Recently I’ve felt slightly disconnected. Disconnected in a way that is so hard to explain. With so much going on, mostly amazing stuff, and a few challenges in my personal life of late, I actually feel like my mind is going a million miles an hour, but my feelings are suppressed. Weird I know but I almost feel like the two are separate instead of a result of each other. It’s the first time I’ve felt like this, and this disconnection has really forced me to look and “feel” into why this is happening. I come across so many leaders, executives and business owners who feel like the outer world is muting the inner world at times and can blur the subtle stuff, the stuff that usually lies outside the focus of our attention.
I watched an amazing documentary a few weeks ago on how we can become disconnected from ourselves. It reinforced that we are complex beings made up of mind, body and spirit. When we are faced with the pressure, we tend to default to our rational mind, and our focus is on all things logical and analytical. It’s almost like we go all “attention out” and into autopilot. I see this around me a lot; people always having to measure and quantify everything. Whatever happened to the measure being of how we feel. So how do we tap into our greatest capabilities if we don’t see inside ourselves and let our intuition flow? Every day we have to make so many decisions, for ourselves and for others. Every decision or choice we make leads to an outcome, a consequence and a result of what we are experiencing, right now.
Being mindful and still is an obvious practice that can assist us to feel deeply and connect with our emotions but how quickly and easily we can access this depends on the person and timing. With our world changing into one, we have made, we are surrounded by deadlines, milestones to achieve and structure everywhere we look. The possibility is endless, and I know personally, with having such a growth mindset, this can be overwhelming as there are infinite possibilities in everything I look at, and everywhere I go. Harnessing this passion and overwhelm can be exhausting and can result in what I believe to be overthinking and not letting go, which in turn can “clog” the pathway to living in our emotions.
In an amazing documentary called “Innsaei”, which is an Icelandic word meaning “the sea within” or to “see within” they talk about the Polynesian’s who mapped almost the entire Pacific ocean without a tool. No GPS, that’s right, just a stick that they etched their findings on. They mapped the ocean by listening to the ocean and trusting their senses and have passed this knowledge down to eight generations, and none have ever forgotten the detail. How amazing is that and what a great lesson we can all learn from this.
In the documentary, they discuss the fact that that the world has become fragmented and that wisdom has been replaced by knowledge and knowledge has been replaced by information and data.
What does it take to have awareness of the world around us? What can we do to tap into our emotions and intuition? I am a huge fan of Mbraining, the latest research in neuroscience that shows you have three brains — Three complex and fully functional brains in your heart, your gut and your head, finally these have been researched together and not in isolation. The research shows you how to recognise and interpret the different languages of your three brains when they are communicating important messages to you.
A few tips that assist me in sinking into my intuition and emotions when I am over-living in my head include stopping and reflecting on how I actually feel about what I am doing or saying. This forces me to respond and not react to situations and base my decisions on what my intuition is telling me in conjunction with logic. When we run and get caught up being “human doings” not “human beings” it’s easy to default in reacting to situations and people. Responding takes time and meshes logic and intuition into your decision.
Getting out of my comfort zone is another way I stay in tune with who I am, and I have always loved delving into the unknown and doing new things both in my personal and professional life. This helps me grow, explore and even fail at times which can enrich me as a person as what I feel, experience and think will help me to evolve.
Getting out in nature always brings things into perspective for me, and I believe ignites all the senses we possess. A walk between seeing my clients, a break when running a workshop or getting out in the bush or on the beach on a weekend refreshes the essence of who I am and keeps me balanced. The cool salty air, the wind on my face, sandy feet and sore calves, it’s all part of being out in the real and raw awesomeness of the world we all have access to.
A strong purpose in all that I do is vitally important too. The purpose is the foundation of our lives and eliminates randomness by providing a deeper meaning to what we are doing and being. Knowing what we want and why we do what we do is imperative. Being open to change the course of action to live your purpose is where the magic is at and being in touch with who you are on all levels will assist you to live and being the “real “ you!
I would love to hear how you tap into your emotions and find balance in your life as a whole?
Renée
