Tapping into Inner Wisdom - Guiding Principle Two: Listen

Welcome to the Joyful Journey podcast. If you're uncertain about what you really want, or unsure how to be a force for good, you know this world craves, then this is the show for you. I'm Anita Adams, your host and guide to finding clarity and creating a life you love. Let's tap into our inner wisdom, access our highest self and unleash joy. As we raise our vibration, we heighten the collective consciousness and that, my friends, is the joyful journey. Let's dive in.

Hey, joyful journeyers, Anita Adams here, your host of the joyful journey podcast. And today, we are going to get into the second of the three guiding principles to inner wisdom. Guiding principle two is listen. Nice. It's funny, isn't it? For the most part, you've got it figured out. You've got a good job, you live in a beautiful home. And sometimes your dream of lighting a match to it and burning it all down. Alright, maybe you don't dream of destroying what you have. But you might be feeling like what you do have now that you have it isn't what you really wanted. after all. Perhaps that is why you are listening to this podcast because you want something different for your life. And you may not even be sure what that is. Well, you're not alone. In fact, most people move through life chasing the things they think will bring them happiness to discover. Nope, that's not it. Nope, that's not it either. So how do you know what you really want? By listening to your heart, your spirit, your soul? Whatever your word is, for that thing inside you that's trying to guide you down your unique path. I call it inner wisdom. And it's speaking to you all the time. Sometimes you don't hear it though, or you ignore it because you don't realize what it is. Sometimes, like life is so good, you just stop paying attention. And during those good times you forget, when that happens, it's really easy to step out of alignment with who you are. In the last episode, I shared my life, how it became a hot mess. And I just about destroyed my marriage when my kids were young, and I was building my film agency. Fortunately, I figured out stuff before it was too late. And life got really good for a bunch of years. And then I stopped listening to that inner voice of wisdom. We humans do silly things like that sometimes, don't we? We get comfortable and we start doing the inner work that is essential for our growth and our happiness. When the pandemic hit the good life as I knew it got thrown in the air like a deck of cards to be tossed wherever the wind would carry them. And suddenly, everything felt uncertain. My family plans to move to India for a year were canceled. The lease agreement on my home was about to expire and couldn't be renewed. And overnight, the funding for my business dried up. Needless to say, this caused a tremendous amount of stress in my life. That's when I found myself at the crack of dawn every morning in the forest, the sound of the birds, the sun filtering through the trees. And even on those wet days, the rain hitting the canopy of leaves above gave me comfort. I was alone and I started speaking out loud. What am I supposed to do? I asked the trees, the birds God. What am I supposed to do? Every day I went into the forest and I asked this question. And then one day an answer came bubbling up from within. What do you want to do? That kind of surprised me. But I went with it. And next thing you know I'm having a full on conversation with myself. What do you mean? What do I want to do? What am I supposed to do? No. The question is, what do you want to do? I don't know. I don't know. Yes, you do. A few days later I was in chapters and a book caught my eye Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch. Hmm, maybe this will have something to say. Have you ever noticed that people and things show up at precisely the right time when you need the most. I feel that way about this book. It had a lot to say. And this one sentence struck me to the core. frustration and anxiety come from not listening to your soul.

frustration and anxiety come from not listening to your soul. Hmm, maybe it's time I start listening to my soul. It's been a while since I last checked in. I returned to the forest the same question I asked myself 10 years ago, what do I want? What do I really want? And I listened. I heard the water trickle over the rocks in the creek. I heard the birds chattering in the bushes. I heard squirrels cheering me on. I returned to the forest, day after day and I kept asking the question, what do I want? And then I heard it. A whisper from my heart. I want to close my business. What do I do I really? Huh? Yeah, I do. If I was honest with myself, I've wanted out for a while but fear of the unknown kept me locked in fear of not knowing what else I could do kept me clinging to my title. Another whisper came to me. I want freedom. I want to leave North Vancouver. I don't want to deal with crazy landlords ever again. And I want to move like the wind. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I like that idea. Another whisper. I want to live by the ocean. Ah, yeah. Another whisper. I want to create, huh? Yeah. Slowly, those tiny whispers began to inform my decisions and a lightness of being emerged. The decision to close my business was a relief joyful even as I started to see new possibilities. And I started creating, writing and making videos. Traveling was off the table at the time, but my husband and I found freedom by getting rid of our possessions and turning to a nomadic life. And then an opportunity came to live in this beautiful oceanfront home that truly felt like a gift from God. I continue to walk in the forest every day, and have my conversations with God the universe source as I explore what I want, and who I am, and I listen to what bubbles up what I've discovered, this is not a one and done deal. This is a journey, an ongoing, never ending journey to your highest self to your best life. And it starts by looking inward, asking and listening. The more you do this, the easier it becomes to hear the answers. What I've come to realize is that you have the ability to create and recreate who you really are. And you are guided in this creation by learning to listen to the whispers of your heart. Now I want to share with you an easy five step process to accessing this inner wisdom. Do you want to hear it? I'm imagining you nodding your head. Alright, good. It's pretty simple, and immensely enjoyable. Number one, step into nature. One of the reasons I encourage people to do this when trying to access their inner wisdom is because being in nature makes it easier to listen when you are away from all the distractions. The physical act of walking also serves to calm you down, reduce anxiety, and get you into your body. If you've ever had a challenge meditating, then this is definitely the best way for you to open the door to inner wisdom. If meditation is easy for you, then I still recommend this five step process that starts with getting outside into nature. There are so many benefits for this practice too many to cover right now. So perhaps we'll come back to that in an in another episode.

If you don't have easy access to nature or a local park, then just step outside. Go for a walk in your neighborhood. Sit on your deck, or at the very least look out your window and take in the sky to clouds the trees. Number two, speak your gratitude. Speaking your great gratitude serves a similar purpose to being in nature. It shifts your mindset and elevates your mood. If you were stressed or anxious, expressing gratitude will lighten those negative feelings and open you up to hearing and receiving guidance. Personally, I like speaking my gratitude out loud. There's something satisfying about being vocal. Plus, I believe you feel the gratitude more deeply when you speak it out loud. And when you truly feel gratitude, you're raising your vibrational frequency. I'm sure you've heard the law of attraction. Whatever you give your attention to or are thinking about will be drawn to you. So by giving your attention to the things you are grateful for big and small, you were drawing more of that to you, you literally become a magnet for the good stuff. It's a powerful, magical universal law. Thoughts become things. That's another big topic and one we'll come back to in a future episode two. All right, we had step one, get into nature. Step two, speak your gratitude. And now step number three, get present to your environment. After you've spoken your gratitude, start paying close attention to everything in your environment. Listen to the gravel crunch under your feet, feel the bark of a tree or the wood of a bench. Listen to the sound of the birds, how many different bird songs can you hear, feel the wind on your face or hear it rustling through the leaves. But smells are in the air. Use all your senses and notice everything you can getting present to your environment gets you present to the now. Eckhart totally author of The Power of Now beautifully explains that the present moment is all you have. Make the now the primary focus of your life. Life is now there was never a time when your life was not now, nor will there ever be. The key to accessing that inner wisdom resides with being in the present moment. Alright, step number four, ask your question. When you feel you've connected with your environment, and you are in the present moment, not thinking about what you have to get done. When you get home and not replaying the drama that happened at work or with your kids this morning. Then ask the question, you're seeking answers do I recommend starting with? What do I want? What do I really want? Or who do I want to be? I believe these questions are ones worthy of coming back to again and again and again, as we recreate our lives and who we choose to be.

And finally, we land on step number five, which is listen without judgment. Allow the answers to bubble up without attaching any meaning or judgment to what you hear. This is important. No judgment. And I get that's not always easy. This is another topic worthy of deeper exploration. So we will come back to add in another episode. In the meantime, give yourself permission to just allow the AI the answers and the ideas to flow. It's possible that no answer will bubble up at first. Or you might get something that leaves you feeling more uncertain than ever. If nothing bubbles up, don't give up. Do it again the next day and the next after the pandemic hit. And I found myself walking in the woods trying to figure out my life. I didn't hear anything for almost two weeks. And then when I did start to receive something I wasn't sure if I was getting the answers I really wanted. For instance, when I got the message to close my business business, I was conflicted about that. I had to ask again and again, do I really want to do that? With each passing day the realization that I did want to close my business grew stronger. I could feel it in my heart. Even though my ego was struggling with the idea because my identity was so wrapped up in this business I started 18 years ago. It took another two weeks of daily inquiry to get to that final decision to close my business. Some answers to your questions will come quickly and you'll make decisions just as quick others will take longer. The more you practice these five steps to accessing your inner was wisdom, the quicker the answers will come. It's like developing a muscle. The key is to be patient and consistent. Alright, to wrap this up, here's a quick summary of those five steps to accessing inner wisdom. Number one step into nature to express your gratitude. Three, get present with your environment four, ask your question, and five, listen without judgment. Now I like to invite you to do a 30 day challenge. Are you up for it? Here's what you do. Just get into nature everyday and practice these steps to accessing inner wisdom. I promise you if you do this, you will start to hear the whispers of your heart, that inner wisdom that will guide you to your best self and the grandest version of your life. If you accept this challenge, leave a comment something like challenge accepted and then let me know how does the magic unfold in your life. Alright, thank you so much for joining me on this exquisite, joyful journey to your best life. And we'll catch you next time.