Listening Through the Noise: Steps Toward Inner Peace

Every now and then it gets harder to hear all those subtle voices within – those whispers of higher knowing or feeling that seem to guide us, inspiring us into creativity or just getting a sense of the deeper meaning. When we are connected with these inner voices, life is magical. They give us a depth to our being that makes us feel really alive. We experience a unique kind of ‘inner peace’.

The last time this happened to me I decided to take myself off for a walk in nature and, after a while, I put my mp3 player on and listened to my music on ‘random shuffle’, just seeing what came up. I had been feeling a bit numb, not really engaging life fully and retreating inside more than usual. Of course, this is fine — it is a natural process that you go through, so it’s important not to judge this state of being. However, being guided to simple actions such as going for a walk or listening to some music can help to move through things like this, processing whatever is inside and helping you to get back ‘in the flow’. For me, going into nature quietened some of the ‘noise’ which was preventing me from accessing these inner whispers, and listening to music helped to put me back in touch with my feelings.

What is this ‘noise’ and where does it come from?

The problem with ‘normal’ life in our society is that there’s too much noise. By ‘noise’ I don’t just mean loud things, although that is definitely one contributing factor. I mean that we are bombarded such that the senses are overloaded – traffic, TV, conversation, food, soft drugs (and hard ones). Of course, we are always entertained and there is always something to do. Appointments, cooking, eating, meeting friends, house work, bureaucracy, entertainment, entertainment and more entertainment…

You only have to observe a busy coffee shop to see it. Friends meet for coffee and conversation but seemingly cannot cope with the gaps, when conversation lulls or people go for a toilet break. I bet if you stay for a whole day just observing people you will not see one person, if left alone, who will not reach for a book or their phone or something else to occupy themselves.

Personal Noise:

Then there’s the more subtle personal noise. Our brains are wired to take in information, and gaps in thought are few and far between, particularly if we are surrounded by sources of stimulation. We process what’s going on around us, and our inner whispers are interpreted through the mind as well. However, there are other types of inner noise which can be quite disruptive – needs, desires and judgements. These can be a little harder to let go of than outside stimulation, even if we recognise their disruption to our inner peace. It requires a level of awareness that takes some practice, to recognise when these desires don’t serve you, get to the source of the need, realise yourself through it, and then break the programming in the brain.

All this noise means that we can no longer hear the inner whispers that make life magical. Consequently the quiet space within is felt to be like a void of emptiness, often so unbearable that it needs to be filled with outer noise (entertainment etc.) Then, the subtlety of life is missed, the senses become dulled and creativity is never fully realised as a spontaneous arising from within, but as a forced process of logical thinking or problem solving, at best.

So, if we want to experience a depth to life far more magical than that filled by entertainment and sensory satisfaction, we must do something that may seem a little paradoxical …

Invite the inner whispers to speak up.

By reducing the noise in our outer life, simplifying our daily lives, reducing ‘clutter’ and allowing time to just do nothing and ‘be’, we invite the inner whispers to speak up. Of course there will be busy days, and times where you will have much noise around and inside of you, but a few simple things can help reset the balance.

Meditation helps, time in nature, exercise and time alone. Or maybe something else works for you. Experiment with whatever makes your soul sing.

Be bored sometimes – it’s a good sign. Entertainment doesn’t do it for you right now? Great! Use that opportunity to go within and listen. You don’t need to quieten the mind, that’s not its nature. It’s simply about being with whatever arises, without judgement. — letting it be until it moves on.

The Benefits:

Once you’ve struck a balance you may find a curious thing arises. Instead of a polarity between busy, stressful times and times of inner peace and magic, they will begin to merge inside. Sure, on the outside there will still be busy ‘noisy’ times, and quieter times, but inside you begin to be able to access that place of inner peace where you can hear those quiet whispers, even when the world outside you is chaotic.

Other benefits – a feeling of connection with nature and life, a better understanding of yourself, observing deeper meaning behind events, increased creativity, and a sense of fulfillment in life which comes from knowing you are being true to yourself. The list could go one, but you get the idea…

Higher Guidance Meditation:

Here is a great meditation by my friends at Openhand to help you access those inner whispers. It’s relatively short (20 mins) so it’s ideal to use to reconnect with yourself during a busy day.

 

Author: Richard WestWakeUp World 

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Intuition and The Wisdom of The Body

How do we learn to trust ourselves? How do we learn to connect with our intuition and inner knowing? How do we separate projections or wishful thinking from genuine intuition and inner knowing? How do we connect to our own unique purpose?

The key lies in reconnecting to the energetic and cellular matrices of the body. We are already disconnected from nature and Her cycles, and have been for thousands of years. In this day and age, technology and computerization have disconnected us even more from our own bodies as well. Many people are now merely “walking brains”. They’re successful in matrix terms, but – having lost body sensitivity, inner guidance and connection to “spirit” – they’ve become mere cogs in a giant machine, without even realizing it.

Observe our current collective living conditions: most of us live in crowded cities, bombarded with EMF pollution and affected by the vibration/frequencies which others emit in close proximity to us (in far more ways and patterns than we could ever imagine). For empaths and very sensitive people, these environments can be extremely overwhelming, as such individuals feel what others feel – especially subtle levels of pain and suffering which non-empaths are not even aware of, due to such emotions being hidden behind a social buffer, built up over years of armoring tactics; because being sensitive and vulnerable is seen as “weak” within our society, driven as it is by a cultural addiction to material success and governed by a ‘dog-eat-dog’ attitude.

Spending Time in Nature

Under such circumstances, it can become confusing to identify what it is that we are truly feeling at any given time – is this reaction coming from me or the other person? That’s been my struggle for nearly my entire life. It was not until I moved into nature, surrounded by trees and wildlife – a place where I don’t even have cell phone reception – that I was able to become (literally and energetically) more grounded. I now see more and more people drawn to living in nature/more natural areas. That’s an instinctual reaction for people who are sensitive to the energetic cosmic changes taking place in the here and now. However, not everyone is in a position to just move back to nature, especially in cases of family and job situations. But it is still possible to spend more time in nature: going on hikes, camping, canoe trips, or merely getting away from the overwhelming city frequencies for an afternoon.

Intuition and the Wisdom of the BodyHowever, most importantly, it is about getting into our bodies, and by that I don’t just mean exercising (i.e., going to the gym, lifting weights, running, cycling, or going to a yoga class to get a tight butt). It’s all well and good to stay “fit”; however, in order to access the body’s wisdom; to plug into our intuition/inner knowing; and to become more sensitive to nature’s signs and messages (which are always trying to speak to us), it requires a commitment to engage in more conscious movement exercises, where the focus is “inside”. Such activities allow us to become deeply aware of the more subtle bodily sensations we possess, and to re-establish a connection with the energy body which lies beyond our physical body.

Qi Gong, yoga, bodywork and dance are great practices to get into the body in a more conscious way. Having practiced yoga for 17 years and Qi Gong for 10 years, I can hardly put into words how effective these disciplines are – the key is to do them on a consistent basis. It is, of course, important to learn the basics from a teacher and go to classes; however, at some point (as you learn more about your own unique body-mind make-up and listen to the clues your body is giving you) you can step into your own space and create your own practice at home.

“There is a wisdom in the body, a wisdom in feeling, that when accessed and allowed to operate in conjunction with our cognitive capacities, leads to a deeper, wiser, more integrated life. So we need to get back to the body, which involves much more than just dropping it off at yoga classes or fitness facilities or medical offices. We can get our body more flexible, more fit, and more powerful, and we can load it up with the finest supplements and organic fare, and still be out of touch with it.

Getting back to the body means doing whatever is needed to cut through our disembodied experience, which in part means a journey into and through the very pain that first drove us to dissociate from our body. In permitting a fuller, saner embodiment of our essential nature, we make possible a deeper life for ourselves, a life in which we cannot help but breathe integrity into our stride, and develop a deep intimacy with all that we are.” – Robert Augustus Masters

Yoga and Qi Gong

There are many different forms of yoga and Qi Gong, and as a result it can be easy to get lost in the traditions and dogma of these practices. There is no need to mystify them, nor do I even see these practices as “spiritual”. After all these years, I still don’t know the Sanskrit names of most yoga poses, or the traditional names for the many Qi Gong sequences. At this point in my journey, I let my body be the guide and just feel my way into it. I also feel it’s not necessary to do a 90 minute class all of the time. Even doing 20 minutes every day is more effective than going to a class once or twice a week. But it takes practice, commitment and patience.

Meditation-Is-The-Art-of-FloatingOnce you are more connected to your body, you will know what kinds of practices, poses or movements are best for you. Usually, they are the ones you resist doing the most. It’s also not about being flexible, nor does being flexible mean that you are a great yogi. If that were the case, any Cirque Du Soleil acrobat would be an “enlightened” being. Rather, it’s about finding your own edge and limitations, and working with these challenges without judgment or comparing yourself to others.

It’s also not necessary to perform (or know) hundreds of different poses/movements. As Bruce Lee said, in reference to the martial arts: “I’m not afraid of the one who knows 1,000 different moves, but of the one who has practiced one move a thousand times”. My Qi Gong practice has remained the same (more or less) for the past 10 years. The more I repeat it, the deeper I’m able to go into meditative states – to the point where I sense my energy body more keenly than my physical body. It has become so integrated into my life that I don’t even have to discipline myself to do it every morning. It has become a part of my life, like eating breakfast. It sustains me, and I feel it is needed for my well-being – it’s as simple as that.

Massage and Bodywork

Bodywork (modalities such as Swedish Massage, Deep Tissue, Esalen Massage, Rolfing, Thai Yoga, Sensory Repatterning, Polarity Therapy, CranioSacral Therapy, etc.) is another very effective way to access the wisdom of our bodies. It is not just luxurious pampering, but a healing art that serves as preventive medicine. It has deep healing effects, helping us to get in communion with our bodies through the mirror of another’s educated touch. We all need nurturing support from time to time, and there are occasions where a qualified bodyworker can help us in more ways than we can help ourselves – not only in relation to physical muscle tension, but also with regards to releasing stuck emotional blockages – including traumas most of us are not even aware of, because we have embedded them deep into our physical vessels via muscle armoring and tension patterning.

Looking at the entirety of existence, everything is made manifest through the ‘latticework’ of universal energy. Our muscles, tissue, organs and bones are carriers of energy and memory, all of which are interrelated and connected to one another. The body is a holistic organism, where nothing is isolated – everything affects us, both physically and energetically, on some level. Any experience we have ever had – even things that happened to us in the past but were forgotten about or we weren’t even aware of – is still held in the body, be it grief, a broken relationship, emotional pain, everyday stress, childhood wounds, injuries and accidents, trauma, etc.. The body stores the experience and does not “forget” about it until the pattern is released through holistic treatment.

stressStress, the most common symptom of modern life, affects the body tremendously, resulting in muscle cramping, bad posture and build up of tension “armor-ing”. Chronic tight muscles are a sign that they are constantly contracting – in other words, they are always working and never relaxed and at ease. This state of hyper-activity alone constantly drains energy from the life force (sometimes referred to as “Qi” or “Chi”) to “keep one going”. It’s like driving a car with the hand brake on; energy can’t freely-flow, and the various areas of the body (muscles, organs, tissue, bones) aren’t getting enough “chi” or “prana” (life-force) to repair and regenerate themselves, resulting in entropy (breakdown/aging). This can lead to negative emotions, tiredness, depression, mental sluggishness, irritation, illness, injuries and overall dis-ease. If the body keeps the stress inside itself instead of releasing it whilst simultaneously getting overloaded with more toxins (unhelpful life habits, poor diet, lack of exercise), the life force is simply not sufficient to keep the body in a healthy condition. The immune system then weakens, which can lead to sickness, injury, chronic pain or even seriously-life-threatening conditions like cancer.

Integrative bodywork heals from a holistic vantage point, and has the potential to be a transformative tool for anyone; it positively harmonizes the body, mind and spirit so as to help with the release of stagnant energy whilst revitalizing an individual’s whole being. Good bodywork practice is both preventive medicine and highly therapeutic, as it has the potential to go to “the root” and heal from a full-spectrum perspective, addressing the cause and not just the symptom. It’s about caring for your body and health, so that disease, injury or illness can’t manifest themselves in your ‘temple’.

In these times of global and cosmic change, healing ourselves is especially essential. Integrative bodywork helps to heal both the body/mind separation and the wounds we have accumulated over years (and lifetimes). Besides these deeper effects, receiving regular bodywork helps to maintain a healthy body, mind and spirit ‘framework’, which will manifest in one’s life in positive ways on a daily basis. Individual sovereignty and global emancipation require a planetary population of healthy human beings.

Music and Dance

Another great way to get into your body, release stuck emotions, and get a good workout at the same time is expressive dance. Not necessarily any form of traditional dance or structured style, but simply free form – just letting your body move to the music and rhythm, and letting go of expectations. There is no wrong or right way to dance – there is only your unique expression.

Intuition and the Wisdom of the Body - DanceRhythm and music has deeper effects on our physiology than we could possibly comprehend (drumming is a great scientifically-proven healing practice as well). It can speak directly to our inner child, and address deeper emotions held in the body that are occasionally being triggered, depending on the style of music, frequencies and rhythm. Personally, dancing helps me to purge deep-rooted anger and frustration (as well as melancholy and sadness) but it can also allow me to just express joy like a child or get in touch with my sensuality, and release emotions I could not possibly express through words.

5 Rhythms dance practice, founded by Gabrielle Roth, is an amazing free form dance healing art, exploring five basic rhythms: flowing, staccato, chaos, lyrical, and stillness. It draws from indigenous and world traditions using tenets of shamanistic, ecstatic, mystical and eastern philosophy. It also draws from Gestalt therapy, and transpersonal psychology. Fundamental to the practice is the idea that everything is energy, and moves in waves, patterns and rhythms. Roth describes the practice as a soul journey, and says that by moving the body, releasing the heart, and freeing the mind, one can connect to the essence of the soul, the source of inspiration in which an individual has unlimited possibility and potential.

We can also just dance at home alone, putting on our favorite music (or any style that reflects how we feel – any energy we want to express or release) and literally move through our process. I like to dance when taking breaks from reading/writing as well; it’s healthy to get off the chair and re-inhabit the body. Sometimes, after having done Qi Gong and meditation, I just put on some music and start to dance, getting even more deeply into what came up for me in the other practices; in the grip of sonic patterns, I fully embrace the sensations, and commit to how I feel… whatever else comes up, I let it all out, expressing it through my body (and sometimes voice) as I move to the sound and rhythm. I literally sweat it all out, and feel amazing afterwards – calm and grounded.

Yoga, Qi Gong, meditating/hiking in nature, bodywork, and dance have helped me over the years to get in touch with my body, emotions and essentially my intuition and inner knowing – the “treasures” of our physical vessel-that-we-are. There have been many times where I’ve received deeper insights and revelations during these practices, helping me to clear out the “interior junk” and thus to connect to my higher self, anchoring a more expanded frequency of love and compassion for myself and others.

These are simple ways and tools that can help us to access our intuition, get out of our heads and into our bodies, and open pathways for higher frequencies to anchor within our holographic mainframes, while at the same time initiate healing on a deeper, embodied level. There are many other movement therapies and practices which enable people to access the body-mind “bridge”. Choose what works and resonates with you on a personal level – what I share here is simply what works for me.

The more we develop body sensitivity (and listen to the clues our body is constantly giving us), the greater the degree to which we can also process negative emotions in a more efficient manner whilst simultaneously anchoring a higher frequency/vibration. Most people have a hard time with working through crisis because they have built up a deep-seated emotional armor, and have become desensitized, disassociated or unconsciously repressed (with regards to what needs to be released). Modern life and technology – with people glued to their smart phones and computers – keeps them disconnected from their bodies, their intuition and their inner guidance system. So we need to make conscious efforts to disconnect from the outside world at times, and go inside to re-establish the connection with stillness.

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Author: Bernhard Guenther – Wake Up World 

Taking Responsibility For Our Energy

For some, what I am about to share might seem radical, ridiculous, or even crazy, and for others will appear self-evident. I feel compelled to actively put it out there because I feel in many respects it is a crucial key to shifting our reality; the more people who take it to heart, the better our collective outlook will be.

At an early stage in my journey I became aware of the fact that each human is in fact a fractal of the whole. Deep within the vastness of our being we each contain every essence, every type of energy from the most sublimely divine to the most wickedly depraved. Initially when this realisation came to me it was quite abstract and there was a distance between me and the idea. However, as I explored the deeper regions of my being I found myself coming face to face with aspects that showed me that this was not just some faraway concept, it was a hardcore reality.

The more I explored my inner world the clearer it became that we implicitly contain every energetic expression. I realized that there was nothing that I could see in my outer world that was not in essence a part of me. Initially I was frightened by the understanding that I contained such dark and horrible pieces. Did this mean that I was evil? I didn’t want to be evil. Those guys out there are sociopaths, I am not a sociopath; I would never do those things, perpetrate those acts. On some level I feared that if I allowed myself to accept the dark aspects, I would become them. The only sane, good option it seemed was to leave them unclaimed; to reject them. However, as I explored these uncomfortable parts of myself it eventually occurred to me that it was actually possible to ‘own’ these parts without choosing to enact them. After all I am a sovereign being with the ability to decide what actions I deem worthy of expression. I could claim all my dark, ugly bits, bring them into conscious awareness, and still choose to operate from a space of love.

Casting Out The Dark

As young developing humans most of us learn to reject ‘undesirable’ aspects, to repress them in order to feel comfortable with our selves, and to ensure acceptance in our social group. We select what we are, and what we are not. In order to elucidate I will use the most basic example: I am light, I am not dark. However, if we are truly a reflection of the whole, then we should contain everything, even darkness. In rejecting and ‘disowning’ our dark parts we cast them out. But where do they go? I suspect this energy, cast out of our inner world, manifests in our external reality.

Rejected as part of the whole, thrown away from love, these elements seek to be re-integrated. They show up everywhere in our environment waiting for recognition. We perceive them as threats, and try to fight or ignore them. This doesn’t work; it only exacerbates the problem and reinforces the dualistic state caused by the self-imposed separation. If we recognize that external reality is a reflection of our inner state, it becomes clear that it is important that we take responsibility for our energy. In order stop adding to the problem we need to cease focusing so much on the outside and do some inner housekeeping. By healing our inner world, through acknowledgement of all that we truly are, we take responsibility for our energy and cease contributing to the darkness of our outer collective reality.

In order to illustrate my point I will use an analogy of a gardener. Imagine each of us is a gardener who has been gifted with the responsibility of managing every seed in existence. As this gardener we become aware that there are some seeds that develop into beautiful food and flowers. We value these seeds and carefully plant and nurture them. However, we also believe that some seeds grow into nasty weeds. Fearing the potential of these seeds we don’t want to be associated with them so, like most other gardeners in our world, we toss them away into the wind. ‘This is not me I want nothing to do with these seeds.’ These unclaimed, unmanaged seeds end up everywhere and thrive and threaten to dominate our environment. No one is willing to take responsibility for these plants. ‘No, I would never plant such a seed; this plant has nothing to do with me. It must just be the nature of reality.’

If instead we accepted responsibility for ‘owning’ the whole gamut of seeds, we could cease contributing to the communal problem. As a wise gardener we would not toss the potentially dangerous seeds away, we would do the opposite, aware of their power, we would keep them close by, where they could be kept in check and managed responsibly.

Continuing on with the gardening analogy, when we stop fearing the seeds that we allowed to get out of control through neglect and mismanagement, we might discover that judging them as weeds may have been rash decision triggered by fear and misunderstanding. If instead of pushing away the dark seeds, we chose to look at them more closely, we might discover that they have valuable qualities and attributes that we were previously unaware of. When tended and cultivated consciously, with understanding and awareness, we might find that their growth can actually have benefits for the whole.

“Like colors to an artist, there is no good or bad, the whole spectrum is available for expression. The darker colors are necessary to add depth, and when used appropriately, with awareness of the whole, are vital components of the emerging beauty.” ~ Jump Into the Blue.

Acknowledging The Wholeness

The more of us who assume responsibility of our own darkness, the less truant energy will be available to continue to animate the dark story that has been unfolding on this planet. Are we ready to stop being irresponsible gardeners dominated by unconsciously driven manifestations? Are we ready to stop placing the blame ‘out there’? Are we ready to own all that we truly are and stop denying our accountability? Are we ready to become custodians of our reality, acknowledging the wholeness of our being, so that we can consciously determine which elements we want to cultivate in our external reality? Rather than working to repress, fight, and deny some of what we are, let’s become mindful co-creators, nurturing and guiding a peaceful world based on love and beauty in full awareness of all that we are.

There are many approaches to begin exploring our inner world and integrating our shadow aspects. Carl Jung, a pioneer of shadow work, wrote much on the subject, and there are many great books and healers that teach strategies to facilitate the process. However, the most important attributes of initiating inner healing include being open, and willing to look at oneself as honestly as possible. A lot of my personal work takes place in meditation or in the bath. However, with certain challenging aspects I worked with a soul retrieval practitioner. She held space, and assisted me to connect with, and create an opening in my heart for some of my more stubborn, hidden, or sneaky parts.

The beauty of this work is that, not only does it contribute to healing our collective reality, it also creates powerful shifts on a personal level. When we face and integrate our fears and all our bits that we previously avoided, we find a new level of inner peace, solidity and wholeness.

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Author: Christina Lavers – Wake Up World