January 11, 2007, Vol. V Issue 1

Dear Friends,

Whew! I don’t know about you, but 2007 is off to a fast start for me. Was it just ten days ago we were putting away the decorations and getting back to work?

One of the things I had time to do between Christmas and New Year’s, was clean out my files and clippings, and look at books and videos I’d set aside for later. You know . . . later. I did such a good job of sorting that now I have space and a new commitment to deal with things as they come in. I do have a challenge in that I receive a lot of speaker packets, books and demos.  And I am committed to being very selective while offering all of the topics and variety in top quality speakers that fit your needs. So, I’m committing time to keep up with it all.

One of the books that crossed my desk that I’m still enjoying  — especially because it’s loaded with gorgeous photos, graphics and quotations — is Lynn Robinson’s Divine Intuition. Lynn was highly recommended to me by Jana Stanfield after they were on a program together last summer. Jana just couldn’t say enough about the impression Lynn made on the entire group. It was one of those “wish I had been there” moments. I’ve long been interested in the topic and I have a hunch many of you are too, so I’m pleased to be getting to know Lynn. Find Lynn Robinson on our website.

Trust Your Gut

Do you ever see something and know immediately you need to know more about it – you need to attend that event, read that book, meet that person? Do you ever put it off, rationalize it away and kick yourself later? I admit it. I’ve done it all. And paying attention and taking immediate action is definitely a better choice. So, that’s my mantra this year. Listen. Pay attention. Take action. Trust my gut. And I couldn’t learn how to be better at listening to my intuition than by listening to the expert. So I’m pleased to share some background about intuition expert and speaker Lynn Robinson. It feels like a good way to start the year. We’ll start with a little background about Lynn plus an article she’s written called, “4 Ways to Find Answers to Life’s Questions Using Intuition.”

I don’t think there’s anything more powerful than hearing how a speaker has applied her own practice in her own life, so I’m excited to share Lynn’s career change story, where she does just that.

She had been working in non-profits until she landed a job as the Operations Manager for a software company. Yet she still had a nagging desire to be self-employed.

As a first step, she started asking herself questions (this is one of the methods she recommends for tapping your intuition). What did she love? What would her ideal work situation look like? What hobbies and interests did she have that she could use to make a living? How much money would she like to make? She wrote it all down and made a list that included counseling people, and studying metaphysics and consciousness. She noted that she was a good listener, liked to teach and write and she wanted to work for herself.

She looked into becoming a psychologist but her investigation left her feeling very disappointed. “Everything about it felt heavy. I believe that intuition often speaks to us through feelings and body sensations, so that sense of heaviness indicated to me that counseling was not a good choice for me,” she said.

So she turned to the idea of being a psychic. She took some classes and discovered she had a great deal of natural talent in this area. “Now don’t let this throw your clients off,” Lynn told me. “I don’t use the word psychic anymore. I don’t want people to expect me to show up with a crystal ball or to be telling them what to do. I’ve learned that it’s not about predicting the future; it’s about helping people find, discover and develop their own intuition to create their own best future.”

At that time, however, Lynn was concerned about how to turn this talent into a business. Her study of metaphysics had taught her that whatever you focus your attention on tends to manifest in some way in your life. “I thought about how I could apply this to my desire for a new career. I knew the outcome of what I wanted; I just didn’t know how to get there!” She decided to work with her understanding of practical metaphysics through goal-setting and visualization. She created a goal to have a full-time successful business doing readings and she visualized the activities that would make it reality.

About a month into the manifesting process, a friend who had been sick for a long time, died. As she walked into the room for his funeral service, she felt a strong inclination to sit next to a woman she had never met. There were quite a few people in the room that she both knew and preferred to sit next to for emotional support but the feeling was so strong, she sat next to the stranger. At the end of the service, they started talking and the woman asked her what she did for a living. “Have you ever had one of those times when your brain doesn’t engage with your mouth?” Lynn asks. “Despite the fact that I was an Operations Manager at the time, I blurted out, ‘I’m a psychic.’

“I was immediately stricken with alarm. Why had I answered like that? What would she think? I had done readings for a few friends and friends of friends, but it was hardly my occupation. I felt flustered by my answer, but to my surprise she was quite open and receptive. Then she told me she was a writer for “The Boston Globe,” and would love to have a reading so she could write about it in her column.

“I was so nervous when I went to her house to do her reading. What if I blew it? What if I didn’t get any information? What if she hated what I said? What if I was wrong? I was in quite a state when I arrived at her home. Despite my anxiety, as soon as I started the session, a remarkable peace came over me. The information flowed very easily and effortlessly and she was really pleased.”

She called a few weeks later to say that she had written a piece about our session for the paper. She wanted to tell me not to be disappointed if it did not appear in her column. She was pretty sure her editor would not accept it, mostly because of the topic but also because the editor usually did not allow articles about specific individuals in the column. A few days later she called again, leaving the message that her editor was enthusiastic about the story and agreed to run it! Within the next three months, Lynn received over 400 calls from this one article. Most of the people made appointments – her business was launched. Her goal had come true in a way that could never have been arranged had she been left to her own devices.

Lynn has successfully been leading people to discover and follow their own intuition for almost twenty years. She is passionate about helping women find their own wisdom to guide them in living the life of their dreams. To help you get started right now, here is some of Lynn’s wisdom in the following article.

“4 Ways to Find Answers to Life’s Questions Using Intuition”
by Lynn Robinson

Copyright © 2002

My favorite definition of intuition came from a 15-year-old girl I know who said, “Intuition is where, like, you know something, but like, where did it come from?” I believe that intuition is a reliable inner resource for wisdom to guide our lives. Fortunately, everyone has it, and we are capable of developing it for practical use in everyday life as well as for discovering and achieving life goals. Learn to listen to your intuition and learn from it by tuning in to these four cues.

1. Inner Voice
Many people report a “still, quiet inner voice.” Your intuition will always communicate with you in a compassionate, loving manner that is perceptibly different from your normal inner chatter. If your inner voice seems quiet, try asking yourself a question like “What is the best course of action to take?” Pause for a moment and then think about all the options you’ve just been given. Does any one leap out as the best decision? If not, go deeper and ask the question again. A new answer may emerge. Write your results in your journal. Then, jot down three small action steps that you can take that will move you in the direction you chose.

2. Dreams
You can receive a wealth of guidance when you learn to ask for intuitive insight from your dreams. Our minds are still active and racing with thoughts while we sleep. As we replay our daily anxieties in our dream state, we are sometimes given answers and solutions to our problems. Often, these answers are revealed to us through symbols. A few years ago, I was torn between staying at my full-time job at a software company and leaving to devote my energies to my own business. I was still thinking about my decision when I drifted off to sleep one night. I dreamed that I was out on a lake with my feet planted in two different canoes both pointed in different directions. I knew then that I couldn’t pursue both vocations and have the energy to realize my goal. I gave my notice the next day and haven’t regretted it for a moment. Here are some ways that you can tune in to your dreams and get the answers you need:

* Write a few paragraphs about your concern or problem.
* Try to summarize the issue in a question, and state the question to yourself as you drift off to sleep.
* Before you become fully awake in the morning, ask yourself, “What is the answer to my question?” Sometimes you may remember a specific dream and feel that you have your answer in the dream’s symbolism.
* You may not remember the details of the dream but you may feel that you’ve awakened with an intuitive answer to your problem. That’s an equally valid way of receiving intuitive guidance in your sleep.

3. Emotions
Intuitive information often comes through your feelings or emotions. You may simply “feel right” about a certain course of action. Or you might experience a sense of distrust about an individual or situation. Part of learning to trust your intuition is remembering to ask, “Does this decision make me happy?” or, “Do I feel energized by this decision?” There are many ways to ask the question and experience the answer but here’s the truth: Your intuition will provide you with information to make positive choices. Would it make sense for you to be sent to earth with a magnificent inner guidance system and every time you trusted it you felt awful? No!

4. Physical Sensations
The Japanese call intuition “stomach art.” We call such sensations a “gut feeling.” You might find that your body feels heavy if a decision you’ve made is wrong. Your body may feel light or experience “chills” if it is the correct path for you. Here’s an example of how these sensations guide us: You’ve just been offered the “perfect job.” You notice that when you think about accepting the position your body feels heavy or there’s a knot in your stomach.

If you feel physically uncomfortable when you think about the job, your intuition is imploring you to consider your choices. You can ask more questions and do more research about the position and the company to see if you can determine the cause of your intuitive response. Or, you can understand that your intuition is warning you away from this company for reasons you may not comprehend on a rational level. Intuition may lead you to pursue other opportunities based on those physical sensations. How many times have you ignored signals your body gave you only to later say to yourself, “I wish I’d trusted my gut instinct?”

Lynn Robinson, M.Ed., is one of the nation’s leading experts on the topic of intuition and author of five books on the topic. She works with businesses and individuals as an intuition consultant, offering insights into goals, decisions and strategies. Her latest book is Trust Your Gut: How the Power of Intuition Can Grow Your Business. She’s also the bestselling author of Divine Intuition and Compass of the Soul. Her free monthly “Intuition” and “Gut Trusters for Business Success” newsletters are available at her Web site, www.LynnRobinson.com.
Copyright 1998-2006 Lynn A. Robinson

 

Electronics At The Dinner Table,

What’s Next?

I’m always on the lookout for some quirky new gimmick or product to help people change or sustain healthy lifestyle habits. It’s been a while since anything grabbed my attention. This one, however, takes the cake or at least the plate.

Actually, with all the electronics we have from talking greeting cards to toys to scales, why should a talking plate come as a surprise? It’s called a Smart Plate and it’s a dinner plate equipped with weight sensors connected to a palm-sized computer. When too much food is placed on it, the plate complains out loud with commands like, “Stop right there! What about excess weight?” and “Where’s your willpower?” In an alternative version of this persuasive (?) technology, music plays faster and more aggressively if the diner eats quickly (as measured by the number of times the fork hits the plate), and more calmly if the meal is consumed slowly. I’m not sure about the philosophy behind that one, but, hey, it may be an improvement over eating with the television blaring.

Calendar Dates & A Surprise

I’m excited that my calendar has on it lots of speaker dates for me to attend this spring, including Maya Angelou who is coming to Portland, Feb. 20th.  Speaking of calendars, I got a surprise when I opened the 2007 wall calendars we bought in Italy last summer. The pictures (the real reason we bought them) are gorgeous, of course, but the days of the week, as you look across them, start on Monday instead of Sunday. Now this is not how I’m accustomed to looking at dates, so it throws me off. Not right or wrong, just different – and ridiculously irritating until I get used to it. Of course, I could go buy American calendars, but then I’d miss the Italian countryside pictures, as well as the challenge of adjusting to a new way of looking at things — perhaps it is possible to teach a woman over fifty a new thing. Then again, perhaps the Italians have it right – The week starts on Monday and the two-day weekend is at the end of the week. What a concept! That and their two hour lunch breaks when all the businesses, except the restaurants close. I could get used to that. Viva Italiano!

Until next time, be good to yourself for your good health and those you love.

Yours truly in good health,
Barbara