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Intuition:
The Deepest Wisdom of the Soul
by Marcia Emery, Ph.D. |
According to Dr. Andrew Weil, we have to face
difficulties in order to fully develop. In his book Natural
Health, Natural Medicine he writes, "Just as
muscles become stronger and bigger when they work
against resistance, so our minds and spirits enlarge by
meeting the difficulties life presents." The
intuitive mind helps you cope with challenges by
expanding your vision so you can see the big picture.
You might be like the many people I know who easily
succumb to despair and depression when extremely
stressful situations arise. When a challenge is first
presented or reaches unmanageable proportions, you might
be so focused on the distress that you forget to access
your faith-filled nature. Even in the middle of a
crisis, that indefatigable guide known as the inner
physician will surface to show you how strong and wise
you really are. Through the inner physician, you draw
upon your spiritual reserves to create an atmosphere of
hope and attract the right people, work, ideas, and
whatever else you need. In my recent book, The
Intuitive Healer I highlight this inner physician or
intuitive mind, who alerts me to any impending health
crisis. If I get into hot water and feel incapacitated
because I have a body ache, an upset stomach, or even a
heavy dose of the blues, this special pal reaches into
the healing pouch or inner pharmacy and hands me the
perfect remedy. My inner physician is also known as my
inner healer, higher self, higher consciousness,
creative mind, or God-like energy within.
Intuition is the deepest wisdom of your soul. Do you
know how your intuitive voice speaks to you? I loosely
use the word "voice" realizing that for many
it can also come as a sound, word, picture, inner
prompting, or insight. Have you discovered that you must
be quiet or still to hear the intuitive voice which can
get lost in the hustle and confusion of life? Intuition
is the highly popularized theological "still small
voice of God" or "Holy Spirit" speaking.
Intuition is "knowing" that comes from
the spirit within. Intuition is light and inspiration
which lifts you up in consciousness and guides you in
your choice of that which is right and good. Intuition
can manifest as an idea, impression, inspiration,
feeling, or sense of well-being. Intuition is the
indwelling spirit of God seeking to "voice"
itself through you by speaking in tones of love, wisdom,
faith, life, and power. This intuitive mind or spirit
clearly reveals the higher wisdom or deeper intelligence
to your consciousness, bringing new truths and creative
insights. In troublesome situations when we question
"why me?" or "why this unpleasant
situation?" it helps to know that the intuitive
mind or spirit within will reveal what it is you need to
learn through this experience.
I believe in the words of David Pomeranz’s song,
"It’s in everyone of us to be wise. We can all
know everything without ever knowing why." We can
all access this infinite storehouse of wisdom. Carl
Sandburg said, "Nothing happens unless first a
dream." Intuition provides you with the strength
and wisdom to follow your dreams. Now, you are learning
how to trust and rely on this inner colleague.
One of the best ways to establish a practice for
attuning to your higher self to receive spiritual
guidance from the inner physician is to say an
affirmation every day. A guiding affirmation that I use
is "I allow my still, small spiritual voice within
me to guide my judgment in all situations." I
suggest that you formulate an affirmation that will help
you become attuned to your higher self when you seek
spiritual guidance from the inner physician.
Using your intuition to tap into your spiritual roots
is essential when that dispirited sense creates stress
and makes you feel like you have nothing to live for.
Or, for the times when you lapse into a "why
bother" attitude because you will always confront
failure. Or, even to help you realize that the down
times you experience are but a brief ripple upon the sea
of life. By strengthening your spiritual beliefs, you
will realize that it takes rain and sunshine to make a
rainbow.
I have a wonderful collection of spiritual reminders
that bring me back on course. For example, I always
remember that I, like the moon, am cyclical; so when I
am down, I will always come up. Practicing as a
psychologist for the Revitalization Center in Nassau,
Bahamas, I had many opportunities to give my clients
analogies about the cyclical nature of life. I counseled
people on coping with the heavy emotional baggage they
were carrying around. I would ask them to look out my
office window at the lush tropical scenery. Then I would
remind them how the beautiful flowers and trees were
created by tumultuous rains that came down suddenly and
as quickly stopped. I likened any pain or disappointment
in their life to heavy rain which was vitally needed to
help them flower and blossom. Then, using another
favorite analogy, I would remind them that character is
forged on an anvil and not in an easy chair.
Recently, sitting in the quiet and stillness, I
reached within and asked my pal, the inner physician, to
characterize my present experiences. In response, I
heard the phrase, "you are going up the down
staircase." What a vivid perspective! For weeks, I
had allowed some minor disappointments to effect me
which had left me feeling glum, dispirited, discouraged,
and viewing life through discordant eyes. Intuitively, I
am now given a "thumbs up" sign. When I ask
for a symbol to show me what is going on, a derailed
railroad train being put back on track appears. Do you
get the picture? I do! Having been derailed from my
purpose, I am back on track and now moving forward
again.
As the clouds lift and the sunshine comes back into
my life, I am feeling quite excited by the vital words
coming through me as I write this piece. Feeling totally
centered, the good from every experience resonates and I
look out at the world with eyes of love. Now my glass is
half full and not half empty, and the sky is sunny
rather than cloudy. We all go through these up and down
cycles of life. Just as some people are more sensitive
to the bumps from airplane turbulence, some people will
feel the ripples of life more than others. The point to
remember is that when you are down, you will come
up. I am reminded of Kahlil Gibran’s comforting words
from The Prophet. He writes about joy and sorrow
by saying, "Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. And
the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was
oftentimes filled with your tears....together they come,
and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember
that the other is asleep upon your bed." Hopefully
when the next disappointment rolls into my life, I will
be spiritually strengthened to ride the waves and
remember that I will ultimately receive the glory and
bounty from the universe. Knowing that I am going with
the cyclical flow will keep me feeling upbeat and
positive.
If you are going through a challenging time now, know
that your inner resources will help you cope with any
adversity. Your inner physician will show you how to
surmount the most difficult obstacles and get back on
the highway to bigger and better adventures. Imagine
that you are hiking on a trail in the redwoods. You are
carrying a heavy backpack containing lots of emotional
baggage — past mistakes, guilts, disappointments,
painful memories, and/or regrets. Connecting with your
spiritual self will help you shed these burdens so you
can continue on your way unencumbered. When I feel like
a failure, I view these negative emotional experiences
as a gift or learning experience which
motivates me to change my course or try again in a
different way. Then, I feel highly successful because I
have learned something. The mistakes we make are
necessary for learning. The wisest people are really the
ones who have made the most mistakes and learned from
them. This is how you convert any perceived failure into
a success.
Take a moment to get in touch with what being
successful means to you. Here is my take on success. You
know that everything you do is good enough, even if only
to keep you moving on to something better. Being
successful can mean more than being at the top in the
business field or in your professional circles. That
rush of feeling successful can come from a genuine,
heartfelt belief in and an understanding of your own
sacredness. You can wholeheartedly put yourself into
each endeavor and succeed at being the best you can be.
For example, the rewards of giving something as valuable
as love, understanding, and kindness to someone in need
can leave you feeling good about yourself and most
successful.
To believe that you can be highly successful is to
spiritually acknowledge your potential to reach the
heights. If you were watching a young downy swan that is
learning to walk, would you be able to see past its
stumbling, awkward appearance to what it will be one
day? Can you see the graceful swan that will soon emerge
as one of nature’s most beautiful creatures? When you
are beginning your spiritual walk, you may appear
awkward to others, and may even stumble about. But when
the time comes that you are completely in tune with your
spiritual nature, you will become as graceful and
spectacular as that swan and be able to express love,
success, and most importantly, feel peace.
Here's my "how to" advice to convert a
downer into an upper.
- How do you characteristically respond to the
cyclical ups and downs of life?
- Find a saying to remind you that when you are down
you will come up. What is that reminder?
- Next time you are down and want to come up, what
else can you do to see the glass half full instead of
half empty and the sky sunny and not cloudy?
Intuition as the deepest wisdom of the soul will help
you reconnect with the spiritual part of yourself and
inspire you to erase limiting beliefs and practices. By
freeing yourself of these unhealthy habits, you will
usher in the courage and strength to create a healthier
mind and body as well as a happy heart. By sidestepping
the temporary disappointments and setbacks, you will
look at the bigger picture more easily and know that
nothing can hold you back from successfully pursuing
your dreams and goals.
Andrew Weil. 1989. Natural Health,
Natural Medicine. New York: Bantam
Marcia Emery, 1999. The Intuitive
Healer: New York: St. Martins Press.
Introducing the
Author: MARCIA EMERY, Ph.D.
For Marcia Emery, Ph.D.,
psychologist, consultant, author, international
lecturer, media personality, and college professor,
intuition is a trusted old friend that's becoming a
breakthrough management tool.
Dr. Emery first understood intuition's wealth in 1970
through a dream in which her car brakes failed. The car
rolled over several times, but she got out unharmed. The
intuitive warning implicit in the dream was ignored, yet
three days later her car was totaled when the brakes did
indeed fail. Since then, her extensive clinical,
academic and business experience has yielded rare
insights into intuition's extraordinary manifestations
and its strength as a tool for facilitating personal and
professional transformation.
In 1983, Marcia Emery's launched her "Power
Hunch" seminars. Now highly acclaimed, they've been
presented to scores of individuals from such
organization as Lucent Technologies, Amway Corporation,
Blue Care Network, General Motors, Donnelly Corporation,
Herman Miller Co., Hewlett Packard, Butterworth
Hospital, Michigan Employment Security Commission, and
Steelcase. In nearly two decades, she has witnessed the
business world move from a position of wariness to one
of genuine welcome. And today, with cyber-acceleration
having spawned its own brand of psychic whiplash,
intuition is much sought after by business folk to
mitigate their frenzy, facilitate decision-making and
fuel creativity.
In 1984, Dr. Emery pioneered the first college course
in whole brain thinking at Aquinas College, Grand
Rapids, Michigan. Entitled, Integrating Intuition and
Logic for Managers, her students — Master of
Management candidates from leading international
corporations, government, and small business — became
the first wave of decision makers formally trained in
the new technique. Currently, Dr. Emery is a faculty
member at JFK University in Orinda, California, the
Kaiser Institute Program for Intuition, under the
direction of Lee Kaiser, well-known visionary in the
healthcare field and at the Holmes Institute's Graduate
School of Consciousness Studies. Dr. Emery is also
Education Director of the Intuition Network (IN) and
serves on the advisory board of both the IN and
Intuition Magazine.
As an expert on the workings of the intuitive mind,
Dr. Emery's writings and public appearances have
contributed greatly to the growing national interest in
intuition. Her book, Dr. Marcia Emery's Intuition
Workbook: An Expert's Guide To Unlocking the Wisdom of
Your Subconscious Mind (Prentice Hall,1994) was
deemed "a classic in the field" and selected
by three book clubs (Doubleday, Rodale and Newbridge). The
Intuitive Healer: Accessing Your Inner Physician, includes
a foreword by renowned medical intuitive Caroline Myss,
Ph.D. (St. Martins Press,1999) and Emery's third book, POWERHUNCH!
is currently in progress. Other works include
several auditotape series: Intuition: How To Use Your
Gut Instinct for Greater Personal Power (Nightingale-Conant,
1995), Intuition (Simon & Schuster,1996), The
Intuitive Healer (Simon & Schuster, 1999). An
earlier series called Infinity (IMCC, 1991)
includes Intuitive Problem Solving and Intuitive
Dream Interpretation
Articles by Dr. Emery have appeared in United Airline
in flight magazine, Hemispheres, Intuition Magazine,
American Fitness, R & D Innovator, New Leaders
Press, Creatia Magazine of Creativity, and Nursing
Connections. She has been featured in USA Today and
in Selling, Sir Speedy Newsletter, Family Circle,
Woman’s World. Her TV appearances include Between
The Lines, Healthy Living, CBS News in Sacramento, Alive
and Wellness, The Other Side and Strange
Universe.
A 1997 grant from the Life Science Foundation in
Excelsior, Minnesota enabled Dr. Emery to establish a
worldwide network of local intuition study groups under
the moniker of INREACHING, and a previous grant, awarded
in 1991, facilitated research on the use of intuition
among more than 200 leading business executives. Among
those interviewed were Former Hewlett Packard CEO Lew
Platt, PowerBar Founder Brian Maxwell, author Leo
Buscaglia, television producer Norman Lear, entrepreneur
Debbie Fields of Mrs. Field Cookies, Amway co- founder
Richard DeVos and Sixty Minutes producer Don
Hewitt.
Marcia Emery lives in Berkeley, California with her
husband and collaborator Jim, partner of 17 years. She
can be reached at powerhunch@aol.com
or at her office, 1502 Tenth Street, Berkeley, CA.
94710, 510/526-5510. Her website is www.PowerHunch.com
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