URI:
   DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Yoga Simplified Method
  HTML https://yogasimplifiedmethod.createaforum.com
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       *****************************************************
   DIR Return to: Collective Fall YTT 22'
       *****************************************************
       #Post#: 27--------------------------------------------------
       Road Signs - Chapter 3/4
       By: yogasimplifiedmethod Date: September 21, 2022, 10:38 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Chapter 3
       Isn't it interesting how the topics we discussed during the zoom
       session resonate with the chapters in the book? The homework
       assignment regarding the shad darshans describes intellect,
       elements, intuition, dualities, logic, etc. So what does Phil
       mean with the title, "Keep Intuition In View At All Times?" He
       identifies six types starting on page 30. Out of the six, can
       you share an experience you have had with at least one?
       Travel Tips
       Dr. Goldberg offers a list for your journey in life. For the
       next few days and continuously (if possible) practice those tips
       and see if you notice anything. Please respond to any of the
       questions asked in topic seven.
       Chapter 4
       This chapter focuses a lot on the power of intellect but may
       limit the use of intellect (the irony). He's basically saying
       intellect is great, but you can only go so far with it. Reflect
       on the conversation between me and Erin K discussing logos in
       the Nyaya concept. Sometimes too much logic and rationale can
       reduce intuition, feelings, emotions, and vice versa. There are
       highly intelligent beings in the world who are high achievers,
       book smarts, scholars, innovators, etc, that personify
       brilliance. However, they may lack social intelligence,
       emotional intelligence, and street smart.
       As we discussed before, sometimes, when we overindulge in a
       topic or feed too much into one way of thinking, one way of
       being, we will lose the ability to adapt, retract, and discern.
       Travel Tips
       Based on chapter 1/2 and our conversations through zoom, choose
       between questions 1-3 to answer and practice the remaining three
       (read deeply, use your head, and contemplate).
       #Post#: 30--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Road Signs - Chapter 3/4
       By: Niki Ehrenkranz Date: September 22, 2022, 10:52 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Chapter 3: 6 Types of Intuition (Discovery, Creativity,
       Evaluation, Operation, Predication, Illumination)
       Evaluation- Over the passed few years I have been doing a lot of
       hiking. Over those years I have grown more in-tune with myself,
       listening to my body/mind, and advocating for myself to my
       partner or group. I haven put in the work to be more fearless
       and push myself further, but at times still need to evaluate and
       reflect, "this is my limit". I definitely still have moments
       where my breathing gets a little wonky and I have to tell the
       group I need to stop in fear I'm going to have a panic attack..
       One of my "don't do it" moments happened a few years ago while
       in Zion National Park. My friends and I had hiked up and were
       going out to angels landing. angel's landing has a very narrow
       path and a 5,770 foot drop off. There were tons of people
       walking out to the point which meant I would have to maneuver
       around them. My intuition told me I am not ready for this and
       it's ok to be fearful. I hung out with the park rangers learning
       about condors as my crew went out to the point. I still have a
       great experience and hope to go back one day!
       Travel Tips: 5. Open the Cage
       Free style journaling has always been a part of my life. No
       prompt, just pick up the journal and write it out. I will
       occasional go back and re-read and will always learn why I may
       have done something or thought a certain way. After letting
       things out on paper helps me navigate clutter in my mind. In the
       upcoming days, I will work on treating my intuition with respect
       and not be so hard on myself for doing or not doing something.
       Chapter 4: Question 1:
       In high school I was seeing a therapist who introduced me to
       mindfulness. I had no idea how this would help me, so I went
       into our sessions with an open mind and t not rock the boat. A
       licensed therapist was using this tool so I wanted to believe it
       and inclined to accept it as true. Overtime this has come full
       circle and now I know it to be helpful and true. It also goes
       with travel tip 1 in chapter 3 of opening space in your mind
       reducing noise, a safe space to clear the agitation.
       #Post#: 35--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Road Signs - Chapter 3/4
       By: Kelli Cook Date: September 25, 2022, 12:54 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Chapter 3
       The 6 Types of Intuition (Discovery, Creativity, Evaluation,
       Operation, Predication, Illumination).  Very interesting to
       read, and to be honest, I find myself having to re-read a lot of
       this book to really take in what it is saying. I have always
       been one to get sidetracked when reading, I am reading the text
       but my mind is floating somewhere else.  So this definitely
       challenges me to be in the present and really consume the
       teachings.
       I chose "Evaluation". The first sentence "A binary function that
       whispers (or screams) Yes, No, Do it or Don't.  This was me
       right before deciding to embark on YTT. I was feeling dull and
       unfulfilled too often.  I was happy with my family and friends
       but something was missing and work was no longer filling the
       rest of my cup. A lot of my life changed over the last two years
       and I just kept blaming it on that.  But maybe I changed some
       too.  I needed a new challenge and something to bring back the
       motivated person I once was!  It was hard to accept that.  Why
       was I not feeling fully happy?  I should be. What is making me
       feel down and unmotivated? I could no longer ignore or put off
       those feelings.  I had to really evaluate my emotions and deal
       with my intuition that something was missing.  Then one day I
       was at the pool with my sister-in-law, who is a yoga teacher,
       and I was telling her about these feelings and saying how I
       needed something new, something challenging, something to learn.
       She said you should do Yoga training.  And yes, that was it.
       It clicked at that moment.  I had been loving how yoga has
       helped me mentally for the last two years.  My favorite studio
       just announced YTT.  The early bird discount was a week away.
       It felt right.  My old self would have contemplated it way too
       long or even talked myself out of it.  But I sent in the deposit
       the next day.  And here we are!!
       Travel Tips - "Get Away from it All" -  I immediately thought
       about Social Media and why I decided to give that up. A period
       of time when you are disengaged from the problem you are trying
       to solve (mine was too much information that overwhelmed me,
       made me anxious or compared to others).  Stop obsessing. Go
       somewhere and do something else.  It has been two weeks off
       social media and I have been a much more present happy person it
       seems!
       Chapter 4 - Travel Tip Question #1 - If you find yourself
       inclined to accept something as true, when you are not really
       sure, ask yourself if it is because...
       This was me after having my son.  6 weeks after having him I
       found myself lost. I was having huge emotions I have never felt
       before.  I felt sad, alone, and isolated due to the pandemic.
       My husband was back to work.  I could not sleep and could not
       shut my mind off. I was over-consuming information about
       motherhood. I was experiencing intense insomnia and panic
       attacks in the middle of the night. What was happening to me?  I
       remember thinking. I finally accepted I needed some help and
       went to see my doctor.  Looking back now, I am so happy with how
       they tried to help me at first.  It was not just to put me on
       anxiety medicine right away, it was to try and meet with a
       therapist who can help me with tools. One of those tools was
       meditation.  I wanted to believe that it would help and I had
       heard how much it had helped others, but it seemed overwhelming
       and almost like a lot of work.  I was not sure.  Looking back
       now, it really does.   You just have to find the right people
       and space to learn and do it with.  You have to be ready and
       open to it. You have to be ready to put in the work and practice
       of it. Looking back now, I have come a long way from that woman
       and I have the tools to help me through it now!
       #Post#: 36--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Road Signs - Chapter 3/4
       By: Dmurphy193 Date: September 25, 2022, 1:31 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Chap 3:
       Of the six types of intuition, Prediction is one of the types of
       intuition that has played a large part in my life. When working
       in the different roles with the Police Department. Intuition
       which at the time, I had only thought of it as a 'gut feeling'.
       It was a feeling that was relied heavily on to try and keep
       safe. There were so many times that I was able to react quickly
       to a person that I was dealing with who had reveled some subtle
       cues through body language or words that would lead me to
       believe they were about to escalate the situation.
       Travel tips 5, Open the Cage: unrestricted self expression for
       me has typically come in the form of brain storming through
       decisions or options with a good friend when I'm looking for
       answers from an outside prospective. For other answers and just
       quieting my mind to open the opportunity for answers to come, I
       get a lot through art, drawing just sketching or ever
       markers/colored pencils and painting. I don't invest my time in
       that like I used too but I am always interested in starting back
       up with it.
       Chap 4, question 1:
       I try to look at everything from different perspectives and
       decide from there if I want to or need to believe it. One
       example that I have was losing all belief of religion while I
       was a Police Officer. I became so accustomed to seeing people
       commit horrendous and violent crimes against other people and
       just the negativity, self-fish and ugly behavior that they
       exhibited. It seemed to me that there was no way that there
       could be anything better to go to after this life. It was the
       only world I really knew after starting that job at 19 years
       old. During that time it was easier want to believe that's just
       how it is.
       It wasn't until I was away from that career and the people in
       it, where I was able to be more open minded to  spirituality and
       choose to believe in it, because of hopefulness that there's
       more purpose to this life then we understand.
       #Post#: 39--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Road Signs - Chapter 3/4
       By: yogasimplifiedmethod Date: September 25, 2022, 6:30 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [quote author=Dmurphy193 link=topic=6.msg36#msg36
       date=1664130672]
       Chap 3:
       Of the six types of intuition, Prediction is one of the types of
       intuition that has played a large part in my life. When working
       in the different roles with the Police Department. Intuition
       which at the time, I had only thought of it as a 'gut feeling'.
       It was a feeling that was relied heavily on to try and keep
       safe. There were so many times that I was able to react quickly
       to a person that I was dealing with who had reveled some subtle
       cues through body language or words that would lead me to
       believe they were about to escalate the situation.
       Travel tips 5, Open the Cage: unrestricted self expression for
       me has typically come in the form of brain storming through
       decisions or options with a good friend when I'm looking for
       answers from an outside prospective. For other answers and just
       quieting my mind to open the opportunity for answers to come, I
       get a lot through art, drawing just sketching or ever
       markers/colored pencils and painting. I don't invest my time in
       that like I used too but I am always interested in starting back
       up with it.
       Chap 4, question 1:
       I try to look at everything from different perspectives and
       decide from there if I want to or need to believe it. One
       example that I have was losing all belief of religion while I
       was a Police Officer. I became so accustomed to seeing people
       commit horrendous and violent crimes against other people and
       just the negativity, self-fish and ugly behavior that they
       exhibited. It seemed to me that there was no way that there
       could be anything better to go to after this life. It was the
       only world I really knew after starting that job at 19 years
       old. During that time it was easier want to believe that's just
       how it is.
       It wasn't until I was away from that career and the people in
       it, where I was able to be more open minded to  spirituality and
       choose to believe in it, because of hopefulness that there's
       more purpose to this life then we understand.
       [/quote]
       I can't even imagine some of the experiences you endured working
       in the police department. Intuition would have to play such a
       huge role to interpret body language and making sure you're
       making the right decision in a split second. I commend you not
       only for sharing bits and pieces of your previous career but
       also for stepping out of the role to embark on other paths and
       expand on the nature of humanity.
       Opening the cage is a great way of self-expression and a
       mind-release exercise. We will be doing this in training in the
       third immersion, so you'll get some time to color at the studio.
       In the meantime, I hope you are finding some time to sketch and
       color as it's a great tool not only for the mind but overall
       therapeutic.
       #Post#: 40--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Road Signs - Chapter 3/4
       By: heidi91@comcast.net Date: September 26, 2022, 7:57 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       I chose evaluation…. The moment of truth comes after a long
       period of ruminating, when you can’t put off your decision and
       your gut finally tips the scale, this stuck with me after
       reading it. Going back to work full time when my kids were in
       school full days was a hard decision for me I struggled with how
       to do it all, be a mom and work full time but I some how
       managed. (Never easy but doable especially when you have an
       amazing husband to help) just when I think it’s all good I get a
       call from a friend who has been asking me to work for him for
       over 2 years but I honestly wanted to but didn’t think it was
       doable to add another thing to my life, but this was a dream of
       mine to work for this company. After countless phone calls with
       my friend and me saying the time isn’t right I just said yes
       this day. It was a game changer in my career and I spent the
       next 10 years traveling for this company teaching amazing people
       the art of loving what they do! I don’t know why I waiting so
       long to make the decision but I’m so happy that day I finally
       went with my gut and said yes! The journey was worth it!
       travel tip #1 open space in your mind. I’m going to say this I
       know not everyone feels the same way but Covid was good for me.
       It helped me a tremendously! Covid forced me to slow down I had
       no choice my whole life came to a standstill. My husband worked
       from home and my kids had school from home and my job I can’t
       work from home I literally had nothing to do. It forced me to
       focus on me and only me. I took this time to work on myself, I
       took to my mat daily and walked outside with my dog daily. I
       spent a lot of time during the day alone with my thoughts it
       taught me to get rid of stress I didn’t realize I was carrying.
       I learned skills to carry with me know to continue life a little
       more quietly and less stressful.
       #Post#: 45--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Road Signs - Chapter 3/4
       By: Madi Rowan Date: September 26, 2022, 4:13 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Chapter 3: 6 Types of Intuition
       I loved this chapter & found myself really relating to the third
       form of intuition which is Evaluation. I actually experienced
       exactly this as I came upon deciding to sign up for YTT. YTT has
       been something I've felt called for for years now but for
       whatever reason, it never happened. Maybe it was due to lack of
       a connection with the studio, budget, time, etc., it just never
       seemed like a real or doable possibility until the Collective
       announced this program back in May. I was SO excited & felt like
       the timing was right. However, my husband plays basketball
       overseas & he signed to play again in Norway around the same
       time the YTT announcement was made. This made my decision to
       actually sign up extremely difficult. I went from feeling so
       excited to really torn because signing up for YTT would be that
       I would have to be away from my husband for 4 months. We've done
       long distance for a month or so here & there but it's never been
       longer than 2.5 months at a time. After a lot of conversation, I
       was feeling really torn & really stressed because although I
       wanted to do YTT so badly, I also didn't want to disappoint my
       husband, who obviously enjoys having me live overseas with him.
       Towards the end of July, I had to really lean into my evaluation
       part of my intuition leading up to me taking the action to sign
       up. As I really listened to my inner voice, I knew this was the
       right decision for me in this stage of light. I even believe
       that it will help me once I do go over to Norway to be with my
       husband after YTT is over find peace in my surroundings, since
       Norway 2 years ago was not an entirely pleasant situation for me
       personally. Once I found clarity & weighed all of the pros &
       cons, my decision to follow my intuition & sign up for YTT felt
       right & on par with what I envision for myself. So I did it &
       I'm so grateful! Also the day that I went to actually sign up, I
       noticed a gap that I hadn't realized before in our schedule
       which allows me time to visit my husband in Norway at the end of
       October, which made this even more doable because that trip will
       be right in the middle of the four months! Ultimately, I
       followed my intuition & everything worked out!
       Chapter 3 Travel Tips
       I definitely notice that creativity ("open the cage") is a
       constant in my life & has been one since I was a little girl.
       I've always been very creative in various aspects of my life. I
       loved to play the piano (I took lessons for over 10 years), I
       have always enjoyed singing (still do to this day, I find it to
       be extremely peaceful, relaxing, & good for my mind), & since
       I'm an introvert, I've always enjoyed writing. I journaled when
       I was a teenager almost every night & that practice of getting
       my thoughts out was very comforting for me & I believe it helped
       cultivate a trusting relationship within myself. Now, a large
       portion of my work requires me to be creative, which makes it a
       lot of fun but at first I definitely remember feeling a little
       concerned or nervous about what others may thought, especially
       because a large part of my work & creativity is done on social
       media for many to see.
       Chapter 4: Question #1
       If you find yourself inclined to accept something as true when
       you're not really sure, ask yourself if it's because believing
       it gives you hope...
       I transferred after my sophomore year of college & it was
       undoubtably one of my most difficult seasons of my life. I had
       trained essentially my entire youth & teenage years to earn a
       full basketball scholarship to a Division I school, which I was
       able to do & it's still one of my greatest accomplishments to
       date. However, it was not the right situation for me & it was
       extremely difficult to accept since I had worked so hard to get
       there in the first place + how hard I was working every day to
       maintain my scholarship. I was struggling with a variety of
       things, but deep down I believe I was just so stuck in the
       uncertainty of my situation & since I didn't want to come to
       terms with it, it caused me great distress until I had no other
       option than to accept it & move forward. I was able to find
       myself another full basketball scholarship at the school I
       ultimately graduated from  & although I was so sad, uncertain, &
       truly didn't know one person at this new school, I had to
       believe it was the right decision because it was one of the few
       things that gave me hope.
       Again, I find this relative to "The Path of Action" in Chapter 1
       because it demanded ego-free detachment from the fruit of one's
       efforts whether I was ready for it or not!
       #Post#: 47--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Road Signs - Chapter 3/4
       By: Erin Curro Date: September 26, 2022, 8:22 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Chapter 3:
       Oh, the ocean I could dive into when talking about Intuition.
       It’s funny to me, my nature is to be very empathic towards and
       highly intuitive of other’s emotions while also being hyperaware
       of my mind and body and also like… not at all haha. My Dad (who
       fun fact aside: is also a Psychologist) used to tell me growing
       up, “Erin, watch your body in space!” because I would literally
       walk into walls, bump into corners, etc. all the time. My mind
       and body were shall we say, disconnected. I have learned over
       the years to strengthen this mind body connection and now have
       the language to understand and conceptualize what was happening.
       That being I struggled with lacking interoception as well as
       alexithymia. For example, not being able to describe what I was
       feeling or even knowing that I was experiencing a certain
       feeling and ability to notice where it was showing up in my
       body. To this day sometimes my husband will look at me and be
       like “you seem stressed” and I will respond, “I’m not stressed,
       I feel fine” (he is always right, it just takes me a second to
       recognize it 😊).  This may seem hilarious and is quite
       the juxtaposition as a Psychologist and while I may be pretty
       great at helping others identify their thoughts and feelings all
       day long, for myself, it has been an active growth process. And
       I am learning to be more accepting of this and find the humor in
       it because it makes me smile.
       All of this to say, I am choosing Creativity and Evaluation. I
       resonate with the different facets of Intuition but Creativity
       and Evaluation stood out to me most in reflecting on this
       assignment. Creativity automatically makes me think of dance and
       I had a very trusting relationship with my body. I had to trust
       that it would know where to go and it helped me to let go. If I
       tried to over control a movement and got in my head, it
       backfired 100% of the time, so it became very adaptive for me to
       equally tune in while being equally tuned out meaning quite
       literally trusting the process. My yoga practice is now very
       similar. And it is something I now try to embody in my daily
       living, which is my authentic self, and also what my rational
       mind or logic mind tries to ‘hijack’ and control. Attempting to
       control things has always provided an artificial sense of safety
       and security and I am continuously learning to trust and let go.
       And sometimes when my mind tries to control things it can shift
       me into Evaluation mind including sometimes Evaluating what I
       believe are facts without sound logic aka making evaluations
       based off of feelings. For example, in some situations I have to
       be mindful that I cannot always trust my mind/body, such as
       post-treatment having to accept that I may not get a hunger cue
       at times but that counterintuitively means I need to ensure I
       still do eat and eat enough to fuel my body. Evaluation can also
       lead me astray at times, such as overthinking YTT before I
       signed up, or in general ruminating on what-if worries. When I
       have found myself in these thinking traps, I instead *try* to
       follow the principle of “just do it” or “do it scared” when
       again my mind tries to go “stranger danger!” And sometimes, such
       as with YTT, this “do it” philosophy comes with the
       compassionate encouragement of others in my life, in this case
       Jim reminding me of how much I needed and deserved to do this
       for myself. And I realized it was all ok! I am learning to
       practice these wise mind skills (and humbled by the struggle
       daily) where I try to walk more of a middle path between logic
       and emotion mind and evaluate information (psychologically,
       emotionally, physically, or otherwise) as “both/and” with
       increased compassion, curiosity, and acceptance. I believe that
       the more I am able to tap into this cognitive pathway
       continuously will allow me to tap into a deeper level of
       Intuition that is more Illuminative.
       Travel Tips:
       5) Open the Cage
       I felt drawn to this Travel Tip as I can often find myself
       ruminating on what-if worries and finding excuses to do so. I
       have found breathwork and mindfulness meditation in addition to
       yoga practice to really help me mind my monkey mind. I have
       noticed since doing this more intentionally and daily I feel
       much more at ease vs. anxious. I am again humbled by how taking
       an equal and opposite approach has helped me to feel more at
       peace. It has now become a non-negotiable for me and has become
       a nice parallel process in my clinical work as well, explaining
       to clients that I tried to write it off too, but it will and
       does work. So this week, I will work on deepening this practice,
       taking additional time to prioritize meditation and mindfulness,
       not just in the morning or at night, but throughout my day. I
       will also practice this by continuing to say “yes” and opening
       myself up to new experiences. Focusing on pursuing the things I
       value even when I feel like I do not have the time or can’t. For
       example, this past weekend I was On Call at the VA/hospital. In
       years past, I would have allowed the stress to dictate my
       weekend plans and while they were limited, for example, I could
       not attend a CS class, I was able to still go to Jim’s Friday
       night game (they won against their biggest rival, Pinkerton-yay
       Lancer’s!) and go out to dinner with our friends. When I found
       myself starting to worry, I realized I was making excuses to
       find things to worry about and instead tried to reframe my
       thinking to wow, ok, I can do hard things and be ok, which
       opened me up to realize I can do more than the self-limiting
       beliefs my mind tries to tell me. So I am electing to let go of
       feeling caged in my own mind and recognize that the door has
       always been open, I just have to make the intentional steps to
       pass through it. It's almost like as Jim will lovingly remind
       me, everything will be ok! He is right again. It was and it will
       be ok.
       Chapter 4
       Travel Tip Question #1 -
       I really liked this Chapter and continue to echo the same
       thematic elements I think I started to outline from Chapter 3 in
       my description above. I truly admire cognitive flexibility and
       resiliency, an Achille’s heel for me that I am actively working
       to strengthen. My overindulgence can be ruminating at times too
       much on worries or leaning too heavily into emotion mind and not
       challenging discomforting thoughts and feelings when they arise
       with wisdom and discernment from again more of a wise mind
       approach. What we feed grows, so I am practicing not feeding
       into the worries. YTT has also been a nice adjunct to my
       clinical work, which at times, like for all of us I’m sure can
       feel all-consuming. I realized being overly invested in work
       without investing in more of the activities that bring me joy
       and resting is a recipe for burnout. And I smile too just
       thinking about the parallel process. I think my clients are all
       going to be sick of hearing me talk about mindfulness. For
       example, I literally had a conversation with a client today
       making myself the butt of the joke and professionally disclosing
       how mindfulness based practice has been a lifelong journey for
       me too and not something that comes easily, even with a
       Doctorate behind my name as a Psychologist, but has been truly
       lifechanging. So mindfulness, meditation, etc. I very much
       struggled to accept it as being capable of working so well for
       me if I truly put in the consistent work. I now definitely see
       just how effective it is and I am forever grateful to you all
       and YTT. It also warms my heart to see many of my clients now
       buying into practicing and cultivating their own yoga based
       practice and celebrating their healing and personal growth in
       and outside of therapy. YTT has been the gift that keeps giving
       back. From the top to bottom of my heart, thank you.
       #Post#: 48--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Road Signs - Chapter 3/4
       By: erin_kelly Date: September 27, 2022, 8:20 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Chapter 3:
       Of the six types of intuition I choose cooperation. Since losing
       my Dad I often look for “signs.” I often catch myself asking him
       to show me a sign and help me see that I am on the right path. I
       feel these signs in the slightest way but I try to use my
       intuition and these signs as a guide. I’ve been trying to be
       more intune with my intuition and when I have a persistent urge
       or a repeated feeling I try my hardest to follow.
       Travel Tip #6: Pay attention. Like I said above I often look for
       signs from my dad and I think of how many times those have been
       overlooked. I want to start paying attention and keeping track
       of the calling cards. In the book they also made an example that
       dreams can often be overlooked. They suggest staying alert to
       the signals that are trying to break through your awareness.
       Chapter 4:
       Travel tip #1: If you find yourself inclined to accept something
       as true when you’re not really sure, ask yourself if it's
       because…Believing it gives you hope.
       After I lost my dad I felt hopeless. The strongest man I knew
       had died by suicide. In these moments of hopelessness I tried to
       turn to God and believe in him. I believed in God and that he
       was going to turn something bad like losing my dad into
       something good. I had to believe this was true to give me some
       hope when I had felt so hopeless.
       #Post#: 50--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Road Signs - Chapter 3/4
       By: oliviamarotta Date: September 27, 2022, 4:11 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Chapter 3
       Operation
       There have been a few notable occurrences in my life that I can
       distinctly recall following my intuition. I would consider
       myself a logical person, I try to analyze (and sometimes
       over-analyze) situations from all sides before making a decision
       or conclusion about something and value fairness above most
       things.
       As an adult, I feel a deeper connection to my intuition and find
       myself having a “gut feeling” when I am in certain situations. I
       try to be cognizant of what my body and mind are telling me, and
       to act or decide accordingly. When I was younger, I remember my
       parents telling me that they were proud of me for being afraid
       or nervous about something, and doing it anyways. I use to feel
       a sense of pride in the fact that I didn’t let fear hold me
       back, but my perspective has changed.
       * In the past two years, I have noticed that I have been
       experiencing stronger and more frequent waves of anxiety, which
       mostly stemmed from feeling a lack of control over the
       environment around me paired with a fear of the unknown. I have
       made a conscious effort to acknowledge when my body is sending
       me signals, and to honor my intuition when something feels off.
       The logical part of me wants to make sense of it and attribute
       symptom A to cause B, when not everything can be explained in
       such simple, linear terms.
       This summer, I had tickets to a concert with one of my best
       friends from college. It was for an artist I really like and I
       was looking forward to seeing my friend again after a few
       months. A few days before the concert, I had this sinking
       feeling every time I thought about going to this concert. I
       became so frustrated with myself because I couldn’t explain why
       I had this feeling and could not understand the reason for it. I
       ended up not going to the concert because physically I felt so
       strongly against it, despite trying to convince myself that I
       would enjoy it. Even though I missed out on an experience, I am
       proud of myself for listening to my intuition and following its
       lead.
       To me, “keep intuition in view at all times” means to not lose
       sight of our innate feelings and responses in favor of logical
       and rational information or explanations.
       Travel Tips
       
       #4) Get away from it all
       The travel tip that I can connect with the most is “get away
       from it all.” I am someone who wants to do everything and say
       yes to everything, often at the expense of my free time, so
       creating boundaries and putting my needs first is something that
       I am working on. I used to babysit a lot, and found myself
       mentally drained at the requests I would get from parents
       because I felt the need to say yes all the time. I over-extended
       myself for people and my own interests took a back seat. Over
       the past year, I gained the courage to set limits and not allow
       my time to be taken for granted.
       I can also relate this to my job as a bridal seamstress who is
       consumed by work May-October, which is peak wedding season. I
       spend six hours a day, four days a week, in front of a sewing
       machine. Much of my day is spent focusing on the intricate work
       that I do and when I get home all I want to do is relax, not
       alter curtains for my neighbors, pants for my aunt,
       etc.🤪 I find that I need to step away and focus my
       attention on other things, such as taking yoga, reading a book,
       or catching up on a show I like in order to not feel burnt-out
       day after day.
       Chapter 4
       Travel Tips
       If I find myself inclined to accept something as true when I’m
       not really sure, it’s because I don’t want to rock the boat. I
       am someone who struggles with conflict, confrontation and
       disagreements and find it to be really uncomfortable. I would
       rather pacify the situation than stand up for myself, and
       sometimes compromise my needs in the process. From this chapter,
       I have learned that I should stay true to my intuition and not
       trust the information I receive at face value. I believe that
       many things in life require balance, such as intellect and
       intuition, and that I can speak my own truth while respecting
       that of others, and that one truth is not necessarily more
       correct or better than the other.
       *****************************************************
   DIR Next Page