Your Intuition is Real. Here’s How You Learn to Use It.
I’ve been hit with the same decision this week– do I follow my intuition and deepest desires, even if it isn’t logical?
Have you ever struggled with this?
If so, what have you chosen? How has it turned out?
This has been the theme of my life for the past few months. Not only in my own life, but it comes up in conversations with friends, in podcasts, on Instagram, in random books I open. The synchronicities confirm that, yes, this is a huge lesson for me, others…and maybe even you?!
Do we trust our intuition or do we do the logical thing deemed “smart” by society?
First of all– what is intuition?
It’s not just some fluffy, trendy thing. We all have it.
Have you ever just “known” something? Or even made big decisions using your hunch? You probably have– a lot of people use it everyday without thinking about it.
Master Choa Kok Sui, the founder of Pranic Healing, calls it “direct knowing” or “direct inner perception.”
Opposed to mental intelligence, which relies on using the mind to study, examine and come to a logical conclusion, intuition is an inner knowing without using the rational mind.
It’s not just for spiritual people– he says that many successful people rely on their intuition. Scientists get intuitive hits and then validate it with research, making big discoveries. Businessmen use their intuition to choose the right deals and execute plans the right way to become ultra successful.
He predicts that in the future “people with intuitive intelligence will become very superior.”
From my Pranic Healing studies, I’ve learned that the information we get from our intuition is a blend of information from our soul, our spiritual teachers and other ideas that are floating around and waiting for someone to act on them first (an idea reminiscent from Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic, her take on the creative process).
If that’s true, then our intuition is extremely valuable knowledge– it’s literally our higher self, or our soul, giving us information that we can use to guide our lives, everyday.
I mean, how big is that? You literally have a divinely-guided inner compass pointing you in the right direction at all times if you’d only take the time to check in and listen to it!
To follow it, check in with yourself– which path feels the most exciting, exhilarating, heart-opening and maybe a little scary?
I’d recommend tapping into your intuition when you’re in a good mood (more on that later).
If you’re trying to use your intuition to decide between a few different options, close your eyes and imagine the first option. Feel like you’ve chosen that option and you’re living it right now.
How do you feel in your body? How do you feel emotionally?
If you feel expansive, joyful, excited, alive, energetic, passionate and inspired– that’s your intuition saying, “Yes, do this one!”
On the other hand, if you feel constricted, anxious, uninspired, dread or not much desire or excitement to complete the tasks involved with this option, that’s your intuition saying “No, don’t do it!”
Another way is identifying what your heart yearns for.
Martha Beck, the fabulous, quirky life coach whom I love, says to follow your inner compass, which I’d say is intuition. She says that this is your natural guidance system. This is the thread that weaves together her most popular books, The Way of Integrity and Finding Your Own North Star.
Martha says there are many things you want but only a few things you deeply yearn for. At night, what are the things that your heart aches for? That heartache is your intuition. She says that these things are your destiny. These are the secrets to your happiness and fulfillment. These yearnings will eat away at you until you start prioritizing them.
Abraham Hicks also recommends that we live by this inner guidance system. We should only do things that we love doing, and don’t do things that we don’t want to do. We’ll learn along the way what those things are through our own life experience. If we do this, we’ll start to find ourselves living the life of our dreams!
But it can be really scary doing this if you’ve spent your entire life playing by the rules and being practical, safe and secure. I still get terrified sometimes!
It takes courage, faith and inner strength to follow your intuition.
We’re born listening to this inner guidance system. But as we’re groomed into society, we stop listening to it.
As we grow up, we absorb subconscious rules and templates for how to live our lives. A lot of these rules keep us safe, secure, traditionally successful and financially stable. If our inner truth aligns with some of these rules, then great. No problem.
But if we decide to live by rules that contradict our deepest desires, that’s when we can experience unexplainable aches and pains, depression, anxiety, emotional numbness and addictions.
The journey of healing is really about shedding what isn’t us and coming back home to who we truly are– beings of divine light, love and power with a unique purpose and destiny.
Our intuition is the communication of our soul, which is who we truly are.
So choosing to trust and follow our intuition again, like we did when we were little, is an important step in the healing process. It’s a recognition of our Divinity and our inherent sacredness.
It takes time and practice. It’s like a muscle you haven’t used in a while. You have to relearn how to use it. With practice, it becomes easier to use until it’s a normal part of your daily life.
You’ll know you’re on the right path when it feels exciting, energizing and fulfilling.
When you follow the path that’s drawing you towards it, you’ll have ideas flow through you like a waterfall. You’ll get lightbulb moments. You’ll want to wake up and work on it, even if it’s grueling and taxing on your body, mind and emotions.
But, it also won’t be easy. You’ll be challenged along the way so you can learn key lessons that your soul came here to learn.
Choosing the path towards the things I yearn for has been the hardest journey of my life. I’ve been faced with every dark demon I’ve ever had. Fear of no money. Fear of failure. Being uncomfortable with receiving. My sense of self-worth. Jealousy. Pride. Fear of rejection. Self-sabotage. Feeling like an imposter. Questioning whether the Universe actually does have my back. The amount of times I’ve broken down in tears is a little concerning.
My god, it’s been so hard.
And yet, I’ve never been the most fulfilled. I’ve never had so much energy flowing through me. I’ve never felt so alive and passionate about something. I’ve never felt so proud of myself. I’ve never had so many genius ideas come to me like rapid fire. I’ve never had my gifts so recognized and appreciated before. I’ve even discovered gifts that I never knew I had!
I’ve never had such incredible levels of highs where I can feel the beauty of everything. In these moments, the way things perfectly fit together like a puzzle become crystal clear to me. The amount of times I’ve broken down into tears from the gratitude and love overflowing from my heart could be a little concerning, too!
This is how you know that you’re on the right path when following your intuition– it will push you to become the best version of yourself and be the most rewarding thing you’ve ever experienced.
INTUITION Q & A
What if I can’t hear my intuition? What if I don’t know what I yearn for?
Your intuition is always there, but it’s more quiet and subtle. The yearnings linked to your purpose and destiny are also always there.
The only time you can’t hear it is when you aren’t feeling well physically, mentally or emotionally.
Maybe you’re sick or you’re really tired. The only thing you’ll get from your intuition is SLEEP and REST.
When you’re feeling overwhelmed with negative thoughts and emotions, like fear, stress, anxiety, worry, anger, jealousy or resentment, you won’t be able to hear the purity of your intuition and deepest desires.
These negative thoughts and emotions will “dirty” your vision. It’s like glasses. When your glasses are clear, you can see things clearly. When your glasses are dirty, all you see is a muddled image.
My advice to you: when you aren’t in a good mood, don’t try to listen to your intuition. Don’t make big decisions. Don’t worry about your deepest yearnings.
Get back to the basics and focus on getting back to a healthier, happier state first.
Do things that clear your energy system and make you feel better, like:
Energy healing
Physical exercise
Sleep and rest
Eating nourishing foods
Meditation and spiritual practice
Art/Music/Dancing/Journalling
Being in nature
Hanging out with positive, loving people
Once you’re in a more vibrant, energetic, joyful and light state, then take time to listen to your intuition and your deepest yearnings. You’ll be able to recognize them more clearly. Then follow them!
What if what I yearn for goes against the norm?
Then congratulations– you’ve been chosen to be a visionary and leader of change!
Your path is one that channels the future into the now. What you’re doing will probably be mainstream at some point– so capitalize on it! Reap the success, abundance and recognition that you can from it now before everyone else is doing it your way.
I’ve been watching The Andy Warhol Diaries on Netflix. Andy’s the perfect example of a visionary: he brought in a new kind of art and lived his life semi-out-of-the-closet in a more alternative, authentic way. But during his life, he got a lot of crap for it and wasn’t recognized in some official art circles. He was simply ahead of his time. Look at him now– he’s one of the most famous artists in American history. Mainstream society just needed some time to catch up with him.
I deeply resonate with this. I was born with an artist’s mind, so most of the things I feel called to do have never been done before. When I respect my passion for creatively living life, my experience of life feels electric and the creations I bear are magnetic.
So follow it!!!
If I follow it, I’ll get a lot of pushback from people close to me. What do I do?
They’re either pushing back because it makes them feel uncomfortable by challenging their own belief system or your previous behavior was somehow benefiting them and now it’s not.
We’ve been guided away from following our own intuition from trying to please other people’s desires and expectations of us, including our society, families and culture. Abraham Hicks says we either make decisions from our own selfishness or make decisions that benefit someone else’s selfishness. Which do you think leads to a happy, fulfilling life?
We always have to make this choice: do we let ourselves down or someone else?
Whichever choice you make either builds up your self-esteem and sense of worthiness or breaks it down, little by little.
What if my intuition and yearnings asks me to take a step that isn’t reasonable or it’s a dumb financial decision?
Our internal guidance system, our intuition and what we yearn for, come from the divinity within us– our soul.
The beautiful thing about our soul is that it always sees the bigger picture. It can see every step of our path from point A to point Z.
But, our little human minds can only detect the next step.
With an analogy of a staircase, our soul can see the entire staircase. But the perspective of our human minds can only see the next step.
Even if it seems impossible– follow your intuition, follow the instructions of the soul. You won’t be able to see every step, but have faith they will appear at the right time.
I will say that some amount of practicality is important. You need to keep your head in the clouds with your feet on the ground. Money and logistics are also important.
But the money and logistics come secondary to your intuition. Your intuition provides the overall roadmap. The practical things are just tools for you to use on your path of destiny. Use them smartly and intelligently to get what you deeply desire, but don’t let them dictate your path.
For example, I felt called to quit my job last fall to put 100% of my energy into this healing practice. To other people, it was stupid because I hadn’t matched my previous income yet with my business.
But, I had a lot of money in savings. And if I didn’t get my business off the ground and ran out of money, I had a backup plan– I would just get another job. Not ideal, but the backup plan is always there if things go south.
The interesting thing is my intuition started nagging to me to quit my job only when I had built up a huge savings. Not a moment before.
This demonstrates the perfection of your intuition– if it’s strongly nagging you to do something, it’s probably the right time. The logistics and money are probably already in place. Afterall, your soul can see many steps down the line when you can’t.
Here’s the bottom line:
LISTEN TO YOUR INTUITION AND FOLLOW IT!
LET IT GUIDE YOUR LIFE AND WATCH THE MAGIC UNFOLD…
Comment below— what’s been your experience with following your intuition?? 💕