I’d been sheltering-in-place in my Manhattan apartment since March and had no plans to leave town. But my oldest friend and partner-in-crime texted me with a proposal, “Want to spend a few days in Amagansett?” A silent voice inside me replied, “Why not?”
I’ve learned to listen to my silent voices and follow my feelings. So today I’m sitting on a gray and empty stretch of beach. I’m mesmerized by the crashing waves and the feeling of sea spray on my skin. A rainstorm begins, and I’m reminded of how much I adore the smell of summer rain. The stress of self-isolating is being washed out of my body by these raindrops that now drip down my face. I’ll soon be soaked to the skin.
As my inner warrior melts down, I’m finally embracing the fear, grief, and loneliness that I suppressed while being locked down all of these months. Rather than focus on my own struggle, I placed my attention on helping others navigate this crisis.
I’m also made aware that there has been a silver lining to this predicament. The restrictions caused by COVID-19 have caused me to approach my life more intuitively.
I’ve reduced my addiction to needing to know things ahead of time and become more comfortable allowing things to unfold.
In order to proceed in this way, it’s critical that we reconnect with and cultivate our intuition. It is our most important compass, especially now when so much contradictory and changing information is coming at us.
Brain-Based Bias
Intuition has always been our best guide, but we haven’t been taught to value it. Contemporary life has deferred, instead, to the brain, and made intuition appear primitive. However, it’s undeniable that proceeding in a linear, brain-based fashion, has often left us feeling empty. Current events are now forcing us to revisit our feeling realm. We need to be able to discern Truth. Developing your intuition is the most important thing you can do at this time.
Have you ever wondered why we get those gut feelings within us? Feelings that we frequently dismiss because they seem impractical or make us appear selfish (or even crazy)?
We each have an inner voice guiding us, if we choose to listen. This voice speaks silently in the form of a knowing. It is a feeling rather than a thought.
I’ve heard this voice several times in the past few years. That voice told me it was time to resign from my job as a private banker, led me to travel to several ancient spiritual centers, shouted to me to pitch my first nationally-published article, and recently whispered to me to accept a wellness consulting opportunity for a public corporation. So far, my voice has a good track record. 😉
It wasn’t easy to hear that voice at first. My upbringing, education, and professional training all conditioned me to think practically. Things initially turned out great, but eventually settled at “okay.” Because I’ve always had a growth mindset, I’m someone who is never okay with “okay.” Fortunately, through the support of my meditation and yoga practices, I learned how to truly pay attention to those feelings.
To trust your inner voice, you can no longer be afraid of not knowing what is next.
Collectively, we are all being asked to release this fear. As such, we’re building new neuro-circuits. Our current situation is calling on us to live more creatively. Remember that we are all creators, and can manifest the lives we want rather than limit ourselves to a prescribed box that will never allow us to thrive.
We are now midway into both the summer and this unique year, 2020. Our future is less defined than ever before. It will need to be navigated creatively. This may be an optimal time to give yourself the gift of a retreat in nature, even if it’s to a local park, or to establish a meditation practice. It’s in these silences, when we sit in stillness for long enough, that we may hear that inner voice, even if it is just a whisper.
Each of us must find our own way. We have a built-in compass in the form of our intuition. Do you know how to access it?