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What if the answers you’re searching for are already within you? Icelandic author and filmmaker Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir joins Climate Curious to explore InnSæi –the Icelandic concept of intuition, self-awareness, and inner connection. Hrund shares her path to rediscovering presence and alignment with intuition through mindfulness and journaling, before leading a short guided meditation to help you do the same.
Check out Hrund’s book, InnSæi, Heal, Revive and Reset.
Watch Hrund’s TED Talk, Listen to your Intuition.
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Created by TEDxLondon
Executive produced by Josie Colter
Produced by Ben Beheshty
Curated by Deesha Chandra
Hosted by Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst
Communications by Tara Cooper and Issey Gladston
00:00 Introduction
00:41 Meet Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir
00:53 Understanding intuition
02:24 Personal journey and challenges
03:11 Reconnecting with intuition
03:47 Practical steps to mindfulness
07:29 Grounding meditation exercise
11:09 Conclusion
[00:00:00] Introduction
[00:00:00] Ben Hurst: Welcome to Climate Quickies, bite-sized nuggets of Climate Goodness. From our TEDx London experts in under 10 minutes in this week’s climate, curious, we are looking into the Icelandic Art of Inai with [00:00:15] author, entrepreneur, and public speaker Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir, with all the challenges and stress associated with the modern world.
[00:00:22] Ben Hurst: We felt it’d be good to take a beat and connect with our own insight. And if you stay to the end, Herin will be giving a very special [00:00:30] guided meditation on the importance of journaling and keeping mindful. Let’s head over to Herin now. Stay curious.
[00:00:41] Meet Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir
[00:00:41] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: Hello, so my name is Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir [00:00:45] I’m a writer. I’m a coach and a speaker. And my work and passion is all about exploring.
[00:00:53] Understanding intuition
[00:00:53] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: The world within us through the lens of, you know, intuition is fundamental to our existence, and it’s largely misunderstood and it’s often neglected. So that’s the starting point where I’m coming from and because of these reasons, the art of intuition is about bringing together everything that we know from recent discoveries in science, research practice, and timeless wisdom.
[00:01:18] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: And giving ourselves the permission to tap into what I think is a magnificent, it’s largely intangible wor world that exists inside all of [00:01:30] us through the lens, uh, of the concept inside. And to explain inside, say, is, is the word. For intuition, we write it with a capital I and an ass. It holds [00:01:45] such a beautiful and profound space for, you know, all the different ways that we’ve chosen to define intuition, which, which turned out and I discovered years ago, I felt was very fragmented.
[00:01:56] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: While intuition requires us to understand it holistically so [00:02:00] that we can properly harness and hone it, in short, the art of intuition synthesizes. What we know about intuition across silos and disciplines and time, um, and it enables [00:02:15] us to see the big picture, the full meaning and function of intuition.
[00:02:24] Personal journey and challenges
[00:02:24] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: I went through a, a very turbulent. Difficult time in my life, in my late [00:02:30] twenties. And when I look back on it, the, the words that I would use to try to comprehend were I hit a wall, I collapsed, I lost my direction in life. I lost hope and. I really needed to rebuild myself again. [00:02:45] So I, I was working in post-conflict Kosovo.
[00:02:47] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: I, I absolutely drained my source of energy. And I went to work for the UN as a permanently hired UN professional in Geneva. And there I [00:03:00] kind of found myself locked inside, heavy bureaucracy and hierarchy and, and my sense of purpose, this kind of vein. The only way out of that for me was to connect within.
[00:03:11] Reconnecting with intuition
[00:03:11] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: And this is when I really [00:03:15] just got to know intuition differently. And I would also just dive into the reading and learning from different cultures and, and different disciplines and, and from around the world. And. You know, I went from not being able to tie my [00:03:30] own shoe laces to being very healthy, and I was told that I might not ever be able to work full-time ever again, and I moved from that to being, I would say, physically very healthy.
[00:03:43] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: So the way that I, I [00:03:45] tapped into intuition, you know, to begin with.
[00:03:47] Practical steps to mindfulness
[00:03:47] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: For those who are listening, if you feel like a wreck, if you really feel it’s hard to take a deep breath, then what you might need is to simply sleep. When you need to, when you can sleep is very important. I started to journal. It’s not about writing well or saying something logical, it’s just writing, writing, writing whatever is consuming your mind.
[00:04:08] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: Because often when we’re in this state, our mind is just swirling. It’s just endless overthinking [00:04:15] and that’s where I was, I started to meditate. I did a lot of work walking outside, outdoors, in nature, particularly in Iceland, and very privileged. I was able to go down to the sea where I just spent, [00:04:30] you know, hours every week and I just allowed the, the rhythm of the ocean to sink in.
[00:04:37] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: Nothing in my work or education had encouraged me to do that, and so I learned what [00:04:45] I call the two rhythms. And the sharper inner compass. So I learned how to be in like, really tapping into the two different rhythms that we’re made of. It’s the being and doing, it’s the, the analytical and rational and the [00:05:00] receptive and reflective.
[00:05:00] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: And we need to balance these two in order to keep the circulation system of our brains and souls. Um, continuing, uh, to move.
[00:05:14] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: For [00:05:15] those who are experiencing high stress, stiffness in their body, the first thing is always to, to turn on the self-awareness. So find ways [00:05:30] to accompany yourself to be fully inside your own body. You know, I used to think that the body was just, uh. A means to transport my brain between meetings. I literally like without logically thinking that that is [00:05:45] how I thought, like lived it.
[00:05:47] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: And so I think the first step is to, to mindfully come back to yourself and to your body. Feel your body, like now when you’re listening, like if you have your feet on the, on the floor, just notice that the [00:06:00] soles of your feet on the floor, um. You know, be mindful of your breathing. Um, most of us forget to take deep breaths.
[00:06:10] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: It’s, it affects our health and ability to think freely and [00:06:15] creatively. We pay attention to so many things throughout the day, like millions of things that we pay attention with our whole body during every hour of every day. Most of this is unconscious to us. It doesn’t mean that it doesn’t inform [00:06:30] us.
[00:06:30] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: It’s actually a very big part of who we are and how we show up. So paying attention to what we pay attention to is another layer. So paying attention to what we pay attention to and journal about it is about paying attention with your whole body. You get [00:06:45] goosebumps. You know these beautiful colors, or you notice something that is not pleasant.
[00:06:50] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: Notice these things and document them, and this will also turn the switch on and you are beginning to tune into your intuition and what it looks like. So go for a good walk. [00:07:00] Just observe what you see as you walk. Do you hear bird singing? People arguing? People smiling? What smell is in the air? Just open up your senses to the world around you without being [00:07:15] deliberate and, and planning what you wanna get out of it.
[00:07:17] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: Just be open to it and, and the world will come to you and, and, and nourish you and, and tell you things that you didn’t realize about yourself in that moment.
[00:07:29] Grounding meditation exercise
[00:07:29] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: So, I thought I’d do a grounding meditation with you. Grounding is a super powerful way to align with insight or. Inner safe anchor our intuition to calm our systems, our nervous systems, broaden our horizons and bring the best out in our brains.
[00:07:51] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: You know, the, and its ability to empathize, create, and imagine, and find solutions and and sense make. [00:08:00] So I want to start by asking you just to. Bring yourself in a comfortable position physically. You may be standing, you may be sitting. Um, and I want to start [00:08:15] by taking a deep breath. Just, ah, you know, we, we can just let it dog go and just, ah, feel the power in that and breathe deeply on the in breath and also on the outbreath.
[00:08:28] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: And as we breathe [00:08:30] in, count to three and count to six as you breathe out. But I want to advise you as you breathe out, to pierce your lips together to prolong the breathing, and you will feel instantly how it calms you down. So breathe in on three, [00:08:45] and breathe out on six and pierce your lips together so it’s hard for the air to come out.
[00:08:52] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: 3, 4, 5, 6.
[00:08:59] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: So [00:09:00] stand with both feet on the ground and feel your souls on the floor or the ground where you are. Put your hands together at chest tight and close your eyes. Maybe imagine that you’re [00:09:15] out in nature and honor yourself and the ground that you are standing on. Now extend your hands upwards to reach the sky.
[00:09:27] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: Imagine you are a tree with [00:09:30] branches, leaves and crown rising gracefully from the earth. Peel the soles of your feet and imagine there’s sprouting roots deep into the center of Mother Earth. [00:09:45] Visualize your roots below the surface of the earth. How they mix in with everyone else’s roots. And your roots are a part of an interconnected, intelligent, and mutually supportive human.
[00:09:58] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: Root system [00:10:00] now see from a distance the center of the earth as a powerful ball of energy, fire and light. Visualize your roots connecting to this center [00:10:15] and feel them tapping into it to feel themselves with its energy and nutrition. Now, witness from afar. Your roots transporting this energy and nutrition all the [00:10:30] way up again from the center of the earth into the soles of your feet and from there into your whole body.
[00:10:39] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: Feel it. You are standing strong. [00:10:45] You can weather the storms of life because the earth is holding you.
[00:10:58] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: Now breathe into that [00:11:00] and open your eyes when you’re ready
[00:11:09] Conclusion
[00:11:09] Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir: for those who want to learn more about intuition and how to align with it. Harness [00:11:15] and hone it to make better decisions and actions and feel better. You should visit my website, which is my full name, dot com. Dot com. I’d love for you to read my book and do the exercises and really [00:11:30] experience what it feels like to navigate with a strong inner compass that in Insight, can give you.
