When giving readings, I often talk about listening to your intuition, but what does it mean and how can we do that in a practical way?
The world today can be overwhelming, now more than ever. It’s easy to get caught up comparing ourselves to people we see on social media, or to feel overwhelmed by being plugged into the news 24/7. Of course we end up getting caught up in cycles of anxiety, fear, and stress.
Luckily, we are born with a tool that can help us overcome some of these modern struggles. Something that can guide us through life and let us know when we’re on the right path. This is our one true superpower…. an ancient wisdom buried within each of us, honed by our ancestors. Of course, we’re talking about intuition!
Intuition is, “Understanding something immediately, without the needing conscious reasoning”. It’s bridging of the gap between our conscious and unconscious minds. For example, if you’ve ever felt an unexplainable feeling in your gut that just instinctively told you that something you were doing was right or wrong? That was your intuition speaking.
Listening and trusting that gut feeling is amazing on its own, but working to develop that little voice can make it even more powerful. Everyone has the ability to grow and strengthen their intuition. And, like a muscle, the more we use it, the more it can expand and evolve, and grow.
Let’s talk about some practical ways to grow and strengthen your intuition!
Nature: Spending time in nature, all by yourself, is one of the best ways to quiet the mind to tune into your intuition. It’s my personal favorite! Nature helps us to get in tune with our ancestral self and our primal intuition. Our ancestors relied on their intuition for everything, and that’s where we come from. They used intuition for finding food, avoiding predators, finding the right path. So, intuition was one of the most important aspects of life. Every time we immerse ourselves in nature, we have an opportunity to dip our toe in another world, a world where intuition rules.
Get in touch with your senses: Your intuition can come through any of your five senses. It might come as a strange sensation you feel physically within your body. It might be triggered by a specific scent, or even taste. Start noticing and paying attention to all of your senses.Throughout the day stop and check in with your five senses. We have all heard that we should, “stop and smell the roses”, but it really can help in developing your intuition. The more you practice getting in tune with your five senses, the more your “Sixth Sense” can thrive as well.
Get creative: Do something creative! Craft, write, draw, build, sketch, anything that awakens your creative mind. When we are young, our inner voice is loud and has no problem shining through. As we get older that inner voice is quiet or silenced do to social pressures and the stress of life.Tapping into this creative part of our brain can help re-ignite those pathways and amplify our intuitions.
Meditation: We know it’s good for us but… If you’re like me, you find meditation haaaaard! I don’t care how many people tell me it’s good for me… I just couldn’t do it. But, I discovered two things that helped. First, binaural beats – you can look it up on youtube or spotify. And, visualizations that I learned from the book Psychic Witch by Mat Auryn.
But what does it have to do with intuition?
Generally, intuition has a soft voice. When our minds are busy with the stresses of daily life, it can be challenging to hear that little voice. Meditation can help calm the constant inner monologue and make room for our intuition to come through.
Here’s a meditation to help you tune into your intuition
- Rather than setting a timer, I use a song and that’s the timer. Usually just 2-3 minutes before doing the visualization.
- Find a quiet place to sit.
- I like to close my eyes.
- I take a few deep breaths and settle in. Just listening to my breath, not trying to control it.
- I just observe the breath. I notice any sensations that come up.
- When my mind wanders, I just observe the thoughts and let them float by.
- When I’m settled, I start my visualization.
- You can search some guided meditations on youtube.
- When you’re finished, open your eyes and take a few moments to write down any important thoughts, feelings, insights or messages you may have received during your meditation.
Dreams: When we’re awake, our cognitive brain is in control. Our brain uses logic and reasoning to override our subconscious mind. But, when we’re sleeping, that conscious mind gets to rest, allowing our inner subconscious to speak up. We can learn a lot about solving our problems and overcoming our issues by listening to this inner consciousness.
Keep a dream journal to keep track of your dreams and see any patterns or messages that come up. You can keep a notebook and pen next to your bed, or use a notes app in your phone (that’s what I do). When you wake up, try to record everything you remember about your dreams. We forget our dreams quickly, so get in the habit of writing it down right away.
Over time, you’ll be able to see patterns and times where your inner consciousness was trying to help you solve problems or guide you in the right direction.
Follow your hunches: Another way to develop your intuition is to test out your hunches. When you’re going about your daily life, keep a journal and write down every time you have a hunch. When that little voice chimes in, write it down so you can record and see how these hunches play out. It can be as simple as seeing the weather saying that it’ll rain tomorrow, but you have a feeling it will be sunny. Maybe a friend’s boyfriend or girlfriend gives you a bad vibe, write down your feelings and see if it plays out. Follow your hunches by writing them down and see what you can learn about your intuition.
Switch up your daily routine: The conscious brain loves routine and order, but the more structured your life is, the fewer opportunities you’ll have for your intuition to speak up. Also, when the brain is busy it can be even harder to hear that little voice. Switching things up can throw off your cognitive brain, and let your intuition shine through. So, escape the daily routine every once in a while, slow down and do something different. Your intuition will thank you.
Replay past events: Take some time to sit down and try to think back to a situation where things didn’t go as planned, or didn’t go as you wanted. Visualize yourself back in that situation, and notice any feelings or moments where you felt like something was wrong. Was there an opportunity for you to go a different way? Did your inner voice speak up for a moment, only to be overpowered by your cognitive brain? Try to find and evaluate some of these occurrences. Look for patterns and for ways that you could do things differently the next time. Look for some ways your intuition was trying to guide you and think about the things it was trying to tell you.
Think less, feel more: Our cognitive brain thinks, our intuition feels. Our brains are always reasoning, questioning and thinking their way through the day. After years of this, we don’t even realize it’s happening.
Take time to slow down and “feel” more. Feelings that are grounded in and come from your body, are also grounded in truth. Learn to pay attention to them more. Pay attention to the signals that your body gives you. Your heart beating faster, that knot in the pit of your stomach, feeling hot, or suddenly feeling cold for no reason. You know the feeling – you meet someone and immediately know something is off about them, you can just feel it. Maybe they are dishonest or not genuine or maybe they’re treating someone poorly. Either way, your physical body can feel what’s going and it can alert you. If you pay attention to these physical cues, your intuition could help you avoid many uncomfortable, painful or awkward situations.
