{"id":3571,"date":"2011-02-17T04:39:38","date_gmt":"2011-02-17T11:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jasonapollovoss.local\/?p=3571"},"modified":"2018-09-21T02:08:07","modified_gmt":"2018-09-21T06:08:07","slug":"obstacles-to-accessing-your-intuition-part-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jasonapollovoss.com\/web\/2011\/02\/17\/obstacles-to-accessing-your-intuition-part-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Obstacles to Accessing Your Intuition, Part One"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Intuition is a powerful remedy to our western culture\u2019s emphasis on left-brain, analytical education where answers and outcomes are unrealistically controlled and certain.\u00a0 All of us have had the experience of taking our left-brain knowledge into the world only to encounter tough situations where facts just don\u2019t answer important questions for us.\u00a0 Questions like: what should I invest in now; can I trust the management team of this prospective investment; in what direction is the economy headed; and what is the effect of this news story on my portfolio?\u00a0 These are all questions of self-actualization and manifestation and the success of that process relies upon trusting your intuition.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">In fact, all of the posts here on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jasonapollovoss.com\/blog\/category\/the-blog\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">What My Intuition Tells Me Now<\/a> blog are informed by intuition, some more than others.\u00a0 For example, my <a href=\"https:\/\/jasonapollovoss.com\/web2009\/03\/12\/bottomed-out\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">calling the March 9, 2009 market low<\/a> on March 12, 2009 was the result of an intuitive process I conducted over the course of that tumultuous week.\u00a0 More recently, and more explicitly stated, I applied my intuition to accurately <a href=\"https:\/\/jasonapollovoss.com\/web2011\/01\/31\/what-my-intuition-tells-me-now-implications-of-egyptian-revolution\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">assessing the revolutionary events that began unfolding in Egypt<\/a> late last month.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Our minds are, in fact, well-equipped to handle these kinds of questions.\u00a0 But the answers come from our right brain and its intuitive powers and not from our analytical left-brains.\u00a0 Unfortunately, for most of us the fruits of our intuition are realized only sporadically and are experienced as random serendipity.\u00a0 Primarily this is because there are several important obstacles standing in the way of a fully functioning intuition.\u00a0 Here are, what I feel are five of the top obstacles to accessing your intuition.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><strong>Not knowing there is a method<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Most people feel that intuition is either another name for a \u201clucky guess,\u201d or that intuition is solely the result of serendipity.\u00a0 However, there is a method for accessing our intuition.\u00a0 But most people do not know the secrets to accessing their intuition at will.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Simply put, to access our intuition we need to be able to enter a meditative state.\u00a0 Meditation is a natural brain state that each of us experiences on an almost daily basis.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Unfortunately, in the western world we have a distorted understanding of meditation.\u00a0 Our typical idea of meditators is that of the iconic shaven-headed cave dweller.\u00a0 That is, the eastern monk or guru who has dedicated her or his life to meditation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">However, meditation is like running.\u00a0 It\u2019s a natural thing for us to know how to run, but some are better at it naturally.\u00a0 Still others practice a discipline of running and become \u201cRunners.\u201d\u00a0 The meditators we tend to think of are meditation athletes \u2013 those who make meditation a discipline and a practice.\u00a0 But should the fact that we are not Olympic runners diminish our enjoyment of running?\u00a0 Of course not.\u00a0 So should the fact that we are not monks or gurus diminish our enjoyment of meditating?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Proof that we all already meditate (but perhaps we just don\u2019t know it) is provided by the answers to the following questions:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What do you do that rejuvenates you?\u00a0 Really spend a moment to answer this question.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Examples could include: practicing yoga; playing sports; gardening and yard work; doing something artistic; cooking; cleaning the house; bathing; or even meditating.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What is it that makes these activities rejuvenating for you?\u00a0 Again, take a moment to answer this important question.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">These activities usually are rejuvenating because they are the activities in which we are achieving meditative brain states.\u00a0 These activities provide enough of a distraction to the left, linear brain that it turns off its active analysis of life.\u00a0 In turn, that leaves each of us in an ego-diminished state where we can easily access our intuitions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">So for us to access our intuition more easily then we simply need to do the things we already know rejuvenate us.\u00a0 When in a state of rejuvenation intuitive flashes happen naturally.\u00a0 It\u2019s that simple.\u00a0 Really.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><strong>Not knowing the difference between an emotion and a feeling<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">The intuition communicates to our minds through feelings.\u00a0 This part of our minds I will call the \u201cfeeling self.\u201d\u00a0 Unfortunately most of us don\u2019t know how to tune into these pure intuitive sensations.\u00a0 Instead, we filter our feeling sensations through our preference for how things ought to be and turn our intuitive senses into the distortion of emotions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">There is a big difference between emotions and feelings.\u00a0 Emotions are feeling sensations received by our senses, including our sense of intuition, but with our personal prejudices added.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">For example, imagine the weather outside is cloudy and temperatures are lower than normal.\u00a0 Our senses provide us with all sorts of information about the weather.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Our eyes see diminished amounts of sunlight due to the clouds.\u00a0 What\u2019s more, sound travels differently on lower temperature, cloudy days.\u00a0 Our skin communicates information about the temperature to us.\u00a0 The moisture in the air due to the clouds leads to a different taste and smell for the oxygen we breathe.\u00a0 Also, our intuition may suggest that we will be fine if we go out for a hike.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">All of this, however, is just information.\u00a0 But what happens if we have a thought about the day\u2019s weather and think or say, \u201cI hate hiking on dreary days?\u201d\u00a0 We end up turning the feeling-sensations that were simple, clear, pure information into emotional responses by adding preference for warmer days into the mix.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Isn\u2019t it also possible that another person having the identical feeling-sensations actually likes, and is excited by lower temperature and cloudy days?\u00a0 In this example, both folks have introduced prejudice to the pure feelings experienced by our senses and intuition.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Once the prejudice is introduced, we are no longer experiencing our intuition, but our emotions \u2013 so the power of the intuitive sense is muddied or lost entirely.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">To rectify this problem requires consciousness.\u00a0 We have to be able to experience things for what they are, not for what we would like for them to be.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><strong>Egoic mind\/separate mind\/unconscious mind<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Many spiritual practices have as a goal turning off the ego.\u00a0 But just what is the ego?\u00a0 It\u2019s my feeling that the ego is the part of our psychological apparatus that springs into motion to protect our very sensitive feeling selves.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">First there is an intuitive sense of something, examples include: that person is creepy; I need to move out of this apartment; or I need to eat more healthily.\u00a0 Then there is how these sensations affect us.\u00a0 The feeling self is very sensitive and empathetic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">So if we are \u201ctuning into\u201d the creepy person it\u2019s likely we will personally feel their suffering, too.\u00a0 Have you ever been walking down the street and encountered someone with an intense expression on their face and just for a moment your face reflexively contorts into the same expression and you experience the same feelings that they are?\u00a0 This is the connected, empathetic, feeling, intuitive mind.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">To protect ourselves we have egoic mind, or the ego.\u00a0 The ego allows us to separate ourselves from the world around us, thus protecting our sensitive feeling selves.\u00a0 Unfortunately, most people do not operate their egos with consciousness so they live partially disconnected from their worlds and the intuitive sensations it provides.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">As I described above, our preferences and prejudices create emotions.\u00a0 It is these same emotions that are the primary contributor to ego and a sensation of separateness from others.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">So to better access our intuition we need to be able to track the course of our emotional responses to things, people and situations.\u00a0 Consciousness of this process allows us to separate out signal from noise, emotion from intuition.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><strong>Expectation<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">One gigantic obstacle to accessing the intuition at will is having too much expectation about the outcome of the intuitive process.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">To be clear, it is okay to have a goal for our intuitive process, such as trying to answer the question: should I accept this job offer?\u00a0 What is not okay is expecting a particular outcome.\u00a0 After all, our intuition frequently provides us with absolute clarity in the form of \u201cAha!\u201d or \u201cEureka!\u201d moments.\u00a0 Having an expected outcome creates a barrier to having unexpected, intuitive flashes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Thus, as we engage in an intuitive process we make sure that we are approaching it without expectation.\u00a0 Be open to any possibility and see if you can\u2019t make magic happen.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><strong>Inability to translate insights into words<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Intuition flashes happen when our left, linear, analytical brain is either occupied or turned off entirely.\u00a0 The freedom this state provides allows for pure feeling sensations to enter our minds.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Unfortunately, feelings exist independent of our ability to describe them with our typical descriptors of the world: numbers and words.\u00a0 So how can we make use of intuitive insights unless we know how to translate our feeling sensations into something we can think about, like a number or words?<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">This is why poets and mathematicians are so brilliant, they accurately translate intuitive sensations about the state of the world into something linear (words or numbers) that we all can think about and potentially understand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">So for our intuition to be more potent we need to be able to translate our intuitive flashes into something we can think about.\u00a0 I advocate a practice where we learn to describe things, people and sensations in our lives by setting aside time each day to do so.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">For example, think of a favorite food.\u00a0 Now begin to describe how the food makes you feel.\u00a0 Do this until you feel you have found the right words to describe the full richness of your sensations.\u00a0 Another example would be to choose a favorite movie and do the same exercise.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">The more practice you have at translating feelings into words (or much more rarely, numbers), the more effective your intuitive insights will be.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Intuition provides much of the magic in our lives as it provides us with electric \u201cAha!\u201d moments where we experience clarity and direct knowing.\u00a0 To have more of these moments we must remove the obstacles to accessing our intuitive powers.\u00a0 Knowing that there is a method, the difference between an emotion and a feeling, how to recognize and make peace with the ego, how to listen and not expect, and how to translate insightful flashes into powerful decisions, are the keys to unlocking your intuition.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Intuition is a powerful remedy to our western culture\u2019s emphasis on left-brain, analytical education where answers and outcomes are unrealistically controlled and certain.\u00a0 All of us have had the experience of taking our left-brain knowledge into the world only to encounter tough situations where facts just don\u2019t answer important questions for us.\u00a0 Questions like: what [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonapollovoss.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonapollovoss.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonapollovoss.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonapollovoss.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonapollovoss.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jasonapollovoss.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3571\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonapollovoss.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonapollovoss.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonapollovoss.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}