We live in a very magical universe.

I remember feeling this when I was a child. I felt invincible, I saw the magic in nature and the consciousness in inanimate objects. I felt like I knew the world; it seemed smaller and more understandable. Maybe I didn't know the minutiae behind every detail that I observed, but I also did not need to because there was still a sense of coherence to most things.

At some point that sense of childish wonder was lost and for most of my adult life the world has seemed like a chaotic mess of random occurrences. However, in recent years, I have been rediscovering the magic and finding the sense of awe and enchantment that I felt as a child.  

Following my intuition has been the key to get back to this magic.

I feel a sense of power that I did not feel before. I experience a sense of knowing: answers come and there is a sense that everything happens for a reason. This rediscovery has also lead me to have a greater sense of trust, coherence and peace. 

Intuition is simply listening to oneself, and I truly believe that every human being has an intuitive ability. I felt lost, confused and disconnected from myself for the majority of my life. Now I have gotten to a point where I lead my life always informed by my intuition and recognize that it has continued to lead me in a very positive direction. I don't believe this is because I have any special ability, I think it is simply because I have nurtured a natural human trait.

Unfortunately, our listening mechanism gets scrambled through conditioning and distraction that is constantly pulling us away from ourselves. 

From a very young age we are taught to snuff out our unique inner voice, first by drawing inside the lines and then later by spending most of our time memorizing and regurgitating other peoples thoughts, ideas and values. When the rest of our free time is then filled with media, there is not much time left to recognize ourselves and what is coming from within. So for most of us, we either never got a chance to develop listening to ourselves, or the ability was conditioned out of us as we were incentivized to conform with the rest of society.

Accessing intuition is just a matter of practicing self-awareness and trust. 

When inspired to increase self-awareness, many might think of going to a spiritual workshop, a yoga class or grabbing the latest best-selling self-help book will get them there. 

While these things may assist, what I have learned is that self-awareness doesn't require any of these things and often the influence of these things end up being just another distraction away from ourselves.  

For me, creating a setting for self-exploration has been key.

What is this special setting? Does it require candles and incense and an alter with your favorite crystals? No. The setting is just you and only you with no other distractions or inputs. This could be tucked away in a quiet private room or in a busy environment. 

In both scenarios it is about shifting your attention so that you fill your awareness with yourself. This could be for one hour or it could be for three seconds. What is more important than where or how is that we have a regular practice of listening to ourselves. With practice, eventually it will become instantaneous so that whenever we need a decision, it is there coming from our inner wisdom immediately.

This has been a gradual process that has taken me several years to develop. First, I had to teach myself to listen. Second, I had to work through the process of gaining trust in what I heard. Both take practice and both take grace. Take baby steps and be curious and you will rediscover your own magic.

Joy will be guiding others in exploring the theme of intuition and listening to our inner wisdom in her upcoming event "I Feel Wise, I Am Wise" coming up on June 3rd in Brighton, MI.  

Joy also supports individuals one-on-one in amplifying self-awareness and trust. Inquiries can be sent to joy@ignitelife.net.