Neil Sattin.com

How many times have you had a difficult choice to make?  And of those times, how many times have you been caught up in a headspin of trying to figure out what the best choice was?  Did anyone ask you what your “gut” was telling you?  And did you know?  If you did know, did you follow your gut’s advice?  And how did that work for you?  Or was it so difficult for you to figure out the “right” decision that you never made any decision?  Our gut feelings represent our intuition, and listening to our intuition is the key to overcoming a stalled decision-making process.  In this article, we’re going to talk about how to figure out what your intuition is telling you, and why it’s important to trust your intuition.

Intuition exists, without a doubt.  If you’re a materialist, you might say that intuition represents the ability of your brain to synthesize vasts amount of information (way more than you can consciously process) and provide comprehensive feedback for you, in the form of “feeling”, based on that synthesis.  If you’re spiritually minded, you might say that your intuition is the way that your higher self is communicating with you, to help steer you through life towards the important lessons you’ve come to the planet to learn, and to serve the higher purpose that you’ve come here to serve.  However you explain it, there is no mistaking that as we face decisions in our day to day life there is SOME mechanism that produces feelings within us to help guide us in making choices.

I believe that when there is a choice to make there’s actually not much to “figure out”.  However, it’s easy to get all caught up in “what-ifs” as you weigh this option, or that option, or any infinite number of options - so easy that most people never get beyond this stage in decision-making, especially when it comes to making “big” decisions.  Analysis Paralysis (the inability to make a decision because you’re caught up in weighing all of the options) is the result of trying to make important decisions solely based on your logical mind.  The problem is that really understanding the implications of our decisions is more than our logical mind can handle.  Any decision brings with it a whole host of pros and cons, and our logical mind can literally tie itself up in knots trying to sort out which pros are the best pros, and which cons are the worst cons.  And vice versa.  Starting to get confused?  See, that’s my point!  There are an infinite number of “right” decisions, and our logical minds tend to get tangled, trying to figure out which “right” decision is THE right decision.

The logical mind is great for sorting out the facts - what “is” about a situation.  It can calculate income vs. expenses, organize your time, and help you get from here to there.  However, is it your logical mind that tells you whether or not you find someone attractive?  Does your logical mind tell you whether or not someone is trustworthy?  Can your logical mind tell you what you’d really like to eat for dinner tonight?  All of those determinations fall into the realm of feeling - and nothing against the logical mind, but FEELING isn’t really the logical mind’s specialty.

The best and easiest way to make a decision is with your whole self (which’ll include your higher self, by the way).  And the way that your whole self delivers messages to you is through your gut feelings - your intuition.  You are always (constantly) collecting the facts with your logical mind - and you shouldn’t be afraid to take a little time to do that consciously if there’s a decision to be made.  Just make sure that you restrict your logical mind to strictly the facts (ma’am).  It will help keep you out of “what-do-I-do-brain-spinning-wildly” mode.

When you’re not honoring what your intuition is telling you to do, the conflict between your heart (which knows the answer) and your mind (which is caught up in its quest for the “right” answer) can be debilitating.  The funny thing is, when you make a decision with your mind that isn’t in alignment with your heart, your heart doesn’t just go away.  It’s constantly there, beating away, reminding you that something within you calls out for a DIFFERENT choice to be made.  However, as soon as you make the heart-centered choice for which your intuition is advocating, your mind-chatter just goes away! 

Now how do you get in touch with the feelings that your intuition is sending your way?  If your gut feelings are too obscured when it comes to the big decisions in your life, I recommend starting out by paying attention to your intuition for small, relatively insignificant decisions.  Here’s an experiment for you to try: 

Next time you’re at the grocery store, find the “unique tropical fruit” section.  You’re going to buy a piece of fruit that you’ve never tried before.  Here in Maine basically everything except apples, pears, and blueberries qualifies as a ”unique tropical fruit” - but you know the section I’m talking about, right?  There’ll be a few fruits that you recognize (perhaps some pineapples and kiwis), and then there’ll be a bunch of fruits to which you don’t even know the names.  What you’re going to do is just stand in front of the fruit, close your eyes (briefly), and take a deep breath (with your eyes closed).  Then open your eyes, and spend just a moment taking all the choices in that are available to you.  Pay attention, and you will find that you’ll get a feeling that one of those fruits is the one for you - and that’s the one you’re going to try.  Grab it, buy it, and, once you get home, eat it.  If you’re not sure how to eat it, Google it to see what you find out.

Also pay attention to whether or not your logical mind starts second-guessing your decision.  The instant you sense that happening, recognize that your intuition has ALREADY told you what to buy - so go with your ORIGINAL choice.  Don’t listen to your head, listen instead to your heart.  It’s just fruit, for crying out loud!

Does it really matter which fruit you try (or whatever it is, if you decided to go with some other section of the grocery store)?  Of course not!  It doesn’t matter one bit, whether you love the fruit you chose or hate the fruit you chose.  As you’re eating, take a moment and recognize that you’re having a completely new experience.  Your life will never be the same!  Recognize also that you listened to your intuition - you were successful in what you set out to accomplish.

(note: if you have a sensitive stomach or many allergies, you might want to find another non-food-related choice to make instead - like picking a random city on the map for a Sunday drive, or figuring out which movie to see, or which ballpoint pens to buy, etc.)

Now, how does this experiment help you?  Two ways: 

1. You are learning what the feeling of your intuition is in an experience that has no major implications in your life - so there should be that much less “logical mind chatter” to clutter up the decision.
2. As soon as you begin honoring your intuition, your intuition gets stronger.  In addition, you get more faith in your intuition.  It’s a positive feedback cycle, each feeding the other for your own personal growth.

The more that you practice using your intuition for the smaller decisions, the easier it will be for you to check in with your intuition for the larger decisions.  You’ll notice a certain clarity in your decision-making, that all of your choices will feel right.  Even the tough, huge, life-altering decisions.  Not only will your analysis paralysis become a distant memory, but you will also feel a new sense of strength as you experience alignment with your whole self.  And with the compound interest of life, that strength will grow and grow.

(one more note: many thanks to Erin Pavlina for the inspiration to write more about getting in touch with intuition)

In my job in the software industry, there has occasionally been some idle time - which before I got all “focused” like I am now (Thank you Mr. Daytimer) was devoted to random Google searches for random interesting stuff.  During one of these searches, I stumbled across some articles about sensory deprivation, John Lilly, and floatation tanks.  The whole thing fascinated me, and on a serendipitous business trip to Chicago I had the occasion to visit the Space-Time Tanks Floatation Center, to experience floatation and sensory deprivation first hand.  I took them up on a deal where for $100 you could get a one hour massage AND a one hour session in the float tank - I was the king of the relaxation world for that night.

My first floatation experience was so profoundly amazing - after leaving the float tank I walked down a chilly Chicago downtown street, just gazing in shop/restaurant windows and re-experiencing what it meant to be alive.  Passers-by on the street had an aura about them, and I felt as if I could love just about anyone, anything in the realm of human experience.  I flagged down a cab, and got to talking with the cab driver (who was Palestinian) - and we became fast friends as we discussed the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the common bonds that all humans share.  At SpaceTime Tanks, I had purchased a copy of Michael Hutchison’s “The Book of Floating: Exploring the Private Sea”, and I had nearly read it in its entirety by the time the train reached my station in the suburbs.  After my first night I was hooked - steeped in floating - and I decided then and there that I would own a floatation tank, so that I could experience it on a regular basis and offer it as a service to anyone else who wanted to give it a try.  That’s how “Float: Portland” was born.

That’s the way the world works.  Set an intention, believe in it with all your heart, embrace the feeling of having achieved your intention, and the universe allows it to manifest.  Within 9 months I had a floatation tank (a Samadhi floatation tank) set up in the 2nd bedroom of my apartment, and I was floating every day.  I was also able to introduce a whole host of new people to the tank, most of whom loved it and came back to float repeatedly.  An interview with me was published in The Bollard, a local on-line periodical (follow the link to see a picture of me floating in the tank), which raised local awareness about floating.  All the while my experiences in the tank were deepening - on occasions I would spend 2 or more hours in the tank, just exploring “the void” in all its uniqueness.  There were times that it would feel like my whole body was vibrating with an almost electrical energy, as if I could feel every electron in my body whirring, every impulse of communication between my cells.  I always emerged refreshed, even more excited about the rest of my life (as well as upcoming floats).

Flash forward a couple of years.  I’m married, my wife is pregnant, and the two of us are on a mad search for a house that can accomodate our growing family.  We fall in love with a house in the ‘burbs (really it’s only a mile away from our old apartment) with plans to renovate the basement to accomodate the floatation tank.  Perfect!  However, once we moved in and really assessed the basement situation, we realized that it would take a lot more time/money than we had to make the space what it needs to be for the floatation tank.  It’s important to me that the tank be in a pristine environment - and I’m not sure that our basement could become that without a LOT of work.  And faith, though I have faith on overdrive these days.

I’ve been considering what it would take to open a “real” float center here in Portland (or anywhere - we’re flexible).  In some ways Portland seems perfect - there are a lot of therapeutic modalities here, and there are no floatation tanks north of Boston as far as I can tell.  On the other hand, rents are high in this city, and it’s unclear whether or not I could find enough people to float to pay the overhead AND sustain our family.  So if anyone out there has thoughts on this that’d be great (or just an e-mail to let me know how much you’re craving a place to float).

As far as I can tell, these are our options: 

1. Find a spa that is interested in hosting the tank. It seems that if a tank can’t be in our home, the best place for it would be a spa (with the space) where they would be excited to add floatation as a component of their business. We’d work out a fair “split the profits after overhead” arrangement with any spa owner, assuming they were excited and committed to the idea. To me it seems like a no-brainer if the spa has the space - a floatation tank would attract a lot of attention for their business, and they are very easy to maintain.
2. Find a really inexpensive place to rent for the tank.  Emphasis on inexpensive (though it still needs to be appropriate).  We’ve realized that running a single tank floatation center, unless it’s in our home, really isn’t worth it from an “income-generated” perspective.  While an existing spa is already set up with the resources to set appointments and usher people to/from the tank, that’s not what we’re set up to do - and it only makes financial sense to start something up if more tanks and/or modalities (like opening a spa ourselves) were in the picture.
3. Buy more tanks and open a float center.  This would actually be great if the Greater Portland area could support such an endeavor.  Still, it feels a bit risky, and I do have a family to support…so I’m not really sure that this is the best option.  We do currently have the capital to make it happen, however, so it’s an option on the table.  If someone could convince us that some OTHER location would be appropriate we’d consider it - hey, we’re flexible!
4. Something else????  You tell me!  I’m opening up the floor here to creative brainstorms.  Here’s our current criteria:  We want to be able to use the tank regularly, we want to be able to let other people use the tank as well, and we want it to generate passive income for us.

So that’s the floating story as it’s currently told.  We would love to be able to float again and to offer others the experience - it’s truly unique, transformative, and…well…special.  I  miss it.  However, it has become apparent that the more we agonize over making something happen, the less anything happens.  In the spirit of “intentions manifesting” I’m opening myself up to what the world has to offer.  I’m also willing to accept that maybe my float tank’s time has not yet come (again) - and I’ll have to just say a little prayer and wait.  Which, come to think of it, is what I have to do no matter what.