Listening to your body and small voices

I was on my way home from a late night dinner with my friends while I was in Japan back in March. The train hit someone at a platform, and we were trapped in the train for about 40min until they sorted out the accident, the police arrived, etc.
It was hot and muggy inside the train and I was getting thirsty. I was also really regretting that I hadn’t hear ‘the little voice’ in me earlier that day. Before I left my work place to go to the dinner, I was pouring some water into my small water bottle. I only filled it half way, not wanting to carry a heavy bottle, thinking ‘I’ll be able to get some water at the restaurant, then I’ll be well on my way home .’

At that moment, a rather clear voice came into my ear, or so it felt like; ‘you might have an unexpected situation. Fill up the bottle!.’

The voice I heard was what is called ‘intuition’. These voices are trying to reach us all the time, but it gets muffled by the voice of the mind / reason (like it happened to me), or negative emotions such as fear. I knew about the importance of listening to such voices, but this little incident was a sign that I should be more serious about it.

Your body also holds wisdom and information that your mind cannot capture. For example, if you are not sure about a project, a place, or a person, try closing your eyes, make your mind blank for a moment, and pretend that your body is a pendulum. Notice the slightest tendency of your body. If it moves forward, it’s a Go. If it moves backwards as if retreating, it’s a No. You might also feel expansive or warm in your body if something is good for you, and when your body contracts or you feel a bit sick, you will know that it’s not good for you. Of course it’s up to you to also value your mind’s opinion and negotiate between the two.

Listening to the body in the end allowed me to come home safely after they finally let us out of the train — I had to make a couple of more choices rather quickly, as I missed the last train on my normal route.

What I experienced is not such a big thing compared to difficult situations people are experiencing nowadays. It’s as if we are constantly in the unknown and we cannot rely on the knowledge from the past so much anymore. In a way, the urban life has become like a life in a jungle. I’d say it’s worth it to start bringing awareness to our intuition and reviving and sharpening our ‘animal instinct’