How to listen to your intuition? Embrace mindfulness in everyday life with me!
What is intuition? Is it connected with mindfulness and your own well-being? And if yes, how can you listen to it? It doesn’t have a voice, or does it? Does it change your point of awe or mood? Today I want to share with you my own thought about intuition. It will be a very personal article, but I believe it is needed.
Recently, I looked at myself from a bird’s eye view and came to some unexpected conclusions. Although I am living the life I have dreamed of for many years, I do not appreciate the moments I can experience. My body was not connected with my heart, my mind was not listening to my intuition. Instead of just being happy, I keep thinking about what I have to do next or analyzing events from the recent past. And of course, I did overthink, feeling like I have to do even more, better, faster. Why? I have no idea.
So after some time, my body became sick and forced me to rest. I decided to finally listen to my intuition to check why that happened. Honestly, that was an important sign to rest. When my body finally felt a bit of relaxation, I realized how much I needed to slow down and regenerate. Moreover, it was time to make changes that would help me finally find my inner balance.
HARD TRANSITION TO FIND RELAXATION
Anyone who has tried to transition from chronic stress to relaxation knows well that the idea of simply lying down and resting is impossible. The mind, used to constant rushing, wants to keep running even though the body no longer has the strength to do so. As a consequence, a kind of… mediocrity occurs – we become distracted, our effectiveness becomes blurred, we procrastinate and feel overwhelmed. When this condition strikes, it is so easy to go back to that rat race you were once in. However, I decided to stop. Was it hard? Yes, as the rush gives you a dopamine kick you crave for. Despite logic, when you move to your intuition and relax the body, you can finally learn how to live fully.
HOW CAN I START LISTENING TO MY INTUITION?
1. Quiet your mind to create space for listening to intuition
We won’t accomplish anything if our mind races. First, you need to stop to listen to your overthinking mind. Only in this way you can give intuition a voice. An agitated mind causes only the neural circuits around our most frequently used thoughts to be activated. Intuition works creatively when it also has access to content that we do not use often.
Then we hear it, often even clearly. In a way, I was lucky that I got sick – I calmed down and started a dialogue with my own intuition. As I mentioned, it was hard to find joy in the small things. On the other hand, this is the perfect time to understand what makes us feel happy, regardless of our mood.
2. Recall a time when you were truly present and happy
Then, sit down, close your eyes and asked yourself: If I could be anywhere I want and do anything I want, what would it be? Personally, I saw myself on a tropical beach surrounded by nature and crystal clear, blue water of an ocean holding a big glass of ice tea. I remembered that wonderful feeling of bathing in its cool water as sun was blushing my skin.
Intuition knows well what makes us happy. When stopped, when asked, it displays the appropriate image with what you need. It may be different for everyone and these images may change depending on what stage of life you are currently in.
3. From dream to realization – identify the components of your happiness
The next step was to think about what elements of my memory made you feel so good at that time. For me it was: the view of beautiful nature, the soothing sound of waves and the extraordinary feeling of refreshment after bathing in an ocean. It is important to determine the components that influenced you to enjoy the moment you dream about, because the next step is to consider how we can implement them in everyday life.
Striving to be in your dream situation may be the ideal solution. But, let’s face the truth, you may not have time or money to travel to a tropical beach for a week. Intuition prompts a particular memory to help you feel the way you felt at the time. What she wants is for us to actualize those feelings. And sometimes walking in the park or drinking your favourite tea can give you the same results.
INTUITION VS. A NEW STATE OF MIND
After taking my memory under the microscope, I began to consider whether perhaps moving to a tropical country would be the perfect solution. However, I quickly came to the conclusion that at this stage in my life it would not. After moving to Canada, I’ve spend time learning French, making new friends, creating my own network and Yoga community I don’t want to loose. After a short dialogue with my intuition, I received the answer: “Yes, maybe that would be a better place, but not necessarily at this moment. Now do your best to be able to feel every day the way you felt in that memory.”
WHAT DID I DO?
So I asked myself what I could do to create that space for me here and now. And, I managed to find a substitute for two elements of my dream – communing with nature and summer bathing in a lake. I decided to extend my weekend walks to reach places with much nature than on my previous routes. Every time I travel to a cottage of the family or friends, I give myself a permission to bathe and have fun. I try to walk barefoot on the grass and spend more time on my computer on the balcony.
Already, these new components help me enjoy the everyday moment. Such actions are worth implementing and giving up. Your mind is flexible, it can learn new things and create new habits. But it takes time. But if you are honest with yourself, if you listen what your intuition says, and you patiently take one step everyday – you create more situations that bring you joy. And if you listen carefully – your intuition knows what to do. This new state of mind will naturally emerge until it almost becomes the norm. After some time, you will begin to notice other elements of life that will allow us to achieve a state of happiness here and now. Slowly, the wave of these good feelings will spread to an increasingly larger area of your lives. This is what I sincerely wish for both you and myself.
SUMMARY
To wrap up, it is easy but steady job to do.
First, quiet your mind to create a sacred space where your intuition can strive and talk to you.
Secondly, allow your intuition to recall a memory in which you were truly present and happy.
Thirdly, identify the components of the memories that made you feel happy at that time.
Next, think about how you can incorporate these elements into your everyday life.
Regularly implement your own recipe for experiencing happy moments. Begin to evoke this positive feeling in other situations in your daily life. Allow the feeling of happiness that appears in the situations you create to spread to other areas of your life.
If this is what you need, I invite you for my new meditation series this summer. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we will meet on Youtube for a short meditation – some practices will invokes your intuition as well. Please check my schedule regularly to be always up to date with all the news. And subscribe to my YouTube channel to be always informed about the later video!