Inner Prompting

I'll be the first to admit, I'm not very disciplined at sitting meditation.

I have periods where I'm able to sit, usually in the early morning, out on my back deck, when the weather is agreeable.

In saying that, I'm a big believer in the power of mediation and silence.

It's a powerful way to connect with Spirit.

I've had to learn to compensate for my lack of discipline.

At times, I've felt I wasn't a good enough yogini for not having a daily sitting practice.

Having worked for 20+ yrs to shed the temptations of guilt and all its entrapments, I recognize it as a destructive quality of ego-mind. I desire not to go there any more.

I'm grateful for Erich Schiffmann's encouragement in teaching me to allow all things to be an expression of meditation. He inspires his students, when faced with a decision, any decision, however small, to "pause, ask and be courageous to act on inner prompting".

In my opinion, that is the essence of meditation. Being sensitive enough to Spirit's guidance that you feel, hear or simply perceive Divine inspiration from within.

I'm a loner by nature. The beauty of solitude is the time it affords for silence and contemplation. When working with my animals, playing with the horses, shaping dog behavior with my new pup Clover, or just hanging out with the cats, my practice is to be sensitive to what they have to offer energetically.

Often, I don't understand the inner prompting but simply go with it.

A recent example of acting on inner prompting is when I adopted Clover.

Driving back from the SC shelter, I asked her what her name was, (I had a list of names I was considering.) She showed me a mental picture of the word C.l.o.v.e.r. and a picture of a field of clover.

Not a name I would have chosen, but I went with it. When I called her name, she looked at me with an expression of "you got it!" and has since, always come to "Clover" when called.

Had I resisted the prompting, I would have missed an important communication.

In saying all of this, I encourage you to develop the practice to pause before making any decision. To use Erich's example, even when buying apples at the grocery. Stop and ask, which apples should I buy today? Then have the courage to act on your inner voice.

Practicing on a regular basis with the small stuff exercises your natural gift of intuition. Then it's sensitive when you need it in the big decisions.

It's a simple practice. One that affords access to a sea of consciousness more vast than the human mind can conceive and comprehend.

The hard part is not to resist when you don't understand why you're being prompted to do what might not make sense at the time.

Ego loves to meddle in an attempt to get you confused. The more you practice, the more you'll be quick to recognize ego's trickery.

Best wishes on your journey-

donna