Resistance as a Guide
by Linda Heron Wind, Ph.D.
I don't know about you, but I am finding a lot of resistance coming up inside of me whenever I go to do the things that I know I need to do to move forward, It is as if some part of me grabs me by the legs and immobilizes me or like there are heavy weights tied to me as I try to move. Even though I understand that this is the resistance that my small self has to change, perhaps a way that it puts the brakes on when it thinks things might change too fast, many times I still give into it - at least for a short time. When I do choose to push through it, it takes a lot of force and discipline to get my feet unstuck from the mud.
Recently I have begun to look at resistance as a sign along the path, pointing the way to wholeness and integrity. Whatever it tells me not to do I know is the most important thing for me to do. I ignore its warnings and push past the sign until I can feel myself break free of its hold. For example, the other day there was a voice within that said that I needed to go for a walk. It was raining and I was tired and resistance said it wasn't a good day to walk - I could do it tomorrow. Heeding the inner voice I put on my rain gear and boots, feeling like I was walking through quicksand and having to push myself out the door. This also happens when my alarm goes off in the morning. Resistance says that it is fine to sleep longer, after all I should be nice to my body and let it rest. It is most difficult to push through the sleepiness to rise, exercise and meditate.
Carolyn Myss talks about the inner voice as intuition. She says there are two kinds: unfinished business and inspiration. The unfinished business often takes the form of an, "I should ….." (as in "I should take a walk" or "I should get up and meditate"). Now of course we all have a lot of "shoulds" that were given to us by others and by our culture, and it is popular these days not to "should" on yourself at all. If we throw out all the shoulds, however, we just might be throwing out our intuitive guidance as well. Carolyn suggests that we make a list of all the "shoulds" that we believe are from our inner intuitive voice and do one each day as a way of becoming more disciplined and stepping into integrity.
Making a list of the intuition that is of an inspirational nature is also important. It is easy to see how we might resist the things that are unpleasant to do but we also resist the things that excite us. I often find myself meditating and asking what I need to be doing (as if I didn't know) and when I keep getting the same answer, the one that brings up resistance, I sometimes get too busy with other things to meditate (more subtle resistance). Whether it is something we "should" be doing to support our bodies, like exercise or eating right, or something creative that would be fun, like craftwork or writing, resistance says that I could be taking a nap or doing busywork.
Our intuition is always trying to guide us to the place we say we want to be. It shows us how to plant and feed the dream seeds so that what grows in the physical realm of our daily lives mirrors the dreams and visions that excite us. So the next time a "should" arises in the inner dialog, take a moment to see if it is your intuition speaking. If so, do what it takes to push through the resistance that is likely to arise. Discipline happens when we chose to become a disciple to our Higher Self instead of a slave to the lower self.
Resistance shows me
Where actions and dreams part ways
Conflict reigns within
Discipline arrives
When I listen to my Self
And then take action
