Listen to Your Inner Voice
Have you ever found yourself thinking or saying something that didn’t make much sense at the time, but days or weeks later started to become the truth for you?
It has been happening more and more to me. A few weeks ago I noticed that my language – spoken and thought – increasingly referred to speaking up, finding a voice, telling the truth. Many of my clients were working on their experiences of having felt voiceless for any years and now learning to communicate in a constructive and powerful way. I woke up one morning inspired to offer an 8 week tele-course called “Find Your Voice, Use Your Choice” (it starts on 13 July and you can still join me – see the end of the newsletter for more details).
I was vaguely aware that something must be brewing but, even so, I have been amazed and enthralled by the speaking opportunities that have come my way since my inner voice started demanding to be heard.
Last week I spoke to a roomful of coaches at the Gauteng Chapter of the International Coaching Federation. This week (on Thursday 7 July) I am speaking at the Grahamstown Festival’s ThinkFest! On the 19th of July I will be appearing on Great Expectations on eTv, and on 21st August I will be presenting a paper about “Rebuilding the Future” at the annual Limmud conference in Johannesburg.
These last few days have reminded me that sometimes – actually, often – my unconscious self is paying more attention to possibility and desire than my conscious self. When I let go of my need to know, my compulsion to control, my desire to plan, and just listen to what my inner voice is telling me, I find the path that is right for me.
I am convinced that I am so much better able to hear my inner voice because I have been making a concerted effort to listen to it. For some months – if not years – I have been advised and encouraged to regularly and consistently make time to meditate and connect with my internal world and over the last few weeks I have been making a concerted effort to do that. I have been disciplined about not checking my emails and catching up on twitter feeds until after I have completed my morning meditation and journaling. I have spent quiet time every evening, processing the day and clearing my mind before going to bed. The result has been that, not only am I sleeping better and feeling wonderfully energized, my inner voice is getting more vocal – and I am getting better at hearing it.
I don’t think it matters if your quiet connecting space is a structured meditation, a walk in nature, or a silent candlelit bath; I highly recommend that you find a practice that helps you to hear your inner voice. You may be surprised by what it has to tell you.
Sometimes my inner voice talks to me through the written word. If, like me, you are owned by a cat, you may be interested in my recent blog post entitled “On Codependence and Cats.” You can read it here.
If you would like to know more about where and when I am speaking or offering courses this month, here is the information:
At 12h00 on Thursday 7 July I will be talking on “Choosing Safety” as part of the Grahamstown Festival’s Thinkfest!. (In addition to my coaching, I'm also a crime prevention consultant, so I combine my crime prevention through social development ideas with my passion for coaching people - particularly youth – to better respond to crime and safety.)
The 8 week “Find Your Voice, Use Your Choice” coaching programme starts on Wednesday 13 July. The course draws from my book Life Lessons for the Adult Child (about which Martha Beck, who wrote the foreword says “Judy’s psychological logic is unfailingly resonant, her explanations and exercises truly liberating”) and introduces a whole lot of new coaching tools. Over eight weeks, in a safe and supportive online environment, we will follow a journey of self-discovery, self-acceptance and self-release. The classes will be held at 8pm (Local SA time) every Wednesday night for eight weeks, and will last 90 minutes. Email me for more details or to book your place.
On 19 July I will be appearing on eTV’s “Great Expectations” from 11h30 to 12h30. The topic is ‘smother mothers’ and I will be discussing how being an adult child can affect your parenting style and approach.
Although it is not taking place this month, I am really looking forward to the Limmud Conference in August. The paper I will be presenting is called “Rebuilding the Future: coaching young people to make life choices that will put them on a road to resilience” and it will be on Sunday 21 August. You can find out more about the conference at www.limmud.org.za
If your inner voice tells you anything you would like to share with me, I would love to hear it. I hope that July is a wonderful month for you, a month that brings you closer to yourself and to your inner voice.
Love Judy