Week 2: Trust Your Gut challenge plus a free mini-meditation

The Trust Your Gut challenge starts week 2 today, and I’ve had some interesting results and a few tips.

One great thing I noticed? The morning meditation routine only takes TWO MINUTES. Two! I knew that if I expected myself to commit to a long meditation, I’d never do it. But anyone can do two minutes.

If you’re struggling to stay on the morning-meditation wagon, I created a free meditation for the 9-breath exercise. You can access it below. Just follow along and you’re done.

It’s normal to want to drop off or give up after a week, but I’m telling you, the intuitive sensitivity improves over time, and it’s just gaining momentum.

Here are a few tips that might help you stay on track.

1. Acknowledge your progress.

   Even if you only lasted one day, so what? That’s one more day than you would have meditated otherwise, right? Give yourself credit, recommit, and hop back on the wagon.

2. Work with distractions.
   If you have children I don’t even need to tell you how commonly interruptions happen. We’d like to get our candle lit, our yoga-music going, arrange our crystals or whatever but listen: You don’t need any of that. I once gave a reading to someone in the side office of a CrossFit gym with Metallica blaring in the background. If I can do that, you can take 2 minutes to breathe with a lawnmower blaring out the window.

3. Take the nap.
   Guess what. If you fall asleep every time you meditate, that’s a sign your body needs sleep. Take the nap.

4. Accept frustration.
   If you try to focus on your breath, then your mind races with thoughts. You aren’t doing it wrong. Instead of thinking of meditation as mastering the art of silencing your thoughts, think of it as the art of setting aside your thoughts over and over and over again.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve noticed that every day I do these exercises, the louder and clearer my intuition gets. One day, for example, I was feeling like I’ve been mired in my own daily dramas. I was watching too much TV, not getting out into the world enough. So in my morning meditation, I asked for guidance on what I can do to get out of this rut. That afternoon, my husband told me about an organization that needs volunteers to help with a new refugee population in our city, a population near and dear to my heart. Right away, my gut responded with the feeling that volunteering for them is my answer.

I want to mention that sometimes the answer isn’t super clear, and sometimes the answer sounds more like “You really don’t need to take action on that right now. Let it go.” Those answers count too.

Staying aware and observing during the day is crucial to seeing these answers as guidance. You’re being given the help you ask for. If you don’t have that ah-ha moment during the day, the evening or weekly reflection should help you see the answer you’re looking for.

How’s it going for you?

Challenge Starts Wednesday!

Friends, it’s just a couple more days until May 1st, the day I’m starting the Trust Your Gut challenge and documenting it here. You’re welcome to join me, or do the challenge on your own. The downloadable guide is free, over here.

So why learn to trust your gut?

Because gut feelings are a real, tangible source of insight.

There's solid scientific backing gut feelings. It's not just a hunch; there's some serious brain-gut communication going on.

Research shows that our gut, equipped with its own network of neurons and neurotransmitters, communicates bidirectionally with our central nervous system. This enteric nervous system, often dubbed the "second brain," might just be the source of those gut feelings we often overlook.

The Gut-Brain Connection is a thing

Studies have shown that our gut can offer insights that our conscious minds might miss. For example:

A couple years ago, my day-job decided to reorganize. It’s a huge company, and do the math, a couple years ago was the start of the insane pandemic. I had been working for two different teams for a while, splitting my time between Group A and Group B.

I liked them both well enough, but they did very different things. The content of the work was different, the personalities of the teams were quite different, and whatever choice I made could change the trajectory of my career at this company. I was given a choice, and it was kind of a big deal: I had to pick one group to move with, today.

On paper, it make total sense to go with Group A. I was doing the most work for them, I like them, they liked me. They needed me to keep doing my work.

But my gut pointed elsewhere. Group B, it said, even with its unknown future, morale-upheaval, and state of dissarray was the way to go.

I surprised a few people by switching tracks, and in short order, it became clear why: the structure of Group B shook out over time, and I was 100% in the right place for me.

On paper, it was the wrong thing to do. But my vibes said otherwise, and the vibe was right on.

If you’ve ever made a decision based on a gut feeling that turned out to be right, that's your intuition at work, my friend. Our gut is closely linked to our emotional responses. It's rich in cells that produce neurotransmitters and hormones associated with our feelings. So, when we get a gut feeling, it's not something to ignore—it's our body's way of signaling something important.

So, how do we tune in to these gut whispers?

1. Notice when it’s happening

   It starts with being present and receptive to our body's signals. Practices like meditation and mindfulness can help us quiet our minds and listen to our intuition.

2. Document and reflect

   It's not just about tuning in; it's also about reflection. Pay attention to your gut feelings and how they play out in your life. Notice when they lead you in the right direction and when they might be off-base. This reflection helps us understand our intuition better and distinguish it from other mental chatter.

3. Discern

   It’s not about blindly following every gut feeling; it's about discernment. By getting to know our gut feelings and how they manifest, we can learn to trust them as valuable guides in our decision-making process. As you document your experiences, you’ll see trends that will teach you the difference between your intuitive voice verses your “ego” voice. (I define “ego voice” as your mortal, biased, “I want this not that” self.) Your intuition is neutral. Your ego-voice has an agenda. Discernment can help you tell the difference.

Next time your gut speaks up, take a moment to listen. You might just uncover some valuable insights that lead you in the right direction.

Get the guide

If you aren’t sure where to get started, this free download will help you with daily exercises you can do to kick-start your intuition.

Hello! Let me introduce myself

I’m Mary, I’m an intuitive practitioner and author, which means I teach people how to discover, train, and use their own intuition for guidance in their everyday lives, and I offer intuitive readings, chakra readings, and mediumship readings.

But, my work in this field didn’t happen overnight.

My first memory of a precognitive event that I could verify happened when I was in middle school and had a dream that predicted the death of an acquaintance.

A few years later my grandmother passed away in the middle of the night. I woke up and I had a  visitation from her; she had come to say goodbye. It was incredibly vivid – I could feel her presence and an indescribable feeling of love pass through me.

It wasn't until several years later that thing really started to shift. When I was pregnant with my first daughter and started a meditation practice I started sensing information about people or events, including verifiable details that I had no way of knowing. I was becoming psychic, and not on purpose. These moments were becoming disruptive, and I really wanted to learn more about what was happening, how it was happening and how to control it. After I had my second daughter these impressions just intensified, and I started to find it disruptive.

I started to study intuition – the science of it, the practice of it. I wanted to learn what was happening, how it worked and how to control it.

And what I learned was both powerful and simple: You're just sensing and interpreting information in the energy around you, and anyone can do it with practice.

Fast forward to today, and I've been studying intuition, energy reading, and mediumship for about 15 years.

Because here's what I've learned: Everyone is intuitive, more than they know. And you don't have to understand it for it to work. There's subtle information all around us that can answer hard questions – it's not spooky, woo-woo, or fluffy. It's quite practical.

Now, I'm here to share what I've learned with you.

I offer educational tools and downloads, often free, to anyone curious about using intuition as a tool to get clarity and move forward with confidence. And yes, I do offer 1:1 readings, but usually, I prefer to teach people how to find answers for themselves.