Have you heard people talking about their "guides," and wondered whether you, too, could contact higher consciousness? It's easier than you think! There are many ways to name the loving, wise, compassionate beings or forces that work with us.
Some people resonate with traditional religious terms like God, angels, or archangels.
Some prefer non-religious language like the universe, Source, All-That-Is.
Some feel at home with the language of shamanism: spirit guides, helping spirits, power animals.
Some coin their own terms, like Wisdom Beings or Wise One.
Some use terms like Higher Self, inner teacher, guide, or guidance.
Some feel most comfortable with the simple phrase larger self.
Personally, I like all of these terms, although none of them feels exactly right or complete to me.
Language is shorthand; it cannot fully encompass reality, but gives us ways of pointing toward it.
So, to keep things simple, I most often use the terms "guide" and "inner teacher.
" However you understand and experience this level of guidance, it is available to support and help you.
The most important ingredients for establishing a connection are your willingness and your intention.
If you are willing to make contact with a wise, completely compassionate aspect of yourself or of consciousness, and set an intention to do so, it will happen.
No particular process or ritual is required; our guides are available 24/7, and they not only make house calls, but office calls, highway calls, airplane calls and mountaintop calls.
Wherever we are, they're there too.
However, since most of us have the habit of paying much more attention to physical reality than to the non-physical, a ritual may help us make the transition from what shamans call "ordinary reality" - the regular human level of consciousness - to the state of consciousness in which we are able to hear, sense, see or perceive the non-physical realm.
The more often you connect with your guides, the easier and faster this process will become.
Tips for Connecting with Higher Consciousness Guidance 1.
First, choose a particular spot where you will physically sit (or stand, or lie down, or dance) each time you want to initiate conversation with inner teachers.
If your spot is indoors, you may want to clear up any clutter in that space, and then intentionally decide what you want to put there.
A cloth of some kind, either on a table or the floor, can help define the space; on it you can place any objects that have meaning to you, or feel sacred to beautiful to you.
Many people like to use a candle, incense, sage, or perhaps a small vase with a flower or two cut from their garden.
Some like to create more formal altars, on which they place many objects that have personal and spiritual significance to them; others prefer to keep it simple.
2.
Next, take time to just be in this spot - with your lit candle or with your objects, if you have chosen to put any there - for at least a few minutes a day.
It may take a week or even several weeks of daily returning to this inner space of quietness before you are able to sense the presence of an inner teacher.
In the meantime, you can take the opportunity to deepen your sense of contact with yourself - which is, of course, part of the same process.
3.
Remember that this is not a chore or obligation, nor a task at which you might succeed or fail.
No one will be grading or evaluating your efforts or experiences - with the possible exception of you! If it feels like your critical mind might inhibit you, see if you can enlist its cooperation instead.
It can be helpful to develop a statement of intention for yourself, and repeat it to yourself often; you can even incorporate the critical part of your mind into that statement.
Here is an example:

"I intend to connect with my larger self, or with sources of wise, compassionate guidance, and I invite all the parts of my being to participate in this process.
If any parts of me are not familiar with the energies of openness and compassion, I invite them to learn about those energies through this process, and ask that they lay aside any fears or judgments that might get in the way.
Since I know that I have guides already, even if I have not yet met them, I also ask my guides for help in creating a smooth, clear inner pathway to making contact with them.
"

4.
If, in the process of trying to connect to guidance, you encounter an inner voice that seems determined to keep you from making the connection, see if you can dialogue with it or sense into it to find out more about it.
Is it scared? If so, what frightens it about the idea of connecting with higher consciousness? You may be able to help allay its fears.
But if its fear is too strong, or if it is hostile - for instance, if it asserts that you do not have guides, or do not deserve to connect with them - then you may need to seek help from a human practitioner.
There are many people who can assist you with this, so don't worry, and don't give up! Everyone can access higher consciousness.
You may just need some healing or clearing work to get you ready.
5.
Remember that you are seeking to connect with inner teachers or guides who hold a "higher consciousness" field of energy - in other words, beings who are completely wise and compassionate, and who have no requirements, needs or agendas.
You are not issuing a general invitation for any and all non-physical beings! This isn't like playing with a Ouija board - which, by the way, is not a good idea at all.
You'd be unlikely to seek deep healing or guidance from any random stranger in the physical world, and it makes no more sense to do that in the non-physical world.
The way to ensure that any beings you contact have only your highest good as their sole intent is simply by clearly intending that, and being very specific in your invitation.
Intention is an extremely powerful tool.
6.
It's helpful to remember that guidance can come in many forms.
Some people like to start by quieting their minds, writing a question down, then writing whatever comes into their minds as a response.
The book Writing Down Your Soul: How to Activate and Listen to the Extraordinary Voice Within, by Janet Conner, offers a detailed and inspirational description of the author's work with this method.
Yet some people prefer to simply listen within, rather than write.
Some like complete quiet; other prefer to have music playing.
Some like to sit; some prefer to lie down, stand up, dance, or use yoga postures.
Some like to connect with their guides while lying in bed or sitting at their kitchen table; others prefer to be outside, perhaps under a tree or next to a flowing stream.
If it's cold outside or if you live in a city, you can simply imagine yourself next to a tree or stream.
6.
It's generally best to connect to guidance with a specific question or intention in mind.
This helps to focus your mind, and also lets your guides know how they can best help you.
If you haven't yet met your guides, your intention might be something like this:

"I intend, desire, choose and decide to meet my guides now.
I invite them to take any form which allows me to perceive them, and I ask for their help in allowing me to recognize and interact with them.
"

7.
Remember that as a human being, you have free will - and you will continue to have it, even after developing relationships with inner teachers.
A higher consciousness guide will never insist that you do anything, prevent you from doing anything, or get angry or offended if you don't follow his/her/their advice.
If you sense a presence or hear a voice that is demanding, harsh or judgmental, it isn't a higher consciousness guide.
Reaffirm your intention to contact only being(s) who are completely compassionate, who have only your highest good as their sole intent.
Remember: we are surrounded by and filled with a field of higher consciousness which is pure love, wisdom and compassion.
You have the absolute right and the inherent ability to connect with beings in this field of consciousness, since, in fact, they are you at another level of being.
They will welcome the opportunity to guide and support you.
They have no agenda of their own, and will require nothing from you.
This might be starting to sound like an infomercial.
"Wise inner guides are waiting for you! Call now!" But in fact, it's really true - they are, and you can.