Hacking Your Instincts.. How to get in touch with the wild within.
RE-wilding is a big thing these days.
We are starved for connection to nature and to ourselves.
Winter Solstice is a time to go inward, a time to notice, a time to listen. Following the flow of your own natural rhythm may lead you to desire more quiet time today, or maybe not. Either way, it's a good practice to get in tune with your own nature and do what feels alive for you. Our greatest experiences are often connected to the times when we are simply being true to ourselves, accepting who we are and how we feel and acting from that place.
The influence of the planets on our human experience has been noted since our early ancestors walked the earth in cycles with the seasons and followed the stars to find their way. As we continue to utilize instruments and technologies to predict weather, navigate over seas, and Google Map our routes home for the holidays we become less and less dependent on our natural senses and instincts to guide us. We might even loose our magic if we ignore our instincts enough. Our magic being the spark that can ignite a fire in us and fuel us for creativity and survival. As a result, we crave connection to nature, connection to the earth the moon and the sun. We want to remember the wildness in us. We want to remember who we are.
Getting back to our instinctual nature means connecting with the cycles and spontaneous feelings within us, and trusting ourselves to act on them. Many of us have lost trust. Every time we have the urge to do something/say something and we don't... we are quieting our instincts and learning to doubt them. Every day seems to be full of justifications for quieting our instincts and doubt ourselves. It's as if modern society has trained us to think we don't need them at all.
Our emotional ups and downs, internal struggles between thoughts and feelings, as well as physical sensations and mental energy or fatigue are the messages we can interpret as instincts. We must listen and act on them with discernment. The more we can tune in and take action on how we feel the better we will feel. Feeling good is a symptom of being our true ourselves. Once we can appreciate and accept our nature, maybe we can look outward into the world and really appreciate nature and it's cycles all around us. Or the opposite can also be true- appreciate the nature outside and be more willing to accept the nature within you. Both routes can lead to you accepting and appreciating yourself and the world around you as it is.
The winter solstice has been celebrated for generations. People celebrate the coming light and the rebirth of the sun, a new beginning of the sun's rotation around the earth. Likewise, this is a time to reflect on what darkness you want to bring light to in your life, and what you want to cultivate in the new year, as this marks the opportunity of a new beginning for you too!
MUCH LOVE-
Jacquelyne
WAYS TO CONNECT WITH YOUR INSTINCTS/INTUITION:
-Notice how you feel emotionally and what inspired your feeling
-Notice subtle physical sensations and what they indicate for you
-Feel yourself in your body, zoom in. Where do you specifically feel that way?
-Feel what it feels like to feel that way ;)
-Listen to the message you get from the feeling
-Ask the sensation/feeling "if you could talk what would you say?"
-Close your eyes and imagine your options, notice which option has the most magnetic pull on you and which ones feel "lifeless."
-Make it a practice to check in this way with simple things (what park to walk to dog in), and build your trust in acting on those, then practice doing the same with more important situations. (changing careers)
Your intuition/instincts are not always easy to feel/interpret. It takes practice. Your every thought/feeling is not necessary an instinctual/intuitive thing. Often our programming causes us to doubt and create stories about our instincts/intuition... this is how you can tell the difference. What part of you wants to do what you feel and what part of you doesn't? Follow the SELF LOVE, not the fear.
Truly! Go with the flow! Listen to the voice within.
exactly ;)