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Notes from Shakti Gawain, Developing Intuition, Practical Guidance for Daily Life
Posted on May 13, 2012 by Liz Stinson
Author: Shakti Gawain, Book: Developing Intuition, Practical Guidance for Daily
Life
The more I follow my intuition, the better I am able to care for myself. And
the more things just fall into place.
Following our intuition puts us in the flow
a very live, productive, and desi
rable state
All these things began to open me to the non-linear, non-rational aspect of m
y nature
The practice of listening to and following my inner guidance became a very imp
ortant part of my life. I ve discovered that listening to and using your intuition
on a daily basis is one of the most important keys to self development.
Chapter 1: What is intuition?
There is a universal intelligent life
y thing. It resides within each one of
We can access this wonderful system of
n an inner sense which tells us what
ment.
An
All of us have intuitive feelings all the time. Many of us automatically ignore,
discount, or reject those feelings. This often happens unconsciously. We don t ev
en realize that some deeper part of us may be trying to get our attention. You m
ight get an instant, deep feeling in response to something
this feels right to me
! Immediately after that, you might think, Whoa, that doesn t make sense. Or That woul
d never work. Or I can t do that. Or What would my family think? Or I don t know anyt
about that, I might make a fool out of myself.
Pay attention to what s going on inside of you. So that you can become aware of th
ese inner dialogues and catch them as they are happening or shortly thereafter.
As you become more aware of your inner process, you will become aware of the in
tuitive feelings as they pop up and begin to deal with them more consciously. Ne
xt up: how to interpret intuitive feelings, how to act on them.
Here are (some) different ways that people experience intuitive feelings
When phone rings, knowing who is calling
Thinking about someone, phone rings, and it s the person you were thinking of
Sensing something coming in the mail
Sensing that something important is coming
Participating in sports, while at work, at school
Knew you were going to hit home run or sink putt and did
Scientists use hunches to figure out which line of inquiry to pursue
Strong and immediate desire to leave party or do X
Very successful people follow intuition; intuitive guidance can come through dre
ams. When we follow intuition, we don t know what doing or why
but there are usual
ly some surprising results.
Awareness exercise: try every night for a week or so
Sit in quiet place where won t be disturbed
Take a few slow deep breaths
Allow body and mind to relax
Think back to when first woke up this morning: how were you feeling? what we
re you thinking about? what did you do after you woke up
Slowly review day, anything significant happen? how felt? Just review it in
a detached way as if watching a movie of your day
Try to notice any time during day when might have had an intuitive feeling a
bout something impulse, hunch, rightness, wrongness, knowing something, a lot of
energy / enthusiasm / juice for a possible action or conversely a sense of deadn
ess about a possible action.
How did you handle that feeling? Pay attention or ignore? How did you feel a
fterward?
Let it all go; relax. This is an experiment in awareness in increasing consc
iousness of intuition. Don t judge or criticize self if not as advanced as you d lik
e to be. Instead, appreciate yourself for your desire to develop and use this gi
ft more.
In general, when we follow an intuitive feeling, things tend to work out well. W
e feel energized and enlivened and there is a sense of being in the flow of life
. When we don t follow our intuition, we often feel somewhat depleted, depressed,
or numb. And there may be a sense of being blocked, having to *push* to make thi
ngs happen, or being out of the flow. (Later: will work to distinguish intuition
from other feelings.)
Chapter 3: Trusting Yourself
We are taught from a young age
Try to accommodate those around us
Try to follow certain rules of behavior
Suppress spontaneous impulses
Do what is expected of us
Look to outside authorities (family, religion, school, community values and
mores, spouses, employers, doctors, lawyers, other experts, ) for guidance or dir
ection, rather than looking inside ourselves INSTEAD of paying attention to own
feelings and intuitions
We can follow our gut feelings about who to go to for advice or support. If we w
ere drawn to them, there is likely to be value for us. Then we can ponder what t
hey say, paying attention to what s right for us. Open to learning and receiving g
uidance from others
without giving our power or authority away.
Many of us have the pattern of being overly concerned about pleasing or caretaki
ng of our families. Or being overly concerned with trying to live up to their ex
pectations of us. We may be reluctant to even tune into our intuitive feelings i
f we sense that following them might cause us to do things which might upset our
friends or families. Things work out better when everyone can express their nee
ds and feelings, including their intuitive feelings.
Can you remember a time when you had an intuitive feeling about something but di
sregarded it and followed another person s advice. How did you feel about it after
wards? How did things work out? Write a bit about this experience.
Chapter 4: Accessing Intuition
Many of us are aware of spontaneously having intuitive flashes from time to time
. Our intuitive wisdom is always there inside of us. And it is always trying to
come through to guide us. Most of us just don t know how to access it at will on a
regular basis.
Here is a basic meditation for getting in touch with your intuitive guidance
Find a quiet peaceful place where you will be undisturbed for a few mins
Sit or lie down in comfortable position
Close your eyes
Take a deep breath. As you exhale slowly, relax your body
Take another deep breath. As you exhale, relax your body a little bit more.
Take another deep breath. As you exhale, try to relax your body as much as p
ossible.
If any place in your body feels tight or tense, gently breath into that area
and allow it to release and relax.
Now take another deep breath. As you exhale, relax your mind. Let your thoug
hts just drift away.
As each new thought comes into your mind, let it go.
Take another deep breath. As you exhale, imagine that you can move your awar
eness out of your mind, out of your head, and drop it into your body.
Let it rest in the solar plexus of your body
Take another deep breath. As you exhale, let your awareness move into a very
quiet, deep place within.
Keep repeating this until you come to rest in the deepest, quietest place yo
u can find.
Let yourself rest in this quiet place inside.
In this quiet place inside, you naturally have access to your intuitive inne
r guidance.
A wise part of you that lives within this deep place within you. It knows ex
actly what you need at every moment.
Ask yourself, What do I most need to remember or be aware of right now?
Or you could ask: What direction do I need to go right now? Show me my next
step. How do I need to take care of myself? Should I take a job I ve been offered.
After you ask this question, just rest quietly and be open to what might com
e.
If a thought, feeling, or image comes to you in response, notice it.
Just take whatever comes and be with it for a little while. It s not necessary
to understand it. Just be with it in a receptive way.
Don t try to make anything happen. Trying gets in the way of the process. Trus
t your own experience.
When you feel complete with the process for now, begin to notice your breath
again. Become aware of how your body feels. Notice your surroundings.
If you wish you can write down whatever you experienced or what message you
received. Otherwise, contemplate your experience a bit.
Practice following any intuitive impulses you have and notice how they work out.
Don t try to make anything amazing happen. Just listen a little more deeply than u
sual for your own sense of truth. Try not to get caught up in needing to have an
immediate answer. You may be in-process. Inner guidance usually just lets us kn
ow what we need to do in the moment. Sometimes it s telling us just to wait, be pa
tient, hang in there. When clarity is meant to come, it will.
If you feel really blocked for a long period of time, you probably need to d
o some emotional healing work. Find a good therapist or support group and begin
learning to experience and express your emotions.
You can learn to check in with your intuition at regular points in the day. Develo
p the habit to pause several times during the day to tune into what your intuiti
on may be telling you. Go into the bathroom or Take a moment to sit or Walk outd
oors.
Exercise:
Take a deep breath, exhaling slowly.
Notice what s on your mind, what you have been thinking about
Notice how your body is feeling right now
How are you feeling emotionally?
Do you feel like you are more or less following the flow of your energy? Or
do you feel stressed, conflicted, or out of sorts?
Take another deep breath, exhale slowly.
Let your awareness move into a deep place inside.
Is there anything you need to pay attention to that would help you feel more
connected to yourself?
Any gut feeling you need to be aware of?
Enjoy a moment of rest before you carry on.
Just the fact that you are taking a moment to tune into yourself will be deeply
healing. Will make you more present and hence more likely to be tuned into our f
eelings. You will begin to develop and deepen a relationship to your intuitive s
elf. And intuition will come to you more frequently, more clearly, more visibly,
more easily.
Put little reminders where you are likely to see them
to remind yourself to do t
his exercise at regular times during the day. Something which conveys to you the
feeling of connecting to your intuition. Maybe move the reminders around period
ically so that they stay fresh and visible. You can apply the intuitive check in a
t many different instances. Develop habit of checking intuitive messages frequen
tly.
Chapter 5: Acting on Intuition
What makes it difficult to follow intuition:
We are only instructed on what to do in the moment. We can t see how/why/what
this path leads to and why we are meant to take it.
Fear of acting on our gut;
Conflicting feelings or voices on the matter;
Feeling of moving into the unknown
Challenge: to infer that our intuition is telling us NOT to do something. We
may try to make ourselves do it but it may not work. We often think there s somet
hing wrong for us.
Also disconcerting: the energy doesn t seem to be moving in any direction at a
ll. Maybe you aren t meant to be DOING anything right this minute
As we keep following our inner guidance, a path evolves. How to build trust in i
ntuition?
Start by taking small steps
what movie to see, what restaurant to go to, who
m to call, what to do that night
When faced with simple choice or decision, briefly quiet your mind and go in
side.
Instead of making your decision based on logical choice or reason, what you
think is correct, or what others might feel, try to go by what your intuitive fe
eling tells you.
Get in the habit of checking your intuition and developing trust in yourself
.
Make a practice too of noticing how you feel after following your intuition.
Do this in the spirit of adventure!
Notice also how things work out
If you think you are following your intuition and yet things don t work out well (
or you don t find much value),
You may be misinterpreting your inner guidance
You may be following a different feeling or voice that is actually not intui
tion
You may be following your intuition but it s a more complex process
st haven t gotten the full big picture yet
and you ju
Exercise: List every reason you can think of about why you are afraid or doubtfu
l about acting on your intuition. (Keep updating as you think of others.)
Exercise: For some pre-defined period of time, allow yourself to pretend that yo
u are absolutely trustworthy in every intuitive inclination you feel and ACT tha
t way. Let go of your doubts.
Chapter 6: Interpreting Intuitive Messages
It s not always easy to understand what your intuition is saying
or what direction
it s trying to move you. Your true intuition is always correct but you may not al
ways know how to interpret it correctly. Ways in which you may experience your i
ntuition:
A feeling of rightness or wrongness
A deep gut feeling
An inner knowing
Energy
we sense that our life energy is trying to move us in a certain direc
tion or BLOCK us from a certain direction
Generally it s a very normal and natural feeling, as in: I want to do this or
on t want to do that
I d
How do I distinguish my intuition from all the other thoughts and feelings going
on inside me? She learned from Drs. Hal and Sidra Stone.
We each have many different selves.
Each one has its own distinct energy and voice.
Through the voice dialogue process, we can learn to dialogue with these inne
r voices and learn why they are there, how they feel, and what they have to offe
r us.
This can bring us awareness about what is really going on inside of us.
(This also reminds me of Caroline Myss s Sacred Contracts book which is all ab
out the multiple archetypes we each contain/embody.)
We are called to DEVELOP and EXPRESS as many of these different ARCHETYPAL perso
nalities as possible. If you are overly identified with action and achievement,
you need to develop the opposite polarity (relaxation and play). In so doing, yo
u will actually be enhancing your action and achievement strengths.
We have primary selves. There are certain other selves that we are afraid of, as
hamed of, or try to keep hidden. These are our disowned or shadow selves. Accord
ing to Dr. Gawain, these are often the opposites of our primary selves. Our prim
ary selves make most of our decisions and run our lives. Their objective is to k
eep us safe and to make us as successful as possible.
How do we become conscious of the many selves within us and keep them balanced i
n our lives?
Begin to recognize and become aware of our primary selves.Don t want to be tot
ally identified with these selves. Want to see them as ENERGIES WITHIN US rather
than WHO WE ARE.
What qualities are you most identified with?
Can you identify the personalities that make most of your decisions and
run your life?
You may have primary self: CARETAKER. You may find yourself automaticall
y doing this without making a conscious decision. Once you become CONSCIOUS of t
his, you can have more CHOICE in the matter.
This is called developing Aware Ego disowned selves come forth. Our lives work
better as we integrate the energy of previously disowned selves.
As you begin to become aware of the different energies operating within you,
you can learn to distinguish them from intuition.
If you are feeling that you SHOULD take some particular action, that is
probably your inner rule maker or perfectionist, not your intuition
If you are feeing SELF CRITICAL or JUDGMENTAL of OTHERS, that is your in
ner critic or judge
definitely not your intuition.
Intuition NEVER guides us with an authoritarian or critical edge. It doe
sn t impose rules. It never feels heavy handed or burdensome. It never makes us fe
el guilty. It s not self indulgent or rebellious.
Intuitive guidance brings a feeling of enlightenment, even release. It f
eels good in our heart and soul. It feels like exactly the right step to take in
the moment.
It s very important to distinguish between our FALSE CRAVINGS and ADDICTIONS vs. o
ur true intuitive impulses. We are lured by false cravings when we are not consc
ious of our true needs and desires OR when we do not know how to fulfill them. W
e must heal our addictive patterns
because they keep us from being aware of what
we truly want and need. Workaholism, obsession with relationship,
Even meditati
on. Anything we do habitually to avoid the pain.
Addiction: anything we unconsciously do to attempt to fill the emptiness ins
ide
This emptiness can only be filled by the things we really need. In order to
Body-talk exercise: Sit or lie down in a comfortable position, take a deep breat
h, let yourself sink into the floor or chair; feel supported by the earth below
you. Gradually allow your mind to grow quiet. Take another deep and allow your b
ody to feel held and protected
like it is surrounded by light and warmth. Take a
nother deep breath and ask your body, What would you like to tell me at this time
? If you are troubled by illness or aches or pains, ask your body what the illnes
s or aches are trying to tell you. Be patient and breath deeply. As you inhale,
allow your body to feel the nurturing healing properties of the oxygen you take
in. When you exhale, release any anxiety. Bring yourself to a deeper place withi
n your body. Notice any feelings, images, or sensations you receive. Now, ask yo
ur body, How can I relieve these concerns? Notice any feelings, sensations, and im
ages. Now take a deep breath and thank your body for the information it has give
n you. When you feel comfortable and ready, open your eyes and make some notes i
n your journal about any info you received. Make sure to note how your body comm
unicated to you.
Chapter 10: Intuition and Work
Intuition can be a great aid in your work. Can help you process info, make bette
r decisions, take care of yourself, and interact with people more successfully.
Following your intuitive guidance supports your creativity. Great source for dis
covering and creating work that will satisfy you. Can use intuition to guide you
rself to your right purpose. May take time, though. Good to explore the things t
hat really turn you on
Here are some exercises for discovering your passion:
Follow any impulses you have in the direction of your true work, play, creat
ive desires even if it seems totally unrealistic. Follow the impulse anyway in th
e spirit of opennese and adventure.
List any fantasies you ve had around work, career, or creativity. Beside that
list, make another list of the ACTION STEPS you plan to take to explore these fa
ntasies.
Write an ideal scene picture of your ideal career. Write it in the present t
ense as if it were already true. Put in description and details. Put it away som
eplace.
Cut out pictures you come across or articles that pertain to your desires. C
ollect in large envelope to develop a clearer picture of what you re looking for.
Possibly create a collage out of these. Look at it often, let it inspire you.
Chapter 11:
Intuition is the space between your thoughts, when the mind lets go and surrende
rs to the present moment.
There are 7 steps that you can use to strengthen and exercise your intuition.
1.Your intellect!
Thoughts are the starting point as everything begins with thought. Pay attention
and listen to what you are saying and thinking.
2. Imagination.
Imagination plays a key role in nearly everything we do. It is the ability to pi
cture things in our head, things that are not visible around us. Visual symbols
and shapes are vital to stimulating inner growth. Imagination is the gateway to
awareness.
3. Trusting your gut.
Have you noticed that our culture does not value intuition? They value logic and
reasoning and so we loose our connection to intuition and a very young age. We
have been conditioned to look outside for the answers. Do you realize that you g
ive away your power to people you think have all the answers. For example, docto
rs and healers may have all the information you need and it may be right but we
should be open to taking it in and ask if this feels right for us. Nobody knows
what's true for you as well as you know in your soul.
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