Our Emotional Operating System (EOS) is not the same as our Inner Guidance System (IGS). But, the two systems work so similarly that they are easy to confuse.

Emotions get our attention. They offer sensations of constriction or expansion in varying degrees of intensity according to the level of congruence between our attitude and our intention. For example, someone who laments having no friends may begin to feel lonely. The discomfort of loneliness indicates the futility of their attention to what is going wrong. A shift of attention to the solution and how it will feel elevates their mood and magnetism enabling them to attract what they seek.

Our IGS gives us access to deeper Truths beyond our preferences and conditioning. It also uses sensations of expansion and constriction to communicate with us. However, the expansive sensation associated with the peace of Truth has no vibration at all. There is no mistaking the Truth when we you feel it...Ironically what you are feeling is nothing! However fleeting, it is a calm amid the turbulence of life caused by our attachments.

It is possible to feel the expansion of Truth and the constriction of emotional pain associated with accepting that Truth at the same time. For example, a parent might reach a sense of ‘rightness’ about weaning their child. They may know that the time has come when it is not in their child’s best interest for mom or dad to intervene, provide funds or solve a dilemma. At the same time, the parent may feel sad that the child is growing up and leaving the nest or the parent may feel anxious about trusting the outcome to the child.

To live the life of our dreams, we have two simple (not necessarily easy!) guidelines to follow: 1. The constriction of emotional pain never trumps the expansion of peace from our Truth. 2. Likewise, the expansive feeling from emotional pleasure never trumps a subtle constriction that may arise when we pay attention to our IGS warning us to come back into integrity. Too often we detect the fleeting tug and dismiss it in favor of the deliciousness of pleasure. Later we palm our foreheads wondering, “Why didn’t I listen to myself?!”

The presence of Truth is very difficult to identify in the midst of mental chatter or emotional turbulence. To maintain our course we need to go below the surface. As needed, we allow ourselves to admit and process our emotions, fully accepting how we feel as a result of our preferences, interpretations and conditioning. Then we can release them. This enables us to get access to the perfection of our Inner Guidance System.

If we pay close attention, it is very easy to recognize Truth. It does not feel good or bad. It is still. It is open. It is expansive. It just is. We may not like it, but it is there plain as day. There is no mistaking it. This “still, small voice” is the only arbiter of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ – and it is unique to each of us. The guidance is telling us what is life affirming or debilitating. It tells us what works and doesn’t work for each one of us on a case-by-case and moment-to-basis. It tells us when our thought, word or deed or that of another, is constructive or destructive for us. It is able to recognize the deception hidden in the temporary expansive feeling of emotional highs from escape mechanisms or ‘getting our way.’

Although we associate accessing Truth with stillness, it does not mean we live life in neutral. It means we process our feelings as they happen and let both the highs and lows pass in river of life. We don’t fear the waters that come or chase the waters that pass. We embrace emotions that get stuck so we can do the work to release anything that may cause coagulation and toxicity. The stillness of Truth is one of non-resistance, openness, release and surrender. We know that if the water stays still…we are dead!

Author's Bio: 

“when we understand that our circumstances and personal life experiences are the result of our inner life and not the cause, we will pursue peace of mind at all cost.”
— laura nash

Laura Nash is a consultant and instructor, guiding both individuals and groups to attain their goals using a surprisingly simple and effective vehicle: PEACE OF MIND. Her clients come from all walks of life – CEOs and senior executives of major corporations, professional athletes, artists, physicians – anyone seeking to improve their life. Her philosophy is that people already intuitively know how to solve any dilemma. They, merely, get so bogged down by the details of an issue or the emotion surrounding it, that they cannot discern their own answers. Laura demonstrates how to cut through all the chaos and drama of life to arrive at the simple solution.

Background

Trained and certied by Deepak Chopra, M.D., world renowned author of dozens of best-selling books on the topic of mind-body medicine, Ms. Nash is a well-established teacher, speaker and workshop facilitator. With a B.A. from Hobart and William Smith Colleges, this former institutional bond broker and vice president at Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, Inc., brings both a philosophical and entrepreneurial perspective to her audience. She is certied to teach the authentic, ancient form of silent meditation from the Yoga tradition of India, as well as “Wellness in the Workplace,” a program designed for companies, based on Dr. Deepak Chopra’s personal development masterpiece, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. She was recently awarded for her status as the most active Chopra certied instructor in the world.