Quieting the noise: Coming Home to your Inner Compass

I call my intuition my “inner compass” because when I rely on it, it ALWAYS shows me the right path for right now. Most of the reason I felt called to write a book is because everyone today is talking about using your inner compass to guide you in the right direction but no one is really teaching you HOW to do it. 

How do you use your inner compass if you have no idea where it is?

I want to teach you, in a tangible way, how to COME HOME to yourself. How to quiet the noise so you can really root into your body, open your heart, locate your inner compass and start using it for the answers you crave. Have you noticed how reactive people are right now? The majority of our world is being swayed in hundreds of directions based on what others are telling them is true. 

When you rely on someone else’s wisdom, rather than your own, you don’t fully own your body. You aren’t grounded in your own wisdom. Which means you may feel

Anxious

Scared

Sad

Mad

And… the emotions you feel, when you sit in someone else’s truth, may not even belong to you. What if the anxiety you’re feeling isn’t really yours? 

We’re so used to being told what to do that we’ve forgotten how to listen. We’ve forgotten how to listen to ourselves. What would happen if you learned to rely on yourself for the truth?

Early last fall, I had an intuitive feeling that my oldest son needed to be held back. He was slated to start Kindergarten this fall and I was feeling, a YEAR ago, that he wasn’t ready. He doesn’t have a fall birthday so age wise, it’s not a clear cut decision.In fact, if we held him, he’d be older than all of the other kids in his class. My husband was not on board, and frankly, neither were his pre-K teachers. But I knew. Something inside of me was telling me he wasn’t ready. 

So, we started figuring out what our options could be: do kindergarten at his current preschool and then repeat it in public school the following year? Keep him home and just let him play? Apply to a private school where he would get more support from teachers? These questions and the decisions attached to them took us through to the beginning of March. We did end up applying to the private school but got waitlisted. We did not get into our first choice of public school (everything is by lottery where we live). And we got denied financial aid at our current school so that was no longer an option either. I felt like all of these signs were telling me “he needs to be home next year”. So, we made the decision: all three of our boys would stay home. 

And then, COVID hit and the world shut down. 

I felt a deep sense of urgency to figure out a plan for the school year that felt right for my family. I didn’t know why at the time, but I trusted that feeling and continued on my path. Now, here we are, three months into a school year that hasn’t looked anything like it did before. Where we live, there have been kids going to school in person, kids doing remote learning, and kids doing a hybrid of the two. I can feel the anxiety and the frustration from the kids, parents, teachers and administrators about not knowing what’s next. I see it all play out on our neighborhood facebook page.  And… I don’t have to be part of this conversation because I chose, months ago, to keep my kids home.

I trusted my inner compass to point me in the right direction… and it did. 

I didn’t know why at the time, but I went with it anyway. Knowing what I know now, about how the classroom looks and feels this year, it would never work for my son anyway. Not being able to see a teacher’s face because they have a mask on means not being able to read emotion. Staying 6 feet away from his friends means no hugs, no playing together, no shared experiences. And I think, at least for my son, this environment would have created so much stress and anxiety for him that keeping him home, was the right decision for him, to keep his nervous system calm.

Let me be clear: everyone is doing their best at this moment. I recognize the privilege in my being able to make this choice for my family. I understand most people don’t have many options right now. No one, and I mean no one, has the answers. And, most importantly, the answers are going to look different for different families.

There are different answers for different people. And, all of the answers can be true.

We need to stop letting ourselves be swayed by the opinions of others. We need to start trusting our own bodies to show us the answers we’re seeking. I KNEW, months ago, that my oldest son was supposed to be home with me in the fall because I felt it in my body.  I didn’t know WHY but the WHY doesn’t matter.

This is just one example of many more to come over the next few years. 

Your relationship to the unknown is being tested.

The secret to staying calm within all of this chaos (because trust me, the chaos isn’t going anywhere, friends) is to find the answers within you.

TRUST YOURSELF.

Don’t keep making decisions based on what you feel everyone else is doing.  I’ve seen this very thing unfold over and over again over the past nine months.  Stop looking outside of yourself for what to do. Start making decisions because they FEEL RIGHT for you. We all have the power to sail our own ship.

We need to come home to our inner compass. We need to get rooted in our bodies again so our foundation is strong enough to survive the changing winds. You’ve got this.

The last thing I’d love to share with you are some of the essential oils and some of the acupuncture points and zones that help me get rooted into my body so I can listen…. 

1. Tea Tree helps with boundaries so you can tap into your yes and your no more clearly. I like to swipe the inside of my wrist creases to bring my guard down, clear the slate and repair my boundaries so I have a clear idea of what’s mine and what’s not

2. Lavender is the oil of communication so it can help you listen to that inner voice more clearly. I like to use lavender on my third eye and over my throat so I can hear my answer and then communicate that information to others

3. Geranium is the oil of self trust so this oil can help you trust the information you’re getting from your inner compass. I love using this one around my belly button to amplify my inner compass and trust that it’s guiding me.