From Overthinking to Inner Knowing: How to Trust Your Inner Guidance

Published by Alison Wem on

If your mind has been busy lately, you’re not alone.

Overthinking often appears when we’re standing at an inner doorway. We sense a shift but do not yet trust what we feel. This gentle moment of moving from overthinking to inner knowing is where many of us get stuck. The mind asks for certainty while intuition quietly asks for space.

When you slow the mental spin, your inner knowing finally becomes audible.

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Why Overthinking Shows Up

Overthinking is a protective habit. It isn’t “bad”; it simply tries to keep you safe by planning every possible outcome.

But intuition doesn’t live in analysis.
It lives in your felt sense:

  • the quiet internal “yes”
  • the subtle pull toward something new
  • the softening in your body
  • the release that says, this way

When you give your mind even a moment of stillness, intuition comes forward with surprising clarity.

🌱 Practice for the Week: The One-Breath Reset

Try this whenever your thoughts begin looping:

  1. Place a hand on your chest.
  2. Take one slow breath – not three, not five… just one.
  3. Ask silently: “What is true right now?”
  4. Notice the first feeling, image, or sense that rises.

No story. No analysis. Just the first whisper.

Repeat a few times this week and watch what shifts.

✨ Final Reflection

Your intuition is never lost.
It only waits for the moment you become quiet enough to hear it again.

✨ More ideas needed? Try – Gentle Practice to Return to Presence or Mindful Walking: A Simple Path to Presence

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Emotions

Start Fresh: Why Setting Intentions Outshines Resolutions

As the clock strikes midnight on December 31st, many feel pressured to declare life-changing resolutions. “This year, I’ll lose weight,” or “I’ll finally save more money.” But how often do these resolutions fizzle out by February?

Perhaps some of these objectives come from the business world, where they must be SMART—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound.

Instead of rigid, all-or-nothing goals, what if you embraced a gentler approach? By setting intentions rather than resolutions, it encourages growth without guilt. Intentions focus on how you want to feel and live. They create a more sustainable, meaningful mindset for the year ahead.

What Are Intentions?

Intentions are guiding principles rather than strict rules. They emphasize personal values and a more profound sense of purpose. For example, instead of saying,

“I’ll go to the gym five days a week,”

an intention might be,

“I will prioritize movement that makes me feel strong and energised.”

Intentions are flexible and forgiving, allowing space for growth without the stress of “failing.”

Why Intentions Work Better Than Resolutions

  • Focus on the Journey, Not the Outcome: Resolutions are often outcome-driven. An example is “lose 10 pounds.” Intentions encourage living in alignment with your values daily.
  • Gentle Accountability: If life gets in the way, intentions allow for adjustment without shame.
  • Encourage Mindfulness: They encourage you to tune into your needs and desires rather than chasing external expectations.

How to Set Meaningful Intentions

Reflect on Your Values: What truly matters to you? Connection? Health? Creativity? Let your values guide your intentions.

Use Positive Language: Frame your intentions in an empowering way. Instead of “I won’t procrastinate,” try “I will approach tasks with focus and ease.”

Keep It Simple: Intentions should feel achievable, not overwhelming.

Examples of Intentions

“I will nurture my body with foods that energize me.”

“I will create space for quiet moments of reflection each day.”

👉 Make Intentions Part of Your Life

To keep your intentions alive, revisit them regularly. Write them down, say them aloud, or incorporate them into daily practices like journaling or meditation.

✨Final Reflection

This New Year, skip the pressure of resolutions and embrace the freedom of intentions.

Focus on how you want to feel and grow. This mindset creates room for the year ahead to unfold more naturally. Take it one mindful, meaningful step at a time.

I would love to hear from you. Drop me a comment on one of your intentions for the New Year.

Life Lessons

Year’s End Reflections: Kindness, Community, and New Beginnings

Every year around this time, I notice the same quiet contrast.

We talk a lot about togetherness

And yet, just beneath that, there’s often a sense of who is missing. A chair not filled. A conversation that didn’t quite happen. A message that might have been sent, but wasn’t.

Year’s end reflections tend to surface these things. Not loudly, but persistently.

Some people move through this season surrounded by family and familiar rituals. Others experience it more quietly, or more painfully. Both realities exist side by side, often unseen by one another.

What I’ve been noticing is how small gestures carry disproportionate weight at this time of year.

A simple invitation, a remembered name

A willingness to include someone who might otherwise stay on the edge. These moments don’t fix anything, but they soften the ground.

They remind us that community isn’t an abstract idea. It’s made, moment by moment, through attention.

From a wider perspective, this year also marks the close of a longer cycle

Endings have a way of sharpening our awareness. This can include what has mattered, what has fallen away, and what no longer fits. As one chapter closes, another quietly begins to form.

The coming year feels less about resolution and more about participation. Less about self-improvement, more about showing up. About finding where we belong, and choosing to take part — imperfectly, but honestly.

Not all new beginnings announce themselves. Some arrive as a subtle shift in how we see one another. Or in the decision to stay open, even when it would be easier to withdraw.

🌱 Practice for the week

Notice one moment where inclusion is possible — and choose it, simply.

✨ Final reflection

Sometimes the most meaningful way to mark the year’s turning with a small act of care, offered quietly.

Further food for thought: Gentle Practices to Return to Presence


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Life Lessons

Men: 3 Genuinely Useful Tips for Surviving Christmas

Christmas can be confusing territory for men.

There are:

  • strong opinions
  • emotional undercurrents
  • unspoken rules
  • and conversations that seem to mean more than the words being used

Here are three tips that actually help.

1. Don’t try to fix it
If someone is stressed, upset, or overwhelmed, resist the urge to solve the problem. Often, what’s needed is not a solution, but attention.

2. Read the room, not the schedule
Christmas isn’t just about logistics. It’s about atmosphere. Notice when things are getting tense and take a pause — even a small one can change the tone.

3. Be present, not perfect
You don’t need the right words. You just need to show up. Listening counts. Small kindnesses count. Putting your phone down counts more than you think.

Surviving Christmas isn’t about doing it right.
It’s about doing it together — imperfectly.

If you feel the season brings unexpected tension or challenge, you might also appreciate this reflection on responding with wisdom and inner strength:
Responding with Wisdom: Finding Strength in Life’s Tough Moments

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