Hello intuition, I've missed you!

Don't worry, it's still there, honest!

If you haven't been listening, or things have been too busy, or too noisy, or emotions have been running high, you would be forgiven for thinking that your intuition has deserted you. It hasn't. You don't always hear your heart do you? But it's still beating. I believe that intuition is just as much of an integral part of you as your heart is. The irony is that when we need our intuition most, that's when we quite often block it out, often due to panic in some form or another.

So how do we reconnect?

Here's a quick exercise to get you thinking. (You will probably want to read through before trying it so you know what to look for).

Find somewhere quiet to sit uninterrupted for 5 to 10 minutes. Take a deep breath and close your eyes.

Now think of something that you love to do, or that you've always wanted to do, something that is positive and a bit exciting. Imagine your friend has just said, that this weekend everything has been sorted, diary cleared, family looked after, and you are going to go and do that 'thing'. Allow yourself to be happy, pleased, excited, to look forward to the positive experience. What do you feel, see or hear when you experience this? Whatever you experience is right for you.

• How does that feel? Where in your body do you feel what you feel. Is it warm or cold, heavy or light? Does it have a colour, a movement, a shape?
  
• What do you see in your mind's eye? Where do you see it? Is it a shape, colour, does it move around?
  
• If you hear sounds associated with it, what type of sounds are they, where do they come from? Are they loud or quiet? Flowing or jarring?
  

Make a mental note of what you get. Then, when you are ready, open your eyes. You may want to make some notes.

Now close your eyes again and take a deep breath. Think of something that you don't enjoy, or don't want to do or dislike. It might be something to do with work, or a task that you dread doing, a place or person that you don't enjoy visiting. Imagine that your friend has told you that your weekend plans are cancelled and you must go and do this thing. What do you feel, see or hear when you experience this? When you're ready open you eyes and make some notes.

If you struggle to think of a scenario that you like or dislike, then do this exercise by repeating the words 'Yes' for the positive experience, and 'No' for the negative experience in your mind and make notes on how each word makes you feel, what you see, or what you hear.

My positive response is light, large and clear, I feel it around my solar plexus and it has a lot of movement. Not dissimilar to 'butterflies'. My negative response if heavier, sits down in my lower abdomen and is darker, more dense with no movement.

Now that I have calibrated my positive and negative responses, when I have a choice to make and need to listen to my intuition I can analyse the feelings and sensations in my body and can judge whether I should go with it, or not depending on that response.

Like an old friend, no grudges are held, just welcome intiution back in to your life, sit and have a cuppa together, you'll soon remember how good it feels. It will be like you were never apart, because, actually, you weren't.

Bright Blessings.

Living intuitively

I recently did a quick survey and discovered that the majority of people know that they are intuitive, but don't always go with their gut instinct. In most cases they then wish that they had as their intuition is always right. However, there were a few people who didn't feel that they were particularly intuitive, and would like to be more so.

Very few people always go with their intuition 100% of the time (myself included). Why is that when they know it's always been right in the past? Here's my take; sometimes our intuition tells us things we would rather not know, such as, we shouldn't trust someone. That may be put us in a difficult position, or we may reject our gut reaction because we always want to see the best in people and give them a chance (I'm guilty of this). Or we weigh things up sensibly and rationally and HAVE to go with the 'wrong' (non-intuitive) option because we can't 'justify' doing anything else (I've learnt not to do this). Another reason is (and it pains me to admit, but I am definitely guilty of this) our intuition tells us something but we know we can't prove it, so we ignore it in case we're wrong.

We also find that sometimes the world is too noisy for us to hear our intuition, or we're too busy, or we've forgotten what it sounds like. We are no-longer totally reliant on our wits or awareness to remain safe and alive as our ancient ancestors would have been while living outside and hunting for example.

It's the weekend, maybe you will get time to start listening again, some quiet to hear, some space to re-connect. I'm going to do the same, and make a little apology to myself for all the times I've ignored that feeling, seen but pushed it away, silenced that inner voice, or even those huge great alarm bells that have been clanging.

And next time, I'm going to write about re-building that intuitive connection with ourself again.

Bright Blessings

Searching for the answers....

I think that it's really interesting that in many aspects of life, especially spiritual and psychic development, people very often look outside of themselves for the answers. They search for a label that describes them, they look for tools that they can use and paths that they can follow to develop and formulate their skills, beliefs, morality and often to justify their action, or, in all too many cases, inaction. They seek to journey far and wide, to 'find' themselves.

I'm not saying that this is wrong, but I do believe that it's only a part of the process. That's because ultimately, everything you ever need is within you. Inner guidance, intuition, prayer and answers obtained through it, signs from the universe, psychic abilities, whatever you want to call it, when something is right, or something is wrong, you know it instinctively.

However, sometimes our instincts get driven undercover, become discoloured or influenced by other things that go on in our lives. I am going to go in to these concepts in more depth in my next few blogs but for now, a message from...who knows, but it came to me this morning.

“Live intuitively, use your skills, with inner guidance, and that of your guides, and in time you won't need any tools.

Live in congruence, be your true self, be ethical, gentle, but firm when necessary.

Be you, but be the best version of you you can be and your inner talents will flow outwards. You will touch and affect others, you won't even need to try. When you try, you impede the flow.

Live for you, live at your highest vibration in this moment, everything will be perfect for you: timing, knowledge, contacts, development.

Live your life knowing that you are serving the purpose you intended to be here for, even if you don't know what that is, and smile.”

Bright blessings to you.

See yourself in a more positive frame

It's widely known in personal development circles that the phrase, 'I am' is one of the most powerful starts to a sentence that you can make. However, what matters, perhaps more, is what you say next.

Negative self talk leads to all sorts of problems, self-limiting beliefs, poor self-image and low self esteem. It can reinforce negative things that others say or have said about you, and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Examples of this are...
'I am fat'
'I am stupid'
'I am shy'
'I am rubbish at public speaking'
...the list goes on.

Even if you feel that you're stating a truism at that moment in time you will be creating a hurdle in your own mind for future development & adventures and reinforcing any dislikes, fears and phobias. It always seems so much more socially acceptable to put ourselves down than make a positive statement about ourselves. Part of us recoils at saying that we're good at something, as though we're becoming big-headed or arrogant. However, when you follow the statement 'I am' with a positive, your mind is encouraged and begins to make changes from within that allows this statement to become accurate. Also, it's not a crime to make a positive statement about yourself!
Examples of positive 'I am's are...
'I am learning'
'I am confident'
'I am fun'
'I am strong'

The law of attraction states that like attracts like, so by stating a positive 'I am' on a regular basis, you will create the right conditions within your own mind for a new, more positive you. This is because what you think about yourself, you start to say about yourself, your words then translate in to actions and actions, repeated often enough, become habits. Habits create the you that you are in any given moment. So, if you want to change yourself, you need to change the things you think and say about yourself and watch the knock-on effect.

I am a firm believer in positive affirmations, especially when combined with positive action to move towards where you want to be. However, sometimes, when you aren't quite feeling in a positive frame of mind it can be really tough to come up with a positive affirmation about yourself. Your mind just goes blank. I know, I've had days (and weeks) like that. So, I came up with the idea of an 'I am' board, full of wonderful positive statements about me that I could put in my office and look at whenever I needed a lift. I can choose one statement from it to keep in mind each day and repeat to myself whenever I need to encourage myself.
I wanted to make this simple tool available on my website and when I was writing about it in one of my books I realised that when you said 'I am board' out loud, it wasn't a particularly positive statement! So, in a moment of inspiration I changed it slightly and decided it should be an 'I am mirror', reflecting the perfect you.
Click on 'I am Mirror' and you will be taken to my website, you will find a link of the same name towards the bottom of the page.
By putting a lovely picture of yourself in the middle of the mirror, you reinforce that the positive statements are about you. Feel free to download this pdf and print it out. Stick a picture of yourself in the middle – make sure that it's a favourite picture of you. Place your 'I am mirror on a wall somewhere that you can see it whenever you want. You could even add your own words or stick small images such as stars or butterflies, on or around it to make it your own. Look at it everyday. Read the positive words about you. Pick one of them that fits for you today and keep it in mind, maybe write it down on a sticky note and put it in your diary, purse or wallet. Throughout the day refer to your positive statement, repeating it whenever you need a boost.
Some days you may just look at your 'I am mirror' and smile, because you know that you are perfect.

Ever just need some headspace?

Tired, worn out, run down, not achieving the things you'd like to? Never got any time for you?

Wonder where all of your energy goes? Have a think about where you put your energy, and whether it's worth it. Here are some common mis-uses of our energy:

So many times we find ourselves thinking about 'what if..?' scenarios. Come on, I know it can't be just me. All the time that we spend having that conversation in our heads, making things up that may or may not happen, is wasted time and energy.

Focussing your attention on others, wondering why on earth they behave in THAT way is another place that we give our energy away to. I know that sometimes we don't realise we're doing it, or are so baffled by another's behaviour that we can't seem to help ourselves, but the outcome is the same.

Worrying about others, again, I get it. I was always told I was a born worrier. It's taken me years to stop about worrying about the things I can't change and focus on the things I may be able to. Even so, there are still times that I focus all my energy on pointless worrying.

At an extreme, jealousy, anger, hatred, even fear all cause us to give our energy away. And then we wonder why we have none left for ourself. Mad isn't it?

Maybe it's because we're human. We have the power to think, so why shouldn't we? Maybe it's because we care, perhaps a little too much?

Maybe, if we focussed on ourself for a change we would have more energy to help the people and situations that we could do something about? Now there IS a thought.

But how? Here's an exercise that will help.

Next time you find yourself thinking, worrying, making stuff up in your head, any of the above in fact, as soon as you notice that you're doing it, STOP. Take a breath, stand up and feel your contact with the floor or the ground through your feet. Bend your knees slightly & rock gently backwards and forwards until you feel completely in balance. (You can be subtle about this so no-one really notices.)

Now look to the skies. Watch the clouds pass by, look for a rainbow, observe the stars, allow your mind to take in the extent of the universe. And breathe!

After two or three minutes your awareness will naturally come back to the present time. Ask yourself what is the most productive thing you can do now? What's next?

This is you time. It will lift your thoughts and help you to think more clearly & be more productive.

Enjoy

How sharp is your saw?

On Wednesday I was telling a fellow trainer that at the end of the week I was heading off to Scotland on an NLP practitioner training course.
"I’m not sure why I’m doing it or how I’m going to use it", I told him, "I just think that it will enhance everything that I already do. And may inspire me to do other things too." "Ah", he said, "you’re sharpening your saw!". "Yes, I am", I replied.
I would suggest that the majority of people overhearing that conversation would have thought, ‘What are they talking about?!’ at this exchange. But we knew…

In his book, ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People‘, Stephen Covey talks about the importance of self renewal. He refers to it as ‘sharpening the saw‘. He tells a story about a man who is so busy attempting to saw down a tree that he doesn’t have time to stop and sharpen the saw that he’s using. A false economy that may be obvious to the outside observor, but do we notice when we’re too busy being busy to stop and sharpen our saw?

So what does sharpening the saw really mean?

It’s about re-balancing yourself, renewing your energy, your zest for life, keeping healthy, keeping happy, keeping your mind sharp.

It’s about ensuring that you have balance in the 4 areas of your life:

• physical (keeping your body healthy),
• mental (learning new things, reading, writing, teaching others)
  
• emotional (or socially, making new and meaningful connections with people)
• spiritual (expanding your spiritual side, spending time in nature or meditating, or providing service or charitable work to others)

By doing this you'll find that you stay fresh and rejuvenated, it will be easier to keep up your energy levels and it will encourage growth and positive change. You will be more inspired, more productive and more able to deal with the challenges that life can throw at us from time to time.

In short, you will create a more effective lifestyle.

Tomorrow is the first day of my intensive NLP course and I’m really looking forward to it. i'm off to do some sharpening. What about you?

(Written partly on a train to Glasgow & finished in a hotel room in the city.)

How to see the aura

Last weekend I had the pleasure of running a workshop for some lovely ladies interested in energy work and psychic development. This was the first time I'd run a full day workshop in this format, I'd previously run evening sessions of a couple of hours. It worked really well and I've had some great feedback.
The fun bit (for me anyway) is 'how to see auras'. I love teaching this to people as they can discover their abilities to 'see' the colours of others' auras very quickly.
The aura that we typically see is that of the astral or emotional energetic body. This is the 'bit' of us that exists at a higher vibrational level and kind of overlays our physical being. (There's a lot more to the theory of energy bodies but I want to share the practical stuff.) The aura given off by this energy body can be 'read' and seeing colours is one way that sensitive people can 'see' what is going on for someone. Colours mean different things to everyone but let's leave analysis for another time too. (This is a picture taken of my aura a few years ago.)
Another way that we can 'read' the aura of another person is by having a feeling. Standing next to someone means that your auras intermingle and, if you're aware enough you can often get a sense of what's going on for them, or what emotional state they're in.


So, how do you 'see' the aura?

• Have a go with a friend. (Don't do this to someone without their permission as they will find it intrusive.) One of you should stand in front of a plain pale wall. (I put sheets of flip chart paper in the wall to assist with this.)
• The other should stand a few feet away and allow their eyes to go out of focus. Gaze at your friend's shoulder, and then just pass it. Try gazing around their head too. Eventually you may start to see a thickening of the air just an inch or so around them. This is the etheric aura and is usually colourless. (It's like the Ready-Brek glow if you remember the adverts.)
  
• As you continue to let your eyes wander, softly out of focus, you may start to see colour around your friend. This is the aura. Congratulations.
  

This can take practice so don't be too disappointed if it doesn't happen straight away. Swap over and see if your friend can do it. You can practise with plants and animals too.

One of the reasons I love teaching others to see auric colours is that, actually, I very rarely see them. I do however sense them and you might find that this happens to you instead. Sometimes I 'hear' the name of the colour or just know that it's there, and whereabouts around the person it is. It provides a lesson in self-belief when this happens as you often think you're just making it up or imagining it. Once you learn to translate the colours into information or readings for the person you're working with, you soon get positive feedback that what you're sensing is correct.
Why not give it a go?