The intuitive therapist
(9¹⁄₂ min read)

Andrew Solomon

Life cannot ever be anything but itself. The equivalent, constant and inseparable relationship between the energy of physical matter (mass) realised by Einstein is the intrinsic creative intelligence that enables an apple seed to grow and create apples. It is the life force of all things. It is this same intelligent force that enables us to grow into and express the original nature we were born to be.

We arrive into human experience at some point and at another, we depart. In between, our inner intelligence equips us to interpret and respond to the outer stimuli of a diverse flow of sensory experiences that challenge and call us to grow. In this way we develop sensory awareness of our inner selves relative to outer world and form sensory perception, the uniquely individual set of values, beliefs and attitudes that frame the world view with which we engage life.

As a neurobiologically diverse species, our senses offer a vast range of experiences. Our primary senses of seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and scenting are more outwardly oriented. Yet we have less tangible inner senses that enable the basic human facility of self-reflection and self-awareness. To isolate outer from inner is futile as there is no point at which one ends and the other begins.

Senses are inseparable from feelings and thoughts, and as no two are configured the same way, they can morph beyond ordinary definition. For some, sound and music are sensed in colour or evoke taste or scent. For others, words may be seen in shapes or colours or heard as sound or in other permutations waiting to be discovered.

Because inner sensing is less physically focused than outer, it is often not well observed or explored. Yet in uniquely different ways and times we can all recall deeply personal flashes of inner knowing that often, in unexpected ways and moments, shine a clear way forward. Quite beyond ordinary perception, this inner knowing has a mysterious quality that cannot be adequately explained in everyday terms. Yet from where else spring those lightning flashes of inspiration to take one turn, or use one script or approach as opposed to another?

The source and purpose of inner knowing may perhaps be the most confounding aspect of human experience. It has been mysticised, demonised and variously framed in different terms. For some, it is serendipity or synchronicity, a hunch or gut instinct. For others, it means a facility of extrasensory perception, precognition, premonition, sixth sense, paranormal, fey, second sight, or psychic ability that some have and others don't. For many it is simply our intuition. Yet because intuition cannot be specifically ascribed to what is thought as opposed to felt, it is difficult to pin down. We can slip and slide within a polarity, acknowledging in one moment, disavowing in another. Certain yet uncertain, yes, but then again, we can all sense deep in our hearts that which it represents.

If the notion of intuition seems unreasonable, it is not without reason. Over a century ago, Albert Einstein realised that, 'Man has two minds: a rational mind and an intuitive mind.' The intuitive mind is the natural master, the natural initiator. The rational mind, like a good servant, is designed so the body can take action to carry out the intuitive impulse. Today, the left hemisphere of the brain is accepted as processing information in a linear, analytical way, and the right hemisphere processing information in an abstract, non-linear way.

Biophysical clues to inner sensing abound. Part of the limbic structure that signals inner states is the insular cortex. Folded deep within each hemisphere of the cranial brain, this is considered to function as a connection point through which all aspects of inner and outer sensing interconnect. In contrast to the amygdala, which controls automatic emotional processing, the insula is about subjective emotional processing. Considered to hold our capacity for introspection, to look within and feel empathy for others, the insula is so vital to overall wellbeing that Dr. Jennifer Sweeton¹ describes it as the centre of mental health in the brain. Perhaps unsurprisingly linked to the insula is a pivotal cluster of glands (hypothalamus, pituitary and pineal) in the cranial brain where the psychedelic compound dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is produced. Known to be capable of producing distortions in the experiential field, it has long been considered by mystics to represent a deep centre of intuition called the third eye.

Although vital, the cranial brain is not the exclusive governor of human function. The 50 trillion or so tiny, complex cells in the physical body with direct capacity for receiving and decoding life force intelligence are spider-web-like in their structural intricacy. Like the electrical wiring of a house, every part of the bio-physical-psycho system is wired to every other part through the central nervous system. This complex processing network sends and receives signals through the body chemistry to and from its network of atoms, molecules, cells, organs and systems. Beyond tangible surface level physical structures, there are finer and finer atomic and subatomic levels of what is called the subtle body. Like an entire body brain, each level and part has a unique function as part of an interconnected and interdependent system.

It is becoming evident that behind the individual perceptual screen, the full extent of human consciousness is inestimable. Back in the 1980s, neuroscientist Christof Koch bet philosopher David Chalmers that by 2023 science would figure out how the brain makes consciousness2. Having lost that one, he re-wagered that by 2048 science would understand how the brain's neurons produce consciousness. Today, neuroscience, quantum physics, genetics and brain chemistry combine to graphically illustrate the existence of an inseparable cause-effect relationship between mind and body at a quantum level. This is rapidly expanding our understanding of not only the the nature of human consciousness but the latent power of our minds.

A quantum science race is afoot to isolate a subatomic particle named after its founder, the 'Higgs Boson particle', also known as the 'god particle' or'master cell'. Theorised to be governers or regulators of all other particles and cells in the biophysical system, it is believed they possess levels of self-organising coherence that magnetically calls and activates other particles and cells to move into correspondingly coherent wave patterns.

This is vital knowledge, because the homeostasis essential to human wellbeing is recognised by physics as a state of self-organising coherence that has a self-sustaining and replicating momentum. A lack of coherence reflects a state of disorder leading to decay and breakdown. Amongst other research is the differential matching of human emotions to chemicals produced by the endocrine system. The emerging field of epigenetics is demonstrating the neuroplasticity of the cranial brain and revealing how our psycho-emotional states not only positively or negatively influence latent potentials in DNA, but have the power to change our entire experience.

Perhaps Mr. Koch will lose his bet again and Newtonian science may one day acknowledge the cranial brain, not as the originator of human consciousness, but rather a processor of the informational intelligence of the quantum field. Here the conscious mind is best seen as reflecting the mere tip of an iceberg floating in the ocean. The immediate mass below reflects the subconscious mind. The deepest mass, the unconscious mind, is enmeshed and immersed in the unfathomable, quantum ocean of existence itself, whether considered the quantum field, spirit world or otherwise.

The inner intelligence of an apple seed knows how to grow into a tree. The coincidence of inner and outer sensing in the insular cortex signals a connection point in the cranial brain to a seamless flow of inner intelligence through the body brain emanating from a source that does not originate in the physical body. Could the connection point be a conduit to a deeper master sense inseparable from the quantum intelligence of life itself? Could this master sense reflect an inner navigation system, an innate, online 24/7 source of inner guidance to help us navigate life and, like the apple seed, grow into who we came to be? Could our flashes of intuition reflect a momentary reception of this source of inner guidance?

If intuition is not already your most trusted friend, it behooves us all to at least be open to its possibility and learn to access our own inner guidance. For a neurobiologically diverse species, there is no right way for everyone. Yet there is a right way for you! Each of us is uniquely configured with our own system of inner guidance with patent and latent abilities and inner language of signals, signs and symbols unique to our individual nature. Instead of being considered other-worldly gifts bestowed only on a few, we can deduce clairvoyance as the inner aspect of outer vision, clairaudience the inner aspect of hearing, and clairsentience the inner aspect of somatic experience, whilst claircognisance reflects a state of clear inner knowing, or transcendent human perception.

The most common block to inner guidance is an inhibiting belief that it is not true or possible. This is an obstacle for the rational left-brain mind to get over. Common to both hemispheres of the brain, the rational and intuitive processes are designed to operate cooperatively at the connection point. Yet, in the intense contract of human experience, we tend to habitually over-use one as opposed to the other.

Many of us, particularly in the western world, are heavily entrained from birth to use only the rational mind, yielding Einstein's dry observation: 'The mistake most humans make is to anoint the servant as master'! The upshot is that most of us learn to be outwardly reactive and interactive in a way that does not exercise and develop the inner senses.

As inner guidance emanates from the transcendent master sense, it cannot be commanded as a personal servant to the rational mind. The rational left-brain mind has to give way, to acquiesce, in order to align with the master sense through the connection point. Over-emphasis on the rational mind suppresses inner sensing. The perceiving of a problem through a rationally skewed mindset is part of the problem and cannot receive a holistic solution. This is why so often things can think right yet feel wrong and vice versa! Conversely, because intuition is interconnected to our feeling sense, sometimes things both think and feel right.

Sensory experience is consequential. The human activator of inner guidance is our free will (intention). As the inner driver of where we direct our outward attention, intention is our superpower. Yet whilst we all have some ability to take action, to make things happen, intention is qualitative. It is only when intention is in a self-sustaining state of coherence (homeostasis) that the coalescence of mind and heart of the body-brain aligns with the master sense. In physics, coherence has an integrity and positive momentum that is unconditionally sharable. Coherent intention is self-sharing as opposed to self-serving. Only through coherent intention can sharable inner guidance that offers holistic win-win solutions for the greatest good be received. Intention without integrity is generally self-serving and lacks coherence. It is not sharable and can only project win-lose options.

Intuition flows through presence, and trying to will it does not work. Whilst impulses of intuition/inner guidance can occur any time of day or night, they tend to arrive in moments when the rational mind is not self-absorbed. This means moments when we are not preoccupied with 'shoulds', 'musts', 'agendas', 'expectations' and 'attachments' to outcomes. These are intuition blockers. When intention becomes entangled with stress, fear and anxiety, a part of the brain called the amygdala, responsible for instinctive, autonomic, emotional processing, activates the fight-flight response. This disrupts the coalescence of inner-outer senses at the connection point and hijacks our ability to remain coherently present to the master sense in our momentary experience.

Although sometimes easier said than done, a shift into a present, mindful state is all that is needed to restore coherence to intention and align with inner guidance. This does not need to be a big exercise, but it does require us to relinquish a self-absorbed state when the mind wants to be in control. For this, mindfulness-based practices such as meditation are obviously helpful. It can happen spontaneously whilst asleep and/or dreaming, relaxing in nature, taking a walk, or exercising in a disengaged way, even watching a funny movie. Relaxing into a simple state of playfulness, imagination and creativity is sure to engage inner guidance.

Andrew Solomon is an Honorary member of the Australian Society of Clinical Hypnotherapists (ASCH). He is based in Sydney, Austalia, and is an existential counsellor and mentor. Visit his website at https://andrewsolomonhealing.com/.