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Left-Brain Dominance …

Intuition is blocked by left-brain dominance.
Dr. Bob Nozik

Very high resolution 3d rendering of an human brain.

I read this quote and my insides went OMG! Yes! Makes so much sense. You see, I spent my childhood trying to achieve excellence in school. I spent 30 years working in a very detail-oriented job. In other words, my left-brain has been used, developed, celebrated! Even my right-brain creativity as musician and artist has been strongly controlled by left-brain perfectionism.

Intuition? Well, it is coming alive as I invite my thinking left-brain to pause.

Why does it matter?

Messages from our intuition are powerful! The intuition sees with all our senses – including the so-called sixth sense. The information we receive when we listen with our entire being and we listen to all that is within and around us is so much more complete than our tiny left-brain can fathom.

Now, this is not a put-down to our left-brain. It is simply a reminder that that left-brain, the thinking part of our being, is just one source, potentially a very intelligent and knowing source. Sometimes, it is the right and perfect tool for the task at hand.

Sometimes, it isn’t.

If you, like me, have focused strongly on left-brain knowing, consider the gift of developing the rest of your intelligence. Give your left-brain a rest. Try a daily practice that could include one of these:

  • meditation
  • play
  • whole body movement
  • time in nature
  • sitting still and observing with soft focus

Then, as you move in your life, go just a little bit slower. Notice messages from your body, your heart, the world around you.

What is your intuition telling you now?

 

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Fully Alive?

It costs so much to be a full human being that there are very few who have the enlightenment, or the courage, to pay the price. One has to abandon altogether the search for security and reach out to the risk of living with both arms. One has to embrace the world like a lover, and yet demand no easy return of love. One has to accept pain as a condition of existence. One has to court doubt and darkness as the pain of knowing. One needs a will stubborn in conflict, but apt always to the total acceptance of every consequence of living and dying. — Morris West, The Shoes of the Fisherman

TheShoesOfTheFisherman

As I typed and reread the quote just now, I realize there is a LOT there to digest. My suspicion is that some of you want to run away from being fully alive if this is what it means! Others of you find certain pieces of the quote resonant. I am pausing in this moment with this piece:

One has to abandon altogether the search for security and reach out to the risk of living with both arms.

Security for me in this context includes:

  • knowing that I’ll “succeed” and “you” will like and appreciate my offering
  • knowing that I’ll have the energy to do “it” when the time comes
  • knowing that I won’t make a fool of myself
  • knowing …

Reaching out to the risk of living with both arms includes:

  • letting go of the crutches of over-planning, over-practicing, perfectionistic tendencies and trusting my heart to lead
  • letting go of concern or worry about what you’ll think of me
  • letting go of my definition of “success” and allowing “failure” to show up
  • letting go of the need to know and trusting I’ll have what I need when I need it
  • letting go …

Perhaps you are drawn to a different piece of the quotation. So I ask you:

What resonates in you?
What does it mean to you?

How might these ideas render you more FULLY ALIVE?

 

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Open your mind …

Spiritual teacher, Adyashanti, speaks about opening your mind so it is vast enough to include anything. In this way, we aren’t knocked off balance when “life hits”. Think about it:

  • When our mind wants things a certain way
  • When we operate under a strict set of rules for right and wrong
  • When “a good day” must include: a great night’s sleep, the kids getting themselves up and ready without a fight, gas in the tank, colleagues at work in a good mood, etc…

Then, when anything goes awry, we are likely to get upset, lose our serenity, lash out. Imagine instead your mind so vast that you include it all – the kids being kids, the colleagues in a rough spot, the gas tank on empty because someone else didn’t fill it. Nothing that happens can be so large that it disrupts your inner peace, balance, sanity. When “it” happens, you say, “Oh, this too. Okay.”

Try it. Try practicing “this too” whenever something unforeseen shows up today. Maybe even try letting go of your definition of a “good” day or a ” bad” day. Just this day. Just this task. Just this.

What fits when your mind is wide open?

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What if you knew …?

Today started with a long list of things I wanted to do … messages to write, appointments, tasks. Before my day started, I felt behind, overwhelmed, defeated.

Thankfully, I remembered to pause and ask myself:

What if you knew there was enough time?

That question has served me well. It slows me down. It invites me to be with the task at hand from a place of peace, trust, knowing that what needs to get done, will get done.

I’d like to broaden the potential of “What if you knew …?” for you. Imagine, when life hits, you asked yourself:

What if I knew it would all work out?
What if I knew the relationship would be mended?
What if I knew I would find the job I seek?
What if I knew …?

Whatever the question is for you today, breathe into it. Close your eyes and be with the impact of knowing “the end of the story”. From this place, ask:

What emotions can I release?
What energy is available to bring to this moment?

Who can I BE now?

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Fly away with me!

Wings4By6

This morning, I pulled the Wings Inspiration Card at random. One question:

What keeps you grounded?

caught my attention. My spirit desires experiences like seeing the natural wonders in our world, yet my actions do not support my spirit’s dreams. Actions could be as simple as visioning, reading about those wonders, talking with others who have been there and allowing their excitement to rub off. What keeps me grounded?

  • Unwillingness to make time for those simple actions.
  • Beliefs that it will never happen anyway.
  • Waiting for someone else to make the first move.

Does any of that sound familiar? Today, take a moment and ask yourself a few more questions from Wings:

What captivates your spirit?
What uplifts your wings?
What keeps you grounded?

Finally:

What step will you take today?