Hey friends,
This post is on a topic near and dear to my heart. As most of you know, I work with many clients on intuitive eating where I try to help them connect with that which truly nourishes them.
So, what is intuition really?
Some people refer to it as “a gut feeling”, “a hunch”, “an internal compass”, “a guiding light”, “an inner compass”, “a deep inner feeling”, or “a sixth sense”. From esoteric perspective intuition is an inner authority that connects us to the voice of our soul. This voice is not always logical to our rational brain but it always has our best interests at heart. Can you think about a moment in your life when you made a decision without any logical explanation for it and as a result, things turned out better than you could have wished for?
Our culture teaches us to value our linear thinking left brain if we want to succeed in life. As children and young adults we have been told that others know better. This resulted in our intuition being hijacked by Google, and other “experts” like doctors, therapists, teachers, religious leaders, family, and friends. We have given so much power to our mind and “experts” that being deaf to our intuition is not uncommon.
So how does intuition speak to us?
Intuition for me is more of a “feel” rather than “think” kinda experience. For me, it manifests as the tightness in my chest that tells me that something or someone is not for me. Other times I get this very warm joyful feeling or a sense of calm about a person or a situation which indicates it’s the right move. When I sense these feelings I tune into my body even more and follow my internal guiding system. This is how my intuition speaks to me, but everyone’s intuition speaks in different ways. You may see an image, hear guidance, or feel a sensation just like me.
““Intuition doesn’t tell you what you want to hear; it tells you what you need to hear.” .
“Give yourself permission to immediately walk away from anything that gives you bad vibes. There is no need to explain or make sense of it. Just trust what you feel.”
“Not trusting your sixth sense, will aways- and I mean always- come back to haunt you. Have the courage to stand alone and trust your vibes.”
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There is a difference between intuition and ego.
When we are too much in our head, we become too reactive and can mistake fear for our intuition. Our ego, which lives in our mind, often clings to a false sense of security and the need to control which stops us from acting in sync with our intuition. So how do we know if we’re acting out of our insecurities (to protect our ego) or from our inner wisdom?
When we act from a false sense of belief that has been programmed into our lower brain (amygdala) during our childhood or through our ancestral wounds, we are often very instinctual, frantic, aggressive, and mostly act out of fear of failure, judgment, making mistake, or being wrong. Whenever we feel drawn towards something or someone (without a fearful motive), then we can be sure that it’s our intuition communicating with us. Many people believe they are being guided by intuition when in fact they are being guided by their fearful inner talk. This is not to say you should never use your mind or think logically about things, but make sure you make intuition the commander-in-chief of all decisions, and let the mind (ego) be the obedient follower. When you make this change, your mind (ego) might throw a tantrum at first and try to drown out the voice of your quiet intuition with all sorts of fearful stories. There is a beautiful quote by Albert Einstein that summarises this paragraph beautifully:
“The intuitive mind is a scared gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift.” - Albert Einstein
How do you tune into your inner wisdom?
Many of us are on the constant go-go. We are so caught up with e-mails, texts, social media, news, etc. that we forget to take some time to rest and turn inwards for guidance.
What if from today you decide to always make time to reflect and turn inwards? What if you relaxed into your inner knowing instead of overanalysing or acting on impulse?
Here are some ways of cultivating your intuition:
Practising mindfulness. This does not mean that you need to sit in the lotus position for an hour. Instead it could be something as simple as going for a walk, or getting out in nature. Practising mindfulness quietens down the monkey mind and brings you back to the present moment. Through practising mindfulness you live in the space between your thoughts—a place from which intuition communicates much clearer. If you would like to know more about practising mindfulness, please take my and Jela “Mindfulness of the Cushion” course.
Practising self-love. When your loud inner-critic keeps telling you that you are not smart enough, good enough, rich enough, progressing fast enough, and when the rumble of self-loathing thoughts is on at full volume, it’s very difficult to hear the whispers of our intuition. As soon as you notice your critical self-talk, bring back your focus to your breath and choose a loving thought instead because your intuition always comes from a place of self-love and not from insecurities. If you want to learn more about self-love, I invite you to take the “Fall in Love with Yourself” online course.
Picking an oracle card. When you’re not sure about a situation or a person, shuffle your favourite deck of oracle cards, ask a question, and then pick one card that you’re most drawn to. Take a look at it and ask yourself, “How can I apply this insight into my current situation”? My favourite oracle cards for this activity are from Gabby Bernstein “The Universe Has Your Back”.
Paying attention to your dreams. Your dreams are a fertile feeding ground for nurturing your intuition. Keep a journal next to your bed and write down everything you can remember about your dreams.
The superpower of intuition has been touted by philosophers, psychologists, coaches and leaders. It is for these reasons that I leave you what some of my favourite people had to say on this topic as a final thought.
What is intuition?
I love Eckhart Tolle’s definition of intuition as “a conscious presence, your deeper self”. I think of intuition as a feeling deeply rooted in our soulful essence, intertwined with an awareness of and connection to the energy of the universe. Intuition is an inner knowing, our unique superpower and tool to accessing information about ourself and the world. Intuition bridges the gap between the conscious and non-conscious parts of our mind and serves as our internal GPS for navigating life with direction and purpose. - Sarah Intutive Energy Coach (WeChat:sarahboss88)
To me intuition is a certain feeling that arises from deep inside us about someone or something, without necessarily any clear logic or rationality. This ‘someone’ could be either people we know, or haven’t yet met, while the ‘something’ could be pertaining to a future course or path. I would also call it a ‘heart feeling’ or ‘gut feeling’.
- Nitin from Seeds of Change
If instinct can be viewed as the accumulation of generations of wisdom from our ancestors and passed down genetically through the ages – a sort of ancient knowledge that works to protect us from danger or help us thrive in our world, then intuition is our own accumulation of years of experiences in the world that helps us make important decisions. Like instinct, intuition is something that we know, but we don’t know why or how we know it. The rational, logical part of our brain can only hold and process so much information, so the intuitive part of our mind steps in to gather and processing information that may be too complex for our rational brain to hold. If we trust it, at times we can act upon this intuition without the need to rationalize or think logically about it. We’ve all had the experience of liking someone or falling in love. Can we explain why we like someone with rationality and logic alone? We can try, but it often fails us, and instead it is our intuition that guides our actions, and helps us choose a mate. It often knows more about us (and others) than we consciously know about ourselves.
- Jonathon Douglas (my partner)
How does intuition speak to you?
There are many different types of intuition perception or ways of receiving messages from your intuition. Some of the most common are clairvoyance (connecting to the universe and receiving messages through seeing or images), clairaudience (hearing information through sound), clairsentience (tuning in through feelings in your body) and claircognizance (an illuminating feeling of just knowing). When you tune into your intuition, you will become more aware of synchronicities in life or moments where the universe responds to and reflects your internal state. This will also help you in aligning with your purpose and becoming a conscious manifester of your life. - Sarah Intutive Energy Coach (WeChat:sarahboss88)
I’m usually quite intuitive in my life and work, hopefully not blatantly impulsive. Especially when it comes to people I would like to work with or be friends with, I follow this “heart feeling” quite a bit. It could also be something as simple as a restaurant where I might want to eat, something that I’d like to buy, or simply, as I ride my bike on routes I might take without following a map at hand, when in unfamiliar territory.
Intuition also speaks to me in terms of energies, and in terms of feelings or thoughts about the future. I mean it’s almost like a fine line between something that I want to make happen in my life, and the fact that I am able to visualize certain ‘clips’ of that scene. I’m not sure this is specifically intuition.
It works best for me with people - there are certain people who you meet and spend a few moments with, and it already seems like you’ve known them for ages. For others, you haven’t even met them – perhaps you have spotted there in a room somewhere, and when you finally do speak to them it immediately becomes a beautiful conversation.
And lastly of course, sometimes I just check on specific family members or friends to see how they are doing. - Nitin from Seeds of Change
For me, intuition is a powerful social tool. If I judge those around me based only on their actions and words, I’m left only with data points that can be misleading or wrong. Intuition jumps in to fill in the gaps, to bind it all together, to provide context and elevate certain moments or actions above others. It helps me identify those rare occasions when someone is trying to con me, or when someone’s actions or words are genuine, or when a friend is truly in need of help. I know intuition is not infallible, but it’s an important source of knowledge that should be respected and trusted for its’ wisdom and experience. - Jonathon Douglas
What’s the difference between intuition and ego?
Intuition comes from a place of calm, quiet and knowing through connection to our inner essence. Unlike the conscious mind, it is spontaneous, fast and does not require deliberation. Intuition will always feel “right”. The ego, however, is triggered from a place of fear, judgment, scarcity, attachment to external sources and rationalization. A good way to distinguish between the two is to get quiet, tune into the sensations of your body and listen to your inner voice: is it supportive or judgmental? Does it focus on problems or on possibilities? Is it calm or chaotic? Meditating on these questions will help you in understanding which energy is dominating, intuition or ego. - Sarah Intutive Energy Coach (WeChat:sarahboss88)
To me, it is important to separate ego from intuition. We all have ego, and not every decree of ego is bad. But when we start judging someone without really considering a holistic picture simply because we do not want to, it becomes ego. When we are overconfident about a certain idea of ours regarding the future, it is ego. When we eliminate “benefit of doubt” about someone or something, and dismiss without much thought, then also it is ego.
Also, in an increasingly digital world with social media and WeChat/Whatsapp communication all around I think its hard to be intuitive and we need to try to not read between unspoken lines and give people a lot of benefit of doubt before we take a decision one way or another. - Nitin from Seeds of Change
For me, the voice that speaks for our ego cares primarily about one thing only: the self. It’s very ‘selfish.’ Our intuition, on the other hand, is a broader tool that is less goal oriented. It’s there to propel us forward in this world, to help us make decisions in a broader context. It takes much more data into account than the voice of our ego, and it cares about others in the process. - Jonathon Douglas
Now, over to you...
What is intuition? When did you last follow your intuition and what happened as a result? When did you ignore your intuition and what happened as a result? Share your answers in the comments below.
That’s all from me. Thank you for reading, for being here, and for spreading the word about my work so that my articles can be read by more people.
With love,
Iza
Coaching Psychologist and Relationship Coach
selfgrowthcourses.com thriveinshanghai.com