The Intuitive Path Blog

A Poem by Rumi

There are two kinds of intelligence: one acquired,
as a child in school memorizes facts and concepts
from books and from what the teacher says,
collecting information from the traditional sciences
as well as from the new sciences.

With such intelligence you rise in the world.
You get ranked ahead or behind others
in regard to your competence in retaining
information. You stroll with this intelligence
in and out of fields of knowledge, getting always more
marks on your preserving tablets.

There is another kind of tablet,
one already completed and preserved inside you.
A spring overflowing its springbox. A freshness
in the center of the chest. This other intelligence
does not turn yellow or stagnate. It's fluid,
and it doesn't move from outside to inside
through the conduits of plumbing-learning.

This second knowing is a fountainhead
from within you, moving out.

-- Version by Coleman Barks
"The Essential Rumi"
HarperSanFrancisco, 1995

Today's Intuitive Self-Care Tip: Start a Night Me Time Routine

After having shared with you my morning me time routine the other day, I now want to encourage you to establish a night me time routine. It is more of a challenge for me as I am a big time morning person, and better with beginnings than with endings. Maybe it's the same for you? As with anything in life, the day has a start and a finish, and it turns out to be that concluding my day with a routine is as important and enjoyable.

Particularly, when our days are extremely busy and we move from task to task and are moved by ideas over ideas, this is essential. We need to make sure at night that we calm down and allow ourselves to truly restore our energies during sleep. If we go to bed all wired and jittery, it will be much harder to sleep well and wake up well rested. One of the recommendations by experts is therefore to turn of any electronics at least one hour before going to bed. Further, it is suggested to leave electronics out of the bedroom completely. There is a challenge for u always-like-to-be-connected folks :-). It makes sense though as the bedroom should be a serene and calming place.

Anyways, here is what my night me time routine looks like:

• Nighttime prayer
• Writing in my journal 3 things that I am thankful for that happened today
• Read a few minutes in my crime story (believe it or not, that's extremely relaxing for me)
• Read a few more minutes in a spiritual book
• If I still feel a bit wired at this point, I use my lavender body spray to calm me down (it really helps)

I would love to hear from you all what your night me time routine looks like. If you do not have one yet, share with us your journey and your experiments with what works best for you.

Enjoy & have a peaceful sleep!

Today's Intuitive Self-Care Tip: Fall in Love with Fall

“To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.” George Santayana

As many of you know, I live in the Northeast of the Unites States, and the seasons here are very pronounced. Maybe you are like me: you love the spring and the summer, the fall and the winter aren’t really your favorite seasons ;-). Especially, when I think of the winter, I am getting cold. This year however, I want to walk on a new path and embrace all the seasons for what they offer to us and how living in alignment with those seasons can bring joy, energy and peace of mind. Well, it’s one of these things: If you can’t change it, you might as well accept it and make the best of it. And now, as there are the first signs of fall, I might as well get ready for it.

 

Contemplating fall, there’s lots of good to say about it, and is what came for me:

    ~ Sitting on the porch in the morning under a blanket taking in the crisp air 

        ~ Putting on warmer slippers in the house

            ~ Sleeping well because the nights are cooler again

                ~ Watching the leaves turn into all kinds of beautiful colors

        ~ Picking up the trees’ fruits from apples to beechnuts

            ~ Eating roasted chestnuts as often as possible

                ~ Appreciating the time of harvest

 

As you are working on your fall offers to the world and get ready for the after-summer opportunities, ask yourself what fall offers to you and your well-being:

• What does fall mean to you?

• What are three things you enjoy the most about fall?

• How can you welcome the change of season and make it your own?

• How does it change your work & social schedule?

• What one action can you take today in preparation of fall?

 

Have a productive & enjoyable day!

Ladies, Let's Change This Pattern!

… and you will ask, what is she talking about?

I am inspired to write about a pattern that I see in a lot of women including myself. This comes out of a conversation I had earlier today with one of my dearest friends in Germany. She told me about an incident with a guy that told her something very hurtful, and she actually accepted his harshness until she had a physical reaction a few days later. This made me think about a pattern that a lot of us have where we willingly take in any criticism from others because we want to make sure that we are loved and accepted. So, we accommodate whatever they are looking for in order to get what we want. But do we truly get it this way? Is there ever a way to receive self-worth and self-love from the outside? We need to look at the “self” in the equation!

As open as we are to adjusting and answering other people's expectations, as difficult it is for many of us to accept compliments, gratitude, and other gifts from others. Can we only handle the “bad” stuff? Come on, ladies, let’s change this pattern, finally and for good. Decide consciously if you want to receive the critical word from someone, if there is really a ground for it that makes you want to change for the sake of your own conscience and decision. Determine just the same if you want to receive a gift or a compliment based on your own terms. Does it come from the heart? Was it really meant in all honesty? And even if not, maybe you still want to say yes to it at times. Let’s enjoy the good stuff, give it some more weight over the “bad” stuff because most of the time we are already so critical of ourselves as it is. Isn’t this true?

Be gentle, be loving, be true, and you can give all the love and worth you need to yourself and more to others as well!

Thank you for reading and please share your insights,

Anja

Happiness Booster Series: Wonderful Resources for Meditation

Dear Pathfinders,

As part of the happiness booster series that I started recently, meditation and prayer were one of the boosters mentioned. And meditation certainly has been the buzz word for a quite a while, and more and more studies show the great benefits for our overall well-being. I have been meaning to write about this topic, and then, as it happens so often in coaching, one of my lovely clients brought the topic up in our last session. Apparently, it was the right time to talk about meditation and share some resources with you here and now.

So, what came up for me first was that everyone talks about meditation and many of us practice it already but what does meditation actually mean? And what form do you practice? Are you aware that there are many different ways of meditating and as someone said to me recently, it's more about the state than about a particular form of activity? For me, essentially meditation is about bringing us back into the here and now as I personally tend to be all over the place - in the past or the future, outside while I am at my desk, on one task while I am thinking of another... Do you feel me?

In my typical research kind of mind, I looked at different definitions on meditation, and I thought that Deepak Chopra said it so well, that I wanted to share his with you: "Meditation is a tool for the re-discovery of body's own inner intelligence. Practiced for thousands of years, it's not about forcing the mind to be quiet, it's finding the silence that's already there and making it a part of your life. Silence is the birthplace of happiness, creativity and infinite possibilities. From this field of pure potentiality we get our bursts of inspiration, our most intuitive thoughts, and our deepest sense of connection to the Universe. Practicing meditation on a daily basis allows you to weave silence and stillness into your mind and body to create a life of greater compassion and fulfillment. Meditation is a journey to the center of our very being; a journey to emotional freedom; and a journey to the reawakening of our unconditioned self."

With all these benefits and enjoyments of meditation in mind, let me rekindle the fire and offer you some wonderful resources that I like to use and that I am very grateful to the "authors" for. Some of you I am sure are very consistent and committed to your meditative practice. Many of us though might have fallen off the horse, tried one or two forms out, and then decided it wasn't for them. Wherever you are in your practice, there is always more to explore and try in this wonderful world. So, here is my list for you, and invite comments and contributions from any of you to add to this:

http://www.soundstrue.com/guide/meditation/#state_twenty_one_exercises – New guide to meditation by Sounds True, the spiritual growth publisher

http://life.gaiam.com/gaiam/p/Gaiam-Life-Meditation-Rooms.html - Natural sounds and images, beautiful and so relaxing by Gaiam, the eco online store

http://www.myinnerworld.com - Playful website by Michele Bernhardt, an intuitive healer, with lovely graphics and beautiful meditations

http://www.chopra.com/library - A variety of relaxing and calming guided meditations by the Chopra Center

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy...

Anja

We Are All Abundance

I found jewels in the water, and they didn't cost me a dime...

They are for everyone if you give it attention...

That's the abundance of nature, the divine, and your true nature!

Give yourself the love you deserve,

Anja

Appreciate the Essence of Water

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/03/water.html

Happiness Booster Series: Finding Flow Every Day

Good evening friends & fans,

Yesterday in the Intuitive Path radio show I discussed the concept of flow and how we can invite flow more into our every day lives. I introduced one of the main experts on "flow", Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi ("cheek-sent-me-high-ee"). According to his definition, when we are in the flow or in the zone it is a state of great absorption, engagement, fulfillment, and skill. I am sure you can already think of some activities that evoke flow in you, and I encourage you as I did the listeners yesterday to think about activities that move you into this state. Further, reflect upon what benefits you do see in your life when experiencing flow on a daily basis? And what are your challenges in getting into your flow or spending time on these particular activities?

These are such some key elements of the show but that was certainly not all. So, I encourage you to listen to this episode to learn more. As always, any past episodes are available through the player on this site. Alternatively, you can go to the radio site to listen or download the episodes from there: www.blogtalkradio.com/theintuitivepath. I invite you all to send me suggestions or questions for the radio show. I would love to hear from you!

Next week, we will have my friend Ulli Allmendinger on the show. Some of you might have heard her on a previous episode. Ulli is an old friend of mine and an Ayurveda practitioner. She will share tips with us on how to prepare our bodies for the spring season. I will announce the day and the time together with more details shortly.

Until then, invite the flow and take some time for the activities that bring you a sense of fulfillment and joy. I am sure you have an idea what those could be ;-).

Be your best,

Anja

How To Develop and Improve Your Intuition

Intuition Teleseminar 3-10-10

Download audio

Hello Everyone,

Last week I had the wonderful opportunity through my friend Maryellen Smith to share tips about how to develop and improve your intuitive sense in a teleseminar. Now, you are able to access the recording of the teleseminar, and I very much hope that it will be enjoyable and beneficial to you. We spoke about what intuition is, what the different intuitive channels are, and in what ways we can protect ourselves from negative energy the more we access our intuition.

I am looking forward to your comments and questions,

Anja

Happiness Booster Series: Play to Your Strengths, Not Your Weaknesses

Hello Folks,

In my Intuitive Path Radio Show today we continued the happiness booster series, and discussed how to play to your strengths, and not your weaknesses. You can access or download the episode from the player right here on the left side bar of my blog. We had great interaction between the listeners, and I look forward to the next episode on "Flow" next Tuesday, March 16, at 1:00 pm EST. Look out for the announcements!

Thank you all & enjoy every moment,

Anja