Friday, February 11, 2011

Body-Intuition

Body IntuitionBy Jimmy HendersonListening to our bodies
Our bodies all have an inherent intelligence with which they are able to communicate in the form of sensory cues. At present, messages from our bodies act as an early warning system for preserving our life and health. For instance, feeling ill after a meal could suggest that we have eaten something that did not agree with us. And we all experience ‘hunger pains’ or uncomfortable feelings and sensations when we require food or drink. This principle forms the basis of many diagnostic and holistic treatments involving bio-feedback. What is little known is that this ability can be strengthened and improved and used in combination with our intuition to detect emotional or psychological threats as well.
It is important to become more receptive to this form of body-intuition or sensory feedback as it will open us up to a new world of inner communication in which we can have immediate insight into our own health as well the dynamics and meaning of any real-life situation, and therefore, how to best manage it. This will greatly enhance our chances of success in our personal lives (relationships), careers or businesses.
I am sure that, in the past, you have personally experienced feelings of ‘discomfort’ in many social situations, but did not give them a second thought. In most cases these feelings are normally overlooked or simply ignored. Within any context, and specifically situations involving people, a number of clues are embedded or hidden in their actions, body language, words and emotions which could give meaning to their true motives and intentions. Using our intuition, we can train ourselves to become very aware of subtle warnings, in the form of sensations, feelings and impressions as our bodies respond to these clues, some of which could be suggesting possible threats to our physical, emotional or psychological well-being.

Using our body intuitionThe following guidelines can assist in developing your ability to communicate intuitively with your bodies by introducing the various types of situational clues, sensory cues and the correct methods of obtaining feedback from your bodies using different senses. These are similar to the processes offered by Neuro-Linguistics.
• When entering or considering any situation, relax and clear your mind and open it to any bodily sensations, impressions or feelings you are experiencing.
• Refine the sensory cues further by turning them over in your mind and combine them with intuitive questioning and imagery, imagining them metaphorically as colours, shapes, textures and scents. In other words, ask yourself if this a ‘heavy’ or a ‘light’ sensation? What colour does this impression suggest, yellow and bright or grey and dark? Is it ‘round’ and ‘smooth’ or ‘rough’ and ‘spiky’? Does this person give me the feeling of ‘hard’ or ‘fluffy’?
• If you had to attribute a particular ‘scent’ to this whole situation, what would it smell like? Like flowers, fresh and sweet, like an old room, dank and dusty, or is it a thoroughly unpleasant smell?
This kind of symbolic association sounds a little weird but if you apply your intuition and perfect it, it will provide you with detailed information on the sensory cues your body is experiencing. For example, a certain situation may produce impressions which ‘suggest’ the colour ‘grey’, a ‘spiky’ form, a ‘hard’ texture and a ‘dusty’ smell. These associations are linked to your past experiences with these qualities. For example, ‘grey’ would most likely suggest a depressing situation (grey is not a cheerful colour), one which could also be dangerous (spiky -spikes are dangerous), difficult to manage (hard -a hard object is usually heavy and not easy to work with) and could be related to old unresolved issues (dusty-as in a neglected room full of memories). Note that the impressions are being interpreted intuitively in terms of your own past experiences using the sense-qualities of colour, texture, shape and scent. Although these representations of the different features or characteristics of the situation are symbolic, they allow you to combine intuition with imagery and your body’s natural sense-perception, resulting in useful information and feedback.

Communicating intuitively with different parts of your body
This method can also be used to communicate intuitively with any specific part of your body as well. For example, if you are feeling ill, attempt to tune into the particular body part and allow an intuitive image to form in your mind. Imagine that it has its own personality and address it personally, asking after its state of health (If you are really successful, you may even see an imaginary face). As with all intuition, wait patiently for sensations, impressions, feelings, images or words to form in your consciousness. You could also use the method already shown (colours, shapes, textures and scents) to interpret the message.
Always express your gratitude to your body and subconscious mind for giving you this information as this builds a powerful relationship.

Jimmy Henderson is a metaphysical teacher and the author of a number of books and articles on self-development. His books ‘Multi-Dimensional Thinking’ (2007) and ‘Multi-dimensional Perception’ (2010) are available on Amazon.com and can also be ordered via his website www.jimmyhendersonbooks.com
He is currently completing his PHD in Cognitive Psychology.