You might have heard about guidance and intuition before, you might have even read about it or done some research on it, and yet others might have had the experience of guidance and intuition themselves. But what do we mean exactly with guidance and intuition?
Guidance or Inner guidance, is also referred to as our intuition, or in religion they might call it the holy spirit. Within certain spiritual schools they might refer to it as the being or our higher Self, communicating to us from a higher dimension guiding us home, yet others might refer to inner guidance as being angels or archetypical entities. All of this could be so, inner guidance will come to us in a form that will suit our beliefs and that will seem acceptable to us. Here we would like to refer to it as an inner guidance or guidance, helping and guiding us along our journey of life. You could say, it’s our life companion, a support, a friend, maybe even a healthy parent or grandparent, or maybe just a listening ear, or something to fall back on when times get hard and we need a helping hand.
How can our inner guidance help us?
You could say, our inner guidance, is like a very wise and highly developed aspect of our Self, but which is not corrupted by concepts, opinions, ideas and the fantasies or illusions we experience in the lower self or ego. Like a completely objective point of reference.
Our inner guidance will mostly be experienced as having an uplifting nature, which is loving and caring. But also sometimes it might be experienced as very blunt and direct, and at times maybe even a tough pill to swallow, but the guidance will always be with tremendous love, support and clarity. And when the lower or ego mind gets stuck and can no longer seem to find its way, our inner guidance might be able to help out.
But our inner guidance, can never help us unless it has our permission, it will always respect our free will. We are allowed to get lost in life, to go astray or even imprison ourselves, our guidance will just simply wait along the sideline until we are ready for it. When we think we are ready for something new in our life, when we feel there is more to life than what we have been experiencing, or when we experience an inner calling to go deeper. Or even if we just want clarification on something, a clear direction, a listening ear, some support or an objective take on something. Whenever we feel the need for help in any way or form, now will be the right time to ask for help.
In fact, it is only through really asking for help, and through the permission we grant by asking, that our inner guidance can penetrate through the ego mind and reach us. And in this way, it will always respect our free will and our own chosen boundaries. By asking for help, for instance simply by just saying ‘please help me..’ with a clear intention of asking for guidance, we will open up the door so to speak, for the guidance to come in. We could ask this question out loud from the top of our lungs, or we could ask it with our normal speaking voice, or even just silently within our own mind. But it is vital that we really ask for HELP! We need to make sure the request for help is clear, and that our intention and our need for help is completely clear. This way we will give permission for our guidance to connect with us and to help us.
Why can’t we hear our inner guidance?
At times it might seem difficult for us to hear our inner guidance, or we might have difficulty even silencing the mind and the ego chatter so that we can tune into our guidance. But don’t be discouraged, this is perfectly normal. Because we have believed our lower or ego mind to be who we are for so long, in most cases all our life, it might take some time to adjust to our inner guidance. Gradually through building the relationship with our guidance and growing trust, we might see that it will change, from it being a silent whisper in the back of our mind, to slowly becoming more loud and obvious. Through trust, intention and some training it will naturally develop. Meditation is highly recommended during this process, it will help us to silence the ego mind. And through this, it will allow us to more easily tune in to our inner guidance, which in turn will allow insights to come through more clearly. Also it will vary from person to person how inner guidance will be received or perceived.
How to receive inner guidance?
Inner guidance can come to us, and be experienced by us in numerous ways, probably as any ways as there are people. Here we will go into some common ways how to receive and perceive guidance. Maybe the most important aspect before requesting any form of guidance, or working with tools of guidance, is that we protect ourselves from negative influences and prepare in the right way, so we can receive the gifts that will be helpful for us. This could be done by saying a certain prayer, or by doing an invocation, or voicing an affirmation or to make a clear intention before requesting for guidance or using certain tools. This way we will protect ourselves, our energy, and our boundaries from negative influences, and it will assure us that we’re strictly working with good intended energies and entities, with a truthful and loving intention.
Auditory (hearing)
A way to experience inner guidance is through hearing. This can be a subtle voice in the back of our mind coming through as an insight, a hunch, a thought, an idea, or a clear knowing. The practice of meditation will be helpful, to empty and silence the lower or ego mind, and to allow the inner guidance to come through more easily.
Kinesthetic (feeling)
Another way for inner guidance to be experienced, is through our feelings. A moment might arise when we need to make a decision, and at that moment we just simply feel what is right for us. Our feelings will announce to us, through a good or unpleasant feeling, what is beneficial for us and what not. What might be helpful here, is to practice tuning in to and trusting our feelings whenever we need guidance or help. Or to just ask a question and see what feeling comes up shortly after, and according to this feeling to make a certain decision.
Visual (seeing)
Yet another way to experience guidance, is through seeing, or visualizations. Some will experience visions or visual images in their dreams, in meditation or even during the day. This can be anything between, an image, a scene or a whole story line. What might be helpful, is to do some inquiry into the images or symbols being experienced. For this we can use a dream encyclopedia or any search engine, to decipher the images and symbols, and in this way translate our guidance.
Synchronicities
As we proceed on our path of awakening, and through becoming more aware, we might experience some synchronicities from time to time. These so called ‘meaningful coincidences’ can be in the form of symbols, numbers, situations or people we encounter, or certain repetitive cycles we experience. Through these synchronicities our inner guidance can give us certain hints and directions. It could be helpful to note certain reoccurring symbols, numbers, situations or repetitive cycles and to investigate them for clues.
Tools as guidance
Besides what we have mentioned above, there are also numerous tools we can use that could be helpful for us to tune into our inner guidance, and in this way bring our guidance into a more practical application. For instance, some might want to use a pendulum, or some would want to use tarot cards, oracle cards, or runes to help decipher the given messages, or to just give a visual of the guidance being conveyed. And so there are many more tools that could be of assistance with tuning into and becoming familiar with our guidance. It might be helpful to try different tools and techniques, and to see what fits the most and what feels right. And as stated before, it is vital that we always protect ourselves through prayer, invocation or intention before using these tools.
Here we have mentioned some ways and tools how to connect to or experience our inner guidance, these are just some ways. As we said before there are numerous ways of aligning with our guidance. See what feels right for you, it might not be any of the above, or it might even be something that you came up with yourself, there is not one or a perfect way for this. As long as you protect yourself, and you have a clear intention and request for inner guidance, then guidance will come to you, in a form just right for you.
If you want more assistance, information on divination, or if you want to book a session with the divination tools click here.
How to distinguish between our inner guidance and the ego noise?
As we said before, for most of us and most of our lives, we have believed the ego mind to be who we are. So through tuning into and experiencing our inner guidance, a conflict might arise within us. You might ask yourself, but who is who exactly? When am I experiencing my inner guidance, and when is it the ego mind? In the beginning our inner guidance might seem more subtle and soft like a whisper in the background, and the ego mind might seem more loud. This can be confusing at times, so to make a clear distinction we will give some insight into the language they each use, so the difference will become more obvious.
Inner guidance
Our inner guidance, will always respect our free will, under all circumstances. It will never force anything unto us, or force us to do anything, and it will never condemn us. It will feel true, expansive, reassuring, supportive, safe, joyful, loving, caring but also very clear and direct when needed, like a loving parent or grandparent. It is always here for us, and always has been, if we choose to be conscious of it or not. It might have many insights to share with us, or maybe just one word, and at times it might even just be silent. But its intention is always for the better of us, and always comes from truth and from love.
Ego noise
As we have discussed before, the ego is primarily based on survival, so its language will mostly be based on fear. It wants to divide and conquer, it is competitive in nature, it wants to dominate and control the situation and people around it. It will keep us separate from our Self and others, it will see others as a threat, and it will feel compelled to defend and protect itself. It might make us feel unsafe, unworthy, afraid, alone, vengeful, contracted, excluded, sad, upset or disconnected in some way. Take a moment to meditate, or just take a couple seconds to take a deep breath, to count to ten, and in this way allow your true and inner guidance to come through.
Tools for connecting with our own inner guidance here.