Conscious Living and Healthy Intuitions¶

At its core, Conscious Living has just two simple principles:

• Developing healthy intuitions
• Listening to our intuitions

The correlated negative claim is: unhealthy decisions come from either unhealthy intuitions or ignoring our intuitions.

Listening to intuitions¶

Intuitions are rapid, unconscious reactions to situations and ideas. They show up in conscious experience as feelings and thoughts. As our attention shifts toward different things, different bodily sensations and mental images arise or disappear.

Constrictive and expansive feelings¶

Our motivation to do anything comes from emotional energy. We can consider the energy we feel as either constrictive (as in resistance and defensiveness) or expansive (toward exploration, creativity, and sharing).

As we decide how to respond to each moment, our intuitions tell us whether to hesitate or to go ahead, whether to avoid a particular direction or to give it a try and see how it goes.

Developing sensitivity¶

As we get better at listening to intuitions, we can notice ever more subtle feelings. Many unhealthy patterns come from only noticing or responding to feelings after they reach high energy levels.

Mixed feelings¶

Different parts of us can have different feelings at the same time. Sometimes, our emotions all go in the same direction. Sometimes, we have mixed feelings.

Whole-body-OK¶

Fully listening to our intuitions means paying attention to all parts of us. For any potential next step, we can check whether we feel a whole-body okay. That means our head, heart, gut, and rest of the body all feel free from constriction. More precisely, a whole-body-OK means feeling no extra constriction arising as we consider a direction — even though constrictive feeling might still be lingering for other reasons.

Appropriate next steps in each moment¶

In all situations, we can find directions that we feel comfortable with. Sometimes, the first option we consider feels fine. Sometimes, intuitions guide us toward doing more consideration and exploration of possible paths or to meditate more on what our intuition is telling us.

Healthy intuitions¶

Healthy intuitions come from healthy values, commitments, beliefs, and understandings.

Unhealthy intuitions come from misunderstandings or from unhealthy values, commitments, or beliefs.

People can disagree about which understandings are accurate and which values are healthy. While these conscious-living resources cannot cover all the debated topics, we do teach a set of six general commitments:

CL Commitments¶

• Presence
• Responsibility
• Curiosity
• Integrity
• Love and compassion
• Vitality

Each commitment has many nuances and parts. So, avoiding pitfalls and misunderstandings requires careful study and diligent practice.

When understood and practiced well, these commitments can guide us through healthy navigation of all of life's journeys.

Intuitions reveal sincere commitments¶

Regardless of what we claim, intuitions are the real test of our sincere values, commitments, beliefs, and understandings.

Whenever we consider a direction that we understand to violate our sincere commitments, we will experience constrictive feelings. If we believe it fine to kill insects, we will feel intuitively okay doing it. If we hold a sincere commitment not to intentionally harm any living thing, then our intuitions will include some resistance along with any temptation to swat a fly.

We cannot judge someone's views merely by their actions. We might hold sincere commitments but misunderstand a situation. We might agree with an idea intellectually yet not hold it as a sincere commitment. Or we might understand things correctly, hold sincere commitments, and experience aligned intuitions — only to then violate our commitments by ignoring our intuitions.

We can also have conflicting commitments. A commitment to integrity includes working through such conflicts, figuring out how to make all our values fit together better.

Evolving commitments and understandings¶

As we learn to consciously listen to our intuitions, we can continually review and update our commitments and work to adjust our habits. We go through a continual cycle of attuning, resolving, and reviewing in a never-ending process of developing healthy intuitions and responding skillfully to whatever circumstances we experience.

Living through healthy intuitions¶

When we act in alignment with healthy intuitions, it feels like going with the flow, like Tao, like cutting with the grain — it feels musical… Life is always shifting and changing, constricting and expanding, intensifying and relaxing. Through it all, conscious living brings healthy and appropriate perspectives.