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Even as “stuck” or clueless as we might feel sometimes — we ALWAYS have our guidance system to fall back on. Are you on automatic pilot feeling life HAPPENS to you? Do you ask yourself questions or even know that you CAN do that? Do you follow your intuition? Do you have a deep connection to God/The Divine/The Universe and use that connection to help you find your way? No one on this planet is alone. We are all very much connected and just as birds and fish can change formation in an instant and ants and bees never doubt what their jobs are — we too can tap into that and KNOW what to do by guidance. I would like to talk about automatic pilot, explain a few different ways to be guided and show how it relates to healing. I feel that there are many ways to tap into this inner guidance system and once we do we can awaken to our own power and never feel alone again.
Automatic Pilot
This is the anti-guidance system. This is the “I am acting out of what I know because I can’t change myself”. This is the “I had SUCH a screwed up childhood and that’s why I am troubled”. This is repeating acts and behaviors that we are NOT proud of but we do NOT KNOW how to do anything differently so assume this is “JUST US”. Ummmm….. NO, NO and NOOOOO! None of the above is true and in fact none of those things could be LESS true. All of these thoughts are dis-empowering and can leave you feeling alone and helpless.
If you have read my interview with the Director, James Sinclair of the movie “What If?“, or seen the movie, you KNOW that by time we are 6 years old we already have our “automatic pilot” recordings. These beliefs are not necessarily even ours – they come from relatives, community and our surroundings YET we carry them with us as a “fall back system” when we are not conscious so we have some frame of reference on how to react to situations. When we stop to HEAR ourselves and ask ourselves if this is WHAT we really believe — wow some amazing answers and realizations come up. DO NOT rely on your automatic pilot — it is based on past experiences, ego and does not always have your best interest at heart. In consciousness you realize there are much better Guidance Systems to rely on.
Religion/Spirituality
I will not go into the differences here between these two because that is a post in itself. 
I WILL talk about the commonalities and the guidance we can get by relying on our spirituality or religion. What DOES religion or spirituality mean to you? Are you in church repeating prayers because that is what you were taught or does your religion resonate deeply with you and do you FEEL those prayers as you say them? Gregg Braden talks about the power of prayer in his brilliant book; “The Isaiah Effect: Decoding the Lost Science of Prayer and Prophecy“. When you fully “GET” what prayer is — WOW is it powerful. If you are connected spiritually to God/The Universe/The Divine (insert your word here) you KNOW that you can ask questions and EXPECT answers.
I feel it is important in prayer not to beg, plead or say “why me?” — that is desperation and not prayer. I find the most effective prayer begins in gratitude, thanking God for all you DO have. FEELING that thanks in every cell of your body. From that you can ask questions many different ways, writing them, saying them aloud or to yourself, before a meditation or prayer session, asking yourself right before bed and expecting an answer of some sort as you sleep, asking it as you wake and expecting to find the answer during the day or clues that lead you to it…. There is no “right” or “wrong” way — it is what resonates with you.
Intuition
I talked about this in “Do you Want to Get in Touch with Your Inner Psychic and Intuition?“. I also mentioned it in my review of “The Living Matrix” and in my post talking about the Science Behind Distance Healing when I talk about Heart Coherence. Some would say intuition is the same as spirituality or religion but for those who do not resonate with that…you can still tap into this without claiming a religion or now saying you are spiritual.
Intuition is called our “sixth sense” and as I have been working on developing it for the last 1 1/2 years THAT is exactly what it feels like. This is a sense we are all born with but are not taught to use. In fact, when we are young if we were to report to our family “we just knew things” we might have been told “that can’t be” or even that we were strange and not to tell anyone we felt like that.
I feel my intuition comes from the connection with my heart. When I quiet my mind (believe me it took years for me to even be able to do that for 10 seconds ) and turn to my heart and ask a question — I WILL receive an answer (even if not in that moment). There is the inner part of you that ALWAYS KNOWS what is best for you and holds answers. Are you asking for answers? It IS your right and everyone’s gift to be able to do so. There are many ways to tap into this. Through Slade’s Automatic Intuitive Response classes I learned a few ways to ask and expect to receive answers. Again, there is certainly not ONE way to do this. Since this is a sense we all have it is a matter of practicing and like anything practice will make you better at it. Anna Conlan of Healing and Insight wrote a brilliant series on Intuition and Part III is “The Two Keys to Recognizing your Intuition“. Andrea Hess also offer an insightful article on “Empowered Soul” called “How to Develop Your Intuition“. There are many exercises and articles about this if you search the web. Finding ones that resonate with you will make it more likely for you to do them regularly. Don’t give up…. it does work… we all have this sense and life certainly flows a whole LOT easier when you know you can always look within and rely on your intuition as a guidance system.
What can you DO with this Guidance?
ANYTHING. TRULY. You can make decisions from the heart. You can tap into creativity. You can discover gifts you never even KNEW you had. You can figure out problems simple as “which way do I drive home to hit the least traffic?” to deeper more life changing questions. We all have Divine Gifts as Evelyn Lim of Attraction Mind Map pointed out in her post “Express Your Soul Gifts” and I agree with with my whole heart. We ALL have guidance to help discover what these gifts are. Here are some of my favorite quotes on guidance:
Caroline Myss, “Do not assume that divine guidance flows only when you are in need of help. Guidance continues to flow whether or not you have problems. It transcends problems, heartbreaks, and traumas, flowing through dreams and illuminations…. Whether guidance comes during times of tranquility or trauma, however, it is up to you to have the courage to acknowledge it….“
Ram Dass, “The next message you need is always right where you are.“
Sonia Johnson, “We don’t need someone to show us the ropes. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. Deep inside us we know the feelings we need to guide us. Our task is to learn to trust our inner knowing.“
Skakti Gawain, “Every time you don’t follow your inner guidance, you feel a loss of energy, loss of power, a sense of spiritual deadness.“
And my favorite: Unknown, “Let your heart guide you. It whispers, so listen closely.“
I love the following video from one of my favorite organizations TED and a favorite writer of mine Elizabeth Gilbert. My friend the lovely Camille of Joyz a Choice recommended this to me a couple of months ago – thank Camille. In it Elizabeth Gilbert talks about how guidance can fuel creativity. I’d love your reactions to this one.
How Does Guidance Relate to Healing?
If you are one of my clients you know this one. Thanks Suzie Cheel of “Abundance Highway” for posting about one of my favorite questions. 
One of my most common questions right back to my clients when they tell me about a new sudden pain or uncomfortableness is “Have you asked your body about it?”. I also ask my clients to ask their body “What can I do to make you feel better?”. (Of course I am not talking about a sudden pain in the chest or something you should clearly seek medical attention for).
In my own experience when I FELT I would heal myself I asked myself repeatedly what each and every pain and symptom was about. This was BEFORE I began studying intuition and I was STILL given answers. I asked myself what activities would be in my best interest. I asked myself what I was doing that was stopping myself from healing. I asked and looking back I DID expect answers even though then I had no clue what I was doing.
I shifted from accepting my diagnoses (there were many) and allowing them to define me to questioning and asking my body and inner self WHAT they were about.
Believe me I know when you are ill or feeling sick how difficult it can seem to see life another way. I was TOLD to EXPECT I would be in a wheelchair. I was TOLD I would get worse and I FELT it EVERY DAY almost EVERY SECOND of EVERY DAY for over 6 years. I have never felt so alone in my life even though I had friends, family and my husband and children around me. I felt “no one could know what it felt like to be this sick and in this much pain”.
In shifting my attention from the finality of my illnesses to questioning them and looking for answers I received guidance.
One of the best books I have EVER read about getting in touch with “the world within” is Charles Haanel’s “The Master Key System“. It is a 24 part series broken down into weekly (give or take some lessons will take you longer some shorter) sections. I also love listening to the audio version and find that might be easier for some to grasp that way (it was for me) . This was written in 1917 and yet is still so relevant and important. This book has been called the key reading to The Law of Attraction and is also the book that inspired Bill Gates to leave Harvard and begin Microsoft. I wish this had been required reading in school and cannot even imagine the world we would live in today if it had. We are all so phenomenally powerful and when you start to tap into your inner guidance system you do realize the only limits we encounter are in our own minds.
Guidance is available to all of us. We have this inner voice inside that KNOWS what is best for us. We have our connection to each other and the Universe as a whole that can guide us. We do not need to feel alone or helpless. Whether it is through spirituality and/or religion or your intuition there are ways to tap into this guidance system that is available to all of us. Please take some time to quiet yourself and try to recognize where in your life you can put a stop to your automatic pilot. Begin to ask yourself questions about how to heal parts of your life and even for simple things as the shortest grocery line. LEARN the difference between the automatic answers and those that come from deep within. Our inner guidance system is all knowing – it cannot steer you wrong.
Please check out some of the resources I have listed — all are wonderful people and very talented writers. Also let me know what guides you? Do you listen to that little voice inside? When do you find yourself on automatic pilot? Do you have any exercises that helped you get in better touch with your own inner guidance system?
I also want to give a special thanks to the photographer I have used for the last two posts. Bruce is brilliant and his photos definitely speak to me. I am very honored he has let me use them with his permission and recommend you check out his photos. Thank you Bruce!
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Hi Jenny – Thanks for another informative post – you’ve been writing a lot over the last few days.
I’m only really lately getting used to the power of prayer. When I did used to pray, I would be very vague about what I wanted & say things like “please make me a better person”.
When I had my Akashic records done last year, Akemi mentioned that I needed to ask for things when I prayed. I still didn’t get it but I’m now just beginning to.
I feel as if I should know about The Master Key System. I don’t know if I’ve read it in the very distant past, or if I’ve just heard it mentioned somewhere. I’m off to check it out again, as well as the other resources.
Jenny,
you never fail to amaze me with your insights! What can I say I am ‘flabbergasted’!! This post has certainly come at the right time. I am having such a strange time and really low energy!
Thanks so much for somehow always knowing!
Aneeta
x
Hey Cath,
I think you would love The Master Key System. The Silva System is also brilliant for intuition as it showed you. (and your experiences amazed your readers including me)
I feel there is an art to the state of being when praying… you need to be clear on what you want, balance not being attached to a specific result and be grateful for the little breadcrumbs that lead you to your answer AND the seeming “setbacks”. Sometimes I do get a “knock over the head” but many other times I am given direction and it is up to me to ask my intuition and guidance system to know what is next.
Always a pleasure to hear from you Cath.
Love, xo
Jenny
Hi Aneeta!
I’ve been thinking about you!!!! Let’s talk VERY SOON! I am sooo happy this post was timely for you. I know also that times of change and growth can be challenging and that accessing your guidance system during those times are priceless.
Sending you BIG HUGS!!!!
Love, xo
Jenny
Jenny, your articles are so content-dense they are hard to absorb! You include so much in them, but that’s a good thing.
I love that picture! That video is wonderful. Thanks for all your good work
Stephen – Rat Race Trap´s last blog ..Well-Being is Better Than Happiness
Hi Jenny,
Thanks for the link love and your words of wisdom. I love The Elizabeth Gilbert video, have watched several times.
I am following my intuition and listening, reading and dealing with my little child who has been having a tantrum or too.
love and Hugs
Suzie
Suzie Cheel´s last blog ..Have You Given Yourself Enough Credit for Action?
Hi Stephen,
I am happy you enjoyed the post, picture and video. Yep, my posts and pretty content dense…. It all comes out like that! I have thought of breaking it up into pieces but that seems to take a lot of effort when I have tried to write differently than I look at the information
. Hope people know they can always bookmark and come back…. I want each post to be a resource on that topic and have information to go back to. 
Thanks for your kind words Stephen and for commenting. It is a passion of mine to share all the wonderful info I have been gathering in my own journeys and study.
Love,
Jenny
Hi Suzie,
Thank YOU for that link!
That video is awesome, isn’t it? 
Ray watched it last night for the first time and I watched it again and it always makes me smile. She’s awesome.
I am glad to hear you are asking and listening. Give that little child a time out to be quiet and think about WHAT is going on. Usually the messages we are sending ourselves make it a whole lot worse than it is.
Thanks for all you do Suzie. I loved doing the interview with you and it has been awesome to share our journeys.
Love, xo
Jenny
What a great post! And you touch on so many important things here.
If we’re open to it, there are so many sources of guidance to us. Being open is the main challenge as I see it!
Ian Peatey´s last blog ..Heart of business
Hi Jenny, thanks for the link love. You’ve certainly included a wealth of resources here.
Like you, I’m working on developing my intuitive abilities. I connect through my heart chakra as well. I find that it helps me tap into the inner wisdom that connects me to the Divine.
I’m so glad that you’ve chosen to pursue alternative healing methods, rather than let expectations rule how your health and life is turning out. You are a shining example for all of us to follow. Bravo!
May you shine always!
Evelyn
Evelyn Lim´s last blog ..Holiday with Happiness
Hi Evelyn,
I always smile reading your comments – thank you!
It is a pleasure to link to you — I feel while our journeys have taken different paths they are similar in many ways and it is wonderful to see all you are doing. AND of course I am a HUGE fan of your writing.
I am so happy as well Evelyn. WOW — this world is nothing like the one I was told to expect. Things just keep getting BETTER and I know learning to listen to my intuition and guidance has played a HUGE part in that as well as the Reconnective Healing.
All the best Evelyn. I hope your holiday was wonderful.
Love, xo
Jenny
Hi Ian,
Thanks so much for your kind words. Yes, being open is exactly it. And quiet.
Sometimes the distractions of life make it hard to take the time for self to look within and ask some questions. 
Thank you so much for reading and commenting.
Gratefully,
Jenny
Hi Jenny,
What is guiding me? I’ll start with the title. I believe very deeply that I’d guided by my soul. The thing is, of course, following it. Or maybe even more, recognizing it, listening to it, and believing what it is saying. I believe very deeply that it’s there in all of us – but it tends to get ignored as we go through the busy-ness of life. Finding our soul voice…what a sacred place to get to.
And I think the whole idea behind prayer is huge in all of this. Prayer, or some connection to Source. Done in very meaningful and deliberate ways – prayer has a way of speaking our soul voice. …with the creator of our soul. One thing I definitely struggle with in organized religion is prayers/sayings that are repeated – and how often they are said, just to be said. Going through the motions. If there’s not meaning behind those words, do they really mean something? (I don’t know the answer for sure)(and I’m not looking for the answer here, it’s just a thought for me to be cognizant of). In any rate, when these prayers are said with real meaning behind them, I think they do have the power to really connect us with our Higher Being, our God (for me). And this is done through a connection to the soul.
The video…I loved it Jenny! Elizabeth Gilbert really touches upon a lot. What jumped out at me is: “do your dance anyhow”. This thought, that we all have that dance within us – and whether it’s some great masterpiece for the world or not – it that “dance” is what truly speaks to us – then that’s the “dance” we should dance. I leave that video, inspired as to listening deeply to my soul…and then “dancing” that dance…
Lance´s last blog ..Sunday Thought For The Day
Hi Lance,
I have no doubt you are being guided by your soul — that shines through clearly in your writing and interactions.
The outside world gets PRETTY loud sometimes and it is up to us to decide consciously to quiet our own minds and the world around us so we can hear what our heart and soul are whispering.
I went to Catholic school from 2-6th grade and was taught to memorize and recite not to FEEL the words of the prayers. I remember when I was about 9 a family friend came to town and I went to church with her. She was a very religious woman and was crying as she was praying — I totally did not get it — I remember being very curious but could not for the life of me wrap my head around it. I get it now. When we connect and feel prayers we can see a glimpse of our own soul, our connection to this Universe and it is Divine and beautiful beyond words — I have cried in gratitude at times when I have achieved this.
Eat Pray Love is one of my favorite all time books and I thought Elizabeth’s talk was brilliant.
I love your comments on her words. Continue to do your dance Lance — you are inspiring MANY as you do. Thank you for being you.
Love,
Jenny
Jenny, the comments made by Elizabeth Gilbert are timeless. As you invite people to reconnect wih themselves, they figure ou how this feels. They give it words or meaning they understand. The awakening process is guided, yet, self-directed. Thank you for opening up to share new sides of your own soul. We all learn from each other.
Liara Covert´s last blog ..Stop staring at the tea kettle
Hi Jenny,
Thank you for the links to my articles – I’m really glad you liked them!
I found it interesting that you mentioned asking your body for answers when you’re not well. I haven’t read about that before but I had the idea of doing it a few months ago when I had a bladder infection that wasn’t responding to antibiotics. I got a really clear, helpful response about what was imbalanced. It’s a good technique!
Anna
Anna Conlan ~ Healing and Insight´s last blog ..Intuition 101 – Part 3: The Two Keys to Recognizing your Intuition
Hi Liara,
We all DO learn from each other and it is a beautiful thing!
It is my pleasure and honor to share my life lessons and discoveries.
I love your words, “The awakening process is guided, yet, self-directed. ” How VERY true! We need to decide that we want this for ourselves and see the potential in it and know that even though we might face some past demons — it is worth it for what awaits… our undeniable sense of self power. It is guided but there are many different paths to get there.
Thanks Liara.
Your words always make me smile.
Love,
Jenny
Hi Anna,
My pleasure to link to you — I enjoyed that series VERY MUCH.
Funny about the technique. I don’t think I had heard about it before either but found myself doing it often when I was wanting to heal. I was doing a lot of looking inward and wanting answers and all I had to do was ask and I received them. Since I use a lot of the methods that helped me to heal in my coaching it seemed natural to ask that question. Most of my clients ARE able to come up with answers once they ask.
Lovely to hear from you Anna. Thanks so much for sharing your experience.
Love, xo
Jenny
This is another excllent overview of our own accountability and power. We really do not give ourselves enough credit!
I agree so much on the auto-pilot stuff, I see so many around me doing this and living out of this paradigm everyday. And everyday there is something that goes wrong and when you are going through life like that naturally so.
So I agree we need to wake up. We need to take accountability for our own talents, health and life in general.
I loved the video!!! Especially that as of last Friday afternoon I am no longer officially a teacher, at least by the standard system, but a writer more than anything
Yay! I am so happy!
I woke up this morning and thought to myself, this is the beginning of the rest of my life – one where I am compltely free and accountable to and for myself!
And as for guidance, I have tapped in often to my intution but really was waiting until all was done to now, where I really want to seriously start tapping in. I feel angels and guides all around me and with me, so now it will be just about getting closer to them, getting to know them more and allow in their guidance even more!
Hi Evita,
Whoo Hoo — I am so happy for your new found freedom! I know you will do amazing things and share your gifts with many. I am looking forward to celebrating all your successes!
Accountability can be simple or seem like the hardest thing ever – it really is in how you look at it. If you look at it as “that was who I was NOW up until this point and I am learning from this to shape how my future is” – THAT is empowering. Some people can get stuck in the blame game and I feel tools are very helpful for moving forward. For me pardoning of myself was MAJOR and I used H’oponopono, meditation and lots of asking questions to get myself through it. I looked at it as a whole new chance for my life to go differently and WOW it hasn’t been the same since and has way exceeded any expectations I might have held at that time.
I am so happy for you Evita. I am glad you will have more time to turn inward. You do so much already — I can’t even imagine what lies ahead! Cheers!
Much Love,
Jenny
I can think of quite a few people who are religious but not intuitive! (heh)
Thanks for all the resources about developing intuition – it’s certainly my main focus (which I concentrate on better some times than others). I’m interested to see you include a quote of Shakti Gawain’s – I haven’t seen her mentioned before on a blog (apart from mine), but she has been a very prolific writer in the self-development field – her work on intuition has been invaluable to me.
- R
Robin´s last blog ..An Eventful Month
Hi Robin,
I have only read snippets and quotes from Shakti Gawain and from that would love to read more…. do you have a favorite book you recommend me beginning with? She’s got QUITE a few!
Thanks so much for writing about Frank’s experience with distance healing. It is something I am passionate about and of course I am SOOO happy it helped and he was able to be with you for your birthday.
Intuition is such an important sense. I am trying to explain it to my kids now so they grow up knowing about it… hmm may have to search for a kid’s book on intuition…. My son is VERY logical (can’t IMAGINE where he got that from
). It’s a god trait in lots of circumstances but I want to teach him how to get out of his head and into his heart for answers as well.
I hope July is much smoother for you Robin.
Lots of Love, xo
Jenny
Jenny Mannion´s last blog ..What is Guiding You?