7 Ways to Sharpen Your Skills
Introverts are thoughtful, observant, and make for good listeners. As an introvert, you process information more deliberately and purposefully than extroverts do; you take time to understand theories, opinions, and ideas, before coming to conclusions and taking action.
In a range of situations, you focus on, listen to, and act on your inner thoughts and feelings. You are, in fact naturally mindful!
I'm honored to welcome author and coach Gill Hasson as our guest blogger this week.
As part of my personal introvert journey, I discovered that mindfulness was an intriguing and soothing part of my self-care.
I picked up Gill Hasson's Mindfulness book and found it immediately captivating. Her books challenge my thinking and more importantly provide clear tips to relax, focus, and build self-confidence so I can use my strengths to achieve my dreams. -Steve Friedman
Mindfulness is simply concerned with thinking about what you’re doing while you’re doing it; to be in the present; to be aware of and stay with what's happening right now.
Raise your Awareness
Mindful awareness depends on being open and receptive to what’s going on within you and around you; to thoughts and feelings, experiences, events, and objects. As well as being aware, mindfulness is to acknowledge what’s happening; to consciously recognise the existence of something; recognising thoughts, feelings, and experiences events which are occurring in the present.
The more you notice what’s happening in and around you right now, the more in-the-moment you are. Being more aware helps you to appreciate what you normally take for granted and enables you to notice when things are new or different.
Listen. Each morning when you wake up, lay for a minute or two being aware of the sounds that you hear. Listen to the sounds inside; your breathing, a ticking clock, other people and children moving around, talking. Be aware of the sounds outside; traffic, people, birds the wind, or rain.
Get in the habit of being mindful of your surroundings. Look for changes in the environment on your way to work, taking children to school, and so on. What’s different? Describe in your head or out loud what you are seeing or doing. If you resolve to be more aware you’ll see that almost everything is different each time; the weather, the pattern of light on the buildings, the faces of the people.
Notice small details in your environment and daily life. Use waiting time – at the traffic lights or when you're in a line waiting to pay to notice something new in situations and surroundings that are familiar to you.
Tune into your intuition
Being more aware and acknowledging what's happening around you can help you develop and better tune in to your intuition. Intuition is that keen and quick insight; that immediate knowing that tells you something is or isn’t ‘right.’ Intuition bridges the gap between the conscious and non-conscious parts of your mind; between instinct and reason.
If you’ve ever had a moment where you felt as though something wasn't right – when things didn’t seem to add up, then you’ve experienced intuition; an immediate knowing. Conversely, you could’ve experienced situations where everything did add up; everything did seem to come together to tell you to take action straight away. That’s also your intuition.
Tuning in to your intuition simply means being aware of the information your senses are communicating to you; what your ears, eyes, nose, sense of taste, sense of touch, and physical sensations are telling you.
Practice developing your intuition. Take a couple of minutes to be still and be present in a range of situations at home, on your way to work, at work, in a café, the dentist’s waiting room, and so on. Breathe normally. What do you see or hear, smell, taste, touch, and feel?
Be aware of your thoughts. Notice physical sensations; notice the temperature of the air as it flows through your nostrils. Notice the different smells in the air. What can you hear? Let the sounds you hear anchor you to the present moment.
Go outside. Changing your environment can help your senses get used to retuning. Observe the way the world is moving around you; the changing light, sights, sounds, and smells.
Notice what’s normal and what’s new in familiar situations. Notice smells, sounds, sights then, when you notice things being out of place or unusual you will recognise your intuition communicating with you.
Tune in to your intuition. Learn to trust your hunches and gut feelings. If something doesn't feel right, focus.
Listen to your body. In any one situation, an inkling or flash of inner sense might be felt as a tightness in your chest, a lump in your throat, lightness in your head, a voice, or a sensation, even a taste.
Be alert for a combination of signals. It might be a glimpse of something happening, a brief passing look from someone else and a momentary sound. When all the information your senses are receiving does add up, your intuition is coming through loud and clear. Other times, a single signal will be so strong you need no further signal – act now!
Intuitive messages are often keen and quick which makes them easy to miss. So often, intuitive messages are drowned out by all the other internal and external noise and activity that is going in and around you.
This is where mindfulness can help. The key to increasing your intuitive awareness is to be present. Intuition lives in the present. Mindfulness can help you filter out mental chatter and external noise, activity, and distractions.
Practicing your awareness will build the skills for you to live a more mindful life where you appreciate today and all the joy it brings.
About Gill Hasson
Gill Hasson has written more than 25 books on the subject of wellbeing for adults and children; books on emotional intelligence, resilience, kindness, and happiness. She also delivers teaching and training for education organizations, voluntary and business organizations.
Gill’s particular interest and motivation are in helping people to realize their potential; to live their best life!
You can learn more about Gill and check out her books at www.gillhasson.co.uk. Contact Gill at gillhasson@btinternet.com.
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An Introvert's View on Religion
Using our strengths to define our connection with spirit and faith