My Greatest Teacher

by Irene Martina - 

I was blessed to have a very insightful and intuitive mother who became my greatest teacher. 

 I would like to share with you 5 of her teachings and my learning’s.

1. Choose your thoughts carefully, they are your destiny.

Since the Secret has come out people have become more aware of the power of thoughts and choices but back in the 50’s when I grew up this type of wisdom was rare to get from parents.

We struggled through some hard times but my mother always told me to focus on the good things life could bring and when my sister and I did, we would see how right she was.

My philosophy to this day is that wherever I am in my life each day; it is exactly the blueprint I have created. You always have a choice about who you want to be and it starts with your thoughts so chose your thoughts carefully.

2. Be in the moment always, it’s all you really have.

I so often hear my clients tell me that they will begin to change or manifest or whatever next week or perhaps sometime tomorrow.

When I first started working with guides and discovered that they work on energy only that meant they worked on the energy I created with my thoughts, deeds and actions.

It amazed me to know that they did not care if that energy was positive or negative; it was just energy and they worked with whatever it was.

It did not take long to realize that saying tomorrow, next week, and perhaps later or “I will”… did not create a great response in my present time period until I realized there are no guarantees of a “tomorrow, next week or next month” and that our power was always in the moment.

This moment is the only moment in life we are given so it has the greatest point of power we will ever have. By not living in the moment we miss the joys, the teachings, and the manifesting that each day can bring and it is truly all we are ever going to have.

3. You Are Unique - Believe in Yourself!

I remember one day I was hurt by an insult a classmate gave me about my intuitive gifts and my mother’s teachings as being those of witchcraft. 

I often struggled with being different or strange as so many called me.

There were always wonderful moments before or at bedtime when she would listen to my daily tribulations and smile.

One day she asked me who I would like to change my life with for a day if I could do so.

 I told her I wanted to be a movie star like Elizabeth Taylor. Of course she asked me why! On and on I went about how beautiful she was, rich and famous and adored by millions.

As she often did, my mom made me close my eyes and visualize most of my life’s problems or desires. She had me visualize a day or week in Ms. Taylor’s world. I told her what I would want to do and my mom would stop me and tell me that what I was asking for was not possible as I had staff and 100’s of people that demanded time and work from her and I had a responsibility to produce for them.

She made me see a side of her life that could have been one of sadness because she had no privacy. She showed me how demanding and at times unrewarding and hard her life must be to become who and she was to the world.

At the end of our game she would smile and tell me how unique I was and that every person on the planet had been given a great gift when they were born; the gift of becoming who they were meant to be.

We are all unique she would say and each one of us would have our own “staring roll” in the world if we believed in our own magic; our own inner power.

She made me create a vision of what I would love to be in my world and that if I chose to be a star it would be of my making and based on my capabilities, talents and unique gifts.

Sadly, I have discovered so many people that I have met in my life who have wanted to be someone else.

They could never see their own talents and gifts that they were bringing into the world. They could not see or acknowledge their own power or greatness.

There is no duplicate of you so how can you fail!

You came into this world already special, unique and with one of kind gifts to share with those in this world that you will come into contact with.

Each of us has to find that inner power and belief in ourselves and when you do; you will become the star you are really seeking to be!

If you believe God created perfection in all things, than you must believe in you!


4. Love Yourself First.

Have you given yourself a hug today? If not, why not?

Do you realize that we seldom give ourselves some kind words, a mental hug, or a pat on the back?

Can you tell me if you said this gratitude today, “I am grateful for the strength of my spirit (courage, etc.) and for the wisdom of my choices?” If not, why not?

Realize that you really do come first! You cannot give what you do not have! You cannot give love if it is not in you to give. How do you love your family and friends the way they deserve to be loved if you are not loving yourself?

We are constantly giving away our power and when we need it for us; we are drained and too tired to feed our own soul’s, bodies and minds.

Can you write ten things down right now that you appreciate about yourself and read it aloud? If you can great, now have you taught your family and children how do this and why it is so important.


5.The Power of Gratitude

My mother worked about five different jobs a week for years to keep us off welfare.

 I did my best to make the house run smooth for her and to look after my younger sister.

 As she usually came home exhausted, she did not have the energy to take over as the housekeeper and chief bottle washer.

It was not always easy to keep up this pace and we struggled for years to keep our heads above water. She never complained and she was so grateful to us for everything we could do.

I never really saw my mom sick, unkind to anyone and she was generous to a fault.

When I was thirteen I rebelled one night. I got angry and frustrated at my sister because I could not go to a party and have some fun for a change.

My sister told my mother how I had been (verbally) mean to her and why. My mother said it was time we all had a date with each other and a treat.

She took a night off and we went to the restaurant for a meal which was rare and costly to her. She told us to order desserts and that was a real treat! When we got home she told us we had to learn to have “down time” and fun, even if it was not going to parties and out of the house.

My mother told us many ways we could treat ourselves such as long baths, listening to our favorite music, talking to friends and write in a journal to share our feelings. But most importantly she asked us to promise her that we would do something for her for the rest of our lives.

I have kept that promise and I want to share it with you.

Every night for many years she had us share at least five personal gratitude’s for the day. These gratitude’s had to include one for each other and for ourselves.

One day when we got older she had us add something new to the gratitude’s.

When saying the gratitude’s we had to start with working our day backwards because she said our dreams would be more powerful as we cleared the energy of the day.

She added another new step; after the gratitude’s we had to find our greatest lesson or gift from the day?

My mom, sister and I looked forward to the evening when we would play this game and we loved finding different gratitude’s each day. It changed our whole outlook on life and each other. When we were seventeen she added the last and most important step.

After we went to bed filled with our gratitude’s, learning’s and gifts we added a new saying in the morning. In her words it was simply this:

“When your feet hit the floor in the morning, simply say, “God whose life will I touch today?”

From that point on, she would ask us if we first touched our own life that day because we cannot touch a life with love unless we love ourselves first. She taught us how to hug ourselves and how important it was to do it often.

Asking to touch someone’s life each day brings more gratitude into your life than you can ever imagine.

When your hearts fills with love for others you know it is because you have discovered how to really love yourself. Our gratitude’s were even easier to come by each night from that day on.

irenemartina.com

Exercises to Develop Your Intuition

by Irene Martina - 

Intuition is the space between your thoughts, when the mind lets go and surrenders to the present moment.

There are 7 steps that you can use to strengthen and exercise your intuition.

SEVEN STEPS:

1. Your intellect  

Thoughts are the starting point as everything begins with thought. Pay attention and listen to what you are saying and thinking. 

2. Imagination  

Imagination plays a key role in nearly everything we do. It is the ability to picture things in our head, things that are not visible around us. Visual symbols and shapes are vital to stimulating inner growth. Imagination is the gateway to awareness. 

3. Trusting your gut  

Have you noticed that our culture does not value intuition? They value logic and reasoning and so we loose our connection to intuition and a very young age. 

We have been conditioned to look outside for the answers. Do you realize that you give away your power to people you think have all the answers.  

For example, doctors and healers may have all the information you need and it may be right but we should be open to taking it in and ask if this feels right for us. Nobody knows what’s true for you as well as you know in your soul. 

4. Awareness  

This simply means living your life consciously. When we do this and give full attention to each and every moment in our life, we begin to glow in our own light and truth. 

5. Meditation  

This is when the body can reduce stress and concentration becomes easier and more effective. Your ability to learn expands and you enhance your creative powers. 

You also achieve an overall feeling of well being. Remember to really hear your inner voice you have to learn to be silent. 

6. Dreams  

They are your greatest source of self help. They can express and teach creativity, reinforce learning, work on problems, and open the door to deeper spirituality. 

Dreams are therapeutic and healing. 

7. Practice  

Practice-Practice… Think of intuition as a muscle that must be used to gain strength. 

So let’s do some exercises!

THREE INTUITION EXERCISES:

Exercise 1

Part A: Take a look at what you are wearing right now. Do you know what your clothes may be telling you?

Your clothes, especially the colors will always tell you something about the energy that you may need at this time in your life.

• Are you listless and tired? 

• Are your clothes and colors reflecting that? 

• What color do you think you could put on to change your energy to something different? 

• What is your intuition telling you about how you look and feel right now? Are you willing to listen to it? 

• Is there someone close by? If so, look at what they are wearing and ask your intuitive self to give you some feedback on what you see.

Part B: Think of a question that you want an answer to. For example: Will it rain in your city before the next snowfall?

Pretend that the color of the blouse/shirt you are wearing is the answer to the question OR any other object you want to use.

• Describe the color, any memories you may have associated with it, what the color means to you in this moment and how your perception of the color has changed during this exercise. 

• Simply allow yourself to notice images, symbols and other impressions. Do you feel the color would mean a yes or a no to you right now?

Pretending and being able to make things up are very important skills to work on in gaining control of your intuition. Intuition is really just information gathering. Don’t try to figure everything out.

Exercise 2

Do you ever notice animals or birds when driving or sitting outside? Did you ever stop and ask yourself why they suddenly came into your line of vision & what they could mean?

Here are some common meanings that you may want to consider next time an animal comes into your line of vision or space.

 What is the first word that comes into your mind when you read the words below? Do they fit with the ones I have given or did your word feel better to you?

• Dogs - friendship, loyalty, unconditional love
• Cats - independence, freedom, march to your own drums
• Rabbits - timid, shy, fertility, abundance, growth
• Crows - Spiritual laws, intelligence
• Horses - Power, freedom, inner strength
• Butterfly - Transformation

Are you starting to realize that when we use our intuition we are really operating without a safety net? There is no logic, common sense to this.

Know that what you sense, feel, perceive and dream has some meaning. There is always a reason we notice what we do and that we don’t notice everything else.

The same object viewed by two people can mean two very different things. Just allow your meanings of the symbols to come to you, and this may take time.

It also takes an open mind, even if at first you have to pretend that the symbols are significant. Allow things to be meaningful and they become meaningful.

Exercise 3

Start an intuition notebook and write your experiences in a book. Write on how some daily or other impressions you had may have answered your question.

• Practice on things like; who is on the other line when the phone rings? 
• Which elevator will arrive first? Will the next traffic light be green, red or yellow? 
• Focus on a call you would like to receive from someone and you will suddenly hear from them! 
• If the doorbell rings and you’re not expecting anyone, who do you think it is?

You would be amazed at how accurate your ”guesses “ can be. As little children we had no trouble pretending.

Pretending often precedes faith and before we know it, we no longer need to pretend. If we insist on our experience of the world making sense, we will deprive ourselves of valuable intuitive data. 

You must be willing to make mistakes. When you follow your intuition you will gain a feeling of power and energy and more importantly a wonderful spiritual connectedness to all things in your life.

irenemartina.com

Harnessing Your Amazing Intuition

by Irene Martina - 

Your intuition sends you information in the following five different ways:

1. The most common is physically. 

In receiving information through your physical body, you might explain intuition as having a "gut feeling" or "your stomach is in knots."

Another popular way is when the hair stands up on the back of your neck. For me, a strong message of awareness is goose bumps.

2. Secondly and probably more common to women is emotions. 

We know instantly when something doesn't feel right, or a mood changes, and a fast like and dislike of something.

In our world today we are often feel pressured to "do something, join something, or buy something" and we intuitively know we should say "no!" - yet we go ahead. Moving forward on this decision often brings regrets.

When our first instinct is to reject something, we often cannot explain "why" to someone. To us, it just didn't feel right. This is intuition in action and working for you.

3. Thirdly, we receive information mentally. 

Our mind often gives us a second voice in the background that says: "No, yes, turn here, etc."

Again, we often ignore our intuitive voice and find ourselves caught in a traffic jam or something to that effect. We constantly second guess ourselves and regret listening to that inner voice later.

4. The fourth way we receive is spiritually. 

For me, this means there is something far greater than us in the universe. When we are connected to this Source, our intuition is greater than anything we can imagine.

5. Lastly, we receive through the environment. 

I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. From my childhood, I was taught to pay attention to symbolism and events as messages being given to us.

For example: Your computer ups and quits and you are forced to stop working and look after the problem. Now this can cause stress but I also know that it happened for a reason and I was being told to stop what I was doing.

Perhaps you are given a sign to take some time off to do something you may have been putting off for a long time, like updating your insurance policies or call a sick friend. Maybe, it's time to call and connect to a real cute "techie" support guy. 

 I just know that it does not pay to get upset but instead to ask yourself, "Why and what do I need to look at or do?"

So how do we harness out intuition more? 

I like to say that finding your intuition is like finding a trail. In this case the T.R.A.I. L. (an acronym) represents the following:

• T - Trust the information you get when you get it. -Try to think back to times when you did pay attention to your intuition and recall what you experienced.

As you recall your success's, you will eagerly and confidently trust your ability and inner voice more and more to make the correct decisions for you.

• R - Relax your mind: Make "why not and what if?" two of your favorite questions.

Give yourself time to do crossword puzzles, and play more games to keep your mind open to new things and ideas. Meditation is very powerful in helping you hear your inner voice and to relax more.

• A - Awareness: Intuition can be so subtle that we often miss its messages, so live your life consciously and be more aware of your thoughts.

We cannot s hear our intuition speaking if we do not learn to stop the chatter in our mind or find some quietness. Suggestion- shut off the radio, CD player and stereos when you are alone in the car or at home, so you can hear your inner voice better.

• I - Imagination: this is the ability to think outside the box, which is very helpful in developing your intuition.

Here are a few ideas: When you get dressed each day, ask your self why did you choose the red suit or the blue dress? Colors carry energies and we choose them because we need its energy at that time.

You ask yourself what that color means to you. Does red make you feel confident, powerful, relax and assured? Does the blue make you feel more feminine, softer, more attractive and perhaps serene and peaceful?

• L - Listen: intuition is not logical. If we are caught up in our lives we cannot give our intuition a safe place to work and hear its message.

Have you noticed that if you let go of ego, fears or any negative thoughts, you get better results with hearing your intuition?

Intuition is a wonderful and natural sense that we all have and if you think about it, you couldn't stop being intuitive this moment any more than you could stop hearing the sounds around you. 

Simply allow yourself to report what you're picking up in response to a question. Be in a state of allowing and see the miracles happen!

irenemartina.com