Faith, Intuition, etc.

Faith, Intuition, etc.

April 01, 2022

Hi friends,

How are you? I’ve spent the past few weeks engaging in some “energetic spring cleaning”, if you will. It wasn’t even super intentional at first - but as I reflect on what I’ve been up to the past few weeks I’m like wow, my body was signaling to me that I needed a reset. I’m glad I made space to listen for what I was craving & indulge it – I’m feeling good heading into April.

Here was my “spring reset” roster:

  • Microderm + facial to clear my skin of winter build-up

  • A vision board reset

  • A bang trim

  • A Natal Chart reading

  • Hot Stone Massage (NYC Peeps: check out Spa Mai!!!)

  • Reiki w/ Haley

What’s something you can do just for you to welcome in Spring? It can be as big as a closet cleanout or as small as a trip to your local coffee shop for the first iced coffee of spring.

If you’re into astrology, this week is a new moon which is a great time to consider what seeds you want to plant and nurture over the next month or so. (PS, I use the Chani App!)

If you need an accountability bud or want to share what you’re inviting in this season, I’d LOVE to hear from you! My inbox is always, always open.

Now into some headier stuff!

Today I’m dipping my toes into talking about my relationship to faith. I know this word can elicit Catholic School-PTSD or weird, complicated feelings – and it makes sense. Millennials are known for rejecting the religious structures we were brought up with and replacing them with crystals. This research, although a few years old, also has some interesting data points on the inconsistent relationship our generation has with religion.

But I’m not talking about religion, and I want to flip the script on “faith” being a taboo topic. Because it’s something that I’ve spent a lot of time exploring over the past few years, and I think it's a conversation we should embrace, not avoid. So let’s get into it

What does it mean to have faith?

When I say faith, I’m talking about the ability to tap into a sense of calm in the midst of chaos - to trust that despite whatever challenge you’re up against right now, that you have what it takes to get through it, and “things will be ok”.

Things might not be easy or fun or nice in the short term – but in my working definition of the word, which to me is more of a verb than a noun, it’s a practice that includes the following steps:

1) establishing deep trust in yourself

2) acting with courage

3) showing up to what you can control with integrity

4) releasing control over the things you can't influence

TLDR: Faith = trusting that even when things are hard - you have what it takes to get through it.

And all of this is basically to say that to me, a core element of faith is connecting to (and learning to trust) your intuition. Some thoughts on this:

For a big part of my life, I’ve looked to outside forces to confirm my faith. I’ve looked to other people in my life to calm me down, I’ve looked to messaging from leaders in the structures I inhabit, I’ve looked to friends to anchor me through storms. But the problem with looking outward for faith is that in doing this, you can neglect your own power and your own abilities - and come to rely on external validation instead of your own.

And lately I’ve been realizing that the moments where I feel most connected to my “faith” - or when I feel the most calm and secure – is when I’m accessing and acting in accordance with my intuition.

As I reflect on the past few years, my biggests acts of faith have been listening to what I know. This has meant acknowledging some really uncomfortable truths. But the key is investigating them with compassion, not judgment. I’m not saying this is easy work. It’s not. Sometimes it heartbreaking and painful and you’ll question why you wanted to be in touch with the truth at all.

That said, as you flex the muscle of listening to yourself, self-trust grows. It gets easier, and you find that you’re driven by internal validation instead of external signals. And you'll find it's easier to access that sense of calm; because you are trusting YOURSELF to set yourself on your highest path. And you're trusting yourself to overcome the challenges that path might throw your way.

“But how do I get in touch with my intuition?? And how do I push past the fear of listening to it?”

I’m someone who games out every single scenario before taking action. This is so deeply programmed in me, sometimes I’m strategizing and game-planning before even making space for my own feelings. So for me getting in touch with my intuition is a constant practice. Sometimes I’m really connected, other times I’m not, but this practice is becoming increasingly important to me.

Here are some things that help:

  • Nourishing my mind + body connection. Therapy, baths, journaling, walks, yoga, massages, meditation - listening to what my body needs always clears my mental state.

  • Slowing down. Taking (lots) of moments to check in with myself throughout the day

  • Affirmations

  • Allowing fluidity within structure

  • Asking for help / reaching out to my support system

Once again: THIS IS A PRACTICE! And it’s hard! But to me, acting from a place of knowing is the ultimate act of faith. And it takes courage. But cultivating this awareness and connection to self is such an important foundation to build.

What do you think? What does faith mean to you? Again this is just my take based on my experiences and exploration of this over the past few years. I would love to know how you think about and practice faith in your life. Again, inbox always open.

PS - don’t know where to start with your own spiritual exploration? This NYT roundup of spiritual podcasts was a great starting point for me a few years ago.

Alright, enough of that. Some links for ya!

I'm a sneakers gal thru and thru, but kinda in love with these $50 spring pumps.

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