Something that is becoming more and more important is the need for discernment. Our world is increasingly chaotic with information coming from every direction that all seem to contradict each other. You can see a story on the news telling you coffee is good for you then watch something on social media telling you how bad it is because it’s filled with mold. Or influencers doing their influencing, spewing half truths on some spiritual quote they heard somewhere and calling it an absolute truth.
Then there is the issue of AI, where videos and images are getting harder to detect and anyone can create something that is a complete false in hopes it circulates to the masses. The catchier the story or video the more shares it gets. Soon you are seeing it over and over, wondering if what you are seeing is true.
Learning personal discernment is a necessary tool to discover what is productive and supportive for your personal growth and spiritual path. A big piece of this is staying centered and out of all the chaos that surrounds us.
So, how do you improve your discernment?
1. Establish Safety
One thing to understand is that if you are in a state of fear then that will cloud your discernment. When you feel lost and spun out in fear, you have lost your center and inner compass. This inner compass is your spiritual guidance system. It helps you make the best choices and leads you back to feeling safe.
In order to heal the emotional and mental body to overcome fears, we must know how to establish safety within ourselves. When we feel safe and calm we can discern from a centered place as opposed to one in chaos. Determine what things make you feel safe and secure and do those things daily. Exercising and eating healthily, meditating to be more inner focused and reflective, learning how to manage your fear or trauma reactions are all important to being safe within yourself. Assess your environment and the people around you to determine physical and emotional safety— you may need to remove people or situations from your life that are entrenched in harmful behaviors.
2. Spiritual Connection
The more energetically balanced we are the more connected we are to our hearts and spiritual self. Continually working on this connection will strengthen your inner peace and in turn improve discernment levels. Therefore, creating space to make this connection is essential. Whether its journaling, meditating, praying or just sitting in stillness, allowing this space in your life will allow you to hear your intuition and sense the nudges when something is right or wrong. Conversely, if you are in your head all the time with looping thoughts or keeping yourself constantly busy— you won’t be able to tap into your inner knowing when determining if something is right for you.
3. Awareness of influence
Another piece for improving discernment is to question what you are hearing and from who. We are all influenced— by people we admire, products we love, or fun content. But we often can be blinded by these things and not realize how much they are influencing our thoughts and choices. So, maybe do a check in every so often and ask:
– Who am I following and do they influence me?
– Do I trust everything they are saying?
– Do their actions line up with my values?
Also, be curious when you hear or read something new. Is it just click bait? If something sounds a little off do some fact checking before sharing it yourself. Even those things that sound really good will often be an exaggeration or falsehood.
To me, these are the biggest areas to start focusing on to improve your discernment. Strong discernment will improve your personal growth and help you decide where to focus your energy as you progress on your path.
