How do you know if you’re really talking to your Higher Self?

As you begin to work with the Higher Self, you may feel unsure if you are actually making a true connection. The Higher Self can appear in many different forms, so there is no one-size-fits-all approach. That said, there are ways to check in during meditation and determine if you are truly in connection with your Higher Self.

Experienced meditators may notice that these check-ins are not unlike the processes we use when keeping our awareness focused on the breath during our practice. Or, put another way, they are similar to how we may check in with ourselves in our day-to-day world when we want to be sure we are acting from a place of compassion, engagement, and care.

In this post, we’ll discuss formal and informal ways to determine if you’re truly talking with your Higher Self and what to look out for when establishing your connection.

The Higher Self in a Formal Meditation Session

The Higher Self is always available to us whenever we need support through the intuitive power of the heart. That said, when we are just beginning to build a relationship with our Higher Self, a more structured, formal visualization practice can be helpful. These practices are available in detail through the Higher Self Yoga Class, our meditation page, or in written form on our blog.

This guided journey is in place to provide you with structure and direction when you are first connecting, and can then be refined to suit your own style or specific needs. Founder Nanette V. Hucknall outlined the meditation in her work, Higher Self Yoga Book One. In this and future writings, Nanette includes a process for determining if you are speaking with the Higher Self.  

The initial portion of this meditation allows us to ground, then connect with the intuitive power of the heart in a setting that is safe, nourishing, and imaginative. At the point of the meditation when you have connected with the Higher Self, we are asked to rest in the presence of our Wise Being Within. This is a natural moment to pause and consider if you are experiencing any feelings of doubt or insecurity about the Higher Self.

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How to Tell if You Are Really Working with the Higher Self in Formal Meditation

While doubt is a common reaction to have when you first start working with the Higher Self, do not spend too much time exploring or engaging the doubt. It is not necessary to bring this energy into your practice space. Instead, quickly shift gears to imagine a sun shining brightly down on the Higher Self. Place lush, healthy, warm rays of the sun directly on the Higher Self being. Because the Higher Self is part Source, or the ultimate higher power, the universal source of cosmic energy, the feeling of light should be nourishing to your Higher Self. If the being that you are experiencing as your Higher Self rests in the light or even expands then you are certainly in conversation with your Higher Self. If the being grows smaller, darker, or retreats from the light, this is not your Higher Self.

If you experience this, simply drop the meditation and begin again. While it's important to be sure we are connecting with the true Higher Self in meditation, we should not let fear keep us from relating to the Higher Self. The use of the heart and intuition is necessary to access the Higher Self, so we can only go so wrong if we are truly utilizing these precious tools.

How to Tell if You are Working with the Higher Self in Day-to-Day Life 

For many of us, the connection we feel with the Higher Self is one we carry with us throughout our daily life. In this way of practice, we aren’t relating to the Higher Self through the lens of a formal session. Instead, we are continuing a dialogue we have cultivated over time

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Again, because the Higher Self is accessed through the heart, you will likely already be in touch with your intuitive essence. This same intuition should alert you if you are having an experience of the Higher Self that feels too mental, linear, or ego-centric. In this case, a somewhat structured approach to checking in on the authenticity of the Higher Self might be helpful. 

If this is the case, bring your full awareness to your heart. Shine a feeling of warmth and expansion into your heart center. Continue to stay connected as you contemplate the Higher Self. If your heart continues to expand, and the warmth and openness of the heart center grows, then you are certainly in dialogue with your true Higher Self. Should you feel a cold, contrasting heart that is eager to shut down, you have likely wandered in conversation with the lower self. 

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A Word on Lower Nature and On-Going Practice 

While we certainly do not want to engage with our lower nature in moments when we are specifically seeking positive, spiritual guidance, that doesn't mean that we should live in fear of or deference to our lower nature. In many ways, we are all, constantly in a dialogue with our lower nature, so the idea that this ego-driven being would arise in our meditation practice is by no means unlikely or surprising. 

In fact, being able to identify your lower nature when it is present and working to influence the many decisions we make in daily life is good practice. If we can see the times when our lower nature is working to influence our behaviors, we will have more awareness for overcoming these less aspirational urges. 

Do not punish yourself for instances where the lower nature sneaks into your practice. Rather, celebrate the intuitive powers that allowed you to recognize when your mind was working overtime to fool you into continuing less uplifted mindsets. More often than not, if you have entered the conversation with the Higher Self in the spirit of openness, warmth, and intuitive awareness you will very likely find yourself face-to-face with your true Higher Self.