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Intuition
Marcella
Zinner
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[How using your intuition can enhance
everyday life.]
You are driving home on US Highway 19, just like you always do after
leaving work at 5:30, Monday to Friday. As you approach a particular
stoplight, you get this funny urge to turn left and pick up another
road instead. Brushing aside the thought, you continue on your regular
route home. As you approach the next light, traffic comes to a screeching
halt. Yes, you are now stuck in the all too familiar tie-up –
the heavy-metal tango! Had you listened to that urge, that fleeting
thought, aka, INTUITION, you would be home now.
Intuition is real, as real as any of our other senses. This innate
guidance system is our internal wisdom into awareness. Like everything
else about our minds and bodies, it can be developed and honed like
a finely-tuned instrument or muscle to be the means by which we access
our potential and joy.
Albert Einstein once said, “The only real valuable thing is
intuition.” Intuition is something each of us is born with.
But then what? How do we access it and, like Einstein, use it to reach
our greatest potential?
We know we are using our intuition when life begins to flow and work
easily. We know our intuition is truly part of our nature when life’s
decisions come quickly and easily, and do not carry the burden of
heavy emotions. Using intuition doesn’t involve lengthy pre-planned
thought. Our intuitive “hits” or feelings appear quickly
like an “Aha” moment. They are a recognizable knowingness,
a sensing, a feeling of rightness. We feel good all over. Our intuitive
self shows itself with flow, with little or no struggle. “It”
surely makes us smile!
If left untapped, this sense of knowingness gets buried so deep within
us, we are unable to hear, sense or feel the subtle urgings coming
from this inborn system, which was designed to guide us to the fulfillment
of our desires. When we lose the intuitive connection within, we navigate
through life making decisions based on boring logic, self-serving
ego and outside influences who may not have our best interests at
heart. Our dreams for a happy existence are shattered by chaos and
struggle. Out of balance, our lives are just not working the way we
would like them to.
But when we realign with our intuitive nature, our dreams and goals
begin to support us again.
I have a friend who confessed she wasn’t particularly intuitive,
but on one occasion she remembered getting a “message.”
It was a beautiful, sunny day. She and a gentleman, whom she considered
a friend, were enjoying a walk on the beach when he blurted out that
all she had to say was “yes” and he would buy her an engagement
ring. At that instant, she felt like someone had given her one heck
of a punch in the stomach. It was so real, it knocked the wind out
of her. It seems that her internal guidance system wanted to make
sure she got the message loud and clear that saying “yes”
was not the best idea. Most “gut” feelings don’t
come with such impact, however. But, then again, if we fail to acknowledge
and listen to that inner voice, we might be a member of the cast,
along with an eighteen wheeler, in the next “heavy-metal tango”
traffic tie-up.
Or, wake up one morning finding ourselves married with three kids
and wondering what we are doing there!
Since we all have an intuitive nature, we can learn to use it to enhance
our life, make decisions, and create that which we dream about. Developing
our intuitive skill is like developing any other muscle. Some of us
have naturally developed muscles; others use discipline and practice
to create a muscular body. The same applies to intuition. Practice,
practice, practice will help all of us to become aware of this “sixth
sense.”
Intuitive muscle-building begins with simply acknowledging that you
are intuitive by nature. Even though women, historically, have been
credited with “intuition,” men are not excluded. Because
most women have been the nurturing caretakers and healers in many
cultures, they developed their intuitive senses by being aware of
feelings, emotions, and insights. Men, on the other hand, have been
the hunters and gatherers, and their instincts have been honed toward
the “fight or flight” reflex. They had to largely dismiss
feelings and learn to act on ego, logic and fear. Because of these
differences, “women’s intuition” has tended to be
a club “For Women Only.”
With the breakdown of traditional roles for both men and women, opposite
instincts have developed in both sexes. Men have begun to be more
open and aware, which has led to the development of their intuitive
natures. Thomas Edison’s famous short naps allowed him to access
his creative intuition, resulting in breakthrough inventions. Edgar
Cayce, a famous seer, was known for his trance-like states in which
he accessed valuable and extremely helpful guidance for many people.
I do not mean to imply, however, that intuitive “hits”
for men are received only in the dream state. But these two famous
examples of “men’s intuition” show how far individuals
can go using their inner guidance.
My own intuitive nature unfolds in many ways. For instance, I always
ask for – and expect – a perfect parking place to show
up for me. I have acted on my intuitive hunches to call someone, go
somewhere, or buy something and have always been rewarded with an
additional surprise I wasn’t expecting. I follow my intuitive
nature instead of a map when I get lost. A couple of years ago, I
listened to that small voice inside of me when it said, “Go
ahead and make an offer” on a house I wished to buy –
and got the house of my dreams.
My best instance of intuition, however, was when I met “him.”
He was an avid reader and I owned a bookstore. On one of his visits
not long after our first meeting, I greeted him cordially, like I
did all my customers. As I stood a “presentable” distance
away from him, pointing out a new book I thought he would be interested
in reading, I felt this invisible magnet pulling us together, even
though I couldn’t move. I was no longer aware of what I was
saying or what was being said to me. For days afterward, I felt like
I had been zapped with fairy dust. My feet never touched the ground.
Two years later we were married, on the Summer Solstice.
Hunches, feelings, senses, gut instincts, and knowingness are all
descriptive words for our intuitive nature.
The process of tapping into it can be enjoyable and rewarding. Our
intuitive nature begins to unfold for us in little ways that show
us an easier path or a better answer. As we trust ourselves more and
more, our intuitive awareness shows us where to go, who to trust,
and how to step into our creativity and joy. Doors and windows of
opportunity open up for us. Our intuition unlocks a source within
that brings forth a depth of feeling we may never have experienced
before. It colors our world with meaning and awareness, insights and
guidance.
The process of developing our intuition can be sudden and profound
or slow and comforting. Either way, the steps to developing our intuition
can become rewarding in and of themselves. The first step involves
meditation. Becoming mentally quiet is essential. Practicing meditation
and breathwork are the staples for accessing your intuition and awareness.
Learning how to meditate creates a calm, relaxed foundation for your
day. Proper deep breathing provides a focus and concentration. Combining
meditation and breathwork opens the door to awareness which enables
you to “plug into” a finely-tuned subtle form of energy.
This new, relaxed focus then brings into your awareness more and more
wisdom and guidance, not only for yourself, but also for others. Thus,
your intuition begins to communicate to you.
The energies around us speak to us in many different ways –
as non-verbal messages that we sense, as visual symbols, as a knowingness
or just a “gut feeling.” Psychologist Carl Jung labeled
these energies “the collective unconscious,” and described
the phenomenon as a pool of our thoughts and feelings in an energy
form. When one is finely-tuned to this pool of information, one can
begin to “read” or sense what these symbols and energies
mean. This is how we actually access our intuition. I call this our
“floating messages,” to and from each other.
All our thoughts and feelings are energy. All energy is a vibration.
These vibrations “float” all around us. We can learn how
to tune in to these floating molecules of vibration, learn how to
interpret them, and begin to gain insight and guidance from this pool,
the source of immense creativity. We can learn how to use our internal
wisdom to nudge us toward our dreams and goals. In learning to trust
our intuition, we begin to lose our fears and doubts, becoming instead
keenly aware of opportunities, people and situations.
Access into our internal guidance system is through awareness of our
intuitive natures. Each of us can ask for and receive “internal
assistance.” When we consistently do this, a transformation
of self occurs, and life becomes filled with direction, purpose and
success. Practical daily life becomes full of ease and synchronicity.
Opening up to our own internal source, our intuition, accesses the
pathways to living well and joyously. Each one of us has this potential.
Using our intuition allows us to uncover all the gifts the Universe
has in store for us.
Marcella Zinner, MMA, CHt, is a
professional intuitive counselor, spiritual teacher and past life
regression therapist. She is founder of Pathways to Awakening Center
for Intuitive and Spiritual Studies in Clearwater. (727) 785-8780.
– http://www.marcellaz.com
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