Guest post by Sarah Farris of Vibe Elevated
We are so excited to have Sarah lead a workshop on intuitive energy in business with our vendor collective members next week! She’ll be sharing all about how to trust your gut, build quality relationships & how all of this effects the energy in your business!
Several years ago…
I was contacted by a woman with whom I shared a handful of mutual contacts. This person, who I’ll refer to as Ann for the purpose of this story, wanted to set up a time to meet for coffee and talk about the work I do as an intuitive consultant and Reiki master. Ann said that she had some insight to share with me, and my interest was piqued.
But, from the moment she contacted me, something felt strange.
I tried to talk myself out of the trepidation I felt creeping in. “We have mutual contacts who I completely trust,” I told myself. As much as I attempted to dodge the weird feeling I had, in the days leading up to our meeting, it remained consistent and began to amplify.
When I entertained canceling the meeting, an army of “shoulds” paraded through my head. “I really should do this because I don’t want to disappoint anyone.” Or, “I should just go and do it because I already committed and I don’t want to be flakey.”
Against my better judgment, I sucked it up and went to our meeting, even though the dial on my anxiety had turned up so high I felt warning signs come to life in my body. The morning of, I was highly and unreasonably emotional, got short and snippy with my husband for no reason, was in a horrible mood, and felt like I was going to be sick to my stomach at any moment.
As it turned out, Ann was not at all interested in sharing insight. It became abundantly clear to me in our brief time together that she was only interested in getting inside my head, manipulating me, and causing me to question every single aspect of my trajectory and the work I was doing.
Today as I reflect on that experience, I know with certainty that my intuition was desperately trying to intervene and offer critical information that I could have used, but I chose not to.
The intuition isn’t a complicated mechanism, and with the right information, you can start using yours to help serve you in every single area of your life, starting today. We all have the power of intuition, but many of us were brought up to believe that it isn’t safe to trust it or, like me, we hear it but choose to not listen.
Using my experience with Ann, here are some red flags that are foundationally important to consider when engaging the intuition.
1. Something felt off.
We’ll start with the most simple and easiest to dismiss. As women, many of us have experienced that innate instinct that tells us something’s amiss, even if we don’t know why. Maybe you just know you need to call your mom or take your kid to the doctor when friends say it’s not necessary. Most of us can recall a time when we had that strong feeling, even if logic didn’t have a place.
One of the things I love the most about working with the intuition is that, when we make a decision that’s intuitive and in our best interest, we should feel a sense of peace deep down, even if it’s a risky or highly emotional decision.
As a professional intuitive, I work with clients all over the world who come to me with big questions and dilemmas. I’ve consulted with many women who wanted to know about the energy around their marriage and whether or not it’s in their best interest to continue on in their respective relationships.
Most of those partnerships required some work and attention, but some had truly run their course or unfortunately turned detrimental. In the instances where I’ve shared that the marriage no longer feels to be in either party’s best interest, my clients have always responded that, deep down, they knew that separation was what needed to happen. Even though the ending of a decades-long marriage can feel devastating, each one of these women felt a sense of peace when they allowed themselves to really step into what it might feel like to make that particular decision.
If something feels off to you, listen. At the very least, get curious and don’t be afraid to explore where that feeling is coming from.
2. The intuition is consistent.
We all have days when stuff just feels off–we’re human, after all. When I consult with women on developing their intuitions, one of the things we talk about right away is how the intuition comes through. Everyone receives intuitive information in slightly different ways, but one thing we all have in common is that when we’re tapping into intuitive information, it will always be consistent (for the most part).
Consider my story about Ann. I mentioned that I had a creepy feeling that was consistent–it didn’t waver or change; if anything, it got louder.
If you are trying to tap into your intuition and over the course of several days you feel the same thing, pay attention. In most instances, the voice of the intuition will share a consistent message.
3. Be aware of the shoulds.
I’m just gonna say it: A should is never a good justification for doing something. Of course, there are exceptions, but shoulds generally attach to guilt. And guilt isn’t a good justification for doing something, either.
“I really should go to that birthday party even though I’m exhausted and could use some rest.”
“I should enroll my daughter in that class because I don’t want the other moms to think I’m not doing enough for her.”
“I should let my mother-in-law take the reins on this upcoming event even though she’s disrespecting my wishes because I don’t want to come off as demanding.”
At the end of the day, “shoulds” drive us to make decisions that aren’t rooted in our intuition or what’s best for us.
Try this: Next time you have a decision to make and can’t get to the bottom of what your intuition is saying, ask yourself what your motivation is for wanting to make that decision. Is it rooted in guilt or a genuine desire or drive? The answer can be quite telling.
4. Your body will never lie.
Our bodies communicate with us all day long. They tell us when we need to rest, when we need to eat or hydrate, and when we are content or nervous. Most of us are wearing six hats at once (wife, mom, employee, sister, friend, neighbor, etc.) and don’t give ourselves permission to slow down for just a few moments to ask ourselves how we’re feeling.
What if you took just 10 seconds in the morning and evening to close your eyes and check in with your body? It’s not your job in that moment to fix anything, just to notice without judgment. Ten seconds is enough time to realize that you’re actually just really tired when you’ve created a story in your mind about how you’re pissed off at your husband. Ten seconds is enough time to feel that you’re actually really uncomfortable about something you just said yes to when in reality it’s all too easy to ignore that feeling and move forward.
Our bodies and intuition work together to help guide us to do what’s best for us. Pay attention to what your body is telling you as you move through your day. Whether it’s an elevated heart rate, pit in your stomach, or something else, the signals are all there–it’s just a matter of tuning in.
About Sarah
Sarah is an intuitive leadership consultant and energy expert as well as the owner and founder of Vibe Elevated where she serves a worldwide client base. She has collaborated with mindbodygreen, Free People, Lululemon, Athleta, The Riveter, Women Catalysts, and Happsters Squad.
Sarah has been attuned to the master level of Reiki and is a member of the lineage that can be traced directly back to Mikao Usui, the founder of Reiki. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has studied under Reiki Master and RN, Marie Manuchehri as well as NLP practitioner and co-developer of the CSI™ method, Michele Morgan.
