Listening well to your body is the result of inner mindfulness. This mindfulness enables you to recognize the different signals of your body. So you can deal with these physical signals alertly and consciously.
This makes it easier to stay in balance:
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- As you give attention to the signals of your body and your inner world you are well aware of all sorts of voices, wisdom, information, sensation, signals, (first) impulses, answers, perception, inspiration inside you.
- You discern the subtleties between the different signals and their information and you know how to deal with them in a balanced way, in the here-and-now.
- You act on that effectively.
Below you find several tips and checks to empower listening to the different body signals.
1. What does it take to listen to these body signals?
You need to learn to distinguish your different voices.
Such as the voice of your head, your heart, your willpower and ego, your hara/abdominal area (gut-feeling), your feet, and your hands.
And, you need to become aware of the nuances and subtleties of these different voices.
This allows you to learn to discern the different responses and information they communicate.
It also takes attentiveness to neutrally perceive what you are experiencing.
This allows things to be present without being triggered or without labeling them as negative, positive, good, bad, etc. Let go of judgment or bias. This attentiveness benefits the ability to distinguish what is yours and what belongs to someone else, too.
Finally, it requires alertness (mindfulness).
Conscious alertness (mindfulness) prevents that one of the information sources predominates. It supports you in combining all the information in the here-and-now and tapping into it as one attuned whole, integral and democratic. So that this whole can form the basis for your “do’s and don’ts”.
2. How to use the whole of your inner voices wisely?
You use this whole wisely by addressing all your sources of information consciously.
Tip: Ask yourself regularly: What your head thinks about something; what your gut-feeling or intuition indicates; how your ego looks at it; what your heart says about it; how your emotions experience it, and what your feet need (to be able to keep both feet on the ground).
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- For this, it is crucial to let the answer arise naturally, to let it come to you.
- And, not to rationalize the answer to this question but to feel it.
- This will be easier if there is sufficient rest in your body and mind. Otherwise, your head will tend to overpower other (sources of) information.
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Tip: Also, ask yourself ‘ Which signals come from where? To what extent do the physical experiences differ from each other? Think of tension, contraction, hardening, restlessness, relaxation or softening. Then, check what association this evokes? ‘.
By pinpointing this, you will get a better insight in/sense of what the different signals and sensations tell you and how to deal with them in a balanced way.
Followed by, fine-tuning and balancing the obtained answers and insights before taking action.
Tip: You can do so, by connecting the perceived information with each other, in thought before you take action.
Tip: You can also ask yourself what the obtained answers tell you (1), ‘ Do they bring rest or restlessness? Where does this feeling come from and what lies beneath? ‘. Then, you try to interpret what you experience as clearly as possible (2). You try to get a clear picture of what it takes to deal with this in a balanced way before taking action (3). Since the goal is to act at ease and in balance.
Finally, build in more often checks to what extent you are using your head as the dominant source of information.
3. Some check points for using the whole of your inner voices wisely
- How regularly do you check what is yours and what belongs to someone else?
This ensures that you only take responsibility for what belongs to you.
- How often do you perform inner truth-finding?
In other words, how often do you check whether signals or information you pick up do resonate with your own wisdom?
In this way, you check to what extent information connects with your inner wisdom and resonates with it. And, whether this is the case for some of your power sources or for their whole.
- Do you check whether your choices are based on fear or control? Has this check become a standard for you to build in?
Tip: Ask yourself ‘ What frightens me right now? Why is that and what is the worst that could happen? ’.
Feelings of fear or insecurity, however understandable or real, trigger us. They both appeal to the powerplay (the control) of the head. This disturbs the signals from other sources. It makes you avoid things and not wanting them in your life. Instead of embracing them and saying YES to them.
This check helps you to rise above the fear and create a completely new perspective.
- How often are you able to deal with situations or people without judgment? And what do you do to make this happen more often?
For this, (the power of) your heart is the conciliator, connector, warmer, and bridge builder. Opening your heart helps.
Tip: For example, connect with your heart by smiling with your heart or by breathing calmly from your abdominal area whilst paying attention to your heart. Then, you feel how your heart slowly opens and expands through your attention. Like a flower bud that opens slowly and grows into a nice big open flower as long as you give it enough attention.
