Trust yourself and your Intuition

The Oxford English Dictionary defines intuition as “the immediate apprehension of an object by the mind without the intervention of any reasoning process”.  

Isaac Asimov said of it, “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.”  

How is your relationship with this aspect of yourself? Can you find your own way through a situation with incomplete data? Are you able to balance the left and right sides of your nature, instinct and logic, in order to create maximum persuasion?  

We all have the experience of gut feelings, most likely in the form of danger. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time is an unpleasant reminder of our intuitive natures. Or maybe you’ve experienced it in a romantic situation. We’ve all heard stories of a man or woman meeting their twin flame for the first time and thinking to themselves, ‘This is the person I’m meant to be with. I can feel it.’  

Intuition is a muscle that can be strengthened. It is an aspect of emotional intelligence and with study, attention and patience, can be grown and used to further aid your persuasion skills.  

When I experience a moment of intuitive clarity, I feel it in the back of my stomach, radiating sharply. Other people experience it as a jump in their chest. Others still feel a hardness in the backs of their throats. By paying attention to these physical shifts, the world of self-calibration opens up to us. These shifts can sometimes make huge differences in the things we do and measures we take to close a deal or get out of a dangerous or difficult situation.  

As a small disclaimer: Following hunches shouldn’t negate logic and reason, but act in concert with them. The ability to pay attention to hunches and intuition is sometimes relegated to woo-woo modern mystics and is often neglected or mocked in other situations. But think about EMTs or military personnel (especially ones in the line of danger) who rely on these abilities to keep themselves safe. Or think about business mogul, Lee Lacoca, who once said, “The only mistake I ever made was not listening to my gut.”  

Trusting in yourself can be innate as well as harnessed and nurtured. Relying on knowledge and experience only you can define can help with small and big decisions and major actions or inaction in life. And although intuition should not be the only basis for which decisions are made, learning to trust your “gut feelings” can be a useful tool and valuable complement to rational thinking and critical analysis. 

Let's explore 5 ways to help you develop your intuition:

✨Meditate: Unless you have been living under a rock for the past 5 years, you know that you should be meditating. You hear about it everywhere! You all know that you should be meditating more. Let's take a look at mediation through the lens of helping you tune into and grow our intuition.

For most people, intuition has a very soft voice. If your minds are busy with the stresses of daily life, it can be very hard to hear that little voice. Meditation is a great way to clear the mind, quiet the constant inner dialogue and make room for your intuition to come through. Try this basic meditation to help you listen and tune into your inner spirit!

• Set a timer for 10 minutes.
• Find a relaxing and comfortable place to sit.
• Close your eyes and stay quiet.
• Listen to and feel your breath (really pay attention to it) without trying to change it.
• Just observe your breath. Notice any sensations that arise. Just BE present.
• When your mind wanders, just bring your focus back to your breath.

When your timer goes off, slowly open your eyes and take a moment to write down any important thoughts, messages, feelings, or insights you may have received during your meditation.

✨Get in tune with all your senses: Your intuition can flow through any of your five senses. It may come as a strange or loving sensation you feel physically within your body, or as a thought that seems to appear out of nowhere. It may be triggered by a certain scent, or even taste. Start noticing and paying attention to all of your senses. When was the last time that you really concentrated on your breathing, your sense of smell, your taste? We have all heard the phrase, “stop and smell the roses”, but it really can help in developing your intuition. The more you practice getting in tune with these senses, the more your “6th sense” can flourish as well.

✨Follow your hunches: A sure fire way to develop your intuition is to test out your hunches. When you are going about your daily life, keep a journal and write down every time you have a hunch. When that little voice chimes in, be sure to write it down, so you can record and see how these hunches play out. It can be as simple as seeing the weather reporting rain for tomorrow, but you have a feeling it will be sunny. Maybe you get bad vibes from someone, write down your feelings and see if it plays out. Follow your hunches and see what you can learn about your intuition.

✨Breathwork: Hands down, breathwork is one of the best ways to quiet your mind and get in tune with your inner voice. Try this 4-7-8 method to give your intuition the opportunity to shine through and bring your consciousness to the present.

•  Start by emptying your lungs of air.
• Breathe in through your nose for 4 seconds.
• Hold that breath for 7 seconds.
• Exhale slowly through your mouth for 8 seconds.
• Repeat this process 4 times. 

This 4-7-8 technique will not only help with intuition, it is a great way to mitigate stress and lower anxiety. Basically, the whole world would be a much better place if everyone would practice this simple technique once a day.

✨Think less, feel more: Your cognitive brain thinks, your intuition feels. Your mind is always reasoning, questioning and thinking their way through the day. After so many years of this, we don't even realize it's happening. If people could hear all the questions, your cognitive brain is bouncing around all day, they would think you are crazy.

Try to slow down and “feel” more. Feelings that are grounded in your body, are also grounded in truth. These feelings will never lie. Learn to listen to them more. Pay attention to those little signals that your body gives us. Heart beating faster, that knot in the pit of your stomach, feeling hot, feeling cold or a tingling sensation. You know the situation; you meet someone and immediately know something is off about them, you can just feel it. Maybe they are lying to you or treating someone poorly, your physical body can feel that and alert you. If you pay more attention to these physical cues, you could avoid many uncomfortable, painful or awkward situations. This is your intuition speaking and it's trying to guide you in the right direction.

Finally, keep in mind that intuition can’t flourish in busy, stressful environments. Give your mind space to wander and make connections. Remember, while intuition is not perfect, it’s also a decision-making tool you’re likely underutilising at the moment. Protect and preserve your energy and embrace the inherent wealth of your intuitive mental, emotional, and behavioural health by being introspective. 

Give these strategies a try, and you’ll probably be surprised to find that your gut is a more powerful decision-making tool than you may have realized. The power is within.