Some of you who know me might be surprised to hear that a person like me who was once a free-loving hippie, became a Buddhist monk and eventually trained and practiced for many years in the field of alternative medicine has actually been quite skeptical about those who call themselves intuitive healers. I remember seeing a business card professing “intuitive massage” and judged that this is what someone says when they don’t have any formal training. I even doubted my own abilities in this domain, at least in terms of their being related to intuition. When some of my bodywork clients would ask me if I could read their minds, my response would be something to the effect of: I was just reading their body language or paying attention to how their body responds to the work or to the tone of their voice, etc.
I also doubted my abilities to visualize, not to mention manifest what I visualized, until convincing experiences made me realize that it was only my preconceptions that prevented me from recognizing their authenticity and validity. Ironically my skepticism eventually led me to a deeper appreciation of the power of intuition. A salesman once taught me that one has a better chance of closing a deal with a customer who is skeptical and asks questions than one who agrees to everything you tell them. An open mind is necessarily skeptical because thinking out of the box of our conditioned beliefs and habits often requires us to examine with a critical mind, not only what we are perceiving but who is perceiving. Objective reality is only as real as the subjective reality of the perceiver.
One of the terms that has become quite popular recently in the vocabulary of contemporary therapists, guides, coaches and healers is the “Authentic Self”. At first I found this word misleading. Who is to say that one self is authentic and another is not? In his book The Myth of Normal, Gabor Mate states that one discovers one’s authentic self when one is in touch with one’s feelings and honours those feelings. Now that makes sense to me. He also differentiates between what is our first nature and what is second nature. When we say that it is second nature that predisposes us to react in the ways we do to what life presents to us, we are referring to the learned behaviour that we have acquired as coping mechanisms from such an early age that we have lost touch with the reality of our feelings inside. That is our first nature and its denial is the breeding ground for the mental and physical diseases of our society.
We are now in the age of Aquarius. Isn’t that airy-fairy talk? Perhaps it is, but not in the derogatory sense that is has been viewed by people who like to see themselves as objective thinkers. Apparently the Age of Aquarius is the era when the veil between the unconscious mind and the conscious mind has become thinner and penetrating that veil to access the storehouse of knowledge within does not require us to go into a deep trance or seek out a medium. We now have access to tools and teachers that can help us become our own mediums and apply the wisdom accessed to live wholesome and fulfilling lives.
If you are interested in accessing the power of your intuition and improving your capacity to make decisions that will allow you to emerge from old patterns that are no longer good for you or fulfilling your deepest desires, I invite you to join us for our Re-Emergence retreat in the magical sanctuary of La Carolina at the Rio Celeste in Costa Rica. Click here for more information and to register: https://www.tourdesoul.org/reemergence Don’t dilly-dally! We only have until December 1st to hold your space!