At one of the most exotic chocolate shops on Beverly Drive, in Beverly Hills, California my own inner self reflection revealed herself in the most unusual way. Through the sensual combination of chocolate and spices my “inner push and pull” came forth and seemed to take over my entire being. This “inner push and pull” I am referring to is that of your inner intuitive muscle that lives inside of you. The invisible muscle who is able to discern the impulse to pull closer to you more of what you like and desire versus pushing away anything that does not feel good. My chocolate shop experience was at a boutique shop that has spices from all over the world. These spices were sitting on shelves in small dishes covered in gorgeous riveted glass domes. What makes the store so much fun is you can lift the domes and smell into the glass to discover the aroma of every spice. The spices are from countries all over the globe and are used to make their unique blends in their chocolates.
I was in awe watching myself, along with many others, taking the time to inhale the individual scents. I watched myself naturally respond to which spices triggered feelings of "goodness and desiring more" and which spices created feelings of "withdrawal and contraction". I observed both children and adults playing with this same “pleasurable response versus adverse response” dichotomy. It was as if each spice revealed the energy of “contraction or expansion” inside every individual person. What was beautiful to explore was that it was different for everyone. Which was a valuable observation within itself. Every person responded differently to each spice. Some spices evoked an expansive joyful feeling while others created a more contractive instinctual repulsive feeling. Meanwhile, there were a few spices that appeared to just leave a residual feeling of “indifference”. Where the “push and pull” response was not evident. Leaving behind a feeling of not necessarily desiring more or needing to drastically push the spice away.
I recently was reading the incredible book Outrageous Opennessby Tosha Silver. She referred in her book about how her first metaphysical teacher gave her the following advice “Pay attention to how you feel when your around someone. And also how you feel when you leave them. Pay attention. Don’t question your response. If you feel bad, simply move away.”
I witnessed this very concept at the gourmet chocolate shop. Of all places! I watched myself and others around me immediately move away from whatever spice did not smell good or did not evoke a positive feeling within.
The willingness, energy, and time each person took to discover this for themselves was admirable. There were two long shelves each lined with about eight spices. I watched as each person, one by one, lifted the dome to EVERY spice. They did not skip over a spice or ignore one of the shelves. They did not want to miss out. People were drawn to try each and every one - even after they may have had several adverse reactions in a row. I could see in their eyes they were trusting that a pleasurable scent was soon on its way. I also noticed that nobody ended their spice inhaling experience with a spice that was unpleasant. If their response to the last spice on the shelf was negative then they went to a spice filled glass dome that they remembered felt yummy and good. They lifted up the glass dome, inhaled, and a big smile took over their face. Now they were done. Now they could walk away from the sensual shelves. How incredible.
It was as if our inner truth is to naturally lean towards pleasure and positive inner feelings. So much so that a person will not walk away from a shelf lined with exotic spices unless the last spice they smelled felt good. So why don’t we do this in our personal lives?
Though this push and pull was evident in my chocolate experience I realized that this is an inner muscle that can use strengthening in all of us in EVERY area of our life. Every event and every choice gives us the opportunity to have this same experience. Why don’t we initially walk away from a not so good feeling to a more enjoyable experience? Why do we second guess ourselves or stay in conversations or relationships that do not feel good?
Do you want to breathe in more of a certain spice you enjoy that has landed in front of your nose or are you repelled by a certain spice that has crossed your path?
The willingness to pay attention to this subtle truth inside of yourself is an incredible self reflective tool and an important element to strengthening your intuitive muscle and mastering self love. If you can view different choices, conversations, people, and situations in your life as the spices hidden under the fragile glass domes in the chocolate shop of life, you can begin to use your own discernment in choosing good feeling expansive experiences versus contractive experiences.
I encourage you to observe the spices of life that are in front of you and carefully observe your response to them. Take the time to strengthen this “inner push and pull” muscle and you will soon discover an inner power that may have been dormant inside of you. Meanwhile enjoy the spices of life that come your way, tune in to your intuitive responses, become your own spice of life connoisseur, and walk away from experiences that do not evoke a feeling of pleasure, joy, and overall inner goodness!
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