who we are, what we should do, and how we should be. We fear loss of love, approval, and support if we listen to our heart and follow it. Low self-esteem also causes us to misinterpret accurate intuitive impressions that do get through. We will twist them to be about us in some negative way; we caused something, or someone is disapproving of us. The more nonjudgmental or objective we can be toward ourselves, the more we will be able to see what is actually the case. We won’t distort our perceptions by trying to figure out what we should be doing or seeing from someone else’s perspective.
The great majority of human beings are set up for low self-esteem from the beginning. Organized religion tells us there is something basically wrong with us and science tells us we are selfish, purposeless bags of elements and chemical reactions. We survive our first years by trying to please the adults around us to ensure we are not abandoned. We grow up trying to meet all the requirements of our culture and group and figuring out what we can do to please everyone. So, if you have low self-esteem, you have a lot of company. We all have to work on valuing ourselves, especially if we are "different."
Cultivate trust. We can’t get around this one. We may not be able to prove that there is meaning and purpose in life, but we can’t get very far without assuming that there is. Until we know for certain as enlightened beings, we can take it on faith as a working hypothesis.
Be ready for change. Many people block their intuition because they are afraid that acknowledging it will change their lives. And they are right: new information means some degree of change, even if it’s only change of an opinion. It might be a little change but sometimes it’s a big change. If we really want clear intuitive knowledge, we have to be ready to roll with what’s really going on. We have to be willing to give up fantasy and embrace reality. We have to be ready to shift on a dime.
Allow head and heart to work together, each performing its correct function. The head is great for gathering information, analyzing information, logistics, and logical development, but the heart knows value, meaning, purpose, and timing. The heart is the real power center, decision maker, and truth teller. If our heart’s not in something, we won’t truly succeed. Even if we gain materially, we won’t be happy. We’ll be depleted. It is not “stress” that is the problem of our time. It is working hard on things that the heart has no interest in doing. To receive clear intuitive knowledge, we run the facts through the truth center in the heart.
There are three general kinds of intuition: survival, emotional, and visionary. Our survival intuition is our gut instinct and ability to sense ambience (the energetic atmosphere of a place, person, or object). We have this kind of intuition to keep us and our loved ones safe in the world. Most people in modern culture have been instinct-injured and don’t know how to use their survival intuition to its fullest potential. Unnatural stress and false dangers have confused our ability to sense and respond to real danger. An educational emphasis on intellect, technology, and hard science has further deadened our ability to respond to gut instinct. But reason and technology cannot take the place of consciousness skills. At some point, the limits of technology will become clear.
Only we can know our purpose in life or assess the meaning and value of facts by running them through our heart center. Only the heart knows right from wrong; the head can rationalize any atrocity with hard factual arguments based on empirical data. The head can take data and create any system it wants for whatever purpose. This is why it can never figure out whether something is right or wrong in an ethical sense. It doesn’t have the equipment to make this determination.
Emotional intuition relates to our personal life and loved ones. We receive their feelings empathy. We resonate to how they feel. It’s important to know when a feeling is our own and when it belongs to someone else. Meditation and observation in daily life can help us know the difference. Self-knowledge is essential. If you know your own typical energy states under different conditions, you will be able to detect when you are taking on the energy of another person, group, the mass consciousness, or things happening in the environment.
Our visionary intuition comes in divine downloads that are bigger than our personal life, such as creative projects that will benefit others as well as ourselves. Visionary intuition comes as inspiration. It is impersonal. It is not about us, but it comes to us because we happen to be in the right state to receive it. We attract a visionary download because we were thinking along those lines, or similar lines, and our energy is in a high, receptive state. We may or may not be capable of acting on it, yet it does carry a responsibility to explore the possibility. Sometimes we receive an inspiration we can pass on to another person who is ready to act on it.
When you ask for clear intuitive knowledge, or guidance, it comes at once. All the information we need is available to us in every moment. However, it may need time to unfold in the right sequence. Often it does not come translated into conscious awareness at the time of asking. We may even feel it there and wonder why we can't grasp it. Be assured that it will be translated when it can best be understood and used. Translation might be delayed to prevent us from taking a premature action, for example. It will happen at the best time to help us prepare for a coming event, or to help us respond to an immediate situation. If we are alert. Also, it's good to keep in mind that asking for information or guidance is not about being told what to do, nor is it about getting the universe or divinity to do our personal will. Nor is it about abnegating responsibility for making decisions. It's about getting information so we can make good decisions. Receiving clear intuitive knowledge helps us go about responding intelligently to life.
Also, be aware that you may only gets parts of a whole, especially if you're exploring a complex subject or a string of events. Don't jump to conclusions, don't stop too soon---just note it down and wait for the next piece of the jigsaw puzzle. There is always another piece. Furthermore, the puzzle will never be completely finished.
Symptoms of blocking intuition/inner knowing include: depression, irritation, frustration, anger, distraction, depersonalization, alienation, feeling spacy or absent, and internal conflict and turmoil. When we block our natural knowing, we are miserable. We try to go north and south at the same time and get nowhere. Blocking may also result in physical illness. Heartbreak, rage, and outbursts come from allowing others to invest our energy (make our choices) for us. We all know when we’re blocking, and we know when we’re pretending that we aren’t blocking, and we know when we’re pretending that we don’t know we know.
Set firm boundaries. We are each the doorkeeper of our intuitive self. Affirm: “I will only become intuitively aware of what is useful, beneficial, timely, and relevant to me and those connected to me.” Even though we are connected to everything in all of creation, we are connected to some people, events, and things more closely than others. What we do, how we are as an individual, and what we have to contribute will affect them the most. Therefore, I find it easiest to say, “… those connected to me.” As we gain self-mastery we can use our ability to access intuitive knowledge clearly and purposefully.
Meditating for Guidance
“Guidance” in this article always refers to true guidance, the highest guidance, genuine guidance from our spiritual nature and the Divine.
What is the first essential thing to do before sitting to meditate for guidance?
To forgive.
To let go of our complaints, worries, habitual thoughts, grudges…if only for 20 minutes!
What is the second essential thing to do after you have reached the meditative state?
To listen.
To stay alert, desiring truth above all else. To be ready for anything or nothing. We cannot push or force guidance, no more than we can force a flower to bloom.
What is the third essential thing to do after receiving guidance?
To follow it (but with wisdom and thought, not precipitously or blindly). We might also respond to it by using it to generate new ideas.
If we ask for guidance and receive it and do nothing with it, the flow of guidance may stop because we often have to do things in order. You have to put on your socks, for example, before you put on your shoes.
Also, in following guidance, use reason and logic. If your guidance tells you, for example, that you've got to quit your job or you'll get sick, don't just quit. Prepare for it. Seriously look for another job, reflect on what you really want, take reasonable steps, and use common sense.
In what ways does guidance present itself to us both during and after meditation?
Most of the time, nonverbally. We “feel” or “know” the guidance given to us. Or an image might flash in our mind’s eye, or a thought arise. Nothing may come to us during a quiet time, but later, or at just the right time, the “knowing” is just there. Or the guidance comes in the form of an event, something overheard or witnessed, a book, a song on the radio, a TV show, a cloud, a bird, a child … our guidance can come from within or without, but it is from within that we know it when we see it. Often, there are physical effects: We may sit up straighter, momentarily pause our breath, then relax with an "ah" exhalation. when it comes.
How can we know we're interpreting our guidance correctly when it doesn't seem to be clear to us?
We do our best! We keep at it, we learn how Divinity works with us to provide us with the knowledge we need to follow our path in life. We don’t give up when it’s not easy. We stay alert, keep clarifying things to ourselves, and trust that what we need to know will become apparent in a timely manner. The more seriously we take inner guidance, the more we will learn about how it comes to us, how it feels, and how valuable it is. We become aware of our personal symbolism and how we translate and present information to ourselves.
What makes guidance unclear?
A ton of things! First, being unforgiving—having critical, angry, or depressing thoughts, holding grudges, low self-esteem, hanging onto guilt and shame, blame and pain, having self-doubt and anxiety about our worthiness, and frequent rejection of past guidance.
Fear that our guidance will require something of us that we don’t want to give, or require us to give up something that we want to keep. Insistence on our way, and getting what we want, right or wrong. “I will ask for guidance, and if I like what I get, I will follow it. But if it’s not what I want, I’ll reject it.” You always have a choice, and guidance may inspire you to think of new alternatives and options. When you do this, you're not rejecting your guidance; you're using it constructively as a springboard to creative thought.
Indulging in habits that affect clarity of mind and health of the body (no exercise, poor nutrition, excessive use of medication or substances, seeking continual distraction and entertainment, and so forth). I don’t think guidance is ever withheld. Rather, we make it more or less easy for ourselves to receive/perceive it. We all have individual blockages to receiving clear guidance that we have to keep an eye on and clear out. It’s like washing the dishes: It’s a daily task. In zen meditation, it is called “dusting off the mirror.”
How do we set up the conditions for best receiving clear guidance?
By getting really good at forgiving and listening and taking regular time to be quiet. By being sincere and wanting only the truth for the highest good of all. By cultivating patience and trust. By staying alert while we go about our day. By wisely following or using the guidance we do receive.
How can we know if the guidance we receive is from the highest source?
True guidance is always kind, inclusive, and expansive. It always brings knowledge that supports the best for everyone. It moves us in the direction of what we truly want, even though we may not have known what it was that we wanted. True guidance is compassionate, even when it reveals to us something our ego doesn't want to know. There is a sense of relief, a sudden openness, or expansion with true guidance, even when it's "bad" news. There is also motivation for taking positive action.
Here we want to note that gut instinct and intuitive perception are different from the guidance of knowing. Gut instinct is our built-in warning system. Intuitive perception can be highly developed in people at all levels of development. One need not be spiritually evolved to be very psychic (the most successful criminals tend to be psychically sensitive and tuned in to gut instinct), but one who is spiritually evolved is always very psychic, mainly in "just knowing." Such spiritually evolved people may not even think of themselves as "psychic," however, but simply as tuned in to their spirit and the divine.
What is the first essential thing to do before sitting to meditate for guidance?
To forgive.
To let go of our complaints, worries, habitual thoughts, grudges…if only for 20 minutes!
What is the second essential thing to do after you have reached the meditative state?
To listen.
To stay alert, desiring truth above all else. To be ready for anything or nothing. We cannot push or force guidance, no more than we can force a flower to bloom.
What is the third essential thing to do after receiving guidance?
To follow it (but with wisdom and thought, not precipitously or blindly). We might also respond to it by using it to generate new ideas.
If we ask for guidance and receive it and do nothing with it, the flow of guidance may stop because we often have to do things in order. You have to put on your socks, for example, before you put on your shoes.
Also, in following guidance, use reason and logic. If your guidance tells you, for example, that you've got to quit your job or you'll get sick, don't just quit. Prepare for it. Seriously look for another job, reflect on what you really want, take reasonable steps, and use common sense.
In what ways does guidance present itself to us both during and after meditation?
Most of the time, nonverbally. We “feel” or “know” the guidance given to us. Or an image might flash in our mind’s eye, or a thought arise. Nothing may come to us during a quiet time, but later, or at just the right time, the “knowing” is just there. Or the guidance comes in the form of an event, something overheard or witnessed, a book, a song on the radio, a TV show, a cloud, a bird, a child … our guidance can come from within or without, but it is from within that we know it when we see it. Often, there are physical effects: We may sit up straighter, momentarily pause our breath, then relax with an "ah" exhalation. when it comes.
How can we know we're interpreting our guidance correctly when it doesn't seem to be clear to us?
We do our best! We keep at it, we learn how Divinity works with us to provide us with the knowledge we need to follow our path in life. We don’t give up when it’s not easy. We stay alert, keep clarifying things to ourselves, and trust that what we need to know will become apparent in a timely manner. The more seriously we take inner guidance, the more we will learn about how it comes to us, how it feels, and how valuable it is. We become aware of our personal symbolism and how we translate and present information to ourselves.
What makes guidance unclear?
A ton of things! First, being unforgiving—having critical, angry, or depressing thoughts, holding grudges, low self-esteem, hanging onto guilt and shame, blame and pain, having self-doubt and anxiety about our worthiness, and frequent rejection of past guidance.
Fear that our guidance will require something of us that we don’t want to give, or require us to give up something that we want to keep. Insistence on our way, and getting what we want, right or wrong. “I will ask for guidance, and if I like what I get, I will follow it. But if it’s not what I want, I’ll reject it.” You always have a choice, and guidance may inspire you to think of new alternatives and options. When you do this, you're not rejecting your guidance; you're using it constructively as a springboard to creative thought.
Indulging in habits that affect clarity of mind and health of the body (no exercise, poor nutrition, excessive use of medication or substances, seeking continual distraction and entertainment, and so forth). I don’t think guidance is ever withheld. Rather, we make it more or less easy for ourselves to receive/perceive it. We all have individual blockages to receiving clear guidance that we have to keep an eye on and clear out. It’s like washing the dishes: It’s a daily task. In zen meditation, it is called “dusting off the mirror.”
How do we set up the conditions for best receiving clear guidance?
By getting really good at forgiving and listening and taking regular time to be quiet. By being sincere and wanting only the truth for the highest good of all. By cultivating patience and trust. By staying alert while we go about our day. By wisely following or using the guidance we do receive.
How can we know if the guidance we receive is from the highest source?
True guidance is always kind, inclusive, and expansive. It always brings knowledge that supports the best for everyone. It moves us in the direction of what we truly want, even though we may not have known what it was that we wanted. True guidance is compassionate, even when it reveals to us something our ego doesn't want to know. There is a sense of relief, a sudden openness, or expansion with true guidance, even when it's "bad" news. There is also motivation for taking positive action.
Here we want to note that gut instinct and intuitive perception are different from the guidance of knowing. Gut instinct is our built-in warning system. Intuitive perception can be highly developed in people at all levels of development. One need not be spiritually evolved to be very psychic (the most successful criminals tend to be psychically sensitive and tuned in to gut instinct), but one who is spiritually evolved is always very psychic, mainly in "just knowing." Such spiritually evolved people may not even think of themselves as "psychic," however, but simply as tuned in to their spirit and the divine.