SUGGESTIONS for Experienced Trackers
Matt - Begin with the Technical
If you’re really into the practical and the technical pieces just do it all, do all of that, and get all the answers, look at the pressure releases, do all the measurements, look at the gait and that’s a great way to connect with the trail. And then go to that next step of saying, "OK, can I walk with you longer?" and "Who are you?" and "What’s your feeling and energy?" You can move to the intuitive level by first connecting with practical methods.
Lori - Touch the Track
My favorite method is actually touching the track. I silence and clear my mind so as not to have any image or expectation in my head as I have my hand over the track, and then I touch the track. Even the analytical side of me likes that because it’s like shaking that animal’s hand. The last thing to touch the earth right there was that animal and it’s like I’m greeting it, I’m shaking its hand and then to feel the individual digits and grooves in the paw. That’s the first connection for me.
Ellie - Be Grateful
The gratitude prayer really helped me get calm and centered. I spent time observing and drawing the tracks. I also spent time with my hand over them. Eventually I came to feel a magnetic pull between the tracks and my hands to my center. I then found some tracks I hadn’t seen originally… this was a beautiful and rewarding opportunity to trust my intuition and I was filled with gratitude.
Alice - Invest the Time
If I could say anything to people who were skeptical of intuitive tracking I would just say it works. I know this to be true. It is another tool to put in your tool box. Once you learn to use it, a whole new dimension of tracking will be available to you. It is a process and takes time to learn but well worth the investment of one's time and energy.
Hannah - Remove Expectation
Closing your eyes is really helpful. I have a lot of experience with intuitive work and I can get very visually very distracted. It might be really hard for someone who’s not comfortable with intuitive stuff. Just take your first impression, before your mind starts to play with it too much.
Ellie - Go Through your Checklist
Almost always my first look at a track is an intuitive one. And then from there my comfort is in more of a technical analysis and so I’ll go through my mental checklist if necessary. For me the mental preface of some of the more technical details helps me focus on the tracks and notice things I might not have noticed. It’s a way to commit to the track and there can come a moment when I step away and wonder if there’s an intuitive feeling, and then go back and forth between them.
Jim - Pay Attention to What You Know
You won’t have a problem melding the practical and intuitive if you pay attention to what you know and how you know it. You can be scientifically rigorous and intuitively connected in the same tracking session; I do this all the time.