Episode 16: Being “in” the Question with Jenna Wakely
As a society, I think we are obsessed with knowing. As human beings, we want answers to all our questions. And, we demand that we find answers quickly, to save us from having to sit in the unknown which may feel uncomfortable. We’re taught from an early age that not knowing the answers is “bad” – that we’re inadequate if we don’t know. When we know all the answers, we feel safe and most importantly, in control. Most of the answers we come up with, especially the ones that we rush into, come from the mind, not the heart, the gut, or our deep wisdom.
We think our way into knowing. And, we feel more comfortable when the mind, the thinker, is in charge. The mind comes up with the answers and then steers our body and spirit around according to its plan, regardless of whether its plan matches our inner truth.
A fundamental tool used in Access Consciousness is living “in” and “as” the question. It’s about exploring all possibilities. When you are open and have curiosity, everything becomes possible and anything you desire to create or change can show up with ease.
Being curious and asking questions empowers us to uncover what we inherently know as opposed to coming up with “the answers” which may disempower us. Living “in” the question, involves a shift from knowing to listening. It gives you permission to not have to go out and make the answers happen or create them from your mind. Living “in” the question means that you can allow the truth to unfold. With being in the question, you don’t have to be in control. All that living in the question means is agreeing to be awake and aware or “woke”; to be present and discover the answers as you go, and, to stay open to the answers changing. Living in the question allows us to open to the infinite possibilities, life unfolding in its own way, with us as part of it, along for the ride….to be open to being part of a larger universe which is not in our charge.
What do I mean by being in the question? Whether you connect more to a universal energy or believe in God, you are asking a higher power for help. I will share with you how I first discovered being in the question. I was trying to figure out what path to follow. I had already gone to university for a few years but I didn’t connect with what I was studying. Feeling lost, I sat at my kitchen table and asked out loud, “can you please help me choose? I don’t know which way to go for my future”. I remember feeling a total surrendering to this question, then I heard a message “massage therapy”. I thought to myself “is that even a career?” This was 23 years ago before massage therapy was as well known as it is now. I looked it up in the phone book and I was surprised to see three schools in Winnipeg. I called one school, got an interview the next day, and started the journey to becoming the healer I am today. I look back to that moment often. I wonder if I hadn’t asked that question that day, would I have found the path I am on now? What if we could truly let go of control and always asked the universe for help, what infinite possibilities could show up?
I am not a religious person but I have been told that in the Bible it says… ask and you shall receive. It is a very old concept that most people are not in the habit of choosing, because most of us have never been taught to live in the question.
One of my favourite questions, which comes from Access Consciousness, that I ask all the time, is “who does this belong to?” This question is based on the premise that most of our thoughts and feelings are not our own. They may have originated from hearing our parents, siblings, friends, people in our community. We are aware of other people’s thoughts and feelings and sometimes internalize them as our own.
When I first learned this question about 10 years ago, I had a hard time believing that I could be picking up other people’s “stuff”. One day I was on my way to the gym feeling just fine, but when I got out of the car I had a really sore ankle. At first, I accepted the pain as my own, then I had an awareness of “wait a minute, I was fine a few minutes ago” so I returned back to sender and the pain was gone as fast as it came in. I also have a good friend who was craving potato chips every night, she also had the awareness of “is this even my craving?” After she returned it to sender, her husband got up to get some chips. I wonder how much we are eating for other people? In my life now, whenever I feel or think anything that I don’t like, I ask myself “who does that belong to?” and then I return it back to sender with consciousness. It is an amazing tool! It has changed my life and many of my clients’ lives.