It’s easy to get overwhelmed during the holidays. Expectations are fairly high of the magical experience it’s supposed to be. Though, you may feel joyous and grateful for your many blessings, sometimes your personal circumstances make it difficult to be in a celebratory mood. If you’re feeling bad, you might slip into eating, drinking, spending or emotional habits that are unwise or unhealthy.

Here are three simple ideas to keep you calm, cool, sane and sober

1)Ask yourself what the holidays are really about for you. What would it take for the experience to be more fulfilling this year? Should you do more, reach out more or do less, and stop reaching out as much? Is there a better way of celebrating and gift giving that would be better for you this year?

2)Know how much money you have to spend. Be clear where you want your bank account to be on January 2nd. If you’re flush – go for it! If you’re not, there are lots of ways to celebrate the holidays such as setting time aside to be with the people you love, donating your time to a worthy cause in lieu of giving gifts, or being really creative and giving gifts from the heart.

3)Know how much energy you have to work with. Look at your calendar. Do you need to impose holiday ground rules with yourself? Do you need to add to or take away from what’s on your calendar? How do you want to feel mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually in January? Managing and protecting your energy is as simple as applying mindfulness to your activities.

Take a piece of paper from a large sketch pad and list every thing that you have to do between now and January 2nd. Include work, entertaining, attending parties, cooking, cleaning, buying gifts, phone calls, cards, emails, tips, and/or traveling. Apply tips 1,2 and 3. Develop a new strategy, if necessary.

I wish many blessings for you and your family and friends, and the happiest and healthiest holiday season! Take good care of yourself!

Warmly,
MaryLe

Last night I taught my second Intuitive Development class in two weeks. The goal for me was to get a sense of how people connect best with their own intuition. My teaching skills are a little rusty and after giving intuitive readings for over 20 years, it was hard to know where to begin. All I needed to do was observe.

I found the high point of class was witnessing students as they connected to topics through their five senses instead of their logic. It was as if everyone in the room had rediscovered bliss. Connecting intuitively evoked vivid sensory images adding a new level of vibrancy to whatever question students tuned into. Even dullness had a multi-dimensional feeling to it.

My guides were delighted and explained that we’re often so overstimulated, we don’t allow ourselves the enhanced sensitivity we experience when we use our intuition. As a result, we often walk around tuning out more than we’re tuning in. If we’re tuned in without some regulatory mechanism, our nervous systems quickly short circuit as we absorb too much visual, audio and sensory stimulus. We shut off and down.

As a result of witnessing students awaken their sixth-sensory selves, I came away with a whole new appreciation for why meditation and breath work is so important. It conditions the mind body to be a safe place to intimately get to know and work with intuition. Consciousness in this area relaxes and restores us so we can physically tolerate the sensuality associated with higher sense perception.

Meditation and breath work are widely accepted to be the best tools to prepare yourself for developing and expanding your intuitive abilities. These practices set up the physical body to be a blank canvas for our intuition to be unblocked, highly creative and appropriately unrestrained.

Here are my top ten tips for improving your intuition. What you learn working with your higher sense perception will surprise and delight you! Get ready to make the best possible decisions every single time! You’ll experience the benefits of working this intuitive muscle the more you practice! Here we go!

1.Create quiet in your life. Set strong boundaries. Ask the people around you for more space. Train yourself to take breaks from noise.

2.Learn to meditate. Meditation is the single most effective way to develop your intuition. Try to meditate for 5 minutes, 10 minutes, once a day, or twice a day. Whatever you can do – gradually quiet your mind. YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE PERFECT AT THIS!

3.Walk in nature. Do a walking meditation.

4.Imagine yourself as a tree when you are frazzled and need to get centered and grounded. Send your tree roots deep into the ground and anchor yourself. Breathe.

5.Pay attention to your breath. When you notice your mind racing or note your thoughts are really intense, take deep breaths all the way down into the diaphragm. Slow rhythmetic breathing. Take at least 7 really deep breaths.

6.After you’ve taken several deep breaths, get quiet and ask yourself a simple question, “What do I need to know right now?” Be open and wait for an answer.

7.Document your intuitions and insights in a journal. Make note of the date and other details. Refer to your journal when those to validate when your intuitions come true.

8.Think of a question you’d like an answer to or think of a decision you have to make. Ask for a clear sign regarding the right answer. Look for synchronicities.

9.Get a set of Doreen Virtue Angel Cards. There are many different decks. Pick an oracle card for each day. Or, ask a question and pull one card for an answer.

10.Have fun with your intuition. Ask for more information if you need it after you get a intuitive hit.

There is no greater suppressant on intuition than anxiety. When an individual is highly perceptive and is encouraged to use their intuition they learn to trust it and can become quite adept at using it. If they were discouraged, ridiculed, or anxious, these negative variables would have the opposite effect, causing their intuition to perform poorly.

Why does anxiety have a negative affect on intuition? It’s because when you are stressed you lose the balance between your heart and your head. Without having your right brain giving you input such as “this feels right to me” or “this doesn’t feel right to me” you might over-analyze or over-think situations, and block the emotional input which provides a counter balance to your thoughts.

When you feel anxious irrational fears may corrupt your thinking and your decision-making. Choosing the right solution can be skewed by a litany of fears. A fear of making a mistake, a fear of negative consequences, or a fear of looking foolish. And the list goes on. Your intuition, which goes right to the highest and best outcome, is blocked by a cluttered mind giving you fear-based input.

If something happens unexpectedly your anxiety may get triggered which may set off a fight or flight response. You feel that you MUST act immediately or flee quickly. You do not feel calm internally, which is a condition that is required for your intuition to work properly.

The most important way to manage your anxiety, so it doesn’t block your intuition, is to take deep breaths. THEN, try to engage your intuition. An even better idea is to meditate for 3 – 5 minutes to still your mind. It’s risky to use your intuition when you’re stressed. Your perceptions of your true circumstances can be distorted. Your best insights happen when you’re grounded in your body. Slow deep breaths after an anxious episode can help you to return to a high functioning intuitive state.

There are so many people who believe that intuition is not an important thing. Personally, I think that’s ludacris. Most of us have had a feeling in our gut that we shouldn’t do something or go somewhere and sure enough; we find out, our intuition was right. Intuition is your sixth sense and is as essential to your being as your eyesight, hearing, sense of touch, taste and smell. It is your spirit and inner self guiding you to make the optimum decision. Never underestimate the power of intuition.

Trust and Faith
The most important part of creating the life that you desire is having faith and trust in your intuition. Being able to completely trust yourself will help you to achieve everything that you had ever hoped for in life. Believing that good things will happen to you is almost as good as having an insurance policy that they will occur.

The Ultimate Conflict
Many people have trouble separating their internal intuition from methodical thinking and reasoning . Often times, it is hard to let go of the cold, hard facts and listen to what your body is telling you. Giving ourselves the opportunity to quiet our minds and asking in the moment, for the best possible solution, hones this skill.

Revel in the Risk Factor
Taking risks are part of learning to trust your intuition. Most people do their best to scrutinize and analyze the aspects of potential changes to their lives by weighing pros and cons. Allowing intuition to influence important choices can be the wisest decision a person ever makes. By stepping out of your comfort zone, you are giving yourself the option to create the life you’ve always dreamt of and desired.

Intuition and Abundance

Following your intuition can help you gain abundance in your life. Let’s face it; everybody wants to be successful, live comfortably and be surrounded by people who genuinely care about them. It is imperative to use your intuition in all aspects life.You may rely on intuition when it comes to finding your soul mate, and completely dismiss it in your business life. It’s impossible to separate the two. Each part of your life has a direct impact on the person you are. By using intuition, you can find the abundance that you so desire.

The Use of Both Minds

It isn’t wise to rely solely on your intuition when you are seeking to have an abundant lifestyle. You will need to use your logical mind to determine how to be successful. For example, your mind might very well be telling you to stick with the job that you are currently working. This is called, “playing it safe.” People who are unhappy with their jobs and seek an abundant life, should follow their intuition regarding a job change.
By only using only your logical mind or just your intuition, you are depriving yourself of leading an abundant lifestyle. Following your intuition along with reasoning will improve your chances of success.

Go with Your Gut

Your intuition will help you to decide whether or not your goals and plans for success are actually attainable. You’ll need to learn to trust yourself when your intuition takes control. If you’re experiencing feelings of dread, nervousness or uneasiness, the person, place or situation should be avoided. These vibes are indications of a possibly disastrous business move or dangerous social situation.
Feelings of anticipation, excitement or general feelings that everything is going to be great,should not be overlooked. These feelings are telling you to follow through with whatever it was that you were planning to do. When your intuition gives you the sense that all will be well and plentiful, you should jump on the deal or accept the date. These positive feelings are the result of your inner self congratulating you. You can have a life filled with great people and wealth if you take the time to follow your intuition.