Intuition's Speaking..........Are you Listening?

Got a hunch? Is there a twinge in the pit of your stomach that's telling you something? Have you ever felt that you made a decision based on a gut feeling before you had "all the facts?" What about a time when you did something spontaneous; just acted out with a confident sense of joie de vivre? When was the last time you listened closely to that little voice inside your head?

Intuition...........a glorious yet underutilized gift we were all born with.......an incredible resource that helps us live life more fully, connect with others more deeply, and most importantly offers a spiritual beacon to illuminate the way.

Intuitive messages range from a quiet inkling to a loud persistant thought that you can't shake off. It can alter your perception of someone or something, or it can powerfully reinforce the feeling you have already acknowledged. However it manifests, however it resonates, it is best to listen to it. Allow it to lead your way. Your intuition creates synergy between your concious self and your inner self.

So how do you tap into it? Ever since I picked up my pen and journal again last summer and began to let the words flow after years of silence, I have found that I'm more in tune and alert to these inner messages. It's like I have the radio dial precisely on the frequency. My mind seems more active, my thoughts more indepth and my confidence more heightened. Writing, which is such an introspective personal activity, has allowed me the opportunity to think through various prisms. It has illuminated my perspective. Consequently, it has offered me the guidance of a trusted friend to stretch my boundaries and to be open to truthful insights.

I made a decision when I started this blog to have the freedom to write about anything that comes to mind..........no matter what the sequence, and regardless of the topic. Interestingly, when I look back on the topics that I have so far covered, the threaded theme is Awareness. The more I write, the more connected I feel to my spiritual intuitiveness. And since intuition is my "bread and butter" tool in my professional life of counselling..........well all I can say is that "it's a good thing" (Thank you Martha Stewart)

So, how do you hone your own gift?

• Stop your every day work routine and be quiet with your thoughts. Allow yourself to think, to analyze and to process. That doesn't mean that you need to sit in a dark corner and hum lowly. A good brisk walk, a soak in the tub, or tackling a mundance task that needs no cognitve energy can all lead to a chance to be quiet with your thoughts.
• Be open to alternative paths of illumination. Many times, we think we have it all figured out....some big problem that you've already spent way too much time contemplating. Let it settle before you make your decision and be open to the idea that maybe, just maybe there is another way of looking at it.
• Turn on your creativity...........whether its writing, painting, designing, playing the piano or planning an event. Turn it on. This allows you to "find your flow"................you know that place where time and other tasks just take off and you lose yourself in an activity? Creativity is an expressive pathway that creates personal synergy.
• Be nosey and ask yourself questions. Allow yourself to analyze your world, your decisions. Test your perspective and know that you have the information and tools to reach clarity.
• Write, write, write. Tap into your thoughts, and allow the process of writing to carry the direction. Often I find that what I end up writing about is not what I had conciously planned to write. It's a strange feeling, when I look at an end product of words that obviously flowed out of me and wonder where they came from. The more I have journalled, the more confident I have become in trusting that my intuition is a friendly muse I can rely on.

"The term intuition does not denote something contrary to reason, but something outside of the province of reason." Carl Jung