As a workshop and retreat leader, I often have to come up with something new to present, a new title or descriptions of my classes (or rewriting my website, which I'm doing today). It leaves me a little perplexed really. I feel humbled by the fact that I really have nothing to teach except what I am learning very viscerally, in this human earth school. What I learn over and over again is how important it is to find the still small center of me to hold on to, in all the busy, dizzy, turbulent, whipped around until your head spins world of daily activity. A place to stop, and ground myself by breathing. Or by taking a walk in grassy fields and wooded forests. Or soaking in a hot tub while listening to the red winged blackbirds.
But really, of all the ways that I practice finding my center, either through daily meditation, weekly yoga, tai chi or dancing in circles, the one that gives me solace every time is my silver mirror: my journal. It's my link to my guidance within, and it helps me develop my inner wisdom.
How does it do that? I'm not sure - I've read many books on journal writing, and visited umpteen blogs by authors - really, though, the simple truth is that I sit down with a quandry, or a question, or a slight feeling of unease, or a desire to praise the day, and I confide in myself. I open a doorway to another part of me, call it a higher self, and I communicate with it. I ask a question, using a similar method as Writing down your soul author Janet Conner suggests (http://janetconner.com/tp40/Default.asp?ID=122654), and often by the time I get to the bottom of the page I have an answer or at least I feel more at peace with myself for having expressed my feelings. Is it angels answering me? some would say that. I prefer to think of it as listening to my inner wisdom, whatever the source.
Of course, sometimes I use my journal to jot down lists of things to do, or funny things my kids said, or write drafts of articles for the blog, but mostly it's my Inner Wisdom that I want to access. I like to use creative visualization to imagine meeting my Wise Inner Self, and that helps me get in touch with a wiser, seemingly older Self who often gives me good counsel. If you imagined yourself at 80 years old, talking to your forty-something self, you might discover your inner wisdom close at hand. That's the kind of exercise I love to do in my classes and retreats. You'd be surprised at how wise you already are, if you just take the time to consult your wisdom.
Namaste,
Jenn/musemother
