intuition – Love Your Skeletons - the Skeletons in the Closet

Lighten Up — A Visualization to Reduce Tension

April 8, 2013

I often like to think about why I feel the way I do. When I start the day in a blah mood, how can I improve it? When I feel tired, what can I do to feel better, and have more energy? Many times, I need to change what I am thinking, but sometimes, just getting a change of scenery or distracting myself from what I was doing, is enough to make me feel better.

Our moods are definitely affected by what we do with our bodies. Sitting in one position, such as sitting at a computer or behind the wheel driving for hours, can make us stagnant. Moving around helps us think and keeps our brains active. Even a short walk, swinging my arms, makes me feel so much more alive.

Isn’t it interesting how when you are tense, it helps to stretch — which is actually putting tension on your muscles. When you feel fit, you also feel like being more active. When you smile, you feel better, and it works in reverse also: if you want to feel better, you can fake a smile. I learned that last one from Malcolm Gladwell’s book Blink, and it really does work.

I’ve noticed that in yoga, sometimes the instructor reminds me to relax my face muscles or soften my facial expression, so I’ve been playing around with that idea. I am working on becoming more aware of neck and face tension, and reminding myself to ease up. There’s a fun little visualization that I’ve been using that I’d like to share with you.

Visualization: Taking off the Tuque

To start off, I should explain for those of you not from Canada what a tuque is (pronounced “too-ke”). It’s a knitted hat, and can range from loose to tight, big to small, thick to thin. I believe it is a French Canadian word, which explains why people from other countries don’t usually know it. :)t

My first teddy bear, posing here with a knitted toque

Now, imagine that you are wearing four or five tuques (or any type of close-fitting hat), one on top of the other. There are so many layers, they are squeezing your head all around. Gradually, imagine that you are taking them off, one by one, until you feel the tension release. Your head is no longer being squeezed, and you can feel the light of the sun and the gentle, cool breeze on your head.

Whenever you feel a bit tense, stop and imagine that you are taking the hats off — if you feel really pressured, maybe the hat is a tight swimmer’s cap! As you remove the hats, you feel lighter, your face feels brighter, your eyes feel softer and your scalp more relaxed. The top of your head feels warm and alive… and in addition to feeling more relaxed, you may also find you are better able to connect to your intuition. The seventh chakra is on the very top of your head, so this visualization is bound to help release any pent-up energy.

Hope this helps you relieve tension and feel more at-ease!

By Teresa | Posted in Articles | Tagged body-mind connection, chakras, intuition, meditation, moods, tension, visualization | Comments off

Hearing from Your Intuition (Part 4)

October 18, 2012

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

Hearing from Your Intuition (Part 3)

October 17, 2012

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

Hearing from Your Intuition (Part 2)

October 16, 2012

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

Hearing from Your Intuition (Part 1)

October 15, 2012

For some, hearing from their intuition is easy, but for many, it is so foreign, they don’t even know where to start. So, I thought I would give some ideas from my experience about how intuition speaks.

Let me start by reminding you about the two polar opposites of feelings: feeling good and feeling bad. Of course, we have many different words for emotions, and here are a few:

feeling good — excited, thrilled, happy, overjoyed, at-ease
feeling bad — tense, nervous, uneasy, anxious, cautious

Your intuition often speaks through feelings. That makes it tricky, because lots of other things can affect how we feel, like what kinds of thoughts we have been thinking, or even if we are hungry. However, if you aren’t hungry and you take a few minutes to breathe deeply and clear your thoughts, you can receive a message from your intuition by how you feel.

Feel the Answer

Try this. After centering yourself as described above, ask yourself a “yes/no” question that you already know the answer to. Think of something you like to do and ask yourself a related question. Then, see if you get a “feeling answer.” Let me give you an example.

I really enjoy knitting, so I might ask myself “should I do some knitting later?” The answer is Yes, and the corresponding feeling is one of happiness and anticipation of continuing my latest knitting project. If I ask myself a “no” question, like “should I get back together with my ex?” the answer is a most definite “no!” For me, I can almost hear the answer verbally, but I certainly get “yucky” (“no”) feelings — anxiety, stress, heart-pounding feeling.

Once you do this and feel both the “yes” and “no” answers, now you can try a less-obvious question and one that you don’t know the answer to. If you stay still, calmly breathing, you should feel the answer — either a good feeling, or a “bad” one. If you can’t feel the answer for some reason, try rephrasing the question or break the question down into a smaller part or get more specific. For example, if you ask if you should take a new job you’ve been offered, but you can’t feel the answer, try asking

– Should I leave the job I am at now?
– Is this job offer good for me?
– Should I look for an even better job out there for me?
– Is this new employer right for me?

A slight variation on this method is to use your fingers instead of just feelings. Make the a circle with your index finger and thumb, like the universal “ok” sign, on both your left and right hands. Now, interlock them like two links of a chain. Calibrate your response by asking yourself a “yes” question as before. Tug to see if your fingers will come apart — for a “yes” answer, your fingers will be strong. When you ask a “no” question, or say something that is untrue, one of your finger-thumb connections will give way and your fingers will come apart. This process is called muscle testing, and the video below will show you exactly what I mean. If you have a hard time feeling the answer, muscle testing will work for sure!

Tomorrow, I will talk about some other ways to connect with your intuition. Subscribe to this blog to make sure you don’t miss it (use the RSS button near the top-right of the page), follow me on Twitter or friend me on Facebook. Mention that you read my blog!

By Teresa | Posted in Articles | Tagged answers, emotions, feelings, hearing from your intuition, insight, intuition, muscle testing | Comments off

The Cure for Worry

March 15, 2012

If you’ve read my book, you already know the cure for self-pity — thankfulness! Like a flash of lightning, it came to me today:

The cure for worry is trust.

The concept of trust came to me strongly about two years ago. I had decided to go on a seven-day solo kayak trip on the Peace River. I am an experienced kayaker, so a kayak trip was not outside my range of abilities, but to go for seven days all alone in the wilderness, that stretched me out of my comfort zone a little. I was nervous about the river I was on (even though it had no significant rapids). I was nervous about having difficulties disembarking in a current on a muddy shore, all by myself. I was a little worried about bears and wolves. I was extra careful in everything I did, because I didn’t want to injure myself.

It took me about three days to relax a little and feel comfortable being on my own. On the fourth day, I started developing some pain in my right shoulder, so all that day and the next, I had to paddle very carefully — consciously — to make sure I wouldn’t injure it further. I averaged about 50 km per day, which made for pretty long days. It was late on the fifth day as I was paddling toward my goal for the day that a message came to me directly from my intuition.

It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. Three words just appeared in my thoughts. I had been very meditatively paddling for about an hour, and the river was glistening, the breeze blowing and the sun setting. I chalk it up to five days in the sunshine, wilderness, solitude and serenity. Source (or God), was finally able to get through all the clutter in my mind, and the message It felt most important to deliver was:

Trust and Enjoy.

My heart sang as I realized I had finally connected with my intuition! And the message was so wonderful and simple! I did it joyfully — I trusted that I was going to be fine. I stopped worrying about drowning in the river and trusted the river to carry me. I enjoyed the sunshine and the beautiful peace of that moment.

Today, almost two years later, I was thinking about why worry is so destructive and unhelpful. Worrying about your problems seems to make them a hundred times worse, both in how they feel and in how they actually are. How can a person combat that tough bugger, worry? More easily this time, the word came to me: Trust.

I love simple solutions! Isn’t this great?!? If you want to stop worrying, just trust. I won’t tell you what to trust in, just trust. Trust in God, if you like. Trust that the Universe is on your side. Trust that Source wants to bless you, not curse you. Donald Cooper, a successful businessman, says “trust the process.” That works as well as anything — trust that if you are doing your best, there is nothing to worry about. Trust the process. You are improving. You are growing. You are already amazing, and you’re getting even better!!

I don’t think it really matters what you trust in. Trust in yourself, trust in your family, trust in the laws of physics or the laws of the Universe. You cannot trust and worry at the same time. Whenever worry rears its very ugly head, take a deep breath and remind yourself to trust.

Pink sunset on the Peace River

I’ll have to tell you the story of the time I sat out a thunderstorm on the shore of the river with no shelter or protection. That was life-changing too!

By Teresa | Posted in Encouragement | Tagged enjoy, intuition, joy, peace, trust, worry | Comments off

Love Your Skeletons – the Skeletons in the Closet