Trusting Your Intuition
I’m sure it is very often a friend or a family member has told you to listen to your gut, I know I have told you many times. Recently I met one of my best friends for breakfast and while we were enjoying a yummy cup of coffee she suggested to go and have the palms of our hands read for fun. I never have gone purposely to do this before, but there was this time in my life when without asking, someone approached me to tell me something incredibly amazing about my life in an spiritual way, and I can tell you that since I met that woman 20 years ago everything has happened the way she told me it would. Anyway, we both thought it would be fun so we did it. One of the things that resonated with me the most is when she said: “You have a great intuition and you should trust your gut more often, it seems you know what you should do but you keep ignoring it, listen better to your intuition”. It took me just half a minute to have a flash back of the last 20 years of my life and know exactly what she was talking about. And my question is, why when I know my gut is right I do completely the opposite? Intuition, is our immediate understanding of something; there’s no need to think it over or get another opinion, we just know and it is very unique to each person. Trusting our intuition is the ultimate act of trusting ourselves, right? But sometimes, there is something that definitely gets in our way and we miss the opportunity; Here some reasons why:
Overthinking: Since listening to your gut is defined as the ability to understand something instinctively without the need for conscious reasoning, overthinking is one of the biggest enemies. Putting excessive thought into every decision and walking through countless scenarios can lead you away from your intuition, especially when you are overthinking in order to rationalize or justify something.
The programming of our identity: This happens when we operate from quick judgements that the brain automatically makes based on past experiences instead of based on reason or actual experience. As a result, we block ourselves to tap into the experiential nature of intuition.
Fear: Fear is also a sensation we get in our gut and sometimes we get confused. How do we recognize what is what? Fear usually brings anxiety and darkness and intuition feels reliable, compassionate and affirming.
When you really want something badly: This could be to be loved, acceptance, validation, confidence … that strong desire to fill in something that is greatly missing in your life.
So what did she tell me I should do in order to get the best of my intuition flowing again?
Slow down: we rush and multitask in everything we do in our lives, so take a step back and allow your mind to clear and live each moment as it is without thinking ahead. Slowing down helps you with the process of assimilating information more efficiently, so clear the way and declutter your mind to make space for intuition.
Listen and feel the sensations in your body: Intuition is grounded with the sensations inside of your body, so learning to recognize what’s going on within your body is important to develop your intuition. Like when you are angry, your body gets tight, your heart beat rises, your body temperature gets hot and you have the need to scream. Learning creating awareness of how the body reacts when we go through the different emotions. Meditation helps creating this awareness.
Learn to know yourself better: What is important for me? What are my non negotiable boundaries? How do I want to feel in my life? Be curious about what you need and and you want. Concentrating on these needs helps to more easily connect with your intuition.
Isn’t it amazing! We all have an intuition, but to develop it we need the awareness and meditation to understand it.
Another thing she told me that made me smile was: “ Do you write? and I said well, not really, well, sometimes … I have a page where sometimes I like to express myself and I write. She smiled back and me and told me: continue writing”.
“I believe in intuitions and inspirations...I sometimes FEEL that I am right. I do not KNOW that I am.” ― Albert Einstein