How I Unlock My Inner Wisdom

We all have deep inner wisdom within us. 

Sometimes this wisdom comes through in ways that don't necessarily make sense, like a sensation in your body, a random word or song popping into your head, or running into a friend that you really needed to talk to but you didn't know it until you saw them. 

For most of my life I ignored my inner wisdom because it went against everything I was told I should too. 

(I’m pausing here to mourn all of the beautiful moments that I lost because I ignored that true voice within me.) 

I'm guessing you've had moments where you ignored your inner wisdom too (and you might not even know it). 

I lose track of my inner wisdom when I'm trying to please others to meet their needs rather than meeting my own. 

For nearly a decade, I worked as an accountant for a special needs school. It was a job I was good at and jumped into with hardly any training at all. I've never taken an accounting class in my life!. That job required someone that was good with numbers and a good communicator so it was a good fit for my skills, but it wasn't a good fit for my soul. 

In that job we used an antiquated database system that required me to physically be in the office the first seven business days of every single month. That meant I didn't have flexibility. I had to plan my vacations around the billing schedule. I had to say no to so many things. I felt like I had no control over my schedule. I was the only one in the office that knew how to run the system and it wasn't until I got pregnant that they finally hired a second person that could do the job too.

I share this story because from the outside it looks like I was succeeding, yet it was a really challenging time in my life. I had a good job with excellent benefits, making consistent income, and we were able to buy a house. On the inside I was miserable. That job felt like a drain on me. 

The reason that job drained me is that the part of me that's really good with numbers, data, and organizing likes to be in the background; it doesn't like to be front and center. There are other parts of my character that love to be out performing on a stage or leading lectures, but the part of me that loves figuring out puzzles and data is not that. 

Working as an accountant meant that the part of me that loves numbers had to be front and center all the time. 

That was the part that was draining on me because that part was doing waaaaay more than it wanted to do. 

Each day when I came home from work I'd be crabby, I'd be mean, because I wasn't happy. 

I didn't feel fulfilled. I felt like I was stuck in an endless repeating loop and there was no way out. 

The only day that I felt better was the day I'd go to yoga. That was my lifeline during that time. When a family thing or an event would pop up on my usual yoga day and I skipped yoga I would be miserable for the rest of the week. It wasn’t pretty. 

I claimed my yoga time as sacred and non-negotiable and honestly I’ve missed some family gatherings because I chose yoga and I don’t regret it. 

Yoga connects me to my inner wisdom. 

Even when I was tired, even when I really didn't want to go, I still went because I knew how much better I felt at the end of class. That's what I equate with feeling my inner wisdom, that internal pull that draws you towards something. 

Inner wisdom can be a pull towards a person, an idea, a thought, a place. 

This yoga example makes the most sense to me because I would show up even when I was exhausted, frustrated, or not wanting to be there yet it always felt good by the end. My inner wisdom drew me to yoga because it knew I needed it, so I would feel supported, grounded, and understood, when nothing else in my life felt that way. 

What does your inner wisdom feel like? 

One of the best ways to connect to your inner wisdom is through journaling.

It gives you safe space to ask questions and get clear on the things that feel like hamster wheels in your head. 

➡️ Join me this Thursday Feb 23rd at 7pm for an In Person Thoughtful Journaling Workshop at WorkBistro. Get your ticket here. 

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