Trust Your Gut: The Power of Intuition

“Our bodies have five senses: touch, smell, taste, sight, hearing. But not to be overlooked are the senses of our souls: intuition, peace, foresight, trust, empathy. The differences between people lie in their use of these senses; most people don’t know anything about the inner senses while a few people rely on them just as they rely on their physical senses, and in fact probably even more.” 
― C. JoyBell C.

We are far more than thinking beings; but rather multi-faceted, full sensory creatures. Although we don’t live in isolation, we often give more credence to the beliefs and guidance of others when it would benefit us to remember that we live with ourselves 24/7 and are at the affect of every decision we make. Our parents, teachers, therapists and coaches are meant to be models and it is up to us to determine the validity of what they have to offer. Call it Truth. For me, that’s Truth with a capital T. Indisputable, this feels right. If I have twitches in my stomach that tell me, “This isn’t feeling so good”, then I know that it’s not a vibration that I want to tap into. Goosebumps are also my Truth Barometer and I go with my gut when they pop up in a hardy YES!

I consider myself an empath which has both served me as a therapist and operated to my detriment when I take in/take on the feeling states of clients. It takes practice to remind myself that I am better able to serve them when I can detach with love.

Trusting the Inner Voice

Intuition played a part in a pivotal meeting, that with my husband Michael. In 1986, I was planning on going to Russia with a group of spiritual teachers including Alan Cohen, who wrote The Dragon Doesn’t Live Here Anymore and numerous other books. He was bringing a group of Americans to Russia on what he called a Citizens’ Diplomacy Mission.

At the time, the Cold War was still going on and we wanted the Russian people to know that we weren’t the enemy and they wanted us to know that they weren’t the enemy. I put down my deposit for the trip which was scheduled October 12th through the 25th of that year. Shortly after I heard The Voice, which is how I refer to it. Having worked in a psychiatric hospital, I do know the difference between psychotic voices that tell people to do harmful things and the Voice of God, spirit, intuition, guidance, whatever you want to call it. It definitively said, “No, you’re not supposed to go to Russia now. You’re supposed to be in Philadelphia.” And I did one of those cartoon character Scooby-Doo head shakes, “What are you talking about? I already put down my deposit. They’re going to think I’m crazy if I cancel it.” and the Voice repeated. I said, “I will be spending my 28th birthday in the home of some of my ancestors.”

My grandparents came to America from Russia in their youth to escape the pogrom. And the Voice repeated, as I volleyed back, “But I don’t live in Philadelphia.” Finally, I said, “All right, you’re not going to give up until I cancel this trip, right?” Spirit gave me the thumbs up, you bet. I canceled the trip and completely forgot about the conversation. On October 24th, I find myself in a car heading to Philadelphia with friends to hear Ram Dass speak. He is an author and spiritual teacher (just turned 87 recently) who was born Richard Alpert, and was a psychologist and professor at Harvard in the 1960’s. During the intermission, a mutual friend introduced Michael and me.

By listening to my intuition, I canceled my trip to Russia, went to Philadelphia, met my husband, we got married, and created Visions magazine, which focused on wellness, psycho-spirituality, environmental concerns, as well as peace and social justice, which we published for ten years. It gave me access to transformational speakers and authors, some of whose work revolves around intuitive development.

I also became an interfaith minister after Michael died. He had been attending the New Seminary in New York preparing for ordination. When life support was turned off in the ICU as he was dying waiting for a liver transplant, the Voice returned and said, “Call the seminary and ask to finish what Michael started.” I did so a few days afterward and I became ordained instead. Listening to those voices even if they seem absurd has had me arrive at my current life location.