Guidance from Ourselves

Listening to our inner guidance is one of the most important ways that we can impact our lives. Many times we may not realize we are receiving guidance from ourselves (our higher selves and our souls). The benefit of opening up to our inner guidance is that the guidance is usually in our best interest. I wanted to share some examples of times when I received guidance for those who may not be familiar with it. 

A shell-shaped rock at the center of a swirl pattern on one of the paths

in the gardens of the Chalice Well near Glastonbury, England. Sometimes

we can feel lost in our lives, but if we are open, we can find messages from

our soul pointing us in the right way. 

For the first example, let’s say that I didn’t always have the most ideal situations growing up. Sometimes I didn’t feel super in control in my life or what was going on. I didn’t always feel safe or know how to cope with the things that were going on around me. There were some points in time where I contemplated some different options, most of which were not nurturing, caring, healthy, etc. Once, I remember being upset and frustrated; I didn’t know what to do. I noticed the stream of consciousness in my brain thinking, “Well, I could drink, do drugs, mess around with guys, and numb myself out.” Then there was a part of me that said, “That doesn’t seem right. Why would you want to do that? Instead, you can go to school, get good grades, go to college, and get out of this town”, and I chose the latter.

Interestingly, when the Debby Downer voice, the negative voice in our head, talks, the part of myself that is in alignment with my higher self is like, “Yeah, no…” and counters the negative options with one that is positive. Recognizing which of these voices is speaking is important. Some people liken it to the “devil” sitting on one shoulder and an “angel” sitting on the other. As an alternative, the right side can be likened to being the night side, where they say, “That’s cool. We don’t really want to change, so you could do these things instead to distract yourself. That we don’t have to deal with it; we don’t have to change. You don’t want to deal with it. Cool. That’s fine with us. Here’s what you can do to numb yourself.” Then you have the light side on the left, which is more in alignment with your higher self and highest purpose. They are ready for growth and change and for you to become who you were meant to be. In response to what the night side said, they might say, “Wait, hold up. This is the highest path to get you through this.” The light encourages us to take the high road, but ultimately, we choose which path we follow.

During the years, people have asked me how I got to where I am, being well adjusted, and how I dealt with some of things that happened in my past. I tell them, quite honestly, that I’m not sure whether it was my highest self/future self/present self who was looking back and pulling myself younger self through all of the trauma and trials; telling me, “Take this timeline or option instead. This is the option that you want.” Part of my soul always wanted my highest, most fulfilling reality. Even in the darkest days, when I didn’t think I would live past 18-20 years old (which was how bleak life seemed back then), that piece of me that knew that I had a purpose and a place in this world was there to pull me through and encourage me. Many times that voice or some kind of message was relayed to me when I was at a crossroads, where things could go south really quickly or I could do what was in alignment with my highest self. Fortunately, I have typically followed that positive and loving voice.

I think listening to our own guidance is an important skill to learn. Messages from our selves may not always come through claircognizance (clear knowing) or claireaudiance (clear hearing). For me, I don’t think it’s necessarily claireaudiance; both the light and the night voices are similar to my own voice, but they’re different from each other. The light, which said, “Why not get good grades, go to college, and get out of this town”, was accompanied by a feeling of love/self-love, hope, and my best interest. We can distinguish this caring, nurturing, supportive, loving piece of us that wants what’s best for us and wants to help us get through whatever it is in the best way from the self-destructive voice of the night side. How does it feel in our hearts when we think of doing something really bad for us that we know is self-destructive? We can more easily see that the self-destructive guidance might be coming from the night side or the pieces of us that are self-sabotaging and don’t want to change. The light encourages us to be our best and to pursue our most fulfilling reality.

A few years ago, I remember that I was really upset about a losing a romantic relationship, and I thought, “Well, I guess I could just drink to drown my sorrows.” That was probably the voice of my night side saying, “Hey, well if you don’t want to deal with that, you can numb yourself, and here’s how. We’re cool with not changing.” Then the other part of me said, “Or you could love yourself enough to not do that. Why don’t you join a yoga studio and do yoga? You like yoga. You’ve never joined a yoga studio. Why don’t you do that instead?” Listening to those voices is important in figuring out what is in our highest and best interest and being able to have the mindfulness to choose that option. Sometimes it’s really easy to listen to self-destructive, negative part of us that is going to keep us where we’re at, keep us stagnant, because it doesn’t want to change, deal with uncertainty, or to growth. It’s content staying where it’s at/stuck.

Interestingly, I do not believe that we incarnated to experience stagnation. If life wasn’t going to change, what’s the point? What’s the point in staying stagnant? That’s not really what I want. Hard as it is sometimes, being on the edge of the unknown is actually pretty exciting, and sometimes a little scary. I’m to the place with change and growth where I say, “Alright, awesome. I like that. Thank you! More please! More this. What’s next? What’s next? I like this.” Being in the mentality of, “The Universe is on my side, and it’s conspiring for my most fulfilling reality; so what’s next?”

The guidance we receive isn’t always going to come in those ways. Sometimes it’s going to come in repetition of things, what are called synchronicities. Kind of like how St Francis kept coming up for me. He is the patron saint of healers; so in retrospect, him coming up as a recurring theme as I was doing my own healing and starting on my path as a healer makes perfect sense. The synchronicities would start with me seeing an article about St Francis. Then I would be reading a book that would mention St Francis. Someone would mention St Francis. I would drive by a church and it would be called St Francis… St Francis kept coming up in multiple ways, and when I was looking for a yoga retreat, the one I was drawn to and ended up attending was in Assisi Italy, St Francis’s birth place. When the breadcrumbs of synchronicity keep coming up, it is good to think, “That keeps coming up; I might want to explore that”.  

Reflecting upon the guidance that I receive started coming up for me when I was reading one/some of Brene Brown’s books, possibly Daring Greatly, where she talks about leaning in and how it’s so easy for us to numb ourselves. For quite awhile, I quit drinking completely because I realized that we do so many things to numb ourselves so that we don’t have to deal with what’s going on in our lives, change and growth, and pain. When we number ourselves like this, we remain stuck, and we ignore our inner guidance. I decided that I don’t want to be stuck. I want to grow. I want to step into my full potential. I want to live my most fulfilling reality. I resolved to lean in, to step away from numbing. I would look at my life and ask myself, “Am I numbing myself? Am I hiding from this? Am I trying to distract myself?” This is partly where my fear practice came from; one of the first videos that I made was 10 Ways to Shake Off Fear. I would ask myself, “Why am I afraid of this? I know who I am.”

I started pushing the boundaries on my life, dismantling my limiting beliefs and the gilded cage of fear that was my own creation, and much of the impetus to do so came from paying attention to the guidance that was coming into me, feeling compelled to do certain things. Feeling compelled is the best way that I can describe how clairsentience and guidance comes in for me sometimes. All of the sudden, it feels like a really good idea to draw Reiki symbols all over the place when I’m standing in the elevator, so I bless the elevator with Reiki symbols. Picking up on the different (positive) ideas that are coming into our minds in one way or another is learning to follow our guidance.

I also wanted to mention yoga, which helped me to get more into (and in touch with) my body. Prior to yoga, I spent the majority of my life not really being fully present in my body. Now I’m able to notice when I’m not present in my body/physical form, because I run into things, trip over stuff, and am super clumsy at inopportune times. Whereas, when I’m present, I’m calm, collected, and peaceful; I take my time and am able to be mindful of where I am stepping or moving my body. I am also able to pay attention to how my body is feeling when I’m fully present in my body and I’m doing something or someone is talking to me to tap into that inner guidance.

Do I notice a lump in my throat? Do I feel scared? Am I afraid to say something? Am I afraid to speak my truth? Do I think that if I speak my truth that this person won’t love me anymore?  I used to have that kind of lump in my throat when I was afraid to speak my truth, and I don’t anymore because I started listening to my body. When I would feel that lump and felt that it was fear, I would ask myself, “Why am I afraid of this?” Then I would tell the person whatever I was afraid to say in a compassionate way. Because if someone truly loves us, they will love us not matter what, even when we speak our truth. It is in the highest good of all for us to never be afraid to speak our truth. If that person can’t accept who we truly are, then it’s probably not in the highest good of all for them to be in our lives at that time.

Another way that we receive signals from our body may be to notice if we feel a knot in our stomachs when this person comes around? Why is that? Feeling those emotions in the different parts of our bodies and using them as guides can help us identify better follow our guidance. When I deal with this particular situation, why am I feeling so much tension in my neck/shoulders? Is it because I’m taking on the burden of the situation? Am I feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders? When I talk about this subject, I find myself clenching my teeth. Is it because I’m not speaking my truth? What is that feeling in my body telling me? What is the root of that situation? What is the root emotion of the situation? What am I afraid/fearful of in this situation?

When we face the root of the feelings in our bodies, when we feel into them, it’s easier to get past them. We can realize that we’re making situations much bigger in our minds than they actually are. We can help to release behavior and emotional patterns if we address the area of our body where we are holding those experiences. We can use the messages from our body to follow our guidance and advocate for ourselves.  The more that we avoid change and growth and following our guidance, the more that we numb ourselves, the more that we hide, the worse that some of the sensations in our body get. Once we face those things, we may realize that they were no big deal.

If we listen to our guidance and follow it, it’s easier to hear the loving inner voice. If we tune into our hearts, we can figure out what really resonates with us, feels good, and feels like truth. When the truth is spoken, when we’re acting in our highest good, when we’re acting in our highest purpose and highest capacity, it feels really good.

A vesica piscis embedded in a path in the gardens near the Chalice

Well in Glastonbury, England. Sometimes the messages from our soul

are in plain sight once we learn how to see/hear/understand them. 

Part of my purpose is to be a wayshower, to remind people that they are alchemists, and to help people birth their true selves. So when I make blog posts or videos about these kinds of topics, I’m not sure if you can tell, but it feels really good to me because I’m in alignment with my highest self and I am serving the higher good…and that is part of my purpose. When we follow our joy, we tend to align more effortlessly with our inner guidance and our purpose. I’m sending you lots of love along your journey.

As always, take what speaks to you and leave the rest.

Many blessings!

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