Your Intuition Always Knows the Way

Not long ago, I was listening to an interview with actor John Larroquette. For those who aren’t familiar with him by name, you may remember him as playing Carl Sack on the series Boston Legal or, earlier still, as Dan Fielding from Night Court. I don’t normally listen to Mark Maron’s podcast but once I heard Larroquette mention that he was born and raised in New Orleans, my ears perked. I am also a fellow Louisianian. I listened to him speak about his Creole roots, a few bits of little-known New Orleans history, and his experiences growing up — but what struck me was a story he told about his childhood friend.

About four years ago, out of the blue, he felt a strong desire to go home to New Orleans, specifically to see his childhood friend, nicknamed Hannibal. They had known each other since they were small children and had similarly turbulent upbringings, they also shared a struggle with alcoholism. He hadn’t seen or spoken with Hannibal in a while and felt an urge to visit. Calling him wasn’t a reliable method of reaching his friend because he never answered the phone.

He arrived at his friend’s apartment building door and rang for him. No answer. He found another way into the building and headed up to his friend’s unit. To his instant concern, he found a King cake resting against the door. It was a cake he had sent to Hannibal a few weeks prior, for Mardi Gras. With the help of the building manager, he kicked the door in and found his friend lying on the floor. He had been dead for two weeks.

This is the power of our intuition. There was nothing external that had prompted him to visit his friend aside from a simple inner knowing.

Kabbalists teach that life has an internal and an external aspect. The external is everything we can see, touch, hear, and taste. It is the physical world around us but, kabbalistically, it is only 1% of our experience. The other 99% of our experience is unseen. This isn’t so difficult to reconcile when we think of things like radio waves, mobile signals, and wireless internet, none of which we can see, yet we know they exist. The 1% world is informing us just as much as the physical things and yet we rarely, if ever, are aware of them. We get too focused on the world of effect and give little attention to the realm of the cause.

Connecting to the unseen world all around begins with listening, in fact, listening to your own body is the easiest, most powerful start. When you are relaxed, breathing easily and leaning forward with an open posture, that’s a good indication that you are in a safe environment with people who can be trusted. If your body feels relaxed, it is because you are inwardly relaxed. Conversely, if your stomach is in knots or your heart is racing, you find your arms crossed or your body angled away, that is a good indication that there is something that is making you defensive and uncomfortable. Follow that thread until you find what your intuition is warning you against.

Perhaps it’s a feeling you get about someone. It could be a feeling you have about going to a certain place. Like John Larroquette, it could be an indescribable impulse to take action. These are messages from our inner intelligence and should always be, at the very least, acknowledged. Our intuition is also something we can utilize to help us in our daily lives. We can access it anytime we aren’t sure what to do about something and the beauty of our intuition is that it will never steer us wrong, even if the bigger picture isn’t obvious right away.

Our intuition is something we can access anytime to assist us with anything. We can check in with ourselves minute-to-minute to see if we are truly aligned with a task, a job, a person, a relationship, or a course of action. It can help to see pathways we may have otherwise missed or solutions that normally we may not have seen. The best part is, our intuition will never steer us wrong, even if the bigger isn’t obvious right away.

In truth, we have all the information that we need, we just have to be open to receiving it. Kabbalah teaches that everything already exists in abundance in the Upper Worlds (spiritual world). Abundance isn’t just material, abundance can also be peace, support, love, and information. Understanding this teaching requires a shift in our consciousness, it requires a practice of bringing our awareness within as often as possible. Our intuition, our emotional body, and our energetic body all know what to do in every circumstance but it’s up to us to listen.

 

THOUGHT INTO ACTION

Think of a current area of your life in which you would like some guidance. Bring this area or circumstance into your awareness and as you do, check in with your body. How does it feel? Now, imagine different solutions or courses of actions you could take and as you focus on each, keep checking in with your body. Which ones make you feel calm, peaceful, relaxed, and clear?