When you are in a change or decision-making process, it’s easy to get caught up in a state of urgency and feel driven to “figure it out NOW.” Your nervous system goes on high alert and you might even lay awake at night worrying and planning. Your body tightens, your thinking narrows and your

Research shows that creative thinking is more possible when your brain is in a state of relaxation. “Strenuously focusing the mind’s eye on solving a problem might be ignoring what the unconscious has already figured out. You never know what 99 percent of your cognition has been up to until you listen. This is why it’s sometimes better to take a long walk or warm shower, play a game of ping-pong, or, as Barrett would suggest, sleep on it.”

Your subconscious mind is focusing on your questions even as you are going about your daily life. And you can’t access that information unless you relax enough to allow it to become conscious. In my life and career coaching sessions, I use mindfulness techniques to help my clients become more expansive and open, resulting in a greater sense of clarity.

“The only map to your right life is written on your soul at its most peaceful and the only sure compass is your heart at its most open.”-Martha Beck