The Beginner’s Guide to Intuition
We have all heard things like trust your intuition or follow your heart and you will never go wrong or listen to your gut.
Heart
Gut
Intuition
What exactly are they talking about?
I bet you have experienced a gut feeling, most likely in the form of danger or fear. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time is an unpleasant reminder of our intuitive natures. Or maybe you’ve experienced intuition in a romantic situation. Many Rom-Coms are about a man or woman meeting their twin flame or soulmate for the first time and thinking to themselves, “This is the person I’m meant to be with. I can feel it.”
The Oxford English Dictionary defines intuition as “the immediate apprehension of an object by the mind without the intervention of any reasoning process.”
The writer Isaac Asimov said, “Intuition is the art, peculiar to the human mind, of working out the correct answer from data that is, in itself, incomplete or even, perhaps, misleading.”
Clearer? Maybe. Maybe not.
I find it easier to explain Intuition as an inner compass, but that doesn’t matter because Intuition is very personal. This is why you need to define Intuition for yourself.
Grab a pen and jot down these questions. Take time now or later to answer them.
Do you hear an inner voice?
What is your relationship with this aspect of yourself like?
Do you rely on your inner voice to guide you?
Do you trust your that inner voice?
What does Intuition mean to you, and how do you use it or not?
Whatever your relationship is with your intuition, you can always strengthen it. Your intuition is like a muscle and should be worked like one. And like a muscle, you might lose it if you don’t use it!
4 simple ways to strengthen your Intuition Muscle:
Intentionally slow down or even stop for a little bit every day. Get quiet. We can’t hear, never mind, listen to someone when there is a lot of outside noise.
Be open to possibilities. Look for and acknowledge physical signs. See a flower that reminds you of a loved one. Pause and listen to your thoughts. Are you recalling a memory or a lesson that can be useful today?
Invite your ego to take some time off. Ask your conscious mind to step aside and allow your subconscious to guide you. This sounds odd, but the presence of your intuition threatens your ego, which resides in your conscious mind.
Pay attention to your first thought. A second, third, or fourth thought is fine, but they are usually the conscious mind stepping in. You don’t have to listen to your first thought, but you can acknowledge that it was your intuition. This acknowledgment is part of practicing.
BONUS! Ask others how they listen or use their intuition. Surrounding yourself with people who know it’s powerful to tap into intuition will only strengthen yours. Conversely, hanging with the na-sayers will weaken your connection to your most powerful resource.
With practice, a little coaching, and some intuition successes, you will begin to harness your intuition’s power in no time!
Next week, I’ll share a few intuition practices I teach the women I work with. Until then, use one or all of the suggestions and invite your intuition to play!
“The only real valuable thing is intuition” ~ Albert Einstein