fulfilling life that aligns with your spirit
Allowing Your Heart and Spirit to Guide You
Published on 16 Feb 2008 at 10:08 am.
36 Comments.
Filed under Business Development,Feature Articles,Personal Development Strategies,Spirituality & Inspiration.
About two years ago I made a deliberate decision to listen more closely to what my heart was encouraging me to do. Over the years, listening to and following my instincts has been a muscle that has become stronger and easier to recognize. It takes practice and testing the results to deepen that trust. Each time I have felt a strong pull to do something that “just felt so right” and taken an action to move in the direction of what is calling me forward, things have really flowed in my business and personal life.
Some people call it listening to their inner guidance or spirit, hearing God, following their gut, and trusting their “knowing”. I have found when I really listen and trust, the answer comes with such peacefulness. I find myself saying, “I just know what I know. It feels right.” There’s no confusion or internal conflict. It’s right there. Easy.Â
Combining instinct, intuition, and skills with strategy produces amazing results called FLOW!
How often do you override your instincts because you are afraid to trust yourself? Any regrets?
How often do you listen to your heart’s calling even when it makes no logical sense?
How often do you give your power away to others and allow their viewpoints to pull you away from your heart?
It takes time to develop this muscle! I recommend deliberately practicing being present. Notice what you are thinking and feeling, mentally, emotionally, physically. Your body has an amazing intelligence and is communicating all the time- when you’re feeling stressed, when rest or food is needed, and when something feels right (or wrong). The key is slowing down and stopping long enough to be still and quiet so you can hear!
I’m a believer in meditating and taking time to have fun. I still slip and slide a bit on that and I find that when I commit to regular practices of self-care, spiritual awakening, and introspection, my ability to tap into my instincts remains strong and becomes more refined. Weariness and stress heightens confusion and negative self-talk which makes it a whole lot harder to hear over all that mental noise!
If your business or life isn’t going the way you want, paying attention to the ways you are in conflict with yourself is a good place to begin making some changes. Commit to practices and experiences that bring you inside of yourself (like meditating, personal development exercises, working with a coach!) so that you can move with the flow rather than against it.
Look for opportunities to test what you feel guided to do. While the outcome you expect or desire might be different initially, be open to see the gifts the experience brings that might ultimately bring you what you really want.Â
It’s a journey that is well worth the ride!
Have a great weekend 
Lorraine
www.powerfull-living.biz Â
PS. Click here to access your copy of the Aligning with Destiny audio and receive two free downloads to help you restore integrity with your soul. Join Anita Pathik-Law and I for our new program: Having it All: Creating The Impossible. An 8-step bluprint for aligning with your destiny beginning Feb.25th! Learn how to follow your heart and become the Creator of your life! Click here to learn more.
Gamy Rachel on 16 Feb 2008 at 10:32 am: 1
I am with you on that, Lorraine. To have self care set among the top priorities is the key.
Understand that you are recovering from a medical procedure,just want to wish you good health and good wealth.
Hugs,
Gamy
lorraine on 16 Feb 2008 at 10:40 am: 2
Amen Gamy
When self-care is off, everything else is affected.
I’m feeling better although a bit scratchy for a possible cold trying to emerge. It was a minor procedure and was really good for me to do. Thanks so much for the warm wishes!
Hugs,
Lorraine
Pamir on 17 Feb 2008 at 11:19 am: 3
The journey from the head to the heart is definitely one we all need to take. Heart intelligence doesn’t get much attention in neuroscience, but it’s a major emphasis in spiritual traditions. Being absent from the heart is being absent from self and leads to complications that aren’t apparent at first.
lorraine on 17 Feb 2008 at 6:43 pm: 4
I see the invitation to create a bridge between our head and our heart with the emphasis on allowing our heart and soul to become the guiding force in our lives.
So true about being absent from self when we are living on our heads Pamir! Oh, the things we create!
Blessings,
Lorraine
Tom Volkar / Deligthful Work on 17 Feb 2008 at 9:38 pm: 5
I love the randomness of life confirmations that we receive. I came across this article at a time when I too am ramping up my willingness to listen to my inner guidance. I’m not so much influenced by the suggestions of others but by my own hesitation to unleash my totally wild and joyful self. This year I’m not holding back. Thanks Lorraine, for the validation.
lorraine on 17 Feb 2008 at 10:56 pm: 6
What a great comment Tom,
I love those confirmations too. Random or really listening to your inner guidance here too? I was guided to write this post because, like you, I have begun the year with the same intention- to step more fully into my destiny. Let’s support each other to do that!
Thanks so much for your thoughts!
Blessings,
Lorraine
Meg Bertini on 18 Feb 2008 at 7:15 pm: 7
Learning to trust that small, still voice inside, even when you don’t know exactly WHY it’s telling you do something…now that is an art form, but an incredible amount of joy and ease in life comes from that. Well put! I stumbled across your blog and will now check it out regularly!
lorraine on 18 Feb 2008 at 7:40 pm: 8
Amen Meg
I have also found that sometimes that inner voice is so quiet that it comes across as an instant idea that invites action without conscious thought. When that happens, It’s pretty amazing. It’s also easy to miss it.
Thanks for stopping by. Come back again or subscribe!
Cheers,
Lorraine
Meg Bertini on 18 Feb 2008 at 8:29 pm: 9
Yes! That is SO true! Some of the best hits come spontaneously, and learning to listen for them and trust them takes practice…much like using any other muscle, I guess! Alas, the Universe doesn’t always give us the input we want when quietly meditating and already know to listen!
lorraine on 18 Feb 2008 at 8:40 pm: 10
I’m laughing Meg
I too call them hits. I have found most of my insights and inspiration comes in between meditations. Many times when I’m working with a client or when I pause and create space for something to come through. Other times it’s a spontaneous hit to do or say something.
I love when that happens and I depend on that guidance. We’ll get better and better at it over time!
Maybe that’s how you found this blog?
Blessings,
Lorraine
Meg Bertini on 18 Feb 2008 at 8:48 pm: 11
How funny! Yes, most of my guidance also comes from times in between meditations! I think staying open and staying aware all the time, consistently asking for — and then listening for! — guidance is really important.
I think I found you through the google alerts I have set up, but it likely was a hit that led me to follow the link (I get a lot of things on the alerts, and I don’t follow them all!). The great thing is now I follow a lot of them almost like I brush my teeth…it’s just a part of my life now.
Cheers and light!
Meg
lorraine on 18 Feb 2008 at 9:35 pm: 12
Seems we share similar ways of hearing Meg
However you found me, I’m delighted to meet a kindred spirit. I took a peek at your site. Great colors and I might be talking to you when I write my book which looks to be coming closer and closer to happening.
Have a lovely evening. Thanks for subscribing.
Warmly,
Lorraine
Meg Bertini on 18 Feb 2008 at 9:42 pm: 13
My pleasure to be here!
Have a great night!
Meg
Tom Volkar / Delightful Work on 19 Feb 2008 at 8:55 am: 14
Lorraine you said,†I love those confirmations too. Random or really listening to your inner guidance here too?”
More accurately I could have said seemingly random. You are correct. Once we ask for guidance there’s not much randomness to it. I guess there’s part of me that enjoys the delight and surprise in the discovery.
I also find interesting the discussion of the fleeting nature of these “hits”. That’s why I always carry a recorder while driving (when most of mine come.) Don’t you find that even when we miss them — they come back around again eventually?
lorraine on 19 Feb 2008 at 4:01 pm: 15
Amen Tom
Enjoying the delight and surprise in the discovery. What a wonderful way to see things! Thank you.
I’ve thought about carrying a recorder. Sometimes mine come when I’m in the shower. Sometimes it feels like I’m downloading information coming in as a concept. I’m yelling “Wait a minute, will ya? Hold that thought until I get out of the shower and give it to me again”. Thankfully it comes back. Yup, if I miss it, and I do, It comes around again and again if it’s important for me to receive. I’m grateful for the persistence.
Sounds like we see things in a similar way. How nice!
I love your insights Tom. Come back any time.
Warmly,
Lorraine
Pat R on 29 Feb 2008 at 4:41 pm: 16
Lorraine – I like how you talk about the subtle messages and guidance that we receive. I’m learning to pay more attention to that, like you said you did, like using a muscle. So many messages have flown right on by me. I’m learning to use this guidance better and listening more carefully.
lorraine on 29 Feb 2008 at 5:50 pm: 17
LOL. There are still ones flying by me Pat
The more attention you give to listening to and following your instincts, the better you get. At times, I respond so quickly I don’t realize I have listened to something that I was called to do. That’s when it gets fun!
Enjoy the journey! It’s a great ride.
Blesings,
Lorraine
Life Insurance Lowdown » Blog Archive » Carnival of Life, Happiness and Meaning #35 on 1 Mar 2008 at 1:18 pm: 18
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Lixa - pen on 10 Dec 2009 at 2:14 pm: 23
Greetings Lorraine,
wondering if you still responding to this post!!!
lorraine on 10 Dec 2009 at 4:13 pm: 24
Blessings to you Lixa – You bet I respond. I receive all emails when anyone leaves a comment no matter when the post was written and I always answer.
Happy Holidays!
Lorraine
Lixa - pen on 12 Dec 2009 at 8:01 pm: 25
Thanks.
1st, how are you doing?
2nd, There are no coincedences in this universe. that is why paths cross; affecting & facilitating positive change in our evolutionary journey.
I would like to share my experience of ‘Life Path Guidence’.
‘Allowing your Heart & Spirit to guide you’.
My research and study lead me to the knowledge that the heart is nothing more than an incredible blood pump.
So far, no one can prove the existence of spirit beyond beliefs which are temporary substitute for true knowledge.
A life path isn’t a (figure of speech, word or an expression).
It is our greatest endeavor. And requires our higest and finest Intellectual abilities.
> 90% of humans use less than 10% of their mental abilities.Only a handful use more than 30%.
Hardly enough to abandon intellect and follow the guidence of an apparatus and an apparition.
We have access to infinite amounts of info and knowledge to re-define all these concepts that we simply carried over from ancient beliefs attempting to explain the unknown at the time.
We have come a long way from those mis named and mis used concepts. they don’t seem to get us anywhere. after all, we have been trying these for 1000′s of years.
I also know that Change is the only constant in the universe. Only humans resist it due to beliefs that simply appeal to their false sense of ‘comfort & securtiy’.
I know what people mean when they use ‘heart & spirit’. my question is, Do they KNOW? No one seems to provide the method, process, source & course of this ‘heart & spirit’ guidence.
Thank you for sharing your space and your experience. Be well in peace & beauty.
lorraine on 13 Dec 2009 at 8:51 am: 26
Dear Lixa
I belive commitment to our soul path is the most important endeavor for life and the intellect and mind is meant to be a tool for our soul to utilize as a spiritual being in a physical form. I often interchange heart and soul to mean listening to the whispers and guidance from our soul and God.
When you say no one seems to provide the method, process, source, & course of this guidance, I am unsure what you mean. For me, listening to my inner nudges, instincts, intuition, and sense of inspiration is what guides me daily.
Many blessings to you Lixa
Lorraine
Lixa - pen on 13 Dec 2009 at 3:31 pm: 27
thanks,
)
am ‘bringing it on’..LOL
‘listening to my inner nudges, instincts,…’
how is that done? what is the source? the method.
I know what i do when i am ‘thinking’, how is it done, the source (brain), course, method.
How are ‘nudges and instincts’ being processed? where is the source?
My point exactly. Why are (heart & spirit) interchangable? how do you make that connection. Where is the connection? Keeping in mind that the heart is nothing more than a blood pump. If it was anything more, then how do we explain people with artificial hearts who seem to be as loving as they were before the operation.
And no one can prove the existance of soul outside religion. How can you locate & follow a ‘ghost’? and how is it interchangable with heart (the pump)?
do you agree that there is a difference between ‘I believe ‘ & ‘I know ‘? in source,course & method?
I hope we can persue this intellectual dialogue. I know why, hope you do too.
Love In Fear Out.
lorraine on 13 Dec 2009 at 4:16 pm: 28
When I speak about the heart and soul interchangeablly to mean inner guidance, I am not speaking of the heart literally or physically as a pumping organ, rather to mean an inner listening to the “knowing inside” of you that comes from faith and trust in your connection and link to The Divine/God, – the ways you recognize that you are hearing the voice (not an actual voice speaking) of a presence within you and greater than you as a human being.
This is not an intellectual experience because the Source that speaks to us is not through the mind or ego, the guidance comes through the gut – it’s a muscle you develop over time. It’s an energy shift of consciousness. Our soul speaks to us through emotions and there is a energy difference between emotions generated by our egos (esp, fear) and emotions that comes from our soul. Discerning netween the two takes time and practice.
When I feel Divinely guided I can feel a different “energy” about how the information feels to me inside. If you have ever felt inspired and “lifted” inside, it has a lightness, a joyfull , excited quality to it that feels very loving.
Cultivating this method of re-connection involves spiritual practices. “I believe” is of the mind and ego – “I know” comes from soul, spirit/God. For anyone seeking how to “be” in relationship with Source – there are tons of books, videos, programs, etc. I’m an interfaith minister as well as a spiritual life coach and I am continually working with people to awaken to “who They are” and their life journey.
Magnus Skepticus - Lixa on 14 Dec 2009 at 12:11 am: 29
I have read so many books on the subjects from ‘divine’ to dilusional. Access to info and knowledge is available to all for free now. This is ‘Power’.
I was looking for something NEW. That is all.
You are a ‘believer’. I am a universe apart from all beliefs. All abandoned and buried in the same hole i buried all the gods and their minions.
Are you willing to face your beliefs & put them to intellectual scrutiny?
If not, then we have no common grounds.
I will comment on your post just to make sure all is answered.
If ‘soul’ is ‘universal’ why is it only experienced in a ‘personal’ way? shouldn’t be more like ‘gravity’? LOL
notice ur use of ‘I believe’ in post (26). It doesn’t fall within your def.
Why then use the ‘Heart’ if its not what is meant (all who use it)?
Why not come up with a new understanding of how all these seem to inter mingle? why use words that point to other ‘organs and entities’?
I know what u mean when u say ‘knowing inside’..we are learned and gifted..how does the average 99% figure it out?
WHy do we use ‘hearing a voice’? is it like Neale Walsch’s delusional ‘conversation with god’ type of voice? why not admit the ‘higher power within’? why is it so discounted and ignored?
Do you ‘believe’ N.W. spoke to god?
I KNOW he didn’t. I can prove it, i tried to reach him…what a joke?
There is NOTHING greater than IAM the being..the all knowing..within. it is not some figure of speech.
why humans find it neccessary to surrender that power to an ‘apparition’?
again ‘the source’ ..where is it? what is it?
why no one can pinpoint it using only fact and evidence?
Gut following..
Am sure you know that the Nazis followed their guts. not their minds. more examples??
history is filled with gut following robots. we have billions falling into that trap as we speak.
What are emotions? They sever our being not serve it.
Emotions are simply weak links in the intellectual process..a malfunction.due to confusion and fear. All biological.
A muscle in the gut..this is a great discovery…where does it grow and develope? any evidence of it in your body? when such a claim is made, it is serious don’t you think? we are talking biological changes right?
I feel ‘LIFTED’ every second of my life. The power of NO beleif is beyond human nature and the human condition that is why it is almost impossible to attain. I know.
God and all its attachments are the cause of every dysfunction in human existance. look around, same old beliefs that divided humanity since day one. Why? where is that ‘power’?
I wonder why we don’t say ‘Make Knwoledge’ as we ‘Make Beleive”.
I am certain Knowledge can’t be ‘made up’ only beleifs do.
God is a belief. soul is a belief..all are beliefs. they got us HER. Only the Unknown will get us THERE.
Be well on your journey. Rain Lore.
lorraine on 14 Dec 2009 at 8:38 am: 30
The essence of my knowing is rooted in I AM Lixa and comes from an inner faith I have come to trust over many decades.I am not an intellectual and I don’t spend a lot of time examinining things in-depth fropm a mental perspective. I have come to trsut when I need to dig deeper to make sense of something in my mind and when my “knowing” is enough.
The interchange of different words today Higher Power, The God within, Source, I AM serves a purpose because people resonate to different language.
Each person comes to their own truth in their own way. And to your point, the unknown will get us there.. when we step forward in faith and take action. For me God is both a beleif and a knowing.
Many belssing to you on your journey Lixa
Magnus Skepticus - Lixa on 14 Dec 2009 at 3:07 pm: 31
Thank you for sharing and opening your space to my intellect. In Peace:)
lorraine on 14 Dec 2009 at 3:58 pm: 32
My pleasure to engage with you in this dialogue. May you find the answers and understanding you seek.
)
Magnus Skepticus - Lixa on 17 Dec 2009 at 1:43 am: 33
Thank you,
:):)
I already have answers and understandings to everything I want & desire in living a full & healthy life. I am a living example to the power of my knowledge. Physically, Mentally and Pesonally. All in balance and harmony. I live within Nature and in intimate partnership with Earth.
I seek to Share my Experience with those who are willing & able to receive It. It is the Wise & Compassionate thing to do when One arrives at dry land,is to extend a hand & assit the tired swimmers splasing & drowning helplessly at the edge of the water. Their job, is to reach out with sincerity & determination for their salvation.
I tried to post on ur new blog(are you the world’s greatest secret?). i couldn’t. did i lose my privileges for being ‘naughty’?
lorraine on 17 Dec 2009 at 8:44 am: 34
You have created a wonderful picture in my mind about how you live. You sound like a kindred spirit and a beautiful soul. Thank you!
Your comment on the other blog post was accepted and you are welcome to add your thoughts to anything I write.
Magnus Skepticus - Lixa on 17 Dec 2009 at 8:03 pm: 35
Thank you again.
Your ‘picture’ is accurate (my photos. Like the ‘Dome’ to my East; only the tip of this wonder mountain. The Sangria de Christo mntn range.
lorraine on 18 Dec 2009 at 8:54 am: 36
Lovely Lixa