ALLIES ON OUR PATH: Relaxation and mindfulness

The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. 
There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will,
and the solution comes to you and you don't know how or why.

                                                                                  Albert Einstein

Dear TRILOGOS friends,

This eureka moment, which is so typical of intuition, lasts only a split second. This means that we need to be very attentive and alert, since it is only during those split seconds that we can perceive what our unconscious and our experiences are trying to tell us in their very own way.

There’s only a tiny window of opportunity between perception, an intuitive impulse and the moment when the inner censor is already silencing the inner voice of intuition.

Intuition, which is often described as our quiet inner voice, can only manifest under certain conditions.

And so, in our hectic or anxiety- and worry-ridden everyday lives, we often miss these messages which our unconscious is constantly sending our way. But if we consciously pay attention to them, we will witness our inner wisdom, which has an answer to all our questions and problems.

Everything is hidden inside ourselves—we simply have to know how to retrieve this treasure by lying in wait, figuratively speaking. 

Everyone is in the position to create such suitable conditions for themselves, meaning that we don’t have to wait until such conditions occur externally—quite the contrary. It is by means of mindfulness exercises, or a meditation practice, that we can create the appropriate relaxing circumstances for becoming alert. 

When we are relaxed, our parasympathetic nervous system becomes activated and our sympathetic nervous system regulated. The body then produces its own morphines (endorphins) and stops producing stress hormones. Further, neurobiologists discovered that during conscious relaxation and meditation, nerve cells are formed in the hippocampus, as occurs during endurance sports. The hippocampus also happens to be the region of the brain that plays an important role in the learning and reward system.

In relaxation, worries and anxiety are put aside. Even phobias lose their power over us—which is why deep relaxation is a preferred treatment for phobias.

A pleasant feeling flows through us, often accompanied by a sense of trust that everything is good the way it is.

The following are but a few of the many time-tested methods and techniques for relaxation which can help you achieve the above-mentioned effects:

• PMR − Progressive muscle relaxation (by Jacobsen) 

• ​Autogenic training

• Body scan meditation

• Mantra meditation

• Breathing meditation

• Phantasy journeys (guided imagery journeys)

We would now like to engage you in a very brief but very effective relaxation exercise. Please allow yourself to take this time out no matter how much pressure you might be feeling to get on with your daily tasks.

The first relevant step for getting us out of our thoughts for a while is always a sensitive intuiting.

The more often you do this, the greater the effect and the longer the duration of the silence of thoughts. The body develops the above-mentioned positive changes in the brain, which also lead to increased stress resilience.

Whenever you succeed in establishing this inner silence, you are giving, in a second step, your inner observer the opportunity to perceive and absorb the lightning-fast messages.

We describe this state—this silent observing awareness with which you can perceive the emerging impulses in the best possible way—as an active-passive attitude.

By taking up a regular practice of doing shorter or longer exercises, you’ll find your way to (even) more restful relaxation and increased mindfulness.

May you succeed in perceiving your inner voice, regardless of any obstacles that may arise, so that it can bring you answers.

Yours,

Linda Roethlisberger
www.trilogos.com

PS: Visit the Trilogos Foundation’s YouTube channel to find a trailer of the audio book THE PATH OF INTUITION by Linda Vera Roethlisberger and spoken by Terry Collins (from New York).