The sixth-sense~
I recently made a decision to invest in myself. Scary and exciting all at once, I signed up to start working with a bad ass coach setting the intention of doing some deeper work to awaken my inner dharma.
In the beginning of our work, I sent a voice memo on a walk through my childhood neighborhood speaking to feeling tied in a karmic contract and deja vu vibes. I openly admitting to feeling like I was in a cycling pattern and was wondering how best I could step out of it.
Little did I know that that moment was what would be a catalyst for the coming months of work I would be doing.
Emily quickly reminded me this was no pattern repeating. I was not stuck in a cycle because I had already initiated the work. Stepping up and taking ownership for what is, really claiming it in order to work through it, is not allowing the pattern to repeat. By acknowledging it, I had already put a stop to the cycle.
I had to let go of this idea.
Along with so, so many other ideas.
The call to let go was manifesting in physical intuition for me.
You know when you’re about to do something that you have second guessed a handful of times, but you showed up now and so you’re going to go ahead and… do it?
Yeah, for me that causes all these weird physical reminders of my greater knowing. That which is already known.
People are not lying when they say trust your intuition.
But, what is intuition anyway? How does that work for me, for you, for the entire collective?
Let’s break into that.
The word itself is derived from the Latin intueor — to see. Most commonly we hear people reference this magic intuition as the ‘gut feeling.’ It is also referred to as the sixth sense.
The idea of ‘gut feeling’ stems from the common physical experience of intuition. This is the weird tummy sink, sometimes emptiness, or anxiety stir in the abdomen.
The sixth sense is an addition to the five active senses working all waking hours of our humanness… sight, sound, smell, taste, touch.
“Each of these senses operates as a conduit for the exchange of information between the mind and the world.” Each sense has its own limitations and needs an external stimulus.
Intuition is different. It happens from within.
There is no requirement for external stimulus. It is not measurable. And there is little research to back what exactly is happening in the brain and body when intuition occurs.
Albert Einstein said, “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”
But think about it more…
That gut feeling…
From youth we are conditioned to think logically. Over time, we create habits and patterns that our mind-brain complex alongside our bodies are conditioned to.
“Intuitive thought lacks awareness of intermediate cognitive steps (because there aren’t any) and does not feel effortful (because the cues trigger the response). But intuition is characterised by feelings of familiarity and fluency.”
Tapping into intuition has happened for me personally in breaking these conditions and stepping into empty, openness. Creating space for new by clearing and releasing the old.
Intuition may come in a flash. Full of knowledge, an idea. A question to explore. The answer to a decision.
Intuition can be heightened by triggers or new patterns.
But the tricky thing is that intuition is subjective. You cannot experience it through another. It comes from an inner-awareness, a practice to create the right environment to be open to the experience.
The calm-clear mind invites a space for intuition. When it comes, intuition is an ease in comparison to deliberate minds, using minimum mind space to ‘know’ or ‘decide.’
It’s almost like an invitation of knowing, because somehow the body in harmony with the mind are referencing your already knowing that is in alignment with your energy in the here and now.
As mentioned above, my intuition manifested as physical rumbles in my chest space and belly.
The joy I was seeking in having financial security and job security was not satisfied with my role as teacher.
No matter how far I was diving into my personal practices (dancing, breathing work, yoga, creating) I was being met with overwhelming stress and defeat that began to feel like it was cultivating a space to harbor sadness and depression.
I put my hands down in this space.
I breathed and answered to my intuition ringing in my body.
I looked this beast that was attempting to form inside me in the face, claiming my power and sovereignty of existence.
And I quit my job.
It wasn’t easy. I made connections with students. I made a routine. I was waking up early, doing lesson plans, deepening my understanding of what it meant to instruct and learn kiddos.
The goofy part (goofy here meaning totally fxcking awesome) of energetics and the universe, is when we answer to these intuitions, peace reigns.
After submitting my resignation letter, my plans and classroom management improved dramatically. Stress seemed smaller, balance of work/life felt easier.
It was topped with a cherry when I learned two positions were being cut in the building due to allotment and a teacher of 15 years would be moving into my classroom to take over because of my resigning. Magic.
Magic is real.
It is happening in you. Around you. To you. For you.
It is thrilling to take this life experience by the wheel and steer.
Intuition is a way to do that. I will add here to close that intuition can also be defined as the inferences and inner knowing we have obtain from experiences in this life, and all the lives of our energetic being before. After all, the body is just a temporary home for the soul here.
Where has your soul been before?~
With love and light.
* Check out the bad ass goddess human I am doing awesome work with here: /emilyblackwellyoga.com and on Instagram @emilyblackwellyoga <3
