Dr. Judith Orloff is an intuitive psychiatrist of surprising skill. I met her here several years ago when she came for a talk. I’ve written about her a few times, such as in Being Empathic.
She’s recently written an article on Developing Intuition, in this case applied to healing. But the steps are valid for whatever your attention is on. If you do use intuition to make real world decisions (as you should be), always test the results. This ensures you’re doing it properly but also amplifies it as we see the synchronicity and support for being on the right track.
Often, if it’s not working it’s because we don’t want to see. This is also why we check as the ego can throw up diversions for things it feels unsafe about. But once we become open and clear enough by working through our stuff, it becomes increasingly reliable. You may actually find you use “impressions” or “hunches” all the time in certain areas of your life where you are more open or confident. This process helps to make your process more conscious and consistent.
(title links are to additional articles she provided)
Step 1: Notice Your Beliefs
“Positive attitudes stimulate growth. Negative attitudes impede it. It’s important to rid yourself of counterproductive attitudes that you may not even realize you have.”
Step 2: Be In Your Body
“Your body is a complex and sensitive intuitive receptor.” “Most people in Western society are conditioned to live from the neck up, ignoring the rest of their body. This stance is counter-intuitive.”
Step 3: Sense Your Body’s Subtle Energy
“We are composed of flesh and blood, but also of subtle energy. Chinese Medical Practitioners call it “chi,” a vital substance which penetrates the body and extends many feet beyond it. From an intuitive point of view, these vibrantly colored energy fields, whose centers are called chakras have a significant effect on our health.”
I wrote a series on our Energy System.
Step 4: Ask for Inner Guidance
“We each possess an intuitive voice that contains answers about our healing. Because our intellect is often so loud, this voice often gets drowned out. It’s essential that we learn to access the stillness within–though meditation, [quiet] contemplation, connecting with nature, prayer – in order to gain answers about our health.”
Step 5: Listen To Your Dreams
“Intuition is the language of dreams. Every ninety minutes each night during the REM stage of sleep, we dream. Dreams provide answers about health, relationships, career choices, any new direction. The secret is to remember them. I suggest keeping a dream journal by your bed. Before you go to sleep, ask a dream a question. For instance, “Is this relationship healthy for me or should I move on?” The next morning, write down any dreams immediately before getting out of bed. Try repeating the question, every night for the next week until your answer comes.”
For myself, I would say the last step is just “Listen”. I’ve found dreams a little too busy, but I’ve often found that answers show up when I wake in the morning or sometimes when I lay to bed. Thus, I keep a pen and supply of sticky notes by the bed. And around the house. When I take a moment out to sit, stuff arises all the time, including many of these articles. Sometimes it comes up well digested and ready to roll. Sometimes, just as a distinct impression for further consideration.
It’s also really important to be alert for resistance. If we don’t want to hear the answer, our resistance can pop up, like a kid with fingers in their ears going LA LA LA LA! I’M NOT HEARING! You’ll also see it with immediate no’s or judgments. These are actually the most useful responses as they point to where we have logjams. Letting these go can have the biggest impact on quality of life. Surprisingly often, they can be around key things like our core purpose and the gifts we have to offer.
You can explore the links for more from Dr. Orloff.
Davidya
Last Updated on April 27, 2018 by Davidya