Day 230 of 365 - Tuning in to Innate Wisdom
Further to yesterday's post about changing programmed beliefs, here is another perspective about tuning in to innate wisdom. This relates to engaging in mindful practices to open our awareness. This teaching is courtesy of the Wisdom Heart community, which has been mentioned in previous posts.
The soul, or the seat of our personal identity, is always broadcasting wisdom to us, but we need to attune our mind to it, like tuning a radio to a station. The perspective of many spiritual and wisdom traditions is, that there is a radiant presence in all of us, and that life is guided by this. Life forms itself so we can receive guidance about what we seek, in whatever form we can receive it. This is not always comfortable.
Our guidance may come to us through a negative experience of the effect of those subconscious, habitual programs or patterns mentioned yesterday. Life experiences, both small and big, bring us to crossroads or choice points. It is a place or time for us to tune in or be mindful about receiving guidance.
A big example could be hitting rock bottom with addictive behaviors and finally recognizing that a change is necessary. A small example could be dealing with a minor daily irritation, like not being heard or listened to by someone close to you. In either case, there may be a feeling of pressure or tension that we want to alleviate. When we're under pressure, our habits create a barrier to awareness. Thus, our first reaction might be to make it go away somehow, to do something to avoid the intensity or discomfort.
Instead, doing things which settle the nervous system, like breath work, paying attention to our bodily sensations and environment, and having loving awareness about what is happening, can make us more capable of tuning in.
We might unconsciously set up conditions for how our guidance should come to us. These also arise from our conditioned beliefs about how things are fixed or made better. Instead, we might want to open our heart and meet ourselves where we are at; be willing to love everything and allow love to flow into all aspects of ourselves. Everything that arises in life can be our teacher.
Being open is the key to receiving unexpected guidance. We can ask for it in many ways, internally through prayer or meditation, externally through people as two examples. Letting go of a particular expectation is more likely to lead to an insight. Otherwise, we are just reinforcing our habitual patterns.
During particularly troubling times, self care to re-calibrate an over-reactive nervous system is necessary before we can feel open. For some of us, me included, this might mean turning away from a tendency to fight against life. For others, we may need to step up our game to take action if we have been passively avoiding what life is presenting to us.
Eric Klein, teacher in the Wisdom Heart community summarized it nicely. "Letting go isn't pushing away, which creates more tension. Struggling keeps the fight alive. Letting go is simpler. It's seeing/feeling the patterns in the light of loving awareness; to witness with clarity and compassion. It is in micro-moments that there is a subtle consent to the movement of life to guide us." To further paraphrase him, it is an organic feeling state, which can only happen when we're willing to pause and be mindful, to let that innate wisdom arise.
The soul, or the seat of our personal identity, is always broadcasting wisdom to us, but we need to attune our mind to it, like tuning a radio to a station. The perspective of many spiritual and wisdom traditions is, that there is a radiant presence in all of us, and that life is guided by this. Life forms itself so we can receive guidance about what we seek, in whatever form we can receive it. This is not always comfortable.
Our guidance may come to us through a negative experience of the effect of those subconscious, habitual programs or patterns mentioned yesterday. Life experiences, both small and big, bring us to crossroads or choice points. It is a place or time for us to tune in or be mindful about receiving guidance.
A big example could be hitting rock bottom with addictive behaviors and finally recognizing that a change is necessary. A small example could be dealing with a minor daily irritation, like not being heard or listened to by someone close to you. In either case, there may be a feeling of pressure or tension that we want to alleviate. When we're under pressure, our habits create a barrier to awareness. Thus, our first reaction might be to make it go away somehow, to do something to avoid the intensity or discomfort.
Instead, doing things which settle the nervous system, like breath work, paying attention to our bodily sensations and environment, and having loving awareness about what is happening, can make us more capable of tuning in.
We might unconsciously set up conditions for how our guidance should come to us. These also arise from our conditioned beliefs about how things are fixed or made better. Instead, we might want to open our heart and meet ourselves where we are at; be willing to love everything and allow love to flow into all aspects of ourselves. Everything that arises in life can be our teacher.
Being open is the key to receiving unexpected guidance. We can ask for it in many ways, internally through prayer or meditation, externally through people as two examples. Letting go of a particular expectation is more likely to lead to an insight. Otherwise, we are just reinforcing our habitual patterns.
During particularly troubling times, self care to re-calibrate an over-reactive nervous system is necessary before we can feel open. For some of us, me included, this might mean turning away from a tendency to fight against life. For others, we may need to step up our game to take action if we have been passively avoiding what life is presenting to us.
Eric Klein, teacher in the Wisdom Heart community summarized it nicely. "Letting go isn't pushing away, which creates more tension. Struggling keeps the fight alive. Letting go is simpler. It's seeing/feeling the patterns in the light of loving awareness; to witness with clarity and compassion. It is in micro-moments that there is a subtle consent to the movement of life to guide us." To further paraphrase him, it is an organic feeling state, which can only happen when we're willing to pause and be mindful, to let that innate wisdom arise.
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