How often do you discount your inner wisdom? Do you allow the noise from the outside world to overshadow the guidance and truth living within you?

We are all influenced by life happening around us. It is natural to check in and see where we fit in with the rest of the world. The problem arises, when we forget we have an inner guide we can trust to steer us in a direction most aligned with who we are. The problem grows into a giant monster, when we turn our back on that wise voice and allow our ego to become the driving force of our lives. This is where true suffering is born.

There is no need to get ahead of ourselves and panic or fear our ego. We can always come back to the sacred place within us to get grounded and hear the gentle whisper of our truth. If we are out of practice, it may take a bit of time to figure out which voice is our ego and which one is our truth center. But it won’t take long. Our truth is the voice that will feel right.

This voice is calming and non-judgmental. She will remind you all is well and to look around for the evidence to prove why this is so. She will drop gentle hints and nudges to go in a particular direction, or to reach out to a certain person. This voice is your intuition and she is powerful and humble. She is often overshadowed by the booming voice of the ego. But she understands the ego has a place and will add to the human journey you are on. She will never leave you, even if you lead long stretches of life from your ego. When you make your way back, she will dust you off and offer you the inner wisdom and guidance you had been tirelessly searching outside to find. She will always be there.

These are the 3 practices I turn to when I need a little extra help to hear my inner wisdom. These practices help me put all of the noise in perspective and find my way back home. If they resonate with where you are on your journey, give them a try and see how they fit.

1) Stop Justifying and You Will Quiet the Noise

Stop Justifying. We don’t have to validate why we feel the way we do, or why we are on a particular path. In the grand scheme of life, the explanation isn’t necessary. Nobody is truly that focused on anyone else. Everyone is on their own journey trying to navigate the best they can. Others can’t make better decisions for us than our inner wisdom.

Engaging in explanations to justify our inner wisdom only separates us from our truth. When we justify, we send the message we don’t really trust what we are being guided towards, and that we need external validation to hear we are okay and on the right track. It is like saying to your truth center: “I hear you, I trust you but hang on a second I am going to just check in with my friends over there to see if they think you are right first.” Our inner spirit and truth is truth, it won’t misguide us or hurt us.

Our inner spirit is pure, it is light and love and is within all of us who walk a human journey. It is okay, we all have one so it doesn’t have to be explained. It is much more empowering and valuable to the world, when we honor our inner spirit and then express ourselves from this place. Stepping into our truth will quiet the noise and remove the need to justify our place in the world. When we trust ourselves to be ourselves, our suffering ends.

2) Be an Observer

Notice yourself, your words, your feelings and your reactions in your body. Are you holding your breath? What is the tone in the words you say aloud? Start to really listen to your thoughts and spoken words. See if you can tell if it is your ego shining through or your inner truth. When we practice listening, it becomes easier to detect which voice is truth and which one is not. This doesn’t mean we can get rid of our ego. Let that thought go. We can make friends with her though and nurture her and give her productive jobs to do, like focusing on deep intentional breathing or taking in the sights and sounds around us.

What do you notice when you clear your mind of the need to talk, be noticed and be heard — is there space? Take in the people around you through this vast place. Do you see love? You might even be surprised to see your own human self reflected in their eyes. When we become observers in our lives, we allow life to move through us.  We become a conduit for love. We get to see the world through the eyes of love and through the heart of truth. The stories and hurts that once occupied the space in our hearts and minds, become welcoming spaces to hear our inner truth. This truth will lead us to our higher path and help us see the good in other people and the world around us.

3) Believe What You Know is True

If your inner voice is pleading for you to make a move and you still aren’t budging, here is your opening to trust yourself more. I get what it is like to turn your back on yourself and not trust yourself to know what is best. I led long stretches of my life from the belief my voice wasn’t enough. Through continued practice, I have found the more I listen and trust myself with the little things in life, the easier it has become to believe what I know is true in the bigger areas of my life.

If it helps, take baby steps to trust your wise voice. You don’t have to jump in all at once. Warm up to the idea you are magnificent, powerful and wise. Know that all the guidance you could ever hope for lives within you.

When we have faith in who we are, we give ourselves a powerful gift. It’s the most empowering place we can lead our lives from. Believe what you know is true.

Trust in your inner wisdom.

❤ Emily

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Originally written by Emily Madill and  published at thriveglobal.com and at www.huffingtonpost.com on November 7, 2016.