Developing A Practice To Listen To Your Inner Voice (Once & For All)

You have wisdom within you, and this is the voice of your true self. With practice, you can learn to notice and listen to your inner voice.

You have an inner voice whether you are a practicing member of a religion.  It is given to all people regardless of their ethnicity, age, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or philosophy.

I am a coach and a teacher of the Enneagram. The Enneagram is a language that can bring all people together.  It is more than a personality tool that can help you to access your inner voice.  

Your inner voice arises from a direct connection with the energy that connects everything in the universe together. Some people call this God. Some people call this spirit. Some people call this oneness.

No matter what you call this higher power that connects all of life, animate or inanimate, together, it is real and accessible to us all.  Listen to your inner voice, and you will find your purpose.

The Three Centers of Intelligence

The Enneagram teachings remind us that there are three centers of intelligence. They are:

·         The Instinctive Center (Body Center)

·         The Feeling Center (Heart Center)

·         The Thinking Center (Head Center)

Your goal is to be healthy as you can in all three centers. Most people are out of balance. When you are out of balance, you get stuck in your personality type.

 There are nine different personality types, and you receive your primary type soon after you are born. We call this the ego.

When you are stuck in your type, you have poor access to your three centers of intelligence. The healthier you get in your Enneagram type, the greater the access you have to your centers of intelligence.

Want to learn more about the Enneagram? Click Here

Here are suggestions to strengthen your ability to name and notice what you are learning from your three intelligence centers. 

1.      Instinctive Center

This center is all about paying attention to the sensations in your body. Your body helps you to notice what is going on in the moment.

The best way to notice what is going on in your body is through practices such as yoga, meditation, walking, dancing, gardening, and anything else that helps you be aware of your body's sensations.

Listen to your inner voice. Get curious and start to explore what is going on. Your body is sending you a message through the sensations. You might experience this as pain, discomfort, tightness or a general feeling of malaise.

Your body may be telling you that you need to get another job, It might be telling you that you need to end a relationship. It might be telling you that you need to go to the doctor.

The worst thing you can do is ignore what is going on. The more you ignore your pain, the worse it will get.

Wisdom is a gift from the universe, and when you pay attention to your body's sensations, you will experience greater flow in your life.  

2.      The Feeling Center:

The feeling center is all about helping you know what is going on deep within you and those around you.

 Your emotions and your body can help you know what is going in the moment to help you understand where to focus your energy.

You can connect to your emotions by keeping a journal of how you feel.  The more you notice what is going in you, the more you will experience what other people are going through.

Try putting your hand over your heart to check if your heart is present?  Is your heart warm and open? Are you aware of your heartbeat? 

If your heart is feeling closed, think of something that helps you to experience your emotions. It could be a favourite movie or song?  Look at a photo of a loved one.  If you feel a tear coming, don't be afraid to cry.

Listen to your inner voice, and you will find inner peace. With time you will learn to notice the difference between what you think you feel and what you feel in your heart. 

If you have faced great emotional pain in your life, you may have shut down your emotions because they became too painful.  The trouble is if you keep them hidden, they will come out in ways that do not serve you and those you love.

What do your emotions tell you?  They inform you about your emotional state. Are you happy, sad, angry, joyful, playful, confused and much more?  They help you to know what kind of energy you are projecting out into the world.

You have emotions all the time.  When you are healthy, you can notice and name your feelings, which continuously change throughout the day.

 The more you practice naming your emotions, the more wisdom you will have available to make short- and long-term decisions.

Want to Learn More About How to Bring Mind, Body and Spirit Together? Click Here

3.      The Thinking Center:

The thinking center is about connecting with Essence (God).  When your mind is quiet, you can connect with the wisdom that connects with all.

The best way to open this part of you is through some form of prayer and meditation. There are so many ways to quiet your mind. If you are used to having a busy mind, it will take time and practice to calm your head's conversations.

Suppose you have never meditated before start gradually.  Start with five minutes and gradually increase over time. You can join meditation groups online. There are many great apps available for Apple and Android phones.

You can incorporate meditation into walking or dancing; you might appreciate beginning with a guided meditation; will help you to listen to your inner voice.

When your head is quiet, you will always know what you need to say and do as long as you know your area of expertise.

There is nothing wrong with thinking.  Thinking helps you to do daily tasks. However, you can benefit from learning to be present and only thinking about what you need to be concerned about in the moment.

Your goal is to keep the three-body centers open and in good health. When your instincts, emotions and mind are online, you will find a greater flow in life. I do not mean that life will always be happy and comfortable.  You will still have challenging times, but you will know you are on the right path.

Roland Legge is a certified Identity Life Coach and a minister in the United Church of Canada in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. To learn more, you can check out his website. You can also join his private Facebook group called "Discover the Enneagram."