Increasing Intuition with the Four Directions

Increasing intuition can be a life saver. 

Life had to use every trick in the book to get me to balance my analytic tendencies. As a young woman who struggled with OCD, my over-thinking and too-much-analysis lead me to a complete nervous breakdown in my late 30’s.

I actually now refer to it as a nervous break-through, because it was the best thing that ever happened to me, a full blown inner shamanic initiation. At the same time, I walked away from a twenty-year career in veterinary medicine and started over at the age of 40. I already had a B.A. in psychology, so I earned my Master’s Degree in Transpersonal Psychology and opened my own transformational coaching practice fifteen years ago. 

The nervous break-through initially opened me to the wonders of the intuitive process, and to a degree of about 85% cured me of my OCD overnight. This isn’t unheard of. It’s been reported thousands of times. Unexplained spontaneous resolutions of psychological conditions happen frequently enough they’ve lost their “miraculous” sheen.

But they can still feel pretty darn miraculous to those of us who’ve felt an instantaneous shift from a trauma pattern that has beleaguered us our entire lifetime.

There are an infinite number of paths…

…that can lead an individual to something like a spontaneous resolution, so I won’t pertain to tell you the way. I think we have to feel our way to those answers; find the right (for us) teachers, read the right (for us) books, study the right (for us) spiritual frameworks. I believe each and every one of us has a healing blueprint inside of us, it just needs to be unlocked. For me, the key was increasing my intuition through earth medicine practices. 

I had to learn to feel my way through life as much as I had historically thought my way. And today I’ve designated feeling and thinking as two sacred partners. Each is miraculous and imperative in its own right. I would never cherish one over another. True healing requires an integration of both. 

Over a decade ago I became a formal student of Alberto Villoldo, a medical anthropologist and psychologist, and his Four Winds Society, a shamanic school devoted to cultivating intuition. My Cherokee worldview makes me especially drawn to earth-based shamanic/totemic practices and after studying with four other shamanic teachers over the years, I settled down with Dr. Villoldo’s teachings. They felt right for me then, and they still do. 

the Medicine Wheel:

One common foundational teaching of indigenous culture is the Medicine Wheel and the Four Directions, although depending upon the indigenous nation (Apache, Lakota, Cheyenne, Zuni…) the details of this teaching will vary. 

The practice that I’m initiated into is a 50,000 year old form of shamanism of Andean and Amazonian origins. This practice for me has been instrumental in increasing my own intuition and expanding my mind in the search for right and left hemisphere brain integration, one of the most powerful pathways to learning to self-regulate and heal an over-activated nervous system. Both are common goals for the Highly Sensitive Person.  

To give you just a taste of how I utilize it for a possible addition to your own daily meditation, I’d love to share with you the basic tenets of this particular medicine wheel, which assigns archetypes and qualities to each sacred direction. Practiced regularly, this will most definitely become instrumental for you in increasing intuition (which is a superpower that actually encompasses both your right and left brain hemispheres).

the Four Directions:

South–  The direction of the Healer. The archetype is the Snake/Serpent. The level of perception is the Literal/Physical level. The South is the place of earth connection. It’s being “belly to the earth”, one with Mother Nature. It’s about transformation and shedding our skins all at once, instantaneously. It’s about understanding our wounds, being one with/resolving our past hurts and finding the gifts in our injuries. Its season is Summer. 

West– The direction of the Warrior. The archetype is the Jaguar. The level of perception is the Mental/Emotional level. In the West on the Medicine Wheel we’re at our peak physical strength. Here we are asked to recognize what needs to die in our life, to let go of, to make room for the new. It’s the place of karmic and genetic patterns in our life. Here, we’re asked to let go of ancestral patterns that no longer serve us. This is us, crouching in our own shadow, like the powerful Jaguar. Its season is Autumn. 

North– The direction of the Sage/Teacher. The archetype is the Hummingbird. The level of perception is the Soul/Mythic level. In the North, things are joyful and beautiful. Here, we just do it. We step into our soul purpose courageously and without doubt. We don’t question, we just know our own right answer. The North teaches us to find our life’s sweet nectar, to find that one special flower we were born to drink from. It’s the place of individuality, the soul’s journey, the spirit’s calling. Here we don’t try to hide. We are flamboyant and uncompromising. Its season is Winter, which is when the Hummingbird settles in closer to the equator. 

East– The direction of the Visionary. The archetype is Eagle/Condor. The level of perception is Energy. In the East, it’s all about spontaneous healing, manifestation, miracles. Here, we’re asked to identify exactly what we want and how we want to live. In the East anything is possible. We fly wing to wing with Great Spirit and fully merge with the forces of creativity and intuition. Its season is Spring. 

the Practice of Increasing Intuition:

Every single one of us has within us the Healer, Warrior, Teacher and Visionary.

The practice is to first identify, on any given day (or week or month), which one you desire a greater connection with. Maybe right now you’re allowing everyone in your life to push you around. So, maybe it’s time to connect with the West where your inner Warrior resides. Or perhaps you’re completely lacking in confidence, feeling that you’re pretending your way through your professional career, suffering from impostor syndrome. If so, then connecting with the North and the teachings of your inner Sage/Teacher may be healing for you.

Once you’ve identified what you need more of, then sit– outside on the grass, or inside on a chair, wherever you feel most connected– and simply face that direction. If you need to connect with your inner Visionary, for example, then face the East. Just sit, meditating on the qualities of that direction, praying for guidance (if that’s your process), all the while honoring the archetype of that direction (Snake, Jaguar, Hummingbird or Eagle/Condor) by keeping it in your mind’s eye. There’s no set period of time this practice requires. Just enough that feels right for you. Five minutes or fifty minutes; it’s up to you.

With time and commitment, peace, strength, and increased intuition will come to you. 

A Shift in Perspective…

It is said that in our western society, we try to solve every problem with only two levels of perception, Physical/Literal and Mental/Emotional. But indigenous cultures believe this to be terribly limiting, and it truly is. Alberto Villoldo teaches that healing takes place on the Mythic level, and transformation (permanent change) takes place at the level of Energy. But more importantly, each level influences the next, so we need to connect with all four levels of perception to experience a fully lived life.

I have found this to be true. 

This concept, connecting with the Medicine Wheel, stretches us into the Mythic and the Energy levels where increasing intuition takes place, where healing takes place.

If it feels right, try it for a month and see where it takes you. You just might blow your heart wide open, and contrary to popular belief that is a very good thing for every Highly Sensitive Person. To heal your sensitive heart the truth is that learning to open it safely, not close it tight for a false sense of protection, is the only way to wholeness. 

Much Love,

Kristy

An Important Footnote…

Cultural appreciation is learning from a place of wonder, and honoring the integrity of what you’ve learned, while holding it in sacredness for a ceremonial practice of personal prayer. In contrast, cultural appropriation is changing the tradition to meet your own needs (otherwise known as Neo-shamanism), or outright taking the tradition and calling it yours for profit.

If you care to explore the topic of the Medicine Wheel further, below are just a few of my favorite books on the practice of incorporating the Medicine Wheel into your mind, body, and soul. Keep in mind, they all follow their own worldviews, so the details of the Four Directions will vary. That’s okay. Find one that resonates with your heart and stay true to that.

Book List:

Shaman, Healer, Sage by Alberto Villoldo, PhD

Wild Mind: A Field Guide To The Human Psyche by Bill Plotkin, PhD

The Four-Fold Way by Angeles Arrien, PhD

The Sacred Tree by the Four Worlds Development Project, a Native American inter-tribal group who wrote this book with the purpose that it be shared with all members of the human family desiring personal growth. It is written through the lens of addiction and recovery, but is useful to all.