Love and Appreciate Your Body

To begin, identify one part of your body (eyes, hands, waist, arms, etc.) that you really like, or one thing your body does well such as walking, dancing, sports, deep breathing, playing music, etc. This part must be something that you really like, not something you wished you like or sort of like. It doesn't matter if you have chosen this part before.

Once you've identified the part you like or the activities your body supports, give love and appreciation to your body during your morning routine. While you are combing your hair, brushing your teeth, or showering, speak to your body in your mind or out loud. Either way, your body hears you. For example, "Thank you, wonderful eyes, for how attractive you are, all the wonderful things that you show me, and the ways you let me share my feelings with others."

When you have done this with consistency, you can drop it as part of your morning routine and do it any time during the day.

Listen and Attend to Your Body

1. Stillness Exercise. Draw or imagine a large circle with a dot in the center. Take a few deep breaths and relax as much as possible. When you are ready, focus on the dot in the center of the circle and inhale slowly. Keeping your focus on the dot, hold your breath for a few seconds. Exhale slowly. Inhale again focusing on the dot, but as you exhale, shift your focus slowly to the large circle surrounding the dot. Hold for a few seconds. Begin your inhale and focus on the dot. Hold. Exhale focusing on the large circle. Hold. Repeat your inhale and exhale until you experience stillness inside you.
2. Scanning Exercise. Do the Stillness Exercise (above). When you feel still, imagine that your inner, intuitive eyes can operate like a scanner. Allow your inner eyes to 'scan' your body with x-ray vision that can see through your body. Start at the top of your head and go back and forth all the way down to your feet. When you are done, if you wish, you can retrace your steps. Begin with your feet and go up to the top of your head. You are looking for (1) any places that draw your attention and (2) changes in what you perceive to be your normal pattern(s). If either of these arise while you are scanning, turn your attention those areas and gently imagine yourself breathing warmth and caring into that area. Jot down your experience and do the scanning exercise again in a few days. Pay attention to what you sense and feel during the exercise and throughout the day.
3. Body's Messages. Act on your body's messages within the parameters of common sense. If you become concerned about something, write your concerns down. Examine your concern from a variety of perspectives. Ask yourself questions such as, How long have I been concerned about this part of my body? What are simple steps that I can take to discover what is bothering me? If this concern was a message from my body, what would that message be? Is there someone whose perspective about this concern would be helpful? At what point should I seek a healthcare provider's opinion? Am I using common sense?

Grow and Nourish Your Sensitivity

1. Stimulation. Avoid constant work, television, media exposure, or activities that can numb you. Learn to slow down or stop. Cherish time in quietude.
   Select one evening per week or per every two weeks when you will not work, turn on the media, or do other things to avoid quiet. Instead of fasting from food, practice fasting from noise. Give yourself quiet for at least 20 minutes. When you've become accustomed to the absence of stimulation, take a question into your quiet. Invite intuition to be at work.
2. Exercise. Intuition requires energy and alertness. Exercise elevates your circulation and reduces tension. Find a physical activity that you enjoy and do it three times a week.
   Meditative walking is centuries old. Select a place you like to walk in nature or in the city. Clear your mind as much as possible. Begin to walk by watching your feet out of the corner of your eye. Pay attention to one foot and then pay attention to the other. Alternate your attention from one foot to the next as you walk. If thoughts enter your mind, return your attention to your feet. Walk for 20 -30 minutes using this technique. When you finish your walk, sit still for a few minutes and note any creative thoughts that you have.
3. Rest. Regular restoration of the body through relaxation and sleep keeps you alert to your body's signals. Make a conscious decision to sleep, nap, or relax when your body indicates a need.
   Practice the Stillness Exercise (above) until you can obtain inner stillness within a minute or two of beginning the circle-dot breathing. Or, choose a time of day for a 10 - 20 minute nap, such as before or after dinner; or immediately when you come home. Invite your intuition to visit you during your rest periods .
4. Food. While you wouldn't buy gasoline that revs your car engine to unsafe speeds, makes your car sputter along, or stalls your engine out, many people eat food that does just that to their bodies. Nourish your body's sensitivity to intuition with good food. Choose a food type you think is not good for you (sugar, fat, excessive starches, etc.) and go without it for as many days or weeks as you can. Notice any change of thoughts, behaviors, or sense of wellbeing. Re-introduce the food slowly, asking your body to clearly signal you if it isn't contributing to your health. Ask your intuition to guide you to food that is better for you.
5. Thoughts. Medical research on stress shows that thoughts and emotions can directly impact your physical body. In addition, preoccupation with difficult or negative thoughts can result in bad moods and/or a reduced sense of wellbeing. Guard your mind; invest in thoughts that make a positive contribution to your life.
   1. Sit still and imagine that you are holding a magic mirror that reflects the quality of your thoughts. Focus on a thought that makes you feel serene; look in the mirror. What does the serene thought look like? Then invite thoughts that you enjoy, such as happy, creative, insightful, or uplifting thoughts. Each time a thought arises, look in your magic mirror and notice what is reflected back to you. Imagine that these images are reflecting sunshine back to you.
   2. Holding the magic mirror in your hands and looking into it, allow a challenging thought to arise---something which worries, depresses, saddens, or angers you. How does the image in the mirror change? How does your body feel while you are holding these thoughts?
   3. Bring thoughts that reflect sunshine back into your mind. Allow these thoughts to gently evaporate your challenging thoughts much like fog disappears from a mirror when the sun hits it.
   4. Experience the magic mirror as a guardian of your inner being setting you free to be clear and reflective rather than preoccupied with challenging thoughts. Release your inner reflective sun.

String Theory Intuition

When trying to enhance your sensitivity to intuition, it may help you to apply some of the ideas of modern physics. The string theory suggests that the core building blocks of the universe and your body are miniscule vibrating strings. Think of your intuitive body as a vibrating, information-rich field that is in constant communication with the world around and within you.

1. Sit or stand somewhere. Inhale deeply and exhale slowly until you are relaxed. Experience your body as an exquisitely designed instrument composed of millions of sensitive strings that vibrate in response to deep, silent communication without words. Focus on what you are looking at, hearing, or sensing at that moment. It might be a flower, book, stone, bottle, fence, etc. It could be anything. When you are focused on whatever attracted your attention, imagine that information is being exchanged via sensitive string 'waves' inside each of you. You can't hear or see anything being exchanged, but you recognize that you are in active communication. Using your imagination, thank whatever you communicated with and look around your surroundings. Find another attraction and allow yourself to experience the vibratory information exchange between you and it. After a few minutes exchange, thank what you focused on. Repeat by finding another attraction and doing the same thing.
2. After you have completed the information exchange and expressed gratitude 3 or 4 times, ask yourself: What links these attractions together? How are they alike? How are they different? What attracts me profoundly at the level of my strings? What have I learned from this experience? What do I know about life that I didn't know? What questions do I still have?

Author Sharon Franquemont © 2006 Life Science Foundation, used with permission.