Deep down you know what to do.

Have you ever felt like not knowing what to do next? Like me, sometimes, you just stand in one place trying to figure out what you can possibly do to move things forward in a particular situation, with your workload or just in life in general? When I get like this, I feel overwhelmed, anxious, unable to feel solid ground. I feel it in my body and my mind.

To help myself in these situations, I have learned to first try to ground myself. I drop into a seated or reclining position and start to deepen my breath because I know I need to switch my brain from Fight or Flight over to Relaxation mode, clarity and calm. Breathing deeply does that. Dr. Herbert Benson will tell you all about it in "The Relaxation Response".

Once I am calm, I start to tap into my Intuition, my inner Guidance system.

Consider all the times something didn't feel right, your gut was warning you about something or some one. Later you found that you were right, you should have stayed away? Think of a time you were drawn to a film or book and found that the subject matter was surprisingly relevant to your current life. Maybe, you were just thinking that you would like to reach out to someone in particular and they happen to send you a message. That is your Intuition.

People in my culture will often say, "Oh, You will live a long life, you were just on my mind". This is our Intuition, our inner guidance system. Under the mass of responsibility, social media distractions, social expectations and other "Noise", we have a little inner life GPS that speaks to us and guides us in the right direction. We just have to learn to listen.

The process seems simple enough, but in truth intakes practice and an open mind.

My favorite way of getting in touch with my Intuition is to first slow down my breath to come into a meditative state. I imagine that I am sinking down into a deep body of water. I am awake and aware the whole time, I am able to breath under water. I sink lower and lower until I reach the bottom which I touch from time to time, sort of like stepping on the moon, a feeling of slight buoyancy and weightlessness with every step. I look around me and take note of what I see.

Images, shapes, colors often might come up or I might find myself stepping forward into another environment entirely, as if I'm in a vivid daydream. I collect and reflect on these images after I come out of meditation, keeping a journal. Over time, sometimes right away, I develop an understanding of my true feelings about something, whether it be a job prospect, whether to invest in a new course or instrument, or even whether to pursue a friendship that has become difficult or uncomfortable.

I was offered a low paying job recently and started to consider it because of my fear of the effects of the pandemic. Would I ever be offered a job of any kind ever again? This fear was so overpowering that I really struggled with the decision. I decided to try Intuition meditation and observed my thoughts, feelings, my physical reactions to the idea of working for this person. When I later reflected on my observations, I realized that I absolutely did not want to work for this person at all, regardless of how much she paid me and I did not want to make decisions out of fear. I had my answer, didn't take the job, and was even offered other jobs.

To practice Intuition Meditation, you have to drop deeper into your inner world. Some people are comfortable with the imagery of walking deep into a cave, others might prefer walking through a forest to find a serene temple in the forest. Many people are just able to slow down and move their awareness to a part of their body that they associate with the location of their inner GPS or "gut feelings". It could be the solar plexus area, the heart or even the space between the eyebrows that we furrow when we concentrate, called the "third eye" in Yogic Philosophy.

Give it a try:

1. Find a comfortable, quiet place to sit or recline.

2. Start to slow down your breath, deepening your inhales and lengthening your exhales3. Once your breath is steady and your body feels relaxed, start to move your awareness deeper inside yourself, to your inner world, cave, ocean floor, forest temple, or to where you feel your Intuition resides (Eyebrow centre, Heart or Solar plexus just above your belly).

4. Allow yourself to spend some time here observing the space around you and noticing if images appear. You may see colours, shapes, people, places, things. You may feel sensations, emotions or even hear things. Just observe, no need to judge, analyze or determine the source. You may not observe anything in this session. That is part of your experience.

5. After spending some time observing, start to make your way back to full awareness, rising to the surface or emerging from the cave or temple.

6. Reflect on your observations and perhaps make notes in an Intuition Journal.

7. Practice. Answers may come over time as you become more aware of your Intuition and learn how to listen!

Learning to listen is a skill that we all could use some practice in these days with our attention spans being shortened to almost nothing. We all have so much information and knowledge inside us. Imagine if we could learn to listen to our wise selves!

Choyyoga

www.themindandbodymuse.com