Intuition – The Key to Health and Vitality?
By Sarah Alexander written for Spirit and Soul Magazine
Did you know that within you is an accurate, free-of-charge guidance and advice system that can give you information about anything you wish to know about? It gives you this information all the time, whether you listen to it or not. It is called you intuition.
We are all naturally intuitive. We all intuitively know exactly what we should do to improve our health and well being, but we mostly don’t do it. All we need to do is be willing to surrender and listen to it and let go of the reasoning and logic of our rational mind. We all need logic to help us get things done, but as a partner to intuition, not as the main captain of our ship.
In-tuition is any information, knowledge or insight that comes from within, without your logical thinking or conscious reasoning. Its language comprises gut feelings and “hunches”, and an overall feeling of “rightness” as the ultimate radar, clearly indicating what images, whispers and “pop-up” ideas are true guidance and what are not. This is important, because intuitive guidance can come in several different ways. So how can you use your intuitive guidance to improve our health and sense of well being?
Step One - State your intention to improve your health and well being
State your intention to improve your health and then let it go. Having the absolute knowledge that you will receive the guidance you need is the key to hearing the answer easily. Answers will come to you in such an easy, natural way that you may often think you're simply making it up. Deep in your gut, though, you will know intuitively and undeniably that your much-needed guidance has arrived.
People often expect a great flash of lightning and an instantaneous healing of the problem when they ask for help with specifics. Although instantaneous healing can indeed happen, the desired outcome is usually reached by a series of messages that take us on a step-by-step journey. Something you can and should expect is repetition. This is a defining characteristic of intuitive guidance: it will be repeated over and over again until we hear it and act upon it.
Our intuition works best for us when we are relaxed, open and receptive. If you try to hear your inner guidance, the strength of your effort actually diminishes your ability to do so. Striving and trying makes us tighten and takes us out of the receptive state needed to hear intuitive guidance.
Step Two - Understand How Your Intuition comes to you
Our intuition comes to us through four main avenues. We are all able to receive messages in each of these ways, but often we favour particular ones depending on how our minds habitually process information.
- Visual guidance comes to you through mental images, both in your mind's eye and in the world around you. Visual guidance may also come as things we are drawn to, or which seem to leap out into our attention: a sign, a slogan, a newspaper headline, a book, a magazine bought on impulse. You may see a sign that advertises a certain health product; a slogan that says “Seven Days Without Exercise Makes One Weak” a headline that says “If music be the food of love ... then it also lowers cholesterol” or “Why I swapped partying for meditation”, you might see a book or read a magazine article on a certain subject that gives you exactly the information you need or you may even see a therapist advertised that is the right person to help you with your health.
- Auditory messages come from the still, quiet voice within you, as well as auditory messages from the world around you that you are specifically meant to hear. Hearing your internal voice whispering to you means that you have attained the quietness of mind necessary for this. More often, you will pick up auditory messages by overhearing conversations, by receiving guidance (requested or not!) from other people, or even by hearing yourself give "guidance" to others. Turning on the television or radio often results in your hearing something that was "meant" for your ears. These messages, like the visual ones, will be accompanied by that intuitive feeling of rightness.
- Guidance from your feelings is the ability to feel your intuitive messages through your body and emotions. People who are very oriented to their feelings can easily pick up what others feel: they can sense the mood in a room and the intrinsic energy of a place. If you sense in this way, you will always receive guidance through those aptly-named gut feelings. Your feelings about something are literally your answers to your questions about it. Excitement and passion will draw us towards people and activities that are meant for us; feelings of heaviness and constriction will warn us about those that are not.
Our body is giving us clear signals about how it is feeling all the time if we choose to “tune into” to it and allow it to guide us. It tells us when we have eaten enough, when we have eaten things that aren’t good for it and indeed when we have eaten things that it likes. It lets us know when we need to rest and have quiet time alone or when to exercise and be active, by making us want, deep down, to do those things – a feeling we often over-ride with our “to do” lists and desire to get things done!
Your feelings can often draw you to certain places and into certain situations such as to a shop to buy a product to support your health, or to a health centre that has just the right treatment for you. Be open to these feelings that just take you to certain places that you were not planning to go to – see where you end up!
- Guidance through your thoughts and ideas is the ability to receive answers directly into your mind that "just come out of the blue". We don’t even know how we know these kinds of things. An idea to make an appointment at a particular therapy centre or with a special therapist will just come to you. This guidance will come to you at exactly the right time for you to take action. If you act upon it you will then receive further guidance, at the right time, to take further steps towards your intention of improving health.
All the intuitive guidance you receive in this way will be positive and empowering. You will just know that it is something you have to do. When you take the recommended steps, it always feels good and right and you know intuitively that you are acting in alignment with your inner guidance.
Step Three - Quiet Time!
Your mind wants to be active all the time, leaping from one thought to another in a way that is completely predictable despite all its activity. To receive your intuitive guidance, you will need to take some time every day at least to relax and quieten, and preferably to meditate.
This means going to a place where you can be undisturbed for at least ten minutes and preferably 20 - 30 minutes. There, you will allow your body to relax and let go of tension by focusing on your breath. People who meditate daily are able to receive guidance more easily because they are used to bringing their minds to quietness and stillness. It doesn't matter what form of meditation you use as long as you are stilling your mind in some way.
During quiet times, ask for guidance. If you need immediate guidance, ask the question and see what comes to you there and then. You will receive an answer, although you may need some time to recognise it.
Step Four - Eat Lightly
The heavier your diet, the more you clog up your inner guidance system. Lots of red meat, dairy products, sugar, chocolate and caffeine, and taking alcohol or any form of recreational drug (including cigarettes) will make it difficult for you to hear guidance.
Fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains and other light foods help you to maintain your vibrational clarity and receptivity. If you feel an intuitive need for meat or fish, ensure that you eat organic meats and ocean-caught or wild fish, which are of a higher vibration themselves than "regular" or factory-farmed products. By lightening your diet, you will not only be more open to guidance, but you will also be giving your body a huge boost towards looking and feeling better.
Step Five - Trust and Act upon It
This is perhaps the most important step. Your trust in the guidance you receive is key to your success at creating your desires. If you are unsure of what messages you are receiving in response to a certain question, ask for three clear signs that show you exactly what you are to do. Then, act upon them!
All it takes to hear your intuitive guidance is willingness to listen, willingness to trust what you are given, and willingness to act upon the information you receive. The big question is whether you are willing to act on the answers you receive?
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