The guidance your IGS (internal guidance system) gives you is specific to your life. It takes into account how you are to think, feel, and behave in order to be happy and successful in every situation you encounter. If there is a difficult situation or conversation that you need to have, your IGS will lead you to the most satisfying and successful conclusion for you and everyone concerned.
Now let me be clear: It may not seem that way when the moment is occurring. Yet if you let your IGS guide you in your thoughts and speech, you will find that this will absolutely be the outcome.
[Editor's Note: For more explanation on the IGS, read Question Assumptions and Connect with Your Internal Guidance System.]
When to Use Your IGS
The best time to use your IGS is always! If you use it only when you are confused, or don’t know what to do, or are so closed that you feel horrible, you will miss the amazing benefits that can accrue when your life is full of synchronicities and miracles.
The best way to incorporate your IGS into your life is as you are going about your day. Of course, it takes practice to remember to feel the sensations, but this quickly turns into a habit. The wonderful thing about your IGS is that you can feel it: it wakes you up when you are flowing toward something you don’t desire.
Picture yourself going about your day. In the background you are worried about how well your child is doing in school. Perhaps you have been called to a parent-teacher conference, and your mind is running every scenario possible about what the teacher will discuss. Not only that, but your mind is also beating you up for every parenting “mistake” you believe you have made recently.
Suddenly, you realize you have a rock in your solar plexus, your chest is tight, and you are filled with anxiety. You have started practicing using your IGS and realize that you have a belief or body of thought that is not true and not leading you toward fulfillment and success!
As you examine what you were thinking, you realize that all your thoughts were about getting in trouble for the way your child is acting in school, and that these thoughts have brought on emotions like shame, embarrassment, and failure. However, you realize that these beliefs are not true, because your solar plexus is closed. Your chest, too, is closed, so you realize that the meeting will not go the way it is being played out in your head. Rather than continue to worry, you decide to look for what causes you to open instead.
You focus on finding a new perspective, looking for what is really true:
* Everyone’s kids have issues. My worries are similar to what all parents face at some point. This is a normal way to feel as a parent.
* Everyone feels like his or her parenting style can use some work.
* The teacher is there to help me, and we are on the same team.
As you hold these thoughts you begin to feel ease in your solar plexus and your chest, which of course lets you know that these thoughts are closer to reality than the previous thoughts. You are able to focus on work, you feel better, and you even feel the pleasant expectation that the meeting will go well.
This type of moment is the gold produced by using your IGS all the time. By not putting it on a shelf and taking it down only when you are in trouble or confused, you clean out the anxiety-ridden thoughts your mind produces. Pay attention to your body and to the sensations in the area of your IGS. That way you can keep your energy flowing and maintain your feeling of openness and creativity.
Looking at the scenario above, can you imagine feeling more flexible, creative, and open when walking into the meeting with that new perspective? Be aware of your IGS throughout your day.
Deepening Your Listening Practice
Here is a meditation that will help you feel your IGS more easily. Read through the meditation in its entirety, and then go back and try it.
First, make sure that anything around you that will distract you is put away or turned off. Sit in a comfortable chair, in a comfortable position with your feet on the floor. It’s a good idea to choose a chair that has a back that’s comfortable. Next, place your hands on your lap with your palms facing upward. Take a breath and just relax for a moment.
When you’re settled, feel the sensation of the bottom of your feet resting against the floor. Deeply experience the sensation of the pressure of your feet on the floor. Notice your toes, how they feel, and — whether they’re in shoes or not — how your feet are resting against the floor; then notice the area where there is no pressure. For a few more moments bring your full awareness to the bottoms of your feet.
Next, bring your awareness to your hands, in particular your palms. Feel the sensation of the palms of your hands and notice if they feel more alive or filled with a light energy. Do this for a few moments.
Now feel your tailbone. Your tailbone is located at the base of your spine, and if you’re sitting upright in your chair, it’ll be right where the L part of your chair meets your body. Experience your tailbone at the base of your spine, feel and sense it at rest on the chair.
What I’d like you to do next is imagine that, attached to your tailbone, by a cord or a cable, is a big weighted object like a cannonball or a boat anchor. Feel the weight of it pulling you more deeply into your seat. Really experience it as if it’s holding you still in your seat. When you’re ready, release that anchor or that cannonball, keeping it attached to your tailbone, and allow it to fall and then settle into the earth, going farther and farther toward the center of the earth until it comes to its own natural resting place.
Next, we’ll begin the listening portion of this meditation. I’d like you to experience the sounds around you both near and far, which means that you’ll experience the sounds in the room you are in as well as listen to what’s happening outside the room or the building or other place you’re in. You may hear birds, the wind, cars, planes, or laughter. If you’re in an apartment building, you may hear someone else’s TV set or footsteps. If you listen closely to the room you are in, you may notice the sound of your refrigerator, the purring of your cat, the creaking of your home, or the hum of your computer.
I’d like you to listen to both the external and the internal, experiencing them at the same time. By experiencing, I mean: don’t name the things you’re hearing; just allow your sense of hearing to experience them as if they were sound waves. This may seem complex, but very quickly your body will begin to pick up on things you are unaware of. If your mind begins to wander, focus on feeling your feet, the palms of your hands, and your tailbone. You’ll find that by focusing on all three, and by listening both near and far, you’ll feel a sense of peace or an experience of your mind quieting. Do this for two to ten minutes.
When you’ve completed this portion of the meditation, wiggle your toes, take a breath, open your eyes, and look around.
Now, what you may have found is that your mind wandered, whether you liked that or not. It may have started naming things. If that happens again, treat your mind as if it were a box of puppies — that’s right, a box of puppies. If you were sitting there, watching these cute wiggling puppies, and one of them crawled out and scampered across the room, you wouldn’t go and pick it up and say, “Bad puppy,” spank it on the behind, and be frustrated with it. That’s what puppies do — they explore. And that’s what your mind does.
So if you’re sitting there, practicing the listening exercise, have some patience with your mind. It may take a few sessions before your mind begins to quiet and relax. The key is to keep returning your focus to your feet, your hands, and your tailbone — all three — and then experiencing the sounds around you both near and far. Just continue to do that over and over. It is as simple as putting that puppy back in the box.
I know this may sound like a complex process. But one thing to keep in mind is that it actually becomes very quick and easy. I call the practices in this book “living practices” because you can do them anywhere.
Practicing On The Go
Once you have gotten good at the listening practice while sitting still, then begin practicing it on the go. You can practice while brushing your teeth: simply feel your hands, your feet, and your tailbone, and listen to what’s around you. You can do it at work, while you’re driving, sitting at the park, waiting in line at the grocery store — there are all kinds of places where you can drop into your listening.
It doesn’t have to take long to get into the meditation. It can be instant, as fast as you read, “Feet, hands, tailbone, drop anchor, listen.” You can experience dropping into your listening meditation wherever you are.
I’ve walked you through it slowly just so you’ll understand the process. The goal is for you to instantly calm your mind while preparing a specific point to return to each time you stop to check with your IGS.
PRACTICE
Do this meditation at least once a day, while seated. When it feels easy, start doing it while in motion so you can drop into your listening anywhere, at any time, and quickly.
©2016 by Zen Cryar DeBrücke. All Rights Reserved.
Reprinted with permission: New World Library,
www.newworldlibrary.com
Article Source
Your Inner GPS: Follow Your Internal Guidance to Optimal Health, Happiness, and Satisfaction
by Zen Cryar DeBrücke.
Click here for more info and/or to order this book.
About the Author
Zen Cryar DeBrücke is an inspirational teacher and speaker. A successful entrepreneur and business executive, Zen has coached hundreds of business leaders to use their IGS for success in every area of their lives. Zen is a member of the Transformational Leadership Council, which includes luminaries such as Jack Canfield, Marianne Williamson, John Gray, and Michael Beckwith. She is known for her earlier work as the CEO of The Netkitchen, an Internet strategy/consulting firm, where she spent four years creating innovative Internet campaigns and properties for Fortune 500 companies. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area on ten beautiful acres with her husband, young son, three cats, dog, and nine chickens. Visit her at http://zeninamoment.com/
