When you access your heart’s wisdom, you connect in your heart with your soul or Essential Self, and it infuses and informs your body-mind. Your intellect can become very adept at acknowledging and interpreting non-verbal information. The more you fully inhabit your entire body with awareness, the easier this becomes. In our head-oriented culture, even those of us who practice this can still feel as though we are teaching our intellects a new job description, as they often forget and automatically revert to their former roles.

Rather than being the sole decision-maker, your intellect can learn to work in harmony with your heart and soul. The intellect’s true function is to ask really good questions and to pay attention as the answers reveal themselves. This is a more important and engaging function than my intellect first thought. Initially it felt demoted from its position as CEO, of my internal organization, to a lesser position that seemed both unclear and insecure. It was a while before a true cooperative and co-creative relationship began to be established.

Since your choices in the present create your future, it’s necessary to be honest with yourself about what is really motivating you. Your intellect has limited information, which is often based on fear. Your heart can also store past emotional experiences as memories that, when unconscious, can affect your ability to receive clear guidance from your soul. One of the most powerful practices is to Witness whatever thoughts and emotions arise without judging or becoming identified with them. As you do this you will become aware of any past experiences which are being activated by your present circumstances. When you become conscious of them, you are at the point of choice. You can choose to let the past be the past, and allow your heart to create your future in your awakened present.

No matter how compelling a thought and/or emotion may feel, if you allow your breath to carry your thinking mind into your heart, the power inherent in your breath will begin to liberate you from restrictive thoughts and emotions. I’ve often noticed that when my body-mind wishes to clear itself, it makes spontaneous sounds, which can also be relatively quiet sighs or a slightly audible and very focused cleansing breath; it seems to adjust itself to my circumstances. Sometimes my body has begun making sounds before I even realized a fear-based thought or emotion was activated .

Often our bodies will immediately begin to release energy that does not feel harmonious in whatever ways are available to us. We all do this, consciously or unconsciously, through aerobic exercise, crying, sighing, taking long baths or showers.  What works really well for you? Your contributions are encouraged in the comment area below.

Becoming increasingly aware of our internal states and consistently choosing responses which resonate with our hearts is life-changing. We don’t often think of this as “decision-making,” but in fact we are making decisions almost non-stop all day long and even in our dreams at night! What might each of our lives be like, if all our thoughts, words and actions were heart-based?

Nearly forty years ago, when I first began creating a relationship with my heart, I started a “spontaneous writing” journal.   I wrote whenever I woke up earlier than my children or had other quiet times during the day. Writing in this way bypasses your intellect. Parts of you that have never been expressed have the chance to be heard. Some years after I began this practice, I started asking questions and spontaneously writing the answers. This was how I initially began to receive guidance from my own heart and Essential Self. I’ve explored many other mediums, including long-distance running, dancing, and various forms of art. How do you connect with your heart’s wisdom?

In my next post I’ll offer some specific guidelines for connecting with your heart for decision-making and guidance. May you keep deepening your relationship with your own heart in the ways that feel best for you.

This represents a piece of what I have been developing over the past 30+ years. If what I offer here is helpful for you, and you would like more information regarding my next experiential event “Create From Your Heart,” you can reach me through my contact page. I will be traveling extensively beginning this May. I will continue to be available for both phone, skype and in-person sessions.

Guidelines For Accessing Your Heart’s Wisdom for Decision-Making and Guidance

• When you first begin this practice, take a break from whatever you’re doing, where you can reduce both internal and external “noise.” Notice if there is any feeling of pressure to get answers in a hurry. If so, allow them to be, as you begin to focus on your breath, allowing your body to relax as your breath begins to deepen. Although you can access information quickly, it’s optimal to practice with stress free conditions inside and out.

Each question requires more or less time and internal quiet. When you create the time to take a break from “trying to figure it out” or from taking actions that may be motivated from worry, fear etc., you consciously connect with your soul. Through your soul, you connect to the One Mind, where infinite possibilities exist. Your soul connects you with those possibilities which resonate with it. Solutions to impossible situations can show up in ways your intellect would never have imagined. Your life could also take an entirely different direction, which allows your true creativity to emerge and flourish. Every challenge is an opportunity to expand from your core, your essence. Interestingly, “cor” the root of the word courage is the Latin word for heart.

• Developing patience and your ability to trust is an important part of this process. Timing is often an issue for our personalities; we are often more focused on results than in creating a deeper relationship with our own souls. In the midst of our busy, and often challenging lives we want answers and solutions, like some CEO’s, “yesterday!” Living with your question for whatever length of time your soul requires is a powerful practice which can transform your life.

• While objectively witnessing your inner state, you can ask your heart/soul about anything that concerns you. Focus on your heart and breathe, allow your mind to rest in your heart so that it can let go of all it thinks you “should” be doing or of any undesirable future outcomes it may imagine! Observe the inner responses you notice as you express or visualize whatever is on your mind. Avoid an automatic verbal answer or judgment before fully inhabiting and listening to your body-mind.

If you are making a decision, you can place each possible choice, one at a time, in the center of your chest. Here are some examples of what you might notice: your body may either feel expanded or contracted, energized, neutral or tired, breathing full or shallow, light or heavy feeling, light or dark or shades of either. Once I felt as though someone had turned off a light switch inside my body. The light came back on as soon as I made the decision to leave the consulting company where I was currently employed! Remember that your body does not speak in words, and as the wonderful Martha Graham said, “Your body doesn’t lie.”

• You will sense your answer before or as your intellect has words for it. You may experience it as a knowing or feeling of what is–not Right or Wrong–but most beneficial for you in your current present. Your answer can also come at another time through a person, a dream or even a song.

If you have a sense of neutral or gray, depending on the situation, it may be that your soul is not resounding with a fully energized “Yes” at this time. You could also be receiving guidance, which is letting you know that a certain situation is not harmful for you, depending upon your question. As your intellect learns to interpret the messages your soul sends through your body-mind, including through physical symptoms, the simpler and more fun it becomes to live in alignment with your soul.

• To insure you receive an accurate message, practice non-attachment to the answer. When you are attached to a particular outcome or to thoughts that you must find an immediate answer or solution, you are motivated by the emotions connected to those thoughts. This usually blocks the answers you most need. A relaxed, released state generates ideas or attracts seemingly unrelated events that can change everything in unexpected and often marvelous ways.

In our current evolutionary process we are each being asked to let go of the personality’s illusion of control. Any attempt at trying to “make” something happen or being in the grip of  thoughts and feelings that a certain thing “must, should or needs” to happen or might happen, will cloud your ability to sense what really ENLIVENS your soul, which is the object of the exercise–to bring your personality into alignment with your soul.

• If you truly feel energized, enlivened and joyful from your core, that’s accurate feedback that the message is from your soul. When you feel uplifted, or the opposite, you won’t need to ask anyone else what they think–needing to ask is often a sign that you know your answer and your intellect thinks it should be different. It’s a relief to be honest about what’s motivating you; “..the truth will set you free.”

Your personality could initially have a less than joyful response, and you would then be aware of feeling both a heart-soul response and a personality response. When that first happened to me, it was very clear that my personality’s unhappiness was fleeting and bearable, while my heart’s unhappiness was the kind of pain I did not choose to experience.

When you have no idea what to do next, you are being asked to deepen your relationship with your Essential Self. Sometimes there’s no desire or energy to Do anything. Your personality may desperately want “to do” and yet your soul is asking you to focus inward rather than outward. Our Western culture, as a whole, has a very little understanding or support for this process. You might feel helpless, insecure, confused and/or frightened when this particular “Soul Invitation” occurs. It’s worth repeating that this process requires trust, patience, and the willingness to let go trying to control from your personality. It is possible to experience intense emotions such as fear, while also feeling excited, expectant, courageous and adventurous. Your soul will create a far more interesting and enlivening future than your personality is capable of conceiving on its own.

• Perhaps the most transformational aspect of this process is that it is necessary to let go of resistance to your current present. If you judge your current situation rather than accepting it, the resistance you feel actually prolongs it. Accept what is, while staying connected with your heart, and remaining open to what it is unfolding in its own time. The birth or creation process is a Mystery that cannot be rushed according to linear time.

I understood this best both experiencing and teaching natural childbirth. If I tensed ,i.e., physically resisted a strong contraction, the oxygen my uterus needed went to the tensed muscles, and actually prolonged the labor and discomfort. When I relaxed, the oxygen went to my uterus and it could then do its job most efficiently. I also noticed that rather than feeling increased pain as the contractions grew stronger and more frequent, I experienced them as intense sensations in my body. All fear dissolved and I was in a heightened state of awareness and peace. The key for me was my breath, focus of attention and surrender to the process. Since that time, I have noticed that my life challenges are like contractions, and the birth of something new always follows.

When you let go of judging yourself and resisting your life, you are in the field of all possibilities. The same field Rumi spoke of when he said, ” Beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing, there’s a field. I’ll meet you there.”

Over the years what has become apparent is that many tasks are made more difficult when my intellect tries “to figure it out.” When my body-mind takes over, the task suddenly becomes so much easier. It’s taken me years of trial and error to learn to drop out of my head and inhabit my entire being, beginning with tying my shoes for the first time.

So what does that mean practically speaking? I’ve chosen the topic of  job loss, and financial stress in the midst of a surprise career transition.

In the mid-80’s I had been successfully creating very large events in hotels where people met to connect and share knowledge and resources. That career abruptly ended even though the events were packed. From the point of view of the story, it looked like a bad move on the part of the hotel and most unfortunate for me.

In the midst of a time that often felt unsettling and chaotic, I was drawn to a basic class in conflict resolution given by Danaan Perry, the founder of Earth Stewards. Six months later, with unexpected money, I attended his advanced training in Washington State; there I met a man who was nationally known, as a very successful, and charismatic corporate trainer. To this day that was the most profound training I have ever attended. At the end we received certificates as Peace Makers, and I realized that was exactly what I had always wanted to be. I also had a deep desire to work with the man I had met, while intellectually that seemed impossible. He had his Masters degree from Stanford and twelve years of successful corporate training to his credit.  I had only completed my first two courses.

When I returned to California, there was a message on my phone, asking if I would act as a mediator for a fairly large group of people. I had to listen to the message several times; it was such a shock. The person who left the message told me that the mediator he knew was unavailable and that he trusted me. I did that mediation without any formal mediation training by spontaneously moving out of my intellect and being fully present to my body-mind, while following the cues it gave me. Happily it worked, and years later after being trained and certified as a mediator, I am very thankful that I learned to do that first. Now my intellect knows the “correct procedure” and also knows how to listen to wisdom that can’t be taught intellectually. A huge gift!

However, I was still a long way from being hired as a mediator or corporate trainer. I was still just barely getting by financially with no clue how to gain the experience I needed; so that I could find myself on the career path my heart had such passion to follow.

One day I suddenly had the impulse to call a consultant I’d met a few times, and I asked him, if he knew of any available work. He told me to call the General Manager at a large local hotel, who needed help initiating a new customer service training. The training turned out to be so elementary that my young children could have taught the course. I was hired and six months later the hotel changed hands. It appeared I would be out of work again and no further along my chosen career path.

Here’s what happened instead: While some former employees were let go, the new management offered me a six month position training staff in leadership skills. I had to study a very basic training myself and be video-taped giving a lesson, which really pushed all my fears of public speaking to the surface! Somehow I managed to pass inspection, and was officially hired. After six months the job was over, and the opportunity to work for the corporation presented itself. In the end, I was told that I was “not corporate enough,” and was once again without a job–only this time I had just moved into a lovely garden apartment and had recently bought a new car.

It had clearly been time to move and my former car had expired. Both the new car and the apartment appeared in ways which were unusual enough that I knew neither had been a mistake. I also had no idea how I could now afford them.

It had become my morning habit to ask a question and then clear my mind and wait for the answer, however and whenever it came. My intellect kept pointing out that I couldn’t go on much longer without steady income and I found it challenging not to pay attention to it. However, when I let those thoughts go and became internally quiet, the message I continued to receive- day after day- was ” Do nothing.” This was the first time that had ever happened. All the other times I had to internally quiet my thoughts until my whole being knew what action to take. The knowing came in either an intuitive flash or a strong body feeling which my intellect learned to translate as “do this or say that.” Until now I had been more focused on the action which followed the stillness than the Stillness Itself.

In this case, months went by and I continued to hear “Do nothing.”  To be clear, I did manage to get some minor free lance situations which brought in a bit of money, but this was merely treading water and nothing that looked as though it could lead to my dream of training in corporations or resolve my current financial situation.

In the midst of wondering how I could avoid losing both my car and apartment and wondering if the “Do Nothing” message was a sign I needed serious therapy, one morning the phone rang. Who do you think it was?

Two years had now passed since I met the man I had such a strong desire to work with; I hadn’t thought about him in quite a while, and yes, that’s who called! He said that one of his clients wanted him to do a three-year training for a company consisting  mainly of women. They wanted him to create and give the trainings with a woman. He said that he thought of me, and asked if I was doing anything?  The message I had been receiving at last began to make sense!

Now you have to imagine my resume’ positioned next to his!  I often wondered, if he was aware of how totally unprepared I was for that level of training? I don’t remember mentioning it either. I made an appointment to be interviewed and was NEVER asked for my resume’, which in itself was a miracle.

I forgot to mention that in the midst of my intellect’s continuous images of  me becoming a bag lady, my oldest daughter called to ask if I would help her financially, as she finished her last semester of college? Her dream was to spend it studying in Granada, Spain. She had already been putting herself through college and this was very important to her. All I could say, without revealing my dire circumstances, was that if I had the money when the time came, I would be glad to help her. I believe it was about $500 a month for the semester. You can probably imagine how impossible that felt. It also gave me the extra push to leap where I was afraid to go!

I have deep gratitude for all the teachers, who taught me that whenever a situation looks impossible that’s where the greatest opportunity lies. This is where many people give up because they believe it really is impossible. What I now know is that it must APPEAR impossible and we must go for it anyway because that’s how we can live lives where miracles become a natural part of how we live. They become natural when we live from our wholeness rather than stuck in the confines, the prisons of our intellects. My heart led me unerringly into a position for which I would, under “normal” circumstances, never have been interviewed, let alone hired. It was one of the happiest days of my life when I was able to tell my daughter I could send her monthly checks.

When I access my heart’s wisdom, I connect through my heart to my  Essential Self, and It in turn infuses and informs my body-mind. Ideally one is always connected, and being human, we begin by identifying with our bodies and personalities, and it can be the journey of a lifetime to remember one’s true Self. Even those who know through constant experience that we are more than our physical forms can forget when challenged, and try to solve our “problems” with our intellects. We’re all experiencing personal and/or global challenges that our intellects cannot successfully solve.

Personally, I think that all challenges, whatever the scale of importance, are an opportunity to become what we truly are and have forgotten. If our intellects could solve all our problems, how would we learn that we are so much more? We’re faced with impossible challenges right now, and our possible future is magnificent beyond anything our intellects can imagine!

We are in the midst of redefining our view of and relationship to death, and the rituals involving it. In this post I am focusing on relationship with our ancestors, known and unknown, as it affects our individual and collective visions.

This year Sunday November 1st is All Saint’s Day and in Mexico, The Day of the Dead, and the day we will hold our next Sound Alchemy event in Sonoma, California. We will connect with our ancestors in sacred ritual; so that they can assist us to fulfill our hearts’ dreams, which are also their dreams. (If you are reading this post after  November 1, 2009, please know that this ritual can be done at any time—alone or with others.)

It is said that at this particular time of year “the veils between this world and the next are very thin” and therefore an especially powerful time to participate in such a ritual. However, I have given ancestor rituals at many different times of the year and they have all felt very powerful to me and to those who participated. What is necessary is to allow your inspiration to guide you, to connect with your heart’s vision, and allow your intellect to rest.

Prior to conducting your own ritual or, if you wish, to be connected with us on Nov. 1st at 4:30 PST, here are a few thoughts and some guidelines:

• My experience is that our ancestors are with us both in cell memory and as teachers and guides in the non-physical realm. Since they exist within us ,as us, our dreams are their dreams; we are fulfilling what many of them envisioned long ago. In reality, there is no time and we are able to connect with all those, past and future, who want to join more consciously with us now to assist us to move through this current transition and create the world of our collective vision.

• When I first consciously connected with my ancestors, they spontaneously spoke (through my voice) a language that can sound like a fusion of many languages. It is not gibberish, but a language that I, and others, feel as vibration in our bodies. I also understand it, but it is reduced from what it is when I translate it into English. I now chant, sing and sound, while connected in this way, in both healing sessions and rituals.

• I encourage everyone to allow your own sounds to be part of collective or individual ritual. This is a very immediate way that your ancestors directly assist you. It is not necessary to sound in language, although I notice that more people are spontaneously beginning to do that. Our ancestors send higher frequencies to us through a wide variety of sounds and tones. Allowing your own inner child to freely express is the key.

• Your ritual can be whatever brings you out of ordinary time into sacred time. I highly suggest connecting with Mother Earth, and with Spirit, through the Sun, Sky or Space. Then connect with the Divine Child, the Light that you are, and in your heart feel the love of your Divine Mother and Father flowing into you, along with the love and support of all your ancestors and non-physical guides and teachers. Connecting with the elements and/or the directions also creates a container for the sacred.

• After we create sacred space together, we ask our ancestors to assist us to clear/transform anything in our lineage lines, which now needs to shift so that we can freely and joyfully manifest our individual and collective visions. Again your inspired sounds allow this to be done in very powerful way that you can feel in your body. Often dormant gifts and abilities are also awakened or accelerated through sound vibration. If you are in a place where you do not feel comfortable making audible sound, you can make very soft sounds or use the power of the Light in your breath. Intention and focusing on your heart as you breath are essential parts of this process.

• We then use inspired sound to connect with our hearts’ dreams, so that those in the non-physical can assist us to both magnetize all that we need and help us to open fully to inspired ideas and the passion and courage to act on them.

• There are times during the ritual when participants receive instrumental sounds and you may wish to play music that resonates with your heart or you may prefer to be in the sound of silence.

• When you feel complete, you may find it very helpful to write down any messages you have received: via knowing, impressions, images. It can also be very useful to have magazines handy so that you can randomly look through them and see if you are drawn to any particular images. Since our souls speak to us in symbols and images, often the next piece of your story will be revealed in an inner or outer image. You may wish to expand this into a vision board or “soul collage.”

• Finally and perhaps most important, remember to close sacred space and to Thank all those who have assisted you.

Members of our monthly group are invited to connect with us energetically, if they cannot be physically present. This month I extend the invitation to those of you who are reading this post. If you would like to join us, please send me your name and intention via my contact page, and you will be included in our ritual. Your heart’s dreams may become clearer or unfold in new, and even more wonderful ways, as many of us are already experiencing. You may enjoy using what I have written as a guideline and feel a strong connection, if you are able to join with us on Sunday, November 1st. However, since time is illusion, whenever and whatever way you are inspired to create ritual and connect is perfect for you.

One of my dreams is to help create a heart-based economy, in which we all give and receive from our deep sense of Oneness. This event is offered from the heart and those who participate are invited to give from their hearts in a way that feels joyful and expansive. If you feel drawn to make a financial contribution in this spirit, you are welcome to make a donation through my PayPal account.

I am very interested to hear the results of your participation in this ritual. Please share them as a comment to this post, so I can respond to you and others can also benefit.

May this time be a powerful turning point for you and for all of us!

I can feel that there is a reorganization and a transformation that is taking place so that the individual and collective foundation we have created through “time” can birth both evolved humans and an evolved Earth. Many people are saying this in different words; I know this is not new information.

What has changed, for me, is really feeling rather than thinking or hoping this is true. I can feel the truth of this positive change in my heart as I access truth that is available to all of us, when we allow our hearts to be opened and can access the wisdom that is there.

A friend sent me a very sweet animated video this morning called “Winter Song.”

One of the lyrics stood out for me, “My words will be your Light,” and as I heard these words I thought of friends I have recently met, though we do not feel new to each other. Relating with them connects me with my own heart in a way I have not often felt so naturally or easily since I was very young.

What I realize is that they do not speak to me from their intellects, but from their hearts and from their soul’s vision, and because of this their words are a Light for me, and I spontaneously respond to them in the same way. Here is their blog page, where you can read more about them, and download their beautiful soundtrack for the epic book, The Song of the Spheres, Vol.1, The Bard and the Queen Of Ice: This is a gift of the heart from them to all of us.*

Relating to others from our hearts is, perhaps, not a new experience for any of us but, for me, it has been rare for it to be so easily sustained. Since meeting them I realize that this is how we have always been meant to relate to one another; this is our true human blueprint, our natural state.

With all the individual and global challenges that have appeared in our lives—that could make positive change look even more difficult to achieve—I believe that those very challenges show us how close we really are to both being and manifesting the changes (the greatest of which we may not yet conceive) we hold in our collective vision! Some years ago I understood that Darkness evokes Light, and that a Third Force must be invoked to create positive change. Our hearts hold Third Force, the Power of Love. As we remember and live this, our beautiful Earth will be renewed and transformed along with all of us.

*If you feel a stirring in your own heart to respond to their gifts in a tangible way, not necessarily financial, you can contact them here.