The Still Small Voice: How to Use It To Overcome Challenges

The still small voice, that wellspring of wisdom, sometimes goes silent when you're going through challenging times. It's hard to hear when the remnants of your world are swirling about your feet, isn't it?

Is it really silent or that you've lost your connection? When I'm feeling battered by the breakdowns I withdraw, even from myself. It's hard to access my wisdom when I feel cut off. It takes a conscious effort to reconnect.

Pain forces me to listen. It's not desirable but it's effective. Challenges force you to look at things in a deeper way. It moves you to take action and deal with the cause of your pain.

Listening to the still small voice almost always involves changing the way things are done, changing who you are. It takes heart to hear the still small voice and courage to act on its wisdom.

Challenges Help You Hone Your Still Small Voice

Today's world is a hotbed of opportunity to awaken your still small voice. Life is moving at an alarming rate of change. The world is increasing in complexity. Your life is falling apart and coming together in new ways all the time. Change is constant. Challenges are ongoing.

What if you could access your intuitive nature as your default response? What if you could articulate the just in time insights required to manage the creative chaos known as everyday existence on Mother Earth?

If you struggle with hearing your still small voice just know that it is within your reach. You have access to infinite wisdom. If you are willing and ready to open to this deeper aspect of your being you will be amazed at how you can navigate change with ease and grace. It is a choice.

In every challenge, there is an opportunity. You can spiral into the breakdown or create the breakthrough. In these moments you can plant the seed of something new.

When you respond to life's challenges from this deeper knowing things shift around you. You become the calm in the storm, the steady force in the whirlwind of shaping a new world. When you fully engage your challenges you become a creative force. A new world IS arising, you can help bring it into being.

Your still small voice is the way out of confusion and doubt.

Your still small voice is readily available, and eager, to come to your aid. It's an essential element of the fabric of your being. Open to the power that lives within you.

3 Steps to Awaken Your Still Small Voice

Your still small voice is like Dorothy's ruby red slippers in the Wizard of Oz. It's always with you. You may have momentarily forgotten. It's easy enough to reawaken. If you are steeped in a whirlwind of massive change try these  3 steps to access your still small voice. I've used them over and over again for decades. They work!

Step 1: Relax. Most people hold a tremendous amount of tension in their body. When you walk around contracted there's very little information that can get thru. Your inner guidance system is an open and flowing state. You can't access it from a compromised system. My favorite way to get in touch with how much tension you hold in your body is to try the Savasana Pose (Dead Man's Pose) from Yoga.

• Lie on a mat on the floor and take several deep breaths allowing every breath to sink your body into the floor.
• Imagine that you are the roots of a tree sinking into the dark, rich and luscious Mother Earth.
• Feel nourished and sustained by Gaia, she is the mother of your earthly body and you are comprised of her.
• Sink into the sensation of being held and let every drop of tension be released into her loving arms.
• Feel the rhythm of Life re-calibrating and re-energizing your being.

Step 2: Listen. This sounds inordinately simple (and it is). You just have to hang in long enough to hear the true voice beneath all the other voices. There is SO much noise. The moment you start listening, you realize how much is really going on. It's like an all-night party where the guests won't go home. Hold to your course and gently bid these visitors a good night. It often helps to close your eyes and notice your breath. This is a traditional practice that yields results.

Be mindful of what is occurring inside of you as you participate in the world.

I also urge you to listen with eyes open, as you go about your day and even while you are in conversation with other people. Notice if you're paying attention to your own voices or what is going on at the moment. The more you listen the more you live in the present moment which is where the magic happens.

Step 3: Act. The first two steps are ALL about opening and receiving. This last step is all on you, baby! This is where you take the Divine Download received and act upon it.(Please note: sometimes it's not about taking physical action. You might get a “No” or “Not Right Now.” Honor whatever guidance you've been given.) Don't over think this part.

Let the action arise from the knowing. Trust that the guidance is true. Take action. If you don't you've discarded the gift. Your intuition is a unique language. It is custom made for you. Only you can translate your insights into manifestation. The more you act on your insights the more insights are readily available to you when you need them.

Taking action on your intuitive insights is like flexing a muscle. The more you use it the stronger it gets.

How to Boost Your Practice

Use Relax, Listen, Act as your daily mantra and practice. Take some time in the morning and evening to check in with your inner guidance. Throughout the day notice where you're holding tension in your body. Are you …

• gripping the steering wheel when you drive?
• tensing your shoulders when you're at the computer?
• holding your body in the same position for long periods?

Do a body scan throughout the day and notice. Invoke your Relax, Listen, Act. What are you moved to do? Do it.

There are thousands of paths to the still small voice within. Some are complex and take years to master. I've tried many, many awareness practices over the past 50 years. These 3 steps are a distillation of what provides a rock-solid certainty on your insights and guidance.

Whatever method you use: Practice. Practice. Practice. It will make doubt and uncertainty a thing of the past and insights and intuitive flow your way of being.

What practices do you use to tap into your still small voice, especially during challenging times?

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