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Throughout the series we're chatting about all things intuition. What it is, how people connect with it, and how it can be so much more than we often have let ourselves believe. We’ll dive deep into insights, lived experiences, and share findings from a research project interviewing over 50 highly intuitive mediums and empaths from around the world. Join along to follow the insights from these conversations with doctors, nurses, therapists, CPAs, healers, and everything in-between as they shared their journeys connecting with their intuitive abilities. Let’s dive in! Learn more about the research & stay connected at Intuitivebynature.com/podcast
Hello, and welcome to the Intuitive by Nature podcast. I'm Bonnie Castamacima, and it's incredible being here with you. In this series, Celeste Page Sample and I are gonna be chatting about all things intuition. What it is, how people connect with it, and how it can be so much more than we've often let ourselves believe.
Bonnie Casamassima:Hey, everybody. Welcome back. Today, Celeste and I are so excited to be talking about the 3rd episode where we're gonna be focusing on the research findings we found around a commitment to self growth being very synonymous with people's journey deepening their intuitive connection. Before we jump into that, you might remember that on our last episode, we talked about some of the roadblocks people experienced along their journey, connecting with their intuition. You know, some of these were fear of judgments, lack of self trust, and even often turning to numbing mechanisms, such as overworking or maybe any kind of supplements or substances that help them to numb everything off, including their intuitive connection.
Bonnie Casamassima:So we're really excited to jump in today to talk about the flip side of that.
Celeste Paige Sample:Yes. Hey, Bonnie. I'm so excited to be here with you again today holding space and sharing our research findings. And as you stated, today is all about commitment to self growth. And, you know, the second episode could be so heavy thinking about roadblocks.
Celeste Paige Sample:So I'm really excited mentioned before, is that everyone's journey, the roadblocks that people shared, but there's a sentiment of, you know, new experiences being difficult. So this flip side is focusing on what happens when you lean into the uncomfortable, what happens when you lean into actually developing and being intentional. So today we're gonna dive into key finding that people's intuition deepening journey followed alongside a commitment to self growth and self agency.
Bonnie Casamassima:I'm so excited about jumping into this one further together today, Celeste. And especially after coming off of that second episode, like you were saying
Celeste Paige Sample:Yeah.
Bonnie Casamassima:That was a little bit heavier. You know, I know we wanted to talk about the roadblocks people experienced Mhmm. Really early on in the series just so we can talk about them. And then shift to, you know, what were the things that people really shared to be very supportive and holding space for all of them. I think it goes without saying, but it's really important to mention here that regardless of what the findings shared within the research, it's really essential that we are always honoring what feels most aligned for us in our journey.
Bonnie Casamassima:So just to echo what you already talked about, Celeste, is, what we're sharing might not be everybody's experience. It's what we certainly found in the research, but really honor and listen to what your journey has been and keep following what resonates with you fully.
Celeste Paige Sample:So I don't know about you, Bonnie, but the idea of self agency, for some reason, that term kinda stirs something in me. Makes me a little nervous. Right? I I think I've shared here before that I'm a person that really struggled with the self agency, So this one resonated hard. But what we really learned from our research and what our participants share with us was that self agency is really a process of trusting those nudges, really trusting those series of nudges and taking aligned action.
Bonnie Casamassima:Absolutely. And I agree with you. When we look at the key findings of self growth and self agency being very much alongside the journey of deepening an intuitive connection or relationship with their intuition, those can be really big terms and, can be overwhelming sometimes. So it was really fascinating to see that people described the more that they tuned in to trusting those nudges. Now I can't explain why, but I just get goosebumps around this person.
Bonnie Casamassima:So I'm gonna try to prioritize spending more time with them. Or I can't explain why, but I'm getting know, visuals in my meditation, and they just feel really grounded. So I'm gonna keep trusting those and following them. The more they talked about, it was like building a muscle. So it really while at a macro level, that self growth and self agency can be really large concepts to tackle in their day to day when most supportive for them.
Bonnie Casamassima:They talked about really following those subtle nudges, and the more they listened, the stronger that muscle got and the easier it was to really tune in to that self trust that led to a stronger self agency. So I was really excited to see that it wasn't overwhelming in the day to day. In fact, it was really these most often these bite sized pieces of experience that when you look, you know, years in reverse, you realize the powerful growth that you've accomplished or that the people have accomplished. But in the day to day, it wasn't anything really overwhelming, and that was very inspiring.
Celeste Paige Sample:So not like full on intuitive gym membership, but more like stretching at your desk when you need a 5 minute break, that kind of training.
Bonnie Casamassima:Yeah. Absolutely. Some people certainly expressed their, you know, really intense awakening experiences. And maybe that would be like a an ultra marathon for them. Right?
Bonnie Casamassima:And we think about that. Mhmm. But for, the majority of people, it was really about tuning in to that self trust. Now I can't explain why, but I feel really drawn to this mentor, and I'm gonna follow their teachings and see what resonates most with me. I can't explain why, but meditation feels really nurturing.
Bonnie Casamassima:And all I can do is 2 minutes right now, but that feels right. So I'm gonna keep trusting and keep showing up for that. And then that turns into, you know, a 30 minute meditation practice or whatever it was. It's really powerful.
Celeste Paige Sample:So Bonnie, you just mentioned meditation and I have to pause for a second and specify that meditation comes in many forms. Just like we said with intuition, it comes in many forms.
Bonnie Casamassima:Absolutely. And, Celeste, I feel like this is such an important point here. I can't say how many times I have people come up and say, like, I know meditation is a road map to tuning into my intuition, but it's just so hard for me to sit down, crisscross applesauce, and not have my mind have a million thoughts. Right? So completely agree with you.
Bonnie Casamassima:Some of the stuff that people shared are things like intuitive dancing. So putting headphones in, closing their eyes, and just moving however their body wanted to move. Yeah. Meditation also came through walking in nature with their eyes open or even, you know, their eyes closed to tune in to the sounds around them. What are some of the other that really stood out to you around meditation coming in many forms?
Celeste Paige Sample:The dancing one was really fun. I've always thought it was interesting when I do mention meditation and people immediately clam up and I go, oh, I I can't clear my mind. I'm like, I can't either. Like, I don't know what you're talking about. But definitely when I was younger, movement was definitely my meditation.
Celeste Paige Sample:For me, it was running. Mhmm. And that's that's not being still at all. I had to, you know, really hit pavement to clear my mind sort of thought. And it was really more of the practice of giving myself space to acknowledge whatever was coming up without judging it.
Bonnie Casamassima:Absolutely. Things that get you in more of a flow state, for example. We see a lot of synergy Exactly. Between being in a flow state and allowing intuitive information to move through. So things like cooking, things like knitting, or even creating through art, right, creating music.
Bonnie Casamassima:All of these allow people to really tune into that present moment. And to nerd out for a little bit what we're also seeing in other research is when we are allowing ourselves to be in that present moment, we're allowing our brainwaves to engage at different rates than we are in our day to day. So the goal really is to to say meditation comes in many forms is really how are we choosing activities with intention to allow us to get into that present moment. Specifically, when we're looking at tuning into our intuition, we're trying to prioritize activities that allow us to get out of our beta brainwave state, which is what we're often in when we're doing, you know, day to day, spreadsheet analysis or managing projects. Right?
Bonnie Casamassima:And shifting into our alpha and then ideally our theta brainwaves. These tend to be the ones that we might know best when we're in those liminal states between being awake and asleep or asleep and awake. So that beautiful, juicy little period right before you fall asleep or that feeling of liminal space right when you're out of your kind of dream state before you're waking up. The more that we can engage activities that are meditative in nature, that get us into that present moment, the more we're really building that muscle of normalizing being in those alpha and theta brainwave states. So not to, like, jump too much into the nerd out research with it, but to share that it comes in I love it.
Bonnie Casamassima:It comes in so many different forms. And the idea here is that you're really prioritizing what resonates for you and following that.
Celeste Paige Sample:And it really makes sense, what you were just saying about you know, it's energy, right? If intuition is how we connect with our secondary sensory system that we've got going on and it's energy moving. It makes sense for us to need to kind of clear out what we've got going on in our body so that we can be receptive. Right? And it makes me think about their, like, their origins of yoga.
Celeste Paige Sample:I think a lot of people just think of it as a exercise thing. But from what I understand, yoga was intentionally used as a process of getting all getting all the stuff out of your body so that you can sit. So the you were supposed to do supposed to. Sorry. I would think about supposed to.
Celeste Paige Sample:The ideal order was for you to do meditate for you to do yoga, And then that way you are allowed to sit and be still.
Bonnie Casamassima:That makes so much sense, and what a strong try back to that. And again, if meditating, sitting crisscross, apple sauce through guided visualizations, those are very powerful ways to tune into our intuition. I really love that you and I are talking about the details with this list to really create that space to normalize that meditation comes in so many different forms and to make that be an invitation to really tune in to what feels most aligned. You were talking about, you know, the importance of having emotions and having kind of our day to day move through our body to allow us to be in that receptive state for clarity and intuitive downloads to be more significant or stronger or clearer. That reminds me of one of the things we found within this focus of a commitment to self growth, where people talked over and over and over again about of really managing their energy and emotions or emotional and energy hygiene as it can be called.
Bonnie Casamassima:I'm curious, would you share really what stood out to you around those focuses around people's journey connecting with their intuition?
Celeste Paige Sample:You know, it's interesting doing qualitative research because you're listening to these stories and you start to pick up on the sentiment of things that are being shared. And with the personalized holistic practices. I think in our day to day, we hear that mostly being described as self care. And I think we've gotten a little desensitized to that term of self care, but it's so important. It's so important to have your own personal practice.
Celeste Paige Sample:It was so critical in what we found, you know, in the data. And I can definitely share for me personally, I'm a person that struggled with self acceptance, and that's what we're talking about today. Right? I struggled with giving myself that self agency, so I definitely struggled with quote unquote self care. I needed it to I needed to give myself permission somehow.
Celeste Paige Sample:So quick story. First shout out to all my spoonies out there. If you already know what I'm about to get into, we're about to go down a little rabbit hole. So I have a chronic pain disorder. And there are several of us that that share this idea of being a spoonie.
Celeste Paige Sample:And it all came from 2 friends were sitting at a diner, kinda like we are. Right? Just chatting. And one friend suffered from a chronic pain disorder. I believe it was lupus.
Celeste Paige Sample:Don't quote me. I'm sure somebody's gonna correct me in the comments, but that's okay. So one friend suffers from this chronic pain disorder and the other friend was really trying to understand what their friend was facing every day. So the friend that has a chronic pain disorder takes up all the spoons at their table and tables around them. And they tell them, okay, every day you wake up with a set amount of spoons and all the tasks that you have throughout the day cost spoons.
Celeste Paige Sample:So if you have to take a shower, maybe that's 2 spoons. If you have to take your kids to school, maybe that's 3 spoons. And really use this metaphor to build a picture of there's so many things to do in a day, and there's little bit of resource for for this individual. Right? And this again goes back to the yes.
Celeste Paige Sample:But like, this is a roadblock. The the number of spoons was a roadblock. So yes. But and the, but for me was how do I make more spoons? And going down that journey of how do I make more spoons, tapping into my intuition, really leaning into my body is like, okay, I need to listen to my body.
Celeste Paige Sample:What's my body need right now? How do I forage more spoons?
Bonnie Casamassima:Oh, man. Celeste, I resonate so much with this example, and I love the visual of the spoons because you can see that as a very finite resource. And I I think sometimes I'll I'm I'm guilty here as to just say, like, well, I could just push through anything because energy Mhmm. Is infinite, which, yes, it is. Absolutely.
Bonnie Casamassima:And it's essential that we're really caring for our body. And what we found in the research was over and over and over again, people share that when they prioritize filling up their bucket, they were able to then tune in more fully to that self trust. So I'm curious, you know, thinking about the spoon metaphor, how would you, you know, share that as a connection with deepening your own intuitive connection.
Celeste Paige Sample:Yeah. Of course. And I definitely wanna point out that even though this story was shared by someone trying to express their journey with chronic pain, it's not all inclusive. Right? And it's also not excluding everyone else.
Celeste Paige Sample:Everyone has spoons. We all have we all wake up with what feels like a set amount of energy. You know, my husband and I joke about what's in our gas tank, but half of the day is like, I'm running on fumes now. You know, same idea of I don't have many spoons left. So tying it back into my intuitive journey, living with chronic pain and hitting that wall of there are more things I have to do and I need to dig deep right now Really taught me to honor being still.
Celeste Paige Sample:So it was really a practice of deciding to literally be still and literally listen to what my body is telling me. And if you're not taking in information from other people telling you what you should do or what things should look like or what you need to do, you know, you have your boss telling you about this deadline, you're really just quieting listening to your body. That's you connecting with intuition because you have no choice but to listen to yourself. Right?
Bonnie Casamassima:Absolutely. Thank you so much for sharing that. And to just reiterate the that journey of tuning into that self trust. Right? Listening to your body, listening to what it needs in that recharge, listening to, is it stillness for you?
Bonnie Casamassima:Is it movement for you? And really honoring those spoons or that gas tank and those resources. What we saw with that is that the more people really listen to that energy hygiene, that energy management, and did things and prioritize things that allowed them that stillness, but also things that allowed them that clarity, you know, meditation, journaling, cooking, dancing, gardening, you know, whatever they were, the more they were able to really tune into those subtle nudges and trust those intuitive knowings. So it really was this full circle almost that continues or maybe an upward spiral is a better way to describe it. The more that we're really able to honor that energy, the more we're able to realize, like, how good it feels to feel good when maybe we've been just, like, pushing through in a hustle culture for so many years, how good it feels to be in tune with that energetic flow.
Bonnie Casamassima:I think with that, what we saw in the research, and I can share a specific example, when we're able to really tune in to that emotional and energetic hygiene and keep building the muscle, maybe a really casual gym membership to tuning into that muscle of your intuition, the easier those alignments begin to show themselves, or at least that's what we saw in the research.
Celeste Paige Sample:Yeah.
Bonnie Casamassima:And the more it allowed people to really trust themselves, trust is intuitive information that came through, Shift away from that self doubt and away from fear, more into that self trust and empowerment. The more that they stepped into that, the more their confidence built, the more they were able to really follow these, breadcrumbs almost of being aligned on their life's journey. Because, again, we can look at our intuitive information, what we saw in the research as a support network of information that we're deeply connected to, and how can we really look at that and tune into using it as, part of our everyday modern lives.
Celeste Paige Sample:Yeah. I like that you mentioned, nudges
Bonnie Casamassima:Mhmm.
Celeste Paige Sample:And how the intuition, however you receive the information, however you connect with intuition, you know, you've made the connection.
Bonnie Casamassima:Importance of trusting those nudges and the importance of building that intuition muscle and how it all works in sync with each other. You know, the more we are able to honor energy and emotional hygiene, the more we're able to tune in to that clarity, the more we're able to trust those nudges. And then on a macro level, what we saw in the research is people talked about using their intuitive connection as a navigation tool to support their journey in an aligned life. Right? So this reminds me of an experience I had early on where I you know, very analytical researcher, very type a.
Bonnie Casamassima:I booked a session with a medium, with a psychic intuitive. Mhmm. And the session was scheduled for early in the morning. And I very intentionally went into the session without a lot of specific details, and I was gonna ask the question. I'm just curious if anything's coming through as guidance to support me on my journey.
Bonnie Casamassima:So, coincidentally, I'll put that in air quotes. Right? Yes. If you kinda look back in these bread crumbs, were there really coincidences? Maybe maybe not.
Bonnie Casamassima:But on right? On that exact same day, I had a friend reach out. She said, hey. I know you're on your journey, kind of tuning into your intuition. I have this opportunity arise where somebody's doing a group channeling or group reading over Zoom.
Bonnie Casamassima:Would you be interested in being one of the people in the session? So that happened coincidentally on the exact same day that I had the other session booked with the medium. Right? Mhmm. So I kinda giggle about it in hindsight.
Bonnie Casamassima:But I went into that night session, same thing, very open and not a lot of specific information. And I think in hindsight, as a researcher, I wanted it to be proven to me. Like, show me that this is what's really happening. Right? Mhmm.
Bonnie Casamassima:So I went into the session in the morning with, you know, a lot of respect and appreciation, but shared, you know, I'm just curious what's coming through. And I said that exact same thing that night with a very different person. You know, I don't even know if these people knew each other. Like, these these very different different worlds. Right?
Bonnie Casamassima:The exact same information came through from both of the readings from these 2 strangers
Celeste Paige Sample:That's so wild.
Bonnie Casamassima:Who had no idea what I who I was, really, and but they were tuned in to this really rich information. And the insights that came through was very specific. You are highly intuitive, and it's really important that you prioritize seeking resources and mentorships around tuning into this more fully. Because you're so analytical, it's important that you have a monetary investment into this and a time investment into this. Oh.
Bonnie Casamassima:So this specific information from 2 very different people came through in the exact same day.
Celeste Paige Sample:That's so crazy. It is very specific.
Bonnie Casamassima:It's one thing. It was like, oh, it sounds like you had an argument with your mom as a child. Right? Like Right. I mean, I would get, like, if that came through.
Bonnie Casamassima:Right? But this is very specific. Like, they don't know me from, you know, any anybody else. So So I didn't know I didn't have a personal relationship with, the person in the morning. And I knew the other one kind of by proximity, but she didn't really know my journey for the evening.
Bonnie Casamassima:Right. So, to tie that together so that was, you know, this powerful experience in itself. But Mhmm. When we're looking at tying into trusting those nudges, I remember in that moment, I was thinking, you know, after the second session, it's like, well, I need to pay attention to this one. And, but, you know, I was like, do I Google intuition mentorship?
Bonnie Casamassima:Like, where do I turn for this information? Like, how do I know it's legit? Like, where do I even start with it? Right? And I remember I took a deep breath, and I was like, well, I'm just gonna I'm just gonna trust.
Bonnie Casamassima:I'm gonna try to release that control and just trust. You know, I've gotten this very clear information, so I'm gonna work on being open and trusting those nudges. So the freaking very next day, I'm on my lunch break. I'm perusing Facebook, and up pops a video of someone that I had met through a speaking engagement, like, years ago on, she's popping up on Facebook live, and she says, hey. And this person wasn't connected to the other two people that I did the meetings with.
Bonnie Casamassima:So just to, like, tie that in. Got it. So here I am eating my lunch, checking out Facebook, and up pops this person. And she says, you know, I'm feeling really cold. I'm gonna be kicking off an intuition mentorship.
Bonnie Casamassima:We start 2 months from now. If anybody feels aligned for this, send us an email. This is the process. I think I dropped my spoon from the from the food I was eating. I felt my whole body tingle.
Bonnie Casamassima:It was it was as if time stood still for that split second.
Celeste Paige Sample:Oh, man.
Bonnie Casamassima:Everything I was like, oh my god. I got goose bumps, all of it. And before I can shift into that analytical reasoning Mhmm. I put my fingers to the keyboard. I sent an email.
Bonnie Casamassima:I said, yes, I'm interested. Long story short, ended up doing the mentorship. It was life changing for me to really tune into these intuitive abilities. And that was all just a series of trusting, sometimes subtle, sometimes not so subtle, the edges, but the important piece is taking that aligned action. Right?
Bonnie Casamassima:I could have easily talked myself out of this. Like, oh, it's a coincidence. Maybe it was cold in the room, and I had all these goosebumps. Right?
Celeste Paige Sample:Mhmm.
Bonnie Casamassima:No. But I knew in that moment,
Celeste Paige Sample:and I'm so grateful that I trusted
Bonnie Casamassima:those nudges and followed that share a So, when you share a little bit about that, just as an example. Thank you.
Celeste Paige Sample:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Bonnie Casamassima:Thank you for sharing that. And I
Celeste Paige Sample:know you said coincidence and air quotes, but the analytical brain in me is like, it's funny that word literally means to coincide. So in agreement or in harmony. So it literally was a coincidence.
Bonnie Casamassima:Yeah. Absolutely. So it was really great to share that example to really tie these pieces of information together. And people along the research shared really similar experiences or synchronicities in following those nudges. And they might not have known that next step, but then that next step presented itself.
Bonnie Casamassima:And again, they tuned into that intuitive muscle to continue following what aligned the most for them on their journey of deepening their self agency. It was really exciting.
Celeste Paige Sample:Oh, it was so great being here today with you, Bonnie, and with all listeners holding space, and we'll be talking about the yes, but.
Bonnie Casamassima:Yes. Agreed.
Celeste Paige Sample:I love it. I love it. So thank you for being here, and we hope that you join us next time because next time we're gonna dive into some details about what we found around community. Community is such a powerful contributor to us deepening and expanding our intuitive connections and insights, and we would love for you to be here as we sink our teeth into it.
Bonnie Casamassima:In the meantime, I'm curious for those listening along. What is a tool or a process or maybe an experience that you've had that's been really supportive for you in tuning in to that inner knowing more fully, developing that self trust and that self agency, let us know. Send us an email or leave it in the comments wherever you're listening to this podcast. We would love to hear from you and continue growing together. Have a beautiful day, and as always, keep being your you est you.
Bonnie Casamassima:Bye for now. Toodles.