Today we ask that you listen to and trust your “gut feelings.”

When you are faced with situations that you find confusing, or when you are confronted with a choice and feel indecisive, there is always a part of you that knows what to do.

The problem is, your conscious thought process is often in conflict with this deeper awareness.  Often your conscious thought process is heavily informed by societal expectations.  You have been taught, since childhood, to believe that you “should” do certain things, in order to be a virtuous and responsible person.  This programming and conditioning is so strong that you believe that these thoughts come from you, when in fact they are an overlay of other people’s thought processes.

Standing in opposition to your programming and conditioning is the voice of your Deeper Self, which some identify as the “gut feeling” or “intuition.”  In fact, this part of you is the Real You.  It is the Timeless You, that existed before all your mental programming and conditioning.  Some people think of this as the “heart,” and in truth this consciousness is rooted in your torso — both in the “heart” and “gut.”

So these conflicts arise between the mind and heart.  When this happens, you feel literally torn in two.  You are anxious.  You cannot rest easily.  Your dreams are troubled.  It is an unpleasant state.  Some people are always in this state, because their conditioning is so strong that they simply do not know how to listen to their hearts anymore.  Sometimes mental and physical breakdowns occur to people who are in this state.  The heart cannot be ignored without causing damage.

How do you listen to your heart?

Pay attention to what is happening in your body.  Pay attention to your indigestion, your shaky nerves, your insomnia.  Your heart is trying to speak to you.

In order to hear the heart, you must learn to quiet your mind.  One way to do this is by learning to meditate.  Another way to do this is to cultivate a practice of questioning your thoughts — “The Work” of Byron Katie is a very clear and useful tool in this regard.  Questioning your thoughts is a direct and powerful way to undo your mental programming and conditioning.

The main thing to understand is, the Voice in your Head is often wrong.  When the Voice is critical, attacking, rooted in fear, and projecting images of scarcity and doom, it is wrong.

The feeling tone of the heart and gut is a far more trustworthy guide.  It, too, has a voice, but that voice is quieter than the Mind Voice.  That is why it is essential to learn to quiet the mind.

When you learn to listen to your heart, your life experience will become gentler.  This does not mean that all your life dramas will end, but you will feel better in the midst of them.  You will be in alignment with your Deeper Self.

It is so good to learn to listen to the heart.