Awakening the Intuitive Within

AWAKENING THE INTUITIVE WITHIN

Excerpt from New Book

By Jo Anne Bishop, PhD MPA

As you begin the fascinating journey of awakening the intuitive within, your pathway will be filled with the self-knowledge that you are in essence an unlimited resource for inner wisdom , guidance and personal power. Through this process you will become aware that you are not just a physical body but also an electromagnetic energy field. Based upon scientific research, a part of this energy field is the electromagnetic energy generated by your brain and the physical life force that resides within your body. The physical energy within you is called “prana”, taken from a Sanskrit and Hindu word meaning the breath of life. Prana is the life force that resides within us. Many of the world’s religions believe that we are connected spiritually and united as human beings through the essence of prana. The concept of “oneness” is embodied in the essence of prana. Prana comes to us through our breath, which connects and unites us to all levels of our consciousness. Prana needs a vehicle in which to flow through the body. Chakras are that vehicle. Chakras are the centering points for prana to flow through us. The word chakra is derived from Sanskrit and means wheels of light. Each chakra is centered over a major organ within the body, including sexual organs, spleen, pancreas, heart, thyroid, pituitary gland and the pineal gland. There are seven chakras aligned along the spinal column. Many spiritual philosophies teach that our mental, emotional and spiritual health depends upon the flow of that energy through the physical body. Through the chakras (spiritual body) and the spinal column system (physical body), our life force energy interlinks with the prana and the physical body.

Understanding the spiritual concept of prana provides the opportunity to increase physical, emotional and spiritual health in a responsible and accountable manner. Developing the understanding of the principles of the mechanism that bridge the spiritual and material arenas is a vital part of the foundation for intuitive development. The knowledge that the energy within us can externally affect people, places and things moves us toward accountability and ownership of the prana within. People who are sensitive, intuitive or psychic can feel this energy and receive impressions from it. They perceive the different levels of consciousness. Our intention to unfold intuitively enables us to become aware of our inherent ability to intuit the prana in our own bodies and that of others. This foundation moves us toward self-care. We begin to realize that we truly are temples that house our higher consciousness. Intuition is also considered “knowing”. It is essential that you develop a sense and knowing of how to use your own energy and what your symbols mean. In this way, you can stay centered within your own energy field. The impressions that you receive from the energy field within you will come through your intuition and your right brain hemisphere. Sometimes it will appear as an impression, visualization, words, sound or symbols. Understanding the meaning of these symbols is part of the developmental process. This will become the foundation for understanding the communication between intuition and the brain’s hemispheres (creative and rational mind). These steps facilitate biofeedback that transmits information about body sensations, feelings of tension, stress, relaxation and centering. This is part of the integration process of mind, body and spirit.

The more centered you become, through balancing these three aspects of yourself, the greater the opportunity for your intuition to develop. For the intuitive, the integration process can be felt in a variety of ways. The individual becomes aware of their own energy, as well as the energy of others and inanimate objects. The learning process of interpreting the meaning of the internal and external biofeedback creates discernment. Discernment is a tool that assists in understanding whether the energy we experience is internal or external. If it feels like the energy is emanating from an external source, there is a need to return to your center and become observant. The skill of judgment or discernment becomes more effective as the process is repeated. Discernment allows us to become aware of the effect that the energy of others has upon us. With this knowledge we can choose to embrace someone’s energy or stay separate from it.

Developing your intuition does not mean channeling , mediumship or being psychic. It does not mean that you will attribute the information you are receiving to an external source other than yourself. It provides an opportunity to become self-reliant. All of us
Have the capability of being intuitive. Not all of us have the capacity or genetic predisposition to be psychic. When you are psychic you have the gifts of intuition in a
more intense capacity. Being psychic you are not necessarily spiritual but most people
who are intuitive have developed the spiritual aspects of their personalities to some degree.

It is very important to stay emotionally balanced and grounded as you are developing your intuition . Grounded means that you are committed to learn how to use your common sense and your analytical skills in situations involving your intuition ; just as you would with any important situation in your life. Keep your feet firmly planted on the earth as you reach for the stars. Keep it simple. If it does not feel right, it probably is not right. Learn to trust yourself.

As you enter the process of development, you will begin to learn that all actions have a reaction. Each of us needs to learn to take full responsibility for all of the choices we make. This can also be construed as grounded. The choices that we make involve consequences. In other words, every action we take has a reaction or consequence. As you become aware, you will begin to see the consequences of your actions and choices. It takes forethought to be aware of the consequences. If you decide to develop your intuition, these may be a few of the consequences you might face: investment of time, energy, analytical skills, creativity , awareness of your personal energy field, adventure, fun, excitement, self-empowerment, self-reliance, self-trust and discipline.

It will be helpful for you to exercise your analytical mind as you begin to develop an understanding of the impressions and symbols that you receive. You will begin to integrate the rational mind with the creative mind. This takes patience with yourself and a sufficient timeframe to learn how to interpret the information that you are given. A new and stimulating world will open to you, bringing a sense of empowerment and elevated consciousness.

Your physical body is an important aspect of your development. In order for the physical body to be receptive to intuitive urgings, it needs to be relaxed, safe and secure. As with developing the analytical mind with the creative mind, you need time to learn a relaxation process. Within the relaxation process, a biofeedback response allows you to become aware of sensations in your body that you may not have been aware of in the past. This awareness will accelerate the integration. Each of us has a unique body and soul. Through the body comes knowledge of your internal and spiritual being.

The following steps will allow you to start the process of developing your intuition.

Step One:

Meditate every day. Meditation allows your body to become relaxed and receptive to your inner awareness. In the beginning, make a commitment to a short period of meditation daily. Ten minutes a day creates a repetitive pattern that allows information to flow within the brain that increases internal awareness and impressions. New neurotransmitter pathways are created through repetitive behaviors. Meditation creates a space of relaxation and receptiveness; you are giving your brain direction to increase your internal awareness and inner impressions. A ten-minute commitment is a good start. You can increase to 30 minutes, which is ideal. Make a commitment that is doable. The most important part of the skill building process is consistency. See this as an investment in yourself, your body and self-care.

Find a safe place, comfortable chair and perhaps soothing music to add serenity to your environment. Begin the relaxation experience by breathing deeply. You are breathing in the prana or life force into your body.

This can be done through breathing easily and allowing your breath to move through you without effort. Let your body fully relax into your breath. Within a couple of minutes, you will find your body releasing tension. Oxygen begins to soothe your body by revitalizing every cell. The body responds to oxygen intake. As you begin to relax, you allow your body to absorb the oxygen and let go of worry, tension and anxiety .

Begin with the top of your head. Place your attention in this area and take a deep breath. Feel the cool air coming in as you inhale. Feel the warm air leaving as you exhale. Your body will begin to feel relaxed. Now move from the top of your head down to your eyes, your throat, your heart, your solar plexus, your pelvic area, your hips, thighs, knees, calves and feet. As you breathe, begin to review each of these places within your body. Become aware of any internal tension or stress. The goal of this meditation is relaxation. As you move from place to place, tell your body you are letting go of tension and moving further into relaxation.

When you feel your body is relaxed, think of a favorite place that brings joy and peace to you, such as a beach, the mountains or a garden. Your body will respond to the visualization of comfort that you gain from visiting a favorite environment within your mind. Seek out a comfortable area within this environment such as a bench or under a tree and sit down. Imagination is the same as visualization. In your mind’s eye, look around this favorite environment. Let the environment come alive with color, aroma and soothing sounds. In your visualization, the process of sitting and breathing becomes deeper and deeper which allows you to go into a state of deep relaxation. Your body will continue to relax. In this state of relaxation, your body, mind and heart are open to the spirit, the divine or the higher power that resides within you. In this moment, know that the divine within you wants the very best for you. As you move further inward, you are moving toward a safe accepting place within. Take another breath. Become aware of how your body feels, as you are moving through this process. You are in the process of biofeedback . Your mind acknowledges a body sensation such as relaxation and stores the information in a way that can be recall through the neurotransmitters that are now being created in your right and left-brain hemispheres. Neurotransmitters are
electrical impulses that create brain activity through stimulation in many ways including meditation. In a recent study, February 2009, Dr. Andrew Newberg, a professor of radiology, psychology and spiritual studies at Penn State’s Center of Spirituality and the Mind, found that people who meditate, use prayer or contemplation have a very positive effect on our brains by increasing the ability of the brain to process information, focus and concentrate if this practice is a daily activity. The findings suggest that our physical, mental and spiritual health will improve in as little as fifteen minutes if this practice is a daily part of a self-care program.

When you feel that you have arrived at a sense of peace in the pleasant environment that you have created, you can ask the intuitive within you a question that may need an answer or solution. As you pose the question, imagine it rising into a mist. Become aware of any impression that immediately follows the question. This information can come through an image, a sense, impression, voice or a knowing that you may not understand at this time. Have a pencil and paper at hand so that when you complete your meditation, you can list impressions. Date the material because it may not immediately make sense to you, but as you continue your daily meditation process, you may see a pattern develop from the impressions that you receive. Committing thoughts and impressions to paper make them real. Before ending the mediation, affirm that you are open to guidance, self-acceptance, abundance and opportunity. Affirm your intention to release old patterns, habits, fears and self-imposed obstacles that limit your ability to the bounty of the universe. Envision yourself transforming fear into creativity . In the process of mediation, you can release the fear and affirm your possibilities. Near the end of your meditation visualize yourself, as you want to be: healthy, happy, balanced and peaceful. Allow acceptance of the opportunities that are presented to you which will empower you to reach your highest good. As you complete this process you, will see yourself returning to your current physical environment. You will open your eyes feeling refreshed, centered and balanced.

Step Two:

Keep a journal. Your journal entry can be as little as two sentences. Your journal will give you the ability to see patterns developing with symbols and impressions. Always date your journal. You can always increase your writing time, but in the beginning make meditation and journaling doable by not overburdening yourself with time and energy you cannot expend. Do a little at a time. This is an opportunity to address how you feel about this process.

Step Three:

On a daily basis, become aware of the impressions or urgings that come to you throughout the day. It will take time for you to develop a repertoire of symbols and impressions. Each day you practice receiving impressions and not judging them, the more open you will become. The interpretation of these impressions will take time. Time will reveal the pattern of your impressions, which will then lead to a more accurate interpretation of the symbols or impressions you receive.

Step Four:

Be patient with yourself and your body. Like any skill intuitive development requires time, skills and repetition. You gain confidence as you work a daily plan of development
and begin to see the results manifesting through increased clarity, focus and responsive
action in your life.

Step Five:

Use a divining device such as a spiritual mantra, a spiritual book, a tarot deck, runes or other means of guidance. If you choose a card deck, shuffle the deck and make a spread before you by fanning out the cards. Ask a question of your higher self or the divine within you and pull a card from the deck. Before you look up the meaning in your reference book, let the card impress you with the message it gives to you through its symbology. Whatever means of divination you use, before you look up the meaning, annotate your impressions on paper. Then look up the meaning; see if your intuitive interpretation is close to the book interpretation. This is a way of immediately validating your perception. Some people open the bible to a page that they feel is divinely inspired for guidance.

Step Six:

If you have an impression that someone is thinking of you, going to call or visit you, note the time of the day and your location. See if you can get an impression of what they might want to talk to you about. Call the person as soon as you can and ask them if they were thinking of you around the time that you noted. This process begins to build trust and confidence in your ability through repetitive feedback that can be validated by another person. In the case of the cards, the definition in the book can validate your impression. Have faith . Sometimes the other person may not validate your impression. Do not judge it. Each time you risk reaching out to validate your impression, your courage builds. You can also find an intuitive development class in your area through community colleges, internet search, intuitive coach or metaphysical bookstores.

Step Seven:

Learn to delete drama from your life. You can do this by learning to develop boundaries in each area of your life through the development of self-care. Begin to become aware of how often you say yes to someone’s request when you really want to say no. Asserting yourself takes time, practice and education. Allow yourself to be a whole person and view others the same way. Learn to let go of any victim, rescuer or persecutor roles that you play in your life. Learn to assertively deal with people who want to play these same roles. As you change, some people will change with you and others may not. Release of the limiting patterns within you is a dynamic part of this process. Part of spiritual evolution is learning to let go of old habits and thought patterns that no longer support your goals.

If there is a great deal of crises in your life, it is time to look at the source of your crises before you begin a development program. Without looking at yourself, your thinking, your emotional patterns and crises-oriented living, you will not be able to attain the balance necessary to develop intuitively. If you do not know how you play a part in the drama of your life, you cannot be responsible for creating the wonderful reality that you can have. You are the creator of your reality; your responses to other people and to life’s challenges can help you learn about yourself. Strive for balance. This will bring peace , a sense of being centered and validation. You are an unfolding work of art. Like the lotus flower which is the symbol of divine creativity , you have a thousand facets that can be discovered in your spiritual development process.
Be as patient, kind and loving to yourself as you can. You will learn to respond instead of reacting to life’s situations and challenges.

Step Eight:

Learn about your individual needs and self-care. Understand your intentions to become intuitive. Intuition is not control over others. Your intention has to be ethical. You are developing your intuition for your own empowerment . Providing people with intuitive information about themselves without asking permission is inappropriate and may be considered controlling. Self-care brings self-reflection to you. Reviewing your intentions and making a conscious choice builds confidence in an ethically, value-based foundation.

Step Nine:

Visualize yourself as already intuitive. Affirm your openness to receiving guidance, direction and love from many sources within your life, including your intuitive self and your higher self. You are worth the effort and investment.

Step Ten:

This final step: give thanks to the divine within for all of the blessings, inspirations, inner guidance, and gifts that you receive every day. Your life is precious and valuable. Thanksgiving validates your understanding of these
gifts in your life. It opens you to new possibilities and probabilities because it brings
an expanded view of life through the use of faith . Faith resides within the heart and does not come from the realm of mind. Mind is finite. Heart is infinite.
The symbol of the heart is associated with feelings, expansiveness, joy and love.
Through this sense of love, we can unite with something greater than ourselves and
connect with the universal flow of energy that resides within each of us. This brings
us an opportunities to transcend limiting beliefs and embrace our connect to a flow
of unlimited potential. It takes two seconds to say thank you. This act lifts our spirits
out of worry and anxiety . It changes our brain chemicals replacing those feelings of
stress with endorphins that bring relaxation and peace.

These ten steps create a structure for the unfolding of the divine intuition within all of us.

In Summary:

Divine intuition comes to us through a sense of knowing without the use of words. Intuition is a combination of the unfathomable with knowing. It is a perfect marriage between the right and left hemispheres of our brain. Sometimes when we feel that we are being divinely impressed, it is called divine intuition. When we experience divine intuition, there is no doubt or fear, we just know. At that moment, our lives are changed and we bridge our higher resources or the divine with our physical body. There is a sense that we are no longer walking by ourselves; we are connected to all things and the divine within. These moments are periods of enlightenment , which take us toward conscious living.

You are capable of extraordinary perception in your everyday life. Learning how to access this incredible place of wisdom enhances our self-awareness and confidence
allowing us to build a consciousness bridge between the natural and supernatural abilities we all possess.

The information in this article is meant to inform you of the unlimited possibilities that lie within you. As with all skills, patience, consistency, practice and validation are necessary for our brains to embrace the possibilities that lie within us.

Let me know if I can answer any questions about intuitive development.You can reach me at the following web address. wwwexecandbusinesscoach.com