Do you ever get a deep sense of knowing or a gut instinct that you can’t ignore? Do you ever get a distinct feeling something isn’t quite right or know you need to pursue something ?
It is your intuition!
Our intuition is our ability to understand something, without having to subject it to conscious reasoning. Simply put its a feeling, a quiet voice from our subconscious. Its our higher self!
Our intuition is the instinct that warned man in prehistoric times of danger. It can also guide you to certain people, places and things as it encourages you to follow your soul purpose. At prevalent times throughout history it has helped influential figures, such as Calpurnia, Julius Caesar’s wife, who warned her husband of his assassination. He ignored her intuition and the rest is history. Winston Churchill, in 1940, also used his intuition, to evacuate his staff from the kitchen, just before a bomb exploded on the kitchen. Leading innovators such as Steve Jobs, Richard Branson and Oprah have also all relied on their intuition to lead them to their incredible success.
Aristotle defined wisdom as “intuitive reason combined with scientific knowledge.”
Research at Leeds University has further clarified that intuition is a psychological process where your brain uses past experiences, signals from your self and the environment around you to make a decision.
“Intuition is the whisper of the soul.”
Jiddu Krishnamurti
You possess the innate ability to use your intuition too. The more you quieten your mind and listen to your intuition, the easier it will be to create positive change in your life.
Our brains operate in two distinct ways:
- Our intuition – This is quick, instinctual and often is associated with the flight or fight response. It is a feeling or knowing from deep within our subconscious.
- Our conscious awareness – This is logical and analytical. It is the part of our brain that mulls over decisions. It can mislead us when we become overcome with fear or ego.
So how do I tap into my intuition?
Our intuition is like anything else, it gets stronger the more we use it. There are some sure-fire ways to heighten your intuition though. Below we will take a look at some of the amazing ways you can use your intuition.
Trust the niggle or gut feeling
Recent research is only now flagging up the importance of our gut for our overall health. Research is now suggesting that both our intuition and emotions physically reside in our gut. This is because our gut contains approximately a hundred million neurons known as the Enteric Nervous System (ENS) which transmit messages between our brain and the rest of your nervous system.
So when you get butterflies or you feel sick or have a feeling of dread, it is often our intuition trying to help us.
You will automatically be able to feel when something is right – it will feel clear, positive and good.
You will also feel when something is off or wrong – it will feel like an ache, feeling sick or a getting a sense of dread.
For more information on your gut, check out our article on the importance of good gut health – https://www.simplesoul.blog/simple-health-seeker/the-importance-of-good-gut-health/
Meditation and Listening to your intuition
Developing a meditation routine each day even for 5 or 10 minutes, gives your mind time to detach and relax. It also opens you up to your higher self in your subconscious because it teaches you to view any issues or events in your life from a different perspective.
Taking the time to listen to your intuition is fun and easy and the more you practice, the stronger your intuitive abilities will become. I only recently became interested and finding out more about my intuition when a seemingly simple decision was ringing alarm bells with me. After viewing a lovely, well turned out apartment, my husband was all in, and wanted to sign on the dotted line immediately. For some reason, I hung back, I had an overwhelming sense of unease and i didn’t know why. Fast forward to 3 days later. I had asked my husband to wait and see because something didn’t feel right about taking the apartment. In a weird twist the estate agent got in touch with us on the third day to say, the apartment had flooded unexpectedly and the whole floor had fallen into the apartment below. I knew instinctively this was my intuition and ever since then, I have been reading and learning all I can about honing tapping into my intuition.
Try this intuition exercise I practice at home to tap into your intuition:
Sit or lie down in a comfortable space. Imagine a white light enveloping your whole body. Now focus on your third eye and visualise it opening like a flower. Ask your intuition questions about certain questions or issues you have on your mind. You can either see what initial unfiltered feeling comes back or practice free writing to see what your intuition is trying to tell you.
Pay attention to the signs all around you.
Signs and synchronicities are all around you. Your brain automatically taps into what is going on in your environment. This is essentially a fight or flight trigger system we all still have built inside us that is left over from the bygone age before we evolved into modern humans. It’s easy to raise your awareness of what is going on around you.
Try this mindfulness technique that will raise your awareness of signs around you:
Start small and if you are walking to work, walking to the supermarket, in a park or coming home, try to notice five things along your route that stand out to you. Use your five senses to tune into your environment. Notice the smells that come up on your walk. What do you see? What do you hear? If you are eating or drinking , you can also include taste. Then repeat this walk multiple times, each time noticing if there is anything different on your route. Has anything changed? Why has it changed? As you practice this more and more, your intuition will come into play and begin to alert you to signs in your environment.
The Universe also sends you constant synchronicities to show you if you are in alignment and on the right path, or warn you if you have strayed away from your soul purpose. Carl Jung described synchronicities as meaningful coincidences because psychologically they mirror back to us our emotional states. He also believed these synchronicities carried messages in exactly the same way dreams do. Hard to believe right?
But trust me, it works! Just the other day I had to make a big decision in my personal life and I was rushing about and feeling a bit frazzled if I’m honest. I had woken up thinking I need to make sure I make the right decision for me, my family and our life. Throughout the day I kept finding hairs in everything I ate, which not only turned my stomach, it also raised my awareness. When I looked up the meaning of getting hairs in your food, it talked about looking out for things you might have missed or being careless . It made me stop and look at the situation from a different perspective and within minutes I knew my decision. It taught me not to be careless with the small details, no matter how irrelevant they may seem.
Try this synchronicity technique to notice the repeating signs all around you:
As you go about your day look and see anything that is occurring in a pattern for you. Synchronicities are meaningful coincidences, so it will be personal for you, for example, it might manifest in the form of a certain animal, certain numbers, a certain song or phrase, coins, feathers or anything that stands out to you. When you figure out the pattern, look up the meaning of the coincidence.
Tune into how your body feels, especially your energy levels.
You are the five people you spend time with! It’s a fact. Observe how you feel around specific people. if you find your energy becoming sluggish or drained around certain people, this is your intuition warning you that they are energy zappers. Energy zappers are people who take all your energy. Don’t let them! If you feel positive, happy and calm around certain individuals, this is also a sign from your intuition that you are on the right track and this individual is good for your mental, spiritual and physical health.
Certain situations can also zap your energy levels. Learn to tune into how your mind, body and spirit feels in work, when you go out to events, and what activities or hobbies you indulge in. Exhaustion and becoming ill frequently is a sign from your intuition that what you are doing or participating in is having a negative impact.
Try this journal technique to talk to your intuition:
Using free writing or free drawing in a journal, will allow your subconscious to come through. Write a question you have whilst listening to EMDR music or calming sounds. Don’t think about it, just start writing or drawing and clarity will come to you.
Recognise the intuition flashes and act on them.
Intuition flashes usually come in a moment of unexpected clarity, with an unexpected thought that comes out of no where. These flashes feel instinctive and come as a eureka moment. so next time you’re having an epiphany with your intuition, act on it or write it down.
Try this fun coin technique when you are feeling unsure about a decision:
Flip a coin to decide between two easy choices. I used to do it all the time when I went out for dinner and couldn’t decide which meal I wanted. I didn’t even realise at the time, I was tuning in and strengthening my intuition. If the coin falls on one side and you feel instinct disappointment, this is usually your intuition coming true, and showing you in a moment the right choice.
You can also stop and ask you intuition to give you a feeling, to show the right decision. If it feels positive it’s the right path. If you feel a disconnect or a sense of dread, it’s not right for you. I usually tap into my intuition with a question, for example, I just asked should I go on a specific course. I asked my intuition to give me a sign of positive emotions if I should or negative emotions if I shouldn’t. As I asked the question I could feel my body and mind feel giddy with excitement, which I took as a sign that I should do the course.
Tapping into your spirit guides is also a way to increase your intuition. Everyone has a Spirit Guide who is with us throughout our live. They can help you to make decisions, gain clarity and to advance your spirituality.
Please check out our article on Meeting your Spirit Guide – https://www.simplesoul.blog/simple-soul/how-to-meet-your-spirit-guide/
So remember how you use your intuition is really up to you! The most important takeaway from this article is that our intuition is here to guide us and will never steer us wrong. I hope you have fun exploring the limitless positive opportunities and blessings that will flow into you life from tapping in and using your incredible intuition.