The Five Pathways to Self Awareness

Your Inner Voice is not something you’re taught, nor is it something someone else can tell you. It arises from your own inner experience. But often, as we grow up and as we face all of life’s demands and challenges, we lose touch with our own inner experience. Just to survive, we may cut out of our awareness what we deeply know to be true, we may ignore what our senses are telling us, we may stop feeling what we truly feel, we may give up on what we truly want, or even on wanting anything at all.

But I believe that our Inner Voice speaks to us through our own embodied experience. I believe that essentially there are five doors or Pathways to the Inner Voice, and they all emerge from within us. By following these pathways and listening to what they’re trying to tell you, you can begin to live your life more closely following your Inner Voice.

The Five Pathways to the Inner Voice are Knowing, Sensing, Feeling, Wanting and The Voice of the Larger Self.

Knowing

…..is the faculty of separation and discrimination. It is learning to know who you are and to claim and hold on to what you know deep down to be true for you.

“More than any other pathway, Knowing enables you to separate what is you from what is not you. When feelings say, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we were one?’ Knowing says, ‘This is you, and this is me. I want to be with you, but I’m not going to lose me in the process.’ When feelings pull you in, knowing shows you the way out.”

From I Know I’m in There Somewhere, p. 89

Sensing

,,, is about learning how to pay attention to the subtle inner senses that can give you enormous information about what is really going on, no matter what your rational mind or other people are saying.

So many times, women are called “too sensitive.” It’s a ridiculous put-down, because sensitivity is an extraordinarily valuable trait. Think of scientific instruments. The most sensitive ones are always the most expensive, and the most useful. I’ve noticed that when women use their sensitivity to help others, by understanding how they feel and knowing what they need, it’s considered an asset. But the moment their sensitivity causes them to get angry or upset about something done to them, it becomes a liability. This is not exactly fair.”

From I Know I’m in There Somewhere, p. 106

Feeling

…is learning how to listen to all of your feelings and trusting that every one of them, even the ones you don’t think you “should” have, have something important to tell you.

“Identifying your feelings is one thing, and truly honoring them is quite another. Honoring your feelings means welcoming them, listening to them and treating them with the attention, care and respect they deserve. When you let your feelings be, and listen to them openly and deeply, you become freer. You’re more in harmony with yourself, more spontaneous, calmer and more flexible, kinder to yourself and others. At the same time, you become stronger, more able to know and to stand up for what you need and want, and more able to marshal your energies to create a life that reflects your inner voice.”

From I Know I’m in There Somewhere, p. 122

Wanting

is possibly the most important pathway of all. It is the force that moves you toward what your inner blueprint tells you will be most fulfilling in your life.

“Your true wants are at the very core of you, expressing your individuality, because they are as unique and individual as your fingerprint. And it’s what you do about your true wants–the straight or convoluted path you take to get them or avoid them, embrace them or deny them, pursue or sneak around or compromise them–that in fact becomes the story of your life. Indeed, it determines in the end whether your life story was happy or sad.

“One thing is for sure: No matter what anyone has ever told you, trying to deny or transcend your wants doesn’t change them one iota or get rid of them for even a moment. But it does make life a lot less fun!” From I Know I’m in There Somewhere, p. 153

The Voice of the Larger Self

…is a voice that emerges when you have fully listened to the other voices within you. It is a remarkable source of inner peace and wisdom that can enrich your life and give it a new quality of harmony.

“There is in fact a place inside you that you can feel, that can speak to you, no matter who you are. And not only can it speak to you, it can bring you to a sense of peace and rightness about yourself that seems to come from a wisdom and intelligence far beyond your normal consciousness.

The messages from the Voice of the Larger Self are messages of blessing. The feeling of grace that comes from them is the result of feeling, quite literally, blessed. How strange and wonderful! There is something within us that says we are blessed just as we are! There’s something that knows just how much we’ve goofed up and says, ‘I love you and bless your life anyway!’ And it’s within our grasp to feel this. The only problem is that most of the time, we either aren’t aware of it or don’t believe it.”

From I Know I’m in There Somewhere, p. 188