Learn from the Future 

We might say we want to establish new habits but find that, for some reason, we can’t seem to make that happen. It’s natural to feel frustrated and confused about why it’s so hard to change. 

If you’re wondering why your behavior is inconsistent with what you want it to be, and if you’re struggling to make changes, you might try to learn from the future, so to speak—using a “Journey to the Future” guided meditation. 

You Can Gain Insights and Even Energy for Change 

Shamans believe that we can visit and learn from the future: that we can bring back to the present insights and even energies for transformation. You can do something like this, too. Start by identifying a goal for yourself—being healthier, breaking a bad habit, improving your relationships, or anything else. Then, set an intention to learn what you need to know, and feel what you need to feel, to help you break through any obstacles that are blocking you. For example, maybe you want to eat less sugar, be more forthright with people you disagree with, or worry less about how people think about you. You might not realize you have some ambivalence about making changes or achieving your goal and that this is preventing you from moving forward. If you take the “Journey to the Future,” you might resolve your uncertainty.

Begin Your “Journey to the Future”

Find a place where you won’t be disrupted and sit comfortably, close your eyes, and set an intention to learn about the change you say you want to experience. Focus on your breathing. Whenever your mind starts to wander, draw your attention back to these sensations, again and again if you have to. In this way, you’ll calm the activity of your busy mind. After a few minutes, when you feel you’re in a meditative state, let the “journey” begin: Imagine yourself walking toward a mountain that can give you answers about the future. Then, as you approach this mountain, notice a path you can walk that spirals around it. At the beginning of the path, there is a loving guardian who is there to help you.

Encountering the Guardian Aspect of Yourself

Approach your guardian and ask, “Is this a good day for me to learn from my future?” If you gain permission, thank your guardian and proceed up the path. If not, you may ask what you have to do to gain permission. When you learn the answer, decide whether you want to do what your guardian says so you can continue the journey. It’s up to you to decide whether to say no and end the meditation. The guardian represents an aspect of your consciousness that will protect you from a harsh encounter with information that you’re not ready to face emotionally. There’s no reason to think your guardian exists outside of you or can dictate your choice, so have no fear. You’re in charge.

If you decide to continue, begin your journey by walking up the mountain’s path.

Learn about the Future from the Mountain 

The mountain you’re ascending has four caves that can give you insights about how to achieve a better future for yourself. You’ll pose a question before each cave and then enter it to find the answer, which may come as an image, a knowing, words, a figure, a feeling, or something else. The answer will be coming from your unconscious and your hidden wisdom. Your unconscious has its own way of communicating with you that may differ from how someone else’s would communicate with them.

After walking a short way up the mountain path, notice an opening to a cave that will take you into the mountain. Pause before the cave and ask, “What will my situation be in five years if I continue not to make changes?” Take your time to receive the answer. Before you leave the cave, ask if there’s anything else you need to know before continuing. Then, step out onto the path again and continue up the mountain to visit three more caves, where you’ll again pose questions and enter to receive answers. 

At the second cave, you’ll ask, “What do I need to let go of so that I won’t experience what I saw in the last cave?” At the third, you’ll ask, “What do I need to bring in so that I won’t experience what I saw in the last cave?” At the fourth, you’ll ask, “If I make the changes the second and third caves asked of me, what will my situation be like in five years?” In each cave, be patient as you wait for your unconscious to provide you with hidden wisdom that can help you. You may even find yourself feeling an internal shift—for example, a greater motivation to change, a resistance to letting go of what the cave says you must release, a sense of sadness or excitement, or something else. Observe everything you experience, and don’t try to analyze it prematurely. You want your intuition to guide you in understanding the messages from your unconscious.

When you’ve emerged from the fourth cave, return down the mountain, thank the guardian for protecting you, and slowly allow yourself to return to everyday awareness. Open your eyes and record what happened and how you felt about it.

Understanding What You Experienced

After writing about what you experienced—and perhaps drawn what you’ve seen—let your intuition tell you more before you start trying to figure out the meaning using your analytical mind. The logical brain has biases that can keep you from truly understanding what your unconscious told you—what you’ve learned from the “future.” 

What will you have learned? Maybe you’ll have discovered that you’re often too hard on yourself and need to take in “forgiveness and patience.” This insight might make you stop beating yourself up for being imperfect at establishing new habits. Maybe you won’t give up so quickly the next time you fall back into your old ways.

Maybe you’ve been unaware that you fear others won’t accept the new you, so you’ve been unknowingly sabotaging your efforts to change. Knowing that, you can explore whether your fear is unfounded—and whether you want to talk to important people in your life to see if they would support or resist your change.

Sometimes, simply recognizing the obstacles that have stood in your way can help you overcome them. Letting go of something—an emotion or belief, for example—or bringing something in might make it much easier now to stick to your commitments to yourself. 

You have much wisdom hidden from your everyday awareness that can help you stop sabotaging yourself, make sense of any inconsistent behavior, and more easily change your habits. You can use the Journey to the Future meditation to encounter and learn from the future, like shamans do, bringing back something that helps you alter your present and change your trajectory. Your beliefs, choices, and actions might transform significantly.

Written by: Carl Greer, PhD, PsyD

Carl Greer, PhD, PsyD, is a retired clinical psychologist and Jungian analyst, a businessman, and a shamanic practitioner, author, and philanthropist, funding over 60 charities and more than 2,000 past and current Greer scholars. He has taught at the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago and been on staff at the Replogle Center for Counseling and Well-Being. His new book is Go Within to Change Your Life: A Hidden Wisdom Workbook for Personal Transformation. Learn more at CarlGreer.com