Jan222013

Always Thinking

By Teresa | January 22, 2013 | Posted in Mini-post | Tagged brain, changing how you feel, changing perspective, living in the moment, risk, thinking, thoughts | Comments off

I have been thinking lately about thinking. I think A LOT! And so do you. We are virtually always thinking — the only times our brains stop is when we are sleeping or deeply meditating. Every other moment of the day, we are thinking about something — or many things all at once. But do you realize what you think about really matters!?

I’ve been paying attention lately to the effects of my thoughts. Sometimes, what I think about actually happens, right in front of my eyes. Other times, it happens later on. Things I consciously think about — especially things I fantasize about or really ponder for a while — Actually. Come. True. It’s neat, but it scares me at the same time! Am I at risk of getting into a car accident because I think about them sometimes? Yes, but I’m also at risk of living, and life is so damn risky, have you noticed!?!? 🙂 (I just can’t sit around doing nothing, so the regular risks of life are okay with me.)

The biggest thing I have noticed though, is how my thoughts make me feel. I have done some experiments on myself 🙂 and tried changing my mood by changing my thoughts. I have found that I can absolutely change how I feel by thinking happier thoughts (I never make myself feel worse, at least not on purpose). I have noticed that sometimes I feel icky because of my negative mode, and if I want to feel better, I can do it. It isn’t instantaneous, but in the course of a minute or so, I can actually make myself happier by just thinking of the feeling of positive anticipation, or reminding myself that the future is bright, and I have lots of good things to look forward to. I don’t even have to get specific, I can just think that I’d like to have more positive anticipation, and if I think that way for a minute or so, I really do start to feel that way. It might take longer if I’m more “down,” but if I’m feeling neutral or bored, it is surprisingly easy.

One key is to stay very much in the moment. You have to be aware of exactly what you are thinking, as you are thinking it (or close). So, that is the first step to being able to change the way you feel. Whenever you feel bad, try to grasp what thoughts led you there. Then, you can go general or distract yourself (read more here).

– – – – – – – – – – – –

I found this cartoon that matches so nicely…

(From here)

By Teresa | Posted in Mini-post | Tagged brain, changing how you feel, changing perspective, living in the moment, risk, thinking, thoughts | Comments off

Jan062013

The Subtle Power of Asking Forgiveness

By Teresa | January 6, 2013 | Posted in Articles | Tagged forgiveness, God, humble, humility | Comments off

I have, for the most part, wandered away from my churchy upbringing. I am deeply spiritual, but it is closely personal — not something I do in public very much. Since I stopped regularly attending church services anywhere, I have become quite an independent thinker. I’ve grown to question many of the principles that churches teach, and have de-personified God in my minds’ eye. I don’t think of God as a “big person” from whom we ask forgiveness or risk the consequences of his wrath.

Listening to Norah Jones’ song “Humble Me,” this morning, I had a new insight on forgiveness. I love that song — isn’t Norah great!?! I had been noticing all morning that my senses were a little sharper than usual, and as I was sitting in a place of very acute self-awareness, I joined in on the chorus

You humble me, Lord
You humble me, Lord
I’m on my knees, empty.
You humble me, Lord
You humble me, Lord
So please, please forgive me.

When we ask for forgiveness from anyone, but in particular, from God (however we picture “him”), we are humbling ourselves, which is simply that we release some of our ego. We give up a little bit of it, and equally important, we come snapping back very vividly to the present moment. I don’t think you can daydream and ask for forgiveness at the same time — you have to be present, take a deep breath, and say the words. Any time we do that, we release a little bit of the hold our ego has on us. And any time we do that, we become more aware of life’s beauty, of life’s peculiar perfection.

And that must be why asking for forgiveness has a certain freeing quality to it, especially when it is done in Norah Jones’ manner — asking, without desperation. Asking, with a very deep, quiet knowing that forgiveness is certain. Asking, with no attachment to the outcome, just asking because it is the best thing to do. It is acknowledging that something we did wasn’t as we would have liked, or that we know it was inconsiderate or unkind, and we didn’t mean to be that way, that we don’t feel that way any more. Asking in this way just quietly, non-confrontationally turns away from the ego. It is simple, beautiful, and is so freeing.

Listen to Humble Me again. It is such a beautiful song. Imagine that as she sings, you are singing too, and that you are reconnecting with the perfect-ness of this moment. To be humble is to have great strength. And forgiveness is certain.

(Norah Jones singing “Humble Me”)

By Teresa | Posted in Articles | Tagged forgiveness, God, humble, humility | Comments off

Jan012013

Radical Self-Love

By Teresa | January 1, 2013 | Posted in News | Comments off

I absolutely LOVE this video, featuring Gala Darling of the Radical Self-Love movement!! 🙂

Gala’s amazing website

By Teresa | Posted in News | Comments off

Dec312012

Goodbye 2012, Hello New Year!

By Teresa | December 31, 2012 | Posted in Mini-post | Tagged new beginnings, New year's, personal growth, resolutions | Comments off

New Year’s is such a wonderful time of year! It is a time of remembering the year past, but more importantly, of new beginnings. Every day is the chance for a new beginning, but somehow it is more real at this time of year. Perhaps it’s because everyone is in the mode of making resolutions and thinking about personal growth.

Would it be too bold to suggest a good New Year’s Resolution? It’s utterly simple, and will change your life:

May I be more THANKFUL this year.

For myself personally: May I see the beauty in everything. May I always feel I have enough because I am focused on all the good things in my life. May friends surround me, and may I be ever-grateful for them. May I be a good friend to each one, always seeing the best in them and loving them fully, with no inhibitions. May I be thankful for my family and never lose sight of their special-ness. I am so lucky to have them! May I rant and rave about how amazing life is more than I rant or rave about anything else. May I live in love so much of the time, to be away from it is strange and uncomfortable. May I appreciate every thing about my physical surroundings, and never, ever complain about anything. May peace and wholeness surround me. May I learn to love myself more completely. May I perpetually live in the present, remembering to breathe and knowing the awesomeness of nature extends to everything in my life.

By Teresa | Posted in Mini-post | Tagged new beginnings, New year's, personal growth, resolutions | Comments off

Dec252012

How to Change Other People :)

By Teresa | December 25, 2012 | Posted in Articles | Tagged accept yourself, change, change yourself, Christmas, difficulties, family, growth, other people, perfection | Comments off

Christmas can be such a stressful time for people. Family relationships are strained to the max, and people who can barely stand each other (often in-laws) are forced to spend time together and try to get along. Ever wish some of those people were different? Try my 3 quick and easy steps to change other people.

3 Quick and Easy Steps to Change Other People (Family or Friends)

1. Understand the Problem

As with so many other situations and problems, you can’t change it until you understand it fully. You will need to analyze your loved ones to understand what’s wrong with them. Only then can you move on to step 2.

2. Formulate a Plan

Once you have determined their main problem — a superiority complex, manipulating personality or judgmentalism, for example — only then can you formulate a plan for how to change them.

3. Force Them to be Different

This is, of course, the most obvious way to change people who annoy you — just make them stop. Make them act differently. It’s really very simple.

Just kidding.

Obviously, I am just being facetious. So why do we often want to change those around us? Because they annoy us? Because we know how much easier our life would be if they did things differently? Because we can see what pain and difficulties they could avoid in their own lives? All of the above.

But clearly, changing someone else is no easy feat. Heck, have you tried changing yourself, someone you have full control over? It ain’t easy! Changing others is absolutely impossible. I might as well remind you of that now.

Often, the desire to change others takes the form of a desire to help, but it’s just as misguided and futile as wanting to force someone to be different. We are in control of our own lives, and no one else’s. We have difficulties because of things we have done, or simply because we think that life is supposed to be hard. We may believe that we are on this planet to help others, however, there are some times we just have to let those around us — even the ones we love dearly — go through a sticky situation on their own. Only then can they grow and learn something from the situation and become stronger by going through it. When you attempt to “rescue someone,” you are often NOT doing them a favour (especially if the situation is not life-threatening, but simply a challenge).

Try and step away from the desire to change those around you. Just look at them and love them exactly as they are. Look around that Christmas dinner table and appreciate the differences and uniqueness that is so celebrated in the spiritual realm. We are lovely, beautiful, and absolutely unique in the world, and that’s how we are meant to be. We are exactly how we are supposed to be.

Don’t compare yourself with others, and don’t wish for yourself to be different. You are perfect. You really are totally and completely perfect the way you are. Perhaps you would like to change some things about yourself — do it if you feel led to, but don’t allow that goal to interfere with your happiness and contentment right now. Change yourself for fun, not because you think you must, or because you don’t like yourself as you are. In fact, the reason you want to change the ones you love is because there is something about yourself you are not happy with. See if you can gently discover that for yourself, about yourself and come to terms with it.

When you wish you could change another, you ultimately want to change yourself.

But you don’t need to. Not one iota. You are amazing and incredible exactly as you are this very moment.

Let it sink in.

Accept yourself fully.

Take a deep breath and let it sink in more.

And every time you feel tempted to change someone, remember that you don’t need to, because you are exactly how you are supposed to be.

By Teresa | Posted in Articles | Tagged accept yourself, change, change yourself, Christmas, difficulties, family, growth, other people, perfection | Comments off

Dec022012

Things to Keep in Mind When Making Decisions

By Teresa | December 2, 2012 | Posted in Mini-post, News | Tagged guest blogging, making decisions | Comments off

I wrote an article on making good decisions over at Lifehack.org. Thought you might like to check it out!

Three Things to Keep in Mind When Making Decisions

By Teresa | Posted in Mini-post, News | Tagged guest blogging, making decisions | Comments off

Nov292012

What it Means to be a Tough Woman

By Teresa | November 29, 2012 | Posted in News | Tagged guest blogging, tough, tough woman, tough women | Comments off

I am the guest blogger on aMINDmedia.com today! I wrote an article about what it means to be a tough woman. It’s not about wielding weapons, by the way! Enjoy!

By Teresa | Posted in News | Tagged guest blogging, tough, tough woman, tough women | Comments off

Nov242012

Getting Out of a Funk!

By Teresa | November 24, 2012 | Posted in Articles | Tagged emotions, feel better, feelings, moods, raising your vibration, vibration | Comments off

I was in a funk the other day, and not the good kind of groovy, breakin’-a-sweat-on-the-dance-floor kind of funk. It was more like the funk you find on leftovers that you forgot about in the back of the fridge. That kind of funk, emotionally.

I was frustrated, ticked off. I couldn’t believe that a phone company could have such bad customer service. I was right annoyed. And from that one frustrating event, I ended up getting into the funk I mentioned — an emotional confusion, frustration and general ugliness. It wasn’t full-blown anger but it wasn’t pretty. I was definitely not myself.

It wasn’t easy, but I managed to get out of that funky bad mood. Let me give you a few strategies to try that might help you when you feel crappy and don’t like it.

1. Feel the feeling. Don’t try to avoid the feeling, or pretend you don’t feel cruddy. Actually stop and “check in” with your body to see how that frustration or anger is making you feel. Stomach unsettled? Tension? Take a quick poll, and then breathe.

2. Ask yourself “how would I rather feel?” Would you rather feel content, happy, or even just blah? Usually when I feel cruddy, even just boredom feels like a relief. This can be a tough step, because you start to sense the big gap between how you feel now and how you want to feel. Just the same, it’s a good trick, because you can start to make a move to a better feeling.

3. What thoughts have you been thinking? If you have been thinking about how everything is unfair and nothing is working out right, then no wonder you’re funky. Try to identify what you have been thinking about lately. Act like a scientist doing research — try to be detached from the thoughts themselves.

4. Go general. Now, choose to think something different and start a little “good-feeling” rant in your head. It is always best to go as general as possible. It won’t work to try and criticize or analyze why that company had such bad customer service, for example. Instead, think that “this kind of treatment was unusual, because normally, people treat me well… generally, things go really smoothly for me… the sun in shining and things are looking up… whatever things in my life that aren’t perfect aren’t really a big deal… I am healthy and that is a huge blessing…” Any thoughts along general, positive lines are best.

If this is too hard or feels too fake, try this:

5. Distract yourself. It is absolutely perfectly okay to distract yourself from whatever is cheesing you off. Change what you are doing — go do something you enjoy. Play a game, call a friend (but don’t bitch at him/her), or listen to your favourite music. Do something with your hands. Go for a walk or move your body (this is great if you are caged in an office). If you are at work and can’t really leave, you can still change what you are doing, go for a coffee or other excuse to move your body a little. The point is to distract yourself from whatever was bothering you with something you enjoy. Like I often say, we are like corks; it takes considerable effort to keep us down. A little distraction is usually enough to let our spirit rise.

Hopefully, you will find these tips helpful to lift your mood when you need it!

By Teresa | Posted in Articles | Tagged emotions, feel better, feelings, moods, raising your vibration, vibration | Comments off

Nov232012

Downplay the Drama

By Teresa | November 23, 2012 | Posted in Articles | Tagged drama, emotions, facts, problems, stories, stories we tell ourselves | Comments off

When something out of the ordinary happens in our lives, we have the choice of how to react. Sometimes, what has happened really surprises us, but often it doesn’t. Once we are over the initial shock, we can more carefully choose our reaction to the events, decide how we want to think and talk about it.

Part of choosing our reaction to an incident — or something that might become a skeleton in the closet — is deciding whether to increase the drama of the situation or not. I think you know what “increasing the drama” means. It means making the story more exciting, and describing the people in extremes — as villains, idiots, or heroes. Dramatizations are always given in a conspiratorial tone, in hushed, animated voices around the water cooler, so to speak.

What does telling a story with extra drama do? Why is increasing the drama a bad idea? When we add drama to a story, we increase the hardships, make struggles more difficult and problems insurmountable. Injustice reigns in big drama. Without realizing it, we are emphasizing how life is hard, things never go smoothly, and people mistreat each other. There is often a strong, imbalanced morality overlaid on the story. Living in this vibration makes us feel frustrated, critical, angry, and judgmental.

When we choose to downplay the drama as we relive the events, we reduce the struggles and judge people less harshly. Our overall tone is “it wasn’t that bad” or “it was a little mess up” rather than the overexaggerated, dramatized version. We tend to feel that things are looking up, people around us are competent, and problems beatable.

How to do it

So how can you learn to reduce the drama of a situation? Here are some things to think about.

– Stick to the facts. When telling the story of what happened, keep it straight-up boring.

– Become aware of what words you choose when you tell the story of what happened. Think of it as a story that can be told in many different ways.

– Catch yourself before you start to talk in black-and-white.

– Don’t vilify (“villainize”) people. Sure, they made a mistake, but it isn’t about their core character.

– If you enjoy dramatizing, do so with something funny or helpful rather than a bad event. Be a stand-up comedian, not a bad-news reporter.

– There is a balance between doing things in the big-city anonymous way and the small-town gossipy way. Look for that balance.

In a non-judgmental way, watch how other people tell stories. Can you see them getting dramatic and adding to their own frustration? Now see that property in yourself, laugh about it, and curb it before it gets out of hand!

By Teresa | Posted in Articles | Tagged drama, emotions, facts, problems, stories, stories we tell ourselves | Comments off

Nov192012

The Stain of Complaining

By Teresa | November 19, 2012 | Posted in Articles | Tagged appreciation, changing perspective, complaining, joy, love, vibration | Comments off

The other evening, a very good friend and I were sitting around the living room, listening to music and talking about our life experiences. We were connecting deeply, and as the night went on, we both fell asleep on the couch. I was so amazingly content — beautiful music playing, cozy living room, lovely company and wonderful conversation. I felt myself rising to a very high vibration — love and appreciation — and I stayed there for a long time, basking, feeling warm, and connecting to my intuition…

My friend was very comfortable on the couch, I could tell. I was too, but suddenly, I felt like my back was cold — it wasn’t covered by any blanket and there must have been a slight draft from somewhere. From my place of pure, clear appreciation, came the stain of complaining. It was positively palpable — I could taste it in the air. It was like those cheesy stain remover info-mercials where they add deep blue and red dye to a clear container of water — the dye churns. My complaining was colouring my mood and I could feel it as clearly as if I was standing outside in the rain. It churned.

I adjusted my position to get warmer and more comfortable, but the mood did not lift immediately. I laid there, thinking about the startling effect my complaining was having on my body. My happy, glowing feeling was gone. I was just back on the couch, mostly comfortable. I felt like I was in my body again — I had been flying so high, I had been somewhat unaware of my physicality for a while. I felt very concrete, but not grounded. It’s difficult to explain.

The effect on my mind was just as obvious. The lighthearted, clear feeling I had been basking in was gone. I was cloudy, confused, even anxious… all from one little complaint. I had a hard time shaking that feeling of complaining, and I even, very briefly, started judging my friend for being comfortable when I was not. Thankfully, since I am in the habit of being aware of my thoughts, I nipped that in the bud — what a ridiculous thing to be jealous of! But that is what complaining does to you — it makes you jealous, cloudy, confused and frustrated, and since I had been feeling so great before, the contrast of those icky feelings was striking.

Of my body, mind and spirit, my spirit was affected the least. Since I was so aware, I didn’t let the complaining go on too long. I let the feeling pass through me, and resettled into a happier state. I keep coming back to the analogy of a cork on water — you have to work quite hard to keep it down. We are the same — when we stop judging ourselves harshly, putting ourselves down or thinking thoughts of lack, we immediately rise up and start to float again. You and I have an invincible spirit, and the very simple, quick act of breathing and coming back to the moment, feeling the goodness of this moment, lets us rise again.

By Teresa | Posted in Articles | Tagged appreciation, changing perspective, complaining, joy, love, vibration | Comments off

Nov182012

Stop Telling Negative Stories

By Teresa | November 18, 2012 | Posted in Articles | Tagged anger, optimism, pessimism, stories, stories we tell ourselves | Comments off

The other day, I spent two hours with a Frenchman. He was originally from Quebec, actually, although he didn’t seem to be proud of that fact any more — in his opinion, most Quebecers were slime. Actually, he’d been spited by people in every province in Canada, it seemed, at various work places and on the street.

This incredibly unlucky fellow told me, in non-chronological order, his entire life story. And what a life he’d had! According to him, if you work in the oil patch, you’ll never get paid on time. If you work for farmers, you’ll be paid on time, but most of them don’t speak English (they mixed it up with various European languages). He had complaints about basically every industry, job or ethnicity he had ever worked for, including heated warnings about several specific individuals. It only sounded like he had one or two good employers over all those years. Although, initially, I was compassionately listening to his life story, it seemed like a lot of complaining to me. Later on, I was listening with fascination, not about his story, but about how his attitude — his vibration — was coming true in his life! It was so crystal clear to me that his angry demeanour was manifesting in his physical life everywhere he went.

Another man I have met recently was telling me about a certain injustice that he witnessed. It was obviously a huge source of frustration, and I initially thought that it had just happened. Not so. The situation had unfolded months before, but the way he told the story, it sounded like yesterday.

Have you ever heard the saying

“A sad story should never be retold.”

I wonder what would happen if we changed the way we tell stories to others? What if we made a pact with ourselves to allow one week to retell a negative story and after that to never speak of it again? During that week, we could go hoarse retelling it, but after that, we had to bite our lip and tell a neutral (factual) or happy story instead. There would be no limit in how long or how many times you could retell a purely* happy story.

Want to join me in this experiment? Clearly, if you have a very serious skeleton, you will probably need more than a week to process it properly, in particular if you are in counseling about it. But for smaller, everyday stuff, or negative stories not directly involving us, that story would have to die — or change drastically — after a week. If you can convert it into a happy story, then keep it rolling!

*For the no-ending clause to apply, the story must have no villains, no victims, and be completely free of sarcasm/cynicism. 🙂

By Teresa | Posted in Articles | Tagged anger, optimism, pessimism, stories, stories we tell ourselves | Comments off

Oct252012

Believe the Best

By Teresa | October 25, 2012 | Posted in Mini-post | Tagged amindmedia, guest blogging | Comments off

Today, I am a guest blogger on aMINDmedia.com! I wrote an article all about how believing the best changes everything! Go check it out here:

http://amindmedia.com/

I am really excited about this — Anne-Sophie of aMINDmedia looks like a really neat person, and she’s doing some very cool stuff! 🙂

By Teresa | Posted in Mini-post | Tagged amindmedia, guest blogging | Comments off

Oct182012

Hearing from Your Intuition (Part 4)

By Teresa | October 18, 2012 | Posted in Articles | Tagged being conscious, breathing, centering yourself, emotions, feelings, hearing from your intuition, intuition, self-centering | Comments off

I mentioned centering yourself in Part 1, but felt I should expand on that some more. I would like to “de-mystify” some aspects of centering yourself and explain some new-agey-sounding terms in plain English.

Calming Down

The initial way to think of centering yourself is just to calm down. You can do this any time by taking a few deep, conscious breaths. What do I mean by “conscious”? Just be aware you are doing it. Think and pay attention to how your body feels while you breathe. Do nothing else for a second. Breathe… This is the first and vital step to calming down.

Pause and ask yourself what you were just thinking about. If you don’t know, that’s okay. If you can recall it, now see how it was making you feel. Was that train of thought making you feel good (excited, energized, happy) or bad (stressed, tense, worried). These “feelings” can be either mental/emotional (such as frustrated or depressed) or physical (tension in the neck, stomach uneasy). Now you have become aware of how your thoughts make you feel!

If those thoughts are particularly strong, you might want to have a “wave experience” as I describe in my book (chapter 19). This will help you pass through the emotions and gain some insight about them.

To connect with your intuition, continue “centering yourself.” Some physical things people like to do include putting both feet on the ground, sitting cross-legged, or laying flat on their backs. Some like to do this to increase their connect to the ground, kind of like grounding an electrical circuit. Others like to connect to Mother Earth. If you do it the same way every time, this helps “program” your body for connecting to your intuition.

Keep breathing all the while. Okay, that might sound obvious because if you stopped breathing, you’d die, but believe it or not, I need to mention it. We often hold our breaths without realizing it, or breathe in shallow, quick breaths. Taking slow, deep breaths does something to our bodies — something that helps us slow down, focus, and reconnect to the present moment. That’s why activities like singing and sports feel so great — we are breathing deeply, and paying attention to the moment in either to hit that note perfectly or score that point.

Your mood will probably improve simply as a result of these actions. If you feel sort of “neutral,” consciously think about something that makes you feel good — like remembering a pure, happy memory or a time when you felt really great. If you focus strongly on these happy thoughts for a minute or so, you will really start to feel great. This is what people mean when they say they are “raising their vibration.” It is a conscious decision to feel better by thinking thoughts that make you feel better. You may also want to tell yourself something that you know will perk you up. If you are living a very stressful life, you can also take advantage of classic de-stressing techniques like taking a hot bubble bath, lighting candles, getting a massage, going for a walk in a park or other natural area to appreciate nature, etc.

Of course, there is no guarantee that following these steps will help you connect to your intuition, but they vastly increase the odds. One last thing: be ready to receive and write down (or record in audio) the inspiration you receive! Keep a note book by your bedside, in your purse or bag, or in your vehicle. Be ready to open a simple text editor to type in your computer.

My favourite way to “make notes” is to talk into a small audio recorder, especially while I am driving alone. It has 2-button operation, so it’s very quick and easy. When I get an idea, I grab it and start talking!

I hope you have found this series on hearing from your intuition helpful! If it has touched you, please leave a comment!

– The “Hearing from Your Intuition Series” –
Hearing from Your Intuition (Part 1) Feel the Answer | Hearing from Your Intuition (Part 2) Tapping Your Imagination | Hearing from Your Intuition (Part 3) Detailed Messages/Knowing | Hearing from Your Intuition (Part 4) Centering Yourself

By Teresa | Posted in Articles | Tagged being conscious, breathing, centering yourself, emotions, feelings, hearing from your intuition, intuition, self-centering | Comments off

Oct172012

Hearing from Your Intuition (Part 3)

By Teresa | October 17, 2012 | Posted in Articles | Tagged divine inspiration, guidance, hearing from your intuition, higher self, intuition, intuition computer, struggle, taking inspired action, trust | Comments off

Intuition is how your higher self speaks to you. It is a message or a feeling about what action to take to follow the best course of action for you. What sort of “best course of action?” The action that will help you thrive or grow the most, to help you fulfill your destiny or become a more enlightened being. Sometimes, it is the biggest “stretch” — it might involve major change or facing a fear. But isn’t that always where we grow the most?! 🙂

Detailed Messages/Knowing

The most powerful way that you can hear from your intuition is in a specific message from your higher self. This is usually more complicated than “yes” or “no,” and might be a detailed message or more of a “knowing.” You might:
– out of the blue have an idea about how to proceed on a problem
– feel like you just found your life’s purpose
– learn about something new and feel uncannily drawn to it
– suddenly know what you should do next
– feel amazingly inspired to do something
– feel like you know that you will have all the resources you need to take this inspired action.

From my experience, this type of divine inspiration can strike at any time, and the more you listen to it, the more frequently it happens. I bet you can think of a time when this happened — when you suddenly just KNEW what to do. For me, this inspiration often comes first thing in the morning (or even before I am fully awake), so I try to keep a note pad nearby so I can jot down the idea.

Here are a few things that can make it happen quicker:
1. Acknowledge that you have intuition, and make it known — write it down in your journal, on a markerboard, vision board or wherever — that you want to connect to it more.
2. Tell someone (verbally, out loud) that you want to hear from your intuition and that you think you will get an answer to such-and-such (next course of action) soon.
3. As you try to solve some “problem,” rather than struggling for the answer, imagine you are loading all the data into an “intuition computer” — just collecting data, and waiting for the computer to spit out the answer. Let go of the struggle.
4. Pay attention to slight nudges/hunches. Feel the urge to take a different route home after work? Do it. Thinking about someone and wondering if you should call them? Do it.
5. Challenge yourself to do something outside your comfort zone, and then trust that you will have the resources to do it successfully. (For me, this was a 7-day solo kayak trip, and that is the first time I received a VERY clear message from my intuition. I have not been the same since!)

In general, our reality is a result of
– what kinds of thoughts we think
– what kinds of words we say, and
– what we do.

So, if you want your reality to include you hearing from your intuition, you can think about it (acknowledge/imagine, step 1 and 3 above), talk about it (step 2 above), and do things about it (step 4 and 5).

By Teresa | Posted in Articles | Tagged divine inspiration, guidance, hearing from your intuition, higher self, intuition, intuition computer, struggle, taking inspired action, trust | Comments off

Oct162012

Hearing from Your Intuition (Part 2)

By Teresa | October 16, 2012 | Posted in Articles | Tagged answers, apocalypsing, finding answers, hearing from your intuition, imagination, intuition, life changes, making decisions, tapping into your imagination, the future | Comments off

Let’s look at some other ways you can hear from that subtle but important force, intuition. (Part 1 is here if you missed it.)

Tapping Your Imagination

Another way to get in touch with your intuition is to use your imagination. Imagination is another one of those things that science just can’t explain, like intuition. The two can work hand in hand — let’s look at how.

Suppose you are considering taking some action, be it changing jobs, moving to a new town, whatever. Sit down and imagine, from start to finish, in as much detail as possible, the outcome of that action. Imagine that you are fully integrated into the new situation — that perhaps 4 to 6 months have passed since the big change. Are you happy? Do you like the picture you see? How do you feel now? If you feel anxious, make sure that you’ve imagined the situation long enough into the future to get over the initial stress of the change. Let’s look at an example.

Suppose you are thinking of breaking up with your boyfriend. Imagine what life would be like without him — imagine going through a period of sadness, loneliness or stress at first, and then imagine your life after that. Really try to picture what it would be like. What kinds of things would you do in your spare time? Would you be happy? Would you ultimately regret it? If your imagination leans towards eventually feeling happier and more independent, that’s your answer. If your imagination leans towards regretting the decision, then that’s your insight. Try exploring other places your imagination might take you… if you regret it, why? Is there any solution where you don’t regret it? What can you do to make your relationship better then?

If you really feel uneasy about the answer you get, then perhaps there is a lot of fear clouding your vision or colouring your imagination. This isn’t a black-and-white science! But this can certainly be an option to try.

Be aware that if your natural tendency is for negative fantasizing — what I call “apocalypsing” in Love Your Skeletons — then you’ll need to make extra effort to see this pretend reality positively. If you simply can’t, then take it as a sign, but not a big one.

Remember, you can also use your imagination to create a new reality, so while tapping into your imagination, you will also be forging the future at the same time. If you want to imagine a different outcome than the one you seem to be headed towards, do some focused, detailed, super-clear visioning and you will create that outcome instead. This type of imagination feels different; it feels empowered instead of receptive.

Come back tomorrow for Part 3!

By Teresa | Posted in Articles | Tagged answers, apocalypsing, finding answers, hearing from your intuition, imagination, intuition, life changes, making decisions, tapping into your imagination, the future | Comments off

Love Your Skeletons – the Skeletons in the Closet