Using Your Intuition, Part 2

by Jennifer Baltz

Out of Body, Back in Five Minutes!

A friend and I were driving along a busy street in town one day. "Wow, people are really out of it this afternoon," he said, as another driver cut in front of our car, without signaling. I noticed it too, and my attention went to the car next to us. The woman in the driver's seat was staring straight ahead, eyes vacant--nobody was home. Her energy and attention were somewhere else.

I did a double-take as I realized that she was actually a friend of ours. I didn't recognize her at first because she looked so different. Her energy and attention were so focused elsewhere that she didn't notice us.

How many times have you driven home in rush-hour traffic and really taken a good look at your fellow drivers? How many of them seemed truly "there" to you? How many times have you "zoned out" yourself, only to find yourself home with only a partial memory of how you got there?

This out-of-body behavior can happen anywhere. We do it at home and at work, anytime when something else is more interesting and draws our attention as spirit. Stop and pay attention the next time you find a loved one plopped in front of the television set, totally oblivious to you or anything else nearby. You might even try to notice when you "leave," and take your attention and your thoughts elsewhere from the present place and moment.

Daydreaming, wool gathering, "spacing out" or being "out of it" ... these are all polite ways to say "out of body." There have been many books written about the elusive "out-of-body experience." But most people don't realize that we do it every day. Out-of-body means being at least partially unconscious, out of touch with what is happening around you.

Our culture is full of distractions, white noise. From cell phones and the radio in your car to television, city noises and idle chatter; it is all around us. We don't know how to be with ourselves, how to hear ourselves think. When I was growing up, we often returned to the Midwest to visit family. These summer family reunions had the usual barbecue, softball games, and homemade ice cream--and the continuous noise of all of our family members talking over one another at the same time.

Sound familiar? Most families do the same thing. Not only do we not take the time to listen to ourselves, we don't stop to listen to each other either. It's much easier to be thinking and doing multiple things at once than to really be present in the here and now. Most of us are quite good at operating the body and spiritually being "somewhere else" at the same time.

But listening, truly listening, and observing with all of your attention is the heart of intuition. The first step in reawakening your natural intuition is to Be Here Now (as Ram Dass noted.)

A Conscious Life Begins with the Marriage of Body and Soul

While daydreaming can be more fun and a great way to escape an uncomfortable present moment, the present is really where you need to be to access your intuition and your conscious awareness. To have a truly conscious life. That's not so easy to do for a sensitive person who has learned from childhood that being fully present sometimes is very painful.

When you pay attention to the world around you rather than zoning out, both your common sense and your intuition work better. You're less likely to make "stupid" mistakes, and more likely to think things through carefully. Life is richer, too, when you choose conscious presence in your life and work. You can craft your life the way you want it to be.

The first step is to practice being aware of the world around you, both good and bad, beautiful and ugly. Practice noticing things. First, notice your body and how it feels. Go through each part, from head to toe, and check in with it. You may notice a pain here or a complaint there, or perhaps a request to shift position so your foot won't fall asleep! Just practice noticing it all. Then, you can extend your awareness outside your body, to the area immediately around you. Listen, look, feel. Cherish and value every sensation you experience.

Bringing Body and Spirit Together with Meditation

Meditation is one way of bringing body and spirit together in harmony and clear communication. In meditation, you can sit comfortably in a chair with your feet flat on the floor (no lying down because you'll fall asleep!), or on a cushion, Buddhist-style. The idea is not to torture yourself or to clear your mind, but just to notice what comes up and perhaps ask for more information about it. If you're having a persistent thought about another person, you might ask yourself "What do I need to know about this person? How do I feel around this person? Or, even better, "I wonder what might be causing this person to act in this way?" You don't need to try to change or fix anything: just be present with yourself.

It's a lot harder than it sounds. You'll find that you want to get up and run when you start becoming aware of the sea of emotions and pictures within. But try to stay with it just a little longer each day, and just be aware. Don't judge what comes up, or punish yourself for missing a day or not sitting "long enough." Be gentle with yourself.

Remember, you have a lot of practice as a spirit getting out of your body. You have less experience being completely present in your body. It takes time and patience. Just like you wouldn't yell at a baby for making a mistake, you shouldn't be hard on yourself either. As Max Erhman says in Desiderata: "Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself."

I find that the more I meditate, the more energy I have, and the easier it is to be fully present with other people. You might also notice that your intuition gets a boost as well!

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