Big Fluffy Flakes: A Tale of Curiosity

Big fluffy flakes of wet float down upon a chilly world. Peer closely! Within those flakes twinkle wonder. Breathe deeply of the wonder, and the world changes if only for the moment — the barren trees and ground, coated in those big fat flakes, appear magical. I, and maybe you, cannot help but laugh at the joy of those magical snowflakes. 

Several hours later the world has returned to its wintery, weary monochrome. Peer into the monochrome. What do you find?  Silence. Step into the quiet, rest in the moment. What is there? The ghosts of those flakes that beat with simple wonder.

The ghost whispers seem to say, “Life is uncertain. Sometimes within this unknown, life is really hard. It is filled with blips. Don’t give up. There are messages in the the unknown, in the blips.” I sigh accepting this truth. Another truth resonates through me. It is the magic, the mystery, twining in those impermanent flakes. 

I sense this iridescent thread of mystery that connects me to the other and the other to me. Yes, we are in peculiar times. It is true that the world is uncertain. These “truths” are just part of the picture. Those falling snowflakes fill me with curiosity. I ask, “what else is there?” I ponder, “what if I dance and laugh and feel the joy in the beauty of each moment?”

Curiosity. We choose to see the sparkling magic or we can choose to ignore it. Sometimes the ignoring isn’t conscious. We are scurrying from what was to what will be. In the scurrying, we miss the moments of wonder. When these magical moments slip past us, we stay stuck in the mundane. 

Mindful, we feel the fear threaded through the uncertainty while seeking to know what is just beyond our knowing. We know that courage will lift us into another space. That space? The extraordinary that is hidden in plain site. 

To discover the extraordinary, we attend to the moment. Aware we notice the steps that we take from what happened before to what will happen. Only within those in-between steps do we see the mystery unfolding…feel the mystery unfolding…know the flare of a spark deep inside ourself echoing the mystery. 

Aware we dive deep into our life. Each moment of the dive helps us see our purpose and live it with unbridled glee. Life is uncertain, impermanent, but with mindfulness we can experience each magical moment. In the experience we are made better. 

Van Hurst, ms, is an intuitive-coach-catalyst. She uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for navigating the mundane and extraordinary. The result of time with Van? An evolving blueprint for your life that sustains a deeper connection to your intuition and contemplative nature. 

Van is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Her most recent book, As Natural As Breathing: Being Intuitive, is available on Amazon. Contact Vanessa for life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs. 

Website / LinkedIn Profile / Facebook / ©2023

A Cornucopia of YOU!

We are edging closer to the last harvest festival — Samhain, October 31. What began with the heat of summer’s peak (Lammas, August 1) and reached it midpoint at the equinox, is now almost at the end of the reaping time. What have you been harvesting this summer/

This has been a face paced year. The icy storms of winter and the yearning for warmth don’t seem so long ago. Then came the bright, cool days of early spirng: we sowed seeds. During the heat of summer, we watched them grow. Now it is time to reap the harvest. Wow. 

What did you sow? What grew? What have you reaped and will continue to harvest as we move into the quiet time of year? 

Not sure? Try this:

Breathe deeply into this season. Surrender into the magic of your breath. Ask yourself: 

• What seeds did I sow? Then: Listen to the answers. Name whatever wafts to the surface of your being. Jot down the responses. 
• How did I nurture what I sowed? Then: Name whatever ways waft to the surface of your being. Know that this is about you. The answers are enough. Make a note of those answers.
• What did I reap? You do not need to fill a cornucopia — naming one or two things is enough. This is about you and no one else. 

This exercise is about listening to your intuition. About being in the rhythm of that listening to the voice within. As you listing to the looking back, reflect upon the many ways that you responded to your intuition without really knowing that you were. 

Intuition. Instinct. Listening to your gut. That which propels you through this mad, uncertain world. When you listen to your intuition, your worries lessen. Your path become more clear — or at least you take the next steps with clarity. When you follow your intuition, no matter where you find yourself, you will never be led astray. 

So during this time of harvest, reflect upon where you sowed this year and how your intuition encouraged you to be a master gardener of your soul. 

 Van Hurst, ms, is an intuitive-coach-catalyst. As a contemplative coach, she uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for navigating the mundane and extraordinary. The result of time with Van? Being the change you want to see in the world by creating a blueprint for your life through a deeper connection to your intuition and contemplative nature. 

Van is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Her most recent book, As Natural As Breathing: Being Intuitive, is available on Amazon. Contact Vanessa for life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

Website / LinkedIn Profile / Facebook / Twitter: @fyrserpent / ©2022

Who Are You?

Have you ever asked yourself, “Who am I? If you are like me, you’ve asked yourself this question a time or a thousand. This is not a one and done kind of question. No, it is meant to be reflected upon over and over again as you discover yourself anew. It’s the curiosity of how my perception has shifted that has me answering this question over and over again. 

The answers are found not in the roles we play, but in the roots growing deeply into our core. That which twines throughout our being and manifests in how we act. It’s from our roots that the evolution of our answer flows!

How do we discover the me in the moment? 

Breath Deep of Your Essence

This is more than a physical breath. It is moving past the barriers, the illusions, the stuff of who you are not into seeing who you are — the bright and the shadows. You do not have to like what is exposed. It is in the owning of who you are that opens you to growth. 

Breathe deep of this essence. Notice the fear and the joy that rides on the breath of this acknowledgement. Awaken the courage to be the you that grows from the roots twining into your core.

Awaken the Courage at Your Core

Life is filled with this incredible kaleidoscope of emotions. Some uplift; others have you running for the nearest refuge. All these emotions are unapologetically you. You can bask in the joy, the happy, the wonder. You can run from that which scares us. What I have realized is that no matter how long, no matter how fast I run, I cannot give my shadow the slip. It paces me. 

In time, you either meet your shadow with courage or it wears your down. I, for one, would like to meet my shadow with courage because far too many times it has worn me into fatigue. Take a deep breath of courage, enter the shadow, and look into the eyes of fear. This is the way of through. On this journey you discover the wonder of who you are. 

Share Your Wonder with the World

Fears confronted, name one thing that is your wonder. It can be anything about you — small, huge, somewhere in-between. Decide how you will share this wonder with the world. Don’t discount any action, word, or thought that changes you for the better — they are all part of the sharing. For those things light your courage and gainssss the potential to transform both you and the world as you know it. 

Breathe deep of your essence, awaken the courage at your core, share you wonder with the world. That is all. That is your enough.  

Van Hurst, ms, is an intuitive-coach-catalyst. As a contemplative coach, she uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for navigating the mundane and extraordinary. The result of time with Van? Being the change you want to see in the world by creating a blueprint for your life through a deeper connection to your intuition and contemplative nature. 

Van is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Her most recent book, As Natural As Breathing: Being Intuitive, is available on Amazon. Contact Vanessa for life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

Website / LinkedIn Profile / Facebook / Twitter: @fyrserpent / ©2022

Possibility and the Simplicity of Me

There is an effervescence in the air. Kaleidoscopic possibility. It surrounds me lifting me into incredible lightness of mystery. I am free, free to live within the mystery of life. I can finally channel the spark in my soul.

Possibility is often seen as an outside opportunity that flows inward. What if we saw possibility as being something that simmers inside of us? Something that slumbers quietly in the shadows of our soul waiting to be nudged into the light of manifestation? Something that is of us that flows through us raising us to our best self?

How do we bring this possibility, be it inside or out, into the light of our being? Begin by naming the possibility. 

Breathe Into Your Soul

Quiet yourself. Feel the breath flowing into your body. Let your breath flow to your core where it dances with with your flame. 

Gently blow on your flame. See the spark flare. Ask to know the pathway of possibility. Even if you cannot quite hear the guiding melody of possibility, trust that you will know the call of possibility when the time is right. 

Possibility catches a ride on your breath. It flows from your core to your heart. Breathe it into the expanse of your heart.

Live Possibility From Your Heart

In our head we come up with so many reasons why the possibility is, well, impossible. Never fear that barriers will prevent you from realizing your dream. The heart is wired to expand into any possibility. The not-so-possible becomes a roadmap of pathways to realization. 

For the heart speaks in mystery and magic. In the twining we see the kaleidoscope of possibility. We let go of fear as we recognize not one, not two, but many ways to live within the possibility of who we are. 

Possibility reminds us that life is to be lived not in a static way but in an ever changing, moment by moment path that calls us to simply be our self. 

You see the possibility, now what?

Grasp Possibility

This is not the tight grip of all or nothing. No, this is holding possibility gently like water in the palm of your heart. It is seeing the flame of your soul reflect off the crystals of potential and answer the call you to be exactly who you are. 

Hold it gently in the palms of your heart. Rest in the calm. Listen in the silence. Allow the possibility to expand whatever way it  needs. Let the possibility become you.

As I read this, it seems ungrounded, nebulous. But, that is how possibility begins —  no matter how small or impossible it seems. Breathe it into your soul. Listen to its quiet words. When you are ready, allow your heart’s desire to encompass it. Then grasp the possibility in both hands. Act! Dance into your incredible lightness of being. 

Change is constant. Possibility creates an expansive path into the uncertainty that a leads to change. 

Van Hurst, ms, is an intuitive-coach-catalyst. As a contemplative coach, she uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for navigating the mundane and extraordinary. The result of time with Van? Creating a blueprint for your life through a deeper connection to your intuition and contemplative nature. 

Van is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Her most recent book, As Natural As Breathing: Being Intuitive, is available on Amazon. Contact Vanessa for life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

Website / LinkedIn Profile / Facebook / Twitter: @fyrserpent / ©2022

No Labels, No Rules, No Definitions

How would you like to live in a place of no labels, no rules, no definitions? I can almost hear you say, “YIKES!” If everything in life had none of the three, we would descend into chaos pretty quickly. While we need labels, rules, and definitions to create boundaries in most parts of our life, accessing our intuition is not one of these places.

Because being intuitive, accessing your inner wisdom, requires a flexibility that cannot be bounded by labels, rules, or definitions. I’d say that the only expectation to have when listening to your intuition is to expect the unexpected. Because just when we have figured out how we access intuition, we discover new ways to hear the voices of our intuition.

I like to think of my intuition as an inquisitive communicator. While it tells me some serious stuff, the way it goes about sharing comes from all angles, through all of my senses, and, often, in code. It invites me to deepen my understanding of the message by asking questions. At times, I feel like intuition is saying, “I’ve got some information, let’s do some Q&A.” 

On this jaunt, intuition dangles its message just on the tips of my finger or perhaps my tongue. It is never so far away that I cannot grasp the message at least partially. And, that is perfectly okay. It may take more than just this moment to understand the entirety of the message. I’ve learned to be okay with the evolution of my intuitive understanding. 

How do we undertake this journey? And, what tools do we need to excavate the messages? Two of the most important tools are gentleness toward yourself (self compassion) and awareness (mindfulness). If you are not in the moment, you won’t hear the message. If you are not gentle with yourself, you will become so tense that you miss message after message after message until your intuition begins to shout at you.

I know that both self compassion and mindfulness are easier said than done! So, let’s break them down.

• Be gentle with yourself. Don’t expect an answer to every intuitive pondering. Don’t expect to recognize every message that comes your way. The important stuff will come back around until you finally recognize it. Trust in that. This doesn’t give you permission to be sloppy and non-attentive, it just reduces performance anxiety.
• Be aware or in the moment. This takes practice. Most of us aren’t really good about being in the moment. We get caught in the past or find ourself fleeing into the future. How do I stay in the moment? Post-it notes with reminders, setting alarms, taking time out to ask myself what kept me in the moment and what drew me out. And, sometimes, my intuition will nudge me into the moment with a gentle reminder. Think about how your intuitive gets your attention.

Ready to practice…breathe into the moment. Notice where your anxiety manifests. Breathe into your anxiety, your fears, your desire to know. Then open yourself up. What is the one thing that is stands out? It could be a word, an image, a symbol, a smell, a taste…just notice without judgment. Then open yourself to what you have received. Allow your mind to follow your intuition by free association…allow the message to unfold.

An example: Recently I noticed that I was not wearing orange, but a lot of food that I was eating was orange. What is my intuition telling me? Since I know the energy body, I immediately thought of my second chakra which is represented by the color orange. That is the center of creativity. 

Using this information about what I was eating plus the information that I would not wear orange, I discerned that I was trying to jumpstart my creativity, really work on the book I was writing, even though I had not written in quite some time. So, my intuition was nudging me to complete a project. 

How about you? There is no real science to intuition. We create our own guidelines, we define what it means to be intuitive, and, yes, we choose what we label our selves. So, call yourself intuitive if you’d like, because it is what nudges you into being yourself. 

 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is an intuitive-coach-catalyst. As a contemplative coach, she uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for navigating those scary places. The result? Creating a blue print for your life through a deeper connection to your intuition. She is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Her most recent book, As Natural As Breathing: Being Intuitive, is available on Amazon. Contact Vanessa for life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

Website / LinkedIn Profile / Facebook / @fyrserpent 

©2021

Fear Shows Us Where Hope Lives

The world is shifting, morphing into something new. I do not believe we will return to what was. I see this time as an evolution into what will be. This is a bold time of uncertainty. And, there are time I am afraid. Maybe you are, too.

One of the things that I’ve realized is that Pema Chödrön had it right — we live in places that scare us. Well, maybe you don’t, but I will own being scared by the unfolding uncertainty in this time. Does it stop me from living in this new world? Of course not. 

Uncertainty is never without its companion, Hope. While there is a lot to fear, those moments are opportunities to flex our courage muscles. The fear, the uncertainty, the hope are waking us up to who we truly are. And, maybe knowing who we are is the scariest thing of all!

Collectively and individually, we are walking down a deeply rutted path of uncertainty. We don’t know where the path is leading. If I had to guess, I’d say that the world won’t ever return to normal. That probably isn’t a bad thing. We may step into some fear on this road, but within those ruts fragile stems of hope are beginning to peek out. The key is to be aware of what scares us while allowing the tendrils of hope to energize our way forward.

We need to pay attention. Name our fears. Call upon our courage. Never give up hope. Remember that when we acknowledge our fears, we are less likely to get caught in their tangles. When we act with courage, the hold that fear has on us weakens. And, hope clears the path into this new way of being.

What exactly is courage? It is not giving up, acknowledging fear, being brave enough to venture past our comfort zone into this fierce world of potential. It's looking our self in the eye and saying, “Maybe this shall not pass, but I will grow through it by being the person I know that I am.”

What is hope? Hope is anticipation, it is expectation, it is a willingness to follow our dreams into realization. When we hope, we say to our self, “Don’t give up. One more step. One more try. Just around the bend. You are not growing into. You are living into who you are.” 

I go back to the book that I read about the Shambhala warrior. We can choose to be a warrior by being gentle and courageous on this quest to understand our self. Amid the fear, the uncertainty, we can choose to be the goodness that radiates hope into the world.

With hope and courage we are called to discern our role in the untamed world filled with unrealized potential. We are called to act from our contemplative heart — to choose to be anchored in our authentic nature while being a beacon of hope. We take small steps, engage in brave acts on this journey of sharing our self.

So, how do we live into who we are? 

• Be aware. Two tools that increase your awareness: Be aware by anchoring into the moment. Shield by creating a permeable barrier between you and the world. 
• Discern how you are called to show up. This means contemplatively listening to that voice within.
• Act. Be okay with whatever your response is. If an action feels too big, dial it back to where your actions are just outside your comfort zone. Then act. 

Fear will always be with us. If you are like me, it pops up when you least expect it. Fear isn’t bad. It is an opportunity to courageously show up as our best self. Fear shows us where hope lives when we listen. 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is lives in the margins…the places that share us. As a contemplative coach, an intuitive-coach-catalyst, she uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for navigating those scary places. The result? Personal transformation. She is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Her most recent book, As Natural As Breathing: Being Intuitive, is available on Amazon. Contact Vanessa for life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

Website / LinkedIn Profile / Facebook / Twitter: @fyrserpent / ©2021/

You Are The Change (Even When You Don't Know It)

Gandhi had it right: be the change you wish to see in the world. But, how do I/you do that? Another Gandhi quote sums up the path of transformation nicely: “my life is my message.” When each of us truly shares our message, lives with soul purpose, then we are the catalyst for powerful change. 

Sometimes I want this change to happen overnight. Maybe you are just as impatient as me. Although radical, quick change is possible, that seldom happens. Change begins with a seed of awareness that is nurtured with each resolute drop of determination. Transformation is built upon the little things — the seeds of hope and acts of determination. 

This time of year mimics the nurturing seeds of change. We are at the beginning of a growing season. Now is the time to plant seeds and then care for the fragility of life. The stance toward the first sprouts of change must be the same. Like those first fragile plants of spring, we don’t look at change poking through the soil of our soul and say, “phew, that was hard work, but I did it.” No, we know that the initial evidence of our movement into change is only the beginning. 

We recognize that in order for change to “take,” it needs a firm foundation. We lay a foundation with our determination and joy. We celebrate those fragile sprouts of change. In this rejoicing, the roots of change grow deep into the soil of our being.

Not everything we sow brings about transformation of our true self. I have found that sometimes I sow seeds of change that don’t quite sync with who I am. That change just doesn’t reflect my soul purpose. Change begins with seeds of awareness. Course corrections happen when we recognize what is growing change and weeds of stagnation are sprouting in our garden.

This awareness is cultivated through reflection, introspection, and integration — what I call RI². This three stop process helps us deepen our understanding of our message and how it is an agent for change in our self and the world. 

We reflect upon what is happening. Introspect what we gleaned from our thoughts, words, and deeds. We come up with a plan to pull weeds from our garden and grow our change. That final step is integration. RI² is about saying to those weeds, “This isn’t me. This isn’t the way that I want to live. I am willing to uproot what isn’t me so that who I am can fully grow.” 

So, how do you do this? Let’s dig into RI²:

• Reflection: this heart based activity empowers you to do a personal assessment. I like to call it fact finding gleaned from your thoughts and emotions. It is noticing without judgment or drawing conclusions. 
• Introspection: this activity connects what you have gathered in your heart with your head. During this time, you objectively assess the information that you gathered. You identify patterns. Name how what is happening that is in line with your soul purpose and identity what doesn’t sync with you. During this time, you ask yourself, what can I do differently? You make a plan to get back on the track of transformation.
• Integration: this activity is the doing phase. You take what you’ve learned and integrate it into your life. It gets you back on track.

Note that RI² is an ongoing practice. (Learn more about it in Engaging Compassion Through Intent and Action.) You may find that you need to tweak what you discovered and integrate what is more in sync with your. Maybe you plant a new seed or remove a stem that you thought would bring change. 

RI² gives you the information, the knowledge, the wisdom to choose what change you want to grow into your soul and share it with the world.

How will your message give birth to the change you wish to see in the world?

  

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is a change agent who encourages others to be the message they wish to share with the world. As a contemplative coach, an intuitive-coach-catalyst, she uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for personal and relationship transformation. She is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Her most recent book, As Natural As Breathing: Being Intuitive, is available on Amazon. Contact Vanessa for life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

Website / LinkedIn Profile / Facebook / @fyrserpent / ©2021/

Be the Key that Unlocks the Door to Yourself

What if I told you that all your answers are within you? What if you had the power to access those answers and harness their power to create a wave of transformation? What would you do? Would you rise to the challenge of self discovery or say tomorrow is soon enough knowing that tomorrow may never come?

Well you do have the answers inside of you but there is one big catch. You have to become the key that unlocks those answers. Seldom does the key we become unlock every door without a bit a jiggling! And, sometimes those doors don’t stay open. Unlocking the door and keeping it open takes practice. We are not aiming for a practice that makes perfect; rather, we practice in ways that create a permanent connection to our inner wisdom.

Inner wisdom. Intuition. That is the key we hold. Our ability to unlock those messages is strengthened by self compassion. Both self compassion and accessing our intuition are possible through mindfulness and living contemplatively. Let’s look at each of these four aspects to being that key that turns the lock of the door of transformation.

Let’s break it down. 

• Mindfulness is being in the moment. 
• Being contemplative is focusing our attention on the many ways the extraordinary manifests in our life.
• Self compassion manifests in conscious acts that alleviate our personal suffering. 
• Intuition is our internal guidance system.

The four combined create a powerful synchronicity in our life. Through them we sustain an inner calm where the bubbles of intuition float to the surface.  We gain clarity to hear the message and have the courage to act upon it. 

What stops us from connecting to our life guide? Fatigue is our greatest foe. It is almost impossible to stay in the moment when we are exhausted. Through self compassion we engage in activities that re-energize us. Energized we return to our core. At the core, we begin anew. Refreshed, it is easier to slip into the moment and stay there. Our senses come alive; we align with the extraordinary. Instead of being bombarded by the constant chaos, our attention seemingly self-focuses.

So, what act of self compassion can you do? Whatever you choose, take a moment to acknowledge your suffering. Be objective about the messiness you are experiencing. Be in a place of no attachment, no judgment, no defending, no violence. Acknowledge how you are being impacted as the messiness rolls over you again and again. Be gentle with yourself — that is the foundation of any self compassionate act.

Next, ask yourself, what can I do in this moment to care for me? Maybe it is going for a walk. Reading. Journaling. Creating art. Taking a long bath. Reaching out to a friend. Self compassion is anything that alleviates even a bit of your exhaustion and gives you the strength to try one more time. 

Within moments of compassionate respite, you rest in the eye of the storm and begin to notice those bubbles of intuition rising to the surface of your consciousness. As they pop, their messages splatter you with particles of possibility. Message received and decoded, you act upon intuition’s voice. This is the cycle of increasing our intuition with self compassion. The more you listen, the more you recognize how you are depleted. The more acts of self compassion, the greater you energy to connect to your intuition.

Continuing this cycle of self compassion and intuitively listening, the spiral of clarity tightens until you are consistently living contemplatively in the moment as a self compassionate intuitive being. 

Ready. Set. Manifest! Contact me for intuitive mentoring. 

 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is an Intuitive-Coach-Catalyst, who uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for personal and relationship transformation. She is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Contact Vanessa for life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

Website / LinkedIn Profile / Facebook /

Twitter: @fyrserpent / ©2020

As Natural As Breathing: Being Intuitive

There is a magic, a mystery of the world that is revealed by opening the door of the unknown. Entering this unknown is not a fear-filled adventure undertaken in the stealth of night but a courageous stepping forth with eyes wide open to intuition. 

We are intuitive. This much is true. However our intuition comes to us, it beckons us into relationship with the unknown. In this relationship, our steps are taken with curiosity — don’t you want to know what waits just beyond reach? Aren’t you eager to take that next intuitive step? These steps are taken with daring and trust as we have the courage to seek answers to questions we fear to utter. 

No matter how uncertain, no matter how imperfect, life waits for no one. It glides across the rough spots reminding us that, we too, can glide across them or get scuffed by the jagged rocks of challenges and wishes unmet. Listening to our intuition we gain the ability to glide on its thermals. Soaring over our challenges, we see from a different viewpoint. We become more objective.

Navigating through the uncertainty happens by listening intently to the many voices of our intuition. These voices manifest through all of our senses — sight, hearing, touching, smelling, tasting. Each intuitive message invites us to be, again and again, the person we are. Intuition is nothing extra; rather, it presents the skills and information that allow us to thrive — to express our soul purpose. 

Intuition is as natural as breathing. It is the energizer of our being; the trailblazer through uncertainty into the unknown. The voice of intuition is a life guide intent on bringing us back to our self. It calls us home.  Isn’t that what life is all about? No matter where we find our self, ultimately we make the journey back home to our self. We gain a deeper understanding of who we are by not giving into the fear that we are not exactly who we want to be. The voice of intuition sings away our doubts and urges us onto the path of being exactly who we are.

You may be thinking, “Enough, Vanessa! How do we get to this space?” I give you a simple hint: through a3 awareness — being awake, alert, alive. 

• Not the awake the jerks you into the moment with the annoying beep of your alarm. This is the awake that has you noticing the truly extraordinary in the world. Awake, you are aware of triggers and potential reactions while depending upon your intuition to guide you into response.
• Being alert not in the sense of fight or flight but being vigilant to the many ways that your intuition speaks to you. You are alert to your ongoing dialogue with intuition. You listen, reflect, and fashion responses to the world based upon this dialogue.
• Now, we are all alive. We inhale, exhale; our heart beats. The alive I speak of comes from being truly awake and alert to the messages of our intuition. When we are alive, we identify, decipher, and respond to our intuition. 

Connecting to our intuition is as natural as breathing when you accept that you are intuitive. May it be so.  

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is an Intuitive-Coach-Catalyst, who uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for personal and relationship transformation. She is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Contact Vanessa for life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

Website / LinkedIn Profile / Facebook / Twitter: @fyrserpent / ©2020

Shake It Up: Living An Adventuresome Life

When I walk, I take the same the same route. That is, until about two weeks ago. My inner voice grew increasingly more vocal about taking a different path. I argued, “it is easy and predictable." I continued taking the same path until one morning when I woke up and thought, “this is it! I am going to take a different route.” That morning, my trek was spontaneous as my intuition guided me. 

Since that time my walk has become anything but rote. I have shaken it up. I have walked through uniques neighborhoods that I didn’t know existed. I’ve seen a fence created entirely by live trees, hoofed up and down hills, and peered into wetlands from a raised walkway. Shaking up my walk opens new vistas to me. I wondered, “What would happen if you shook up other parts of your life?”

Now, I am not talking about a shake up for the sake of shaking. I am talking about letting go of the stale and old. This shaking up occurs through discernment or objectively listening to the voice of your intuition, creating a plan, and then acting upon it. For me, this means paying attention to what is no longer working in my life. I full-body listen to gain clues what is outdated and needs to be shaken up. 

Notice that I say shaken up not thrown out. Often our life doesn’t need to be radically changed. It just needs to be tweaked. Discernment through full-body listening helps us decide what we can keep, what needs to be let go of, and what needs to be shaken up.

Let’s return to full-body listening. (Find out more about it here) When we listen with our senses to the four aspects of our being — body, mind, spirit, and heart, we gain critical information. How do we do this? Let’s practice:

• Choose something in your life — it could be big: your job, a relationship — or something small: your hair style, your interaction on social media. 
• Objectively reflect upon this piece of your life. Don’t make judgments or defend what you discover. Just gather facts. 
• Ask yourself how you are impacted by this piece of your life. (For example: you may feel fluttering in your stomach, have a thought that repeats over and over again, or an emotion may surface.) Use your five senses to formulate your answer.
• Create a multi-dimensional image of what you are sensing. The image takes form as you discover what the piece of your life looks like, sounds like, feels like, smells like, and tastes like. Shake up how you are experiencing this life piece.
• Note how this life piece is impacting your body, mind, spirit, and heart separately and collectively. 
• Ask yourself what needs to be shaken up and to what degree the shake needs to happen. Sometimes a shake is slight; other times it creates a seismic shift in your life. There is no wrong answer. You choose how the change will manifest.

Now an example: my hair and I have had an uneasy relationship for quite some time. Added to this uneasiness is the temperature at my workplace. The heat, humidity, and subsequent sweat result in my hair becoming what I refer to as “old lady frizz.” This description was only the beginning of what my internal monologue said about me (mind). It triggered emotions (heart). I wanted to make a change but feared how I would look in shorter hair. The voice of my intuition (spirit) grew louder and louder, until I could not longer ignore the stale in my life. I got my hair cut (body).

That haircut was the shake up that I needed. I feel more powerful; more of who I am. In fact, I tell people that I am rocking my Jaime Lee Curtis who I view as a short haired, incredibly powerful, together woman. As a result of that haircut, I have begun to shake up other aspects of my life. This includes a new website and painting aura portraits. I in this shaking up, I am becoming exactly who I am. 

So, how are you shaking up your life? How are you rocking your Jamie Lee Curtis? How are you becoming exactly who you are? I’d like to know.   

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is an Intuitive-Coach-Catalyst, who uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for personal and relationship transformation. She is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Contact Vanessa  (vanessa@intentandaction.com) for life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

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