Ever had a sense that something in your life is not quite right? Or maybe you’ve felt your gut pulling you in a direction that didn’t quite make sense. Either way, these urges or hunches are something known as intuition. Intuition is something that you could learn to listen to in your everyday life.
How Does It Work?
Many people think that intuition is simply a feeling, while others think it is something similar to a premonition. No matter what you believe, it would help if you considered intuition a form of knowledge. This knowledge can come through various channels, such as claircognizance, clairsentience, clairvoyance, and clairaudience.
This is where your senses become extra-sensory and you can perceive the world through a more focused and enhanced lens. In other words, clear knowing, clear seeing, clear feeling/sensing (often through touch but not always), and clear hearing. What about our sense of smell you ask? That is known as clairolfactance or clairsalience like smelling the scent of perfume your deceased grandmother used to wear in the air suddenly while no one else is there.
More Than a Feeling?
When people think of the word intuition, they often think of the sinking feeling in the pit of their stomach or the prickling feeling on the back of their neck. This belief can lead them to assume that it’s just a “funny feeling”, but the truth is, it is truly so much more than that.
Intuition is Knowledge
Your intuitive, subconscious mind is constantly gathering information even if you are unaware.
According to Psychology Today, intuition is a special pattern matching knowledge that your mind gathers subconsciously. It does this by noting things that avoid your conscious awareness and matching them to other things that you may have noticed over the years. Then your intuition uses this information to draw conclusions and warn you when something may be wrong, or redirect you to something even better.
Although intuition is commonly felt when there is danger near, there are other times that you may notice that it is trying to tell you something. Some examples include during a business deal or when deciding what to wear in the morning. Maybe you wanted to wear a short-sleeve shirt but find yourself pulled to the long sleeve shirt instead. This feeling is your intuition telling you that it’s probably going to be cold later, or perhaps that you will be more comfortable in the long sleeve shirt than you will be in the short sleeve.
How Do You Know it’s Your Intuition?
Have you ever just had a bad feeling about someone? Maybe that you think that you can’t trust them? Well, this is known as relational intuition. Your body gathers this information from tone, body language, and a myriad of other non-spoken aspects of a person that you may not be actively paying attention to. Scientists from Intuitionology have found that it only takes 14 seconds for your intuition to decide whether or not to trust someone when it can take your conscious mind much longer.
Sometimes intuition can be confused with being overly sensitive, but what if it meant you are highly intuitive?
Most of the time, your it will be a nagging feeling that won’t go away no matter what you do. However, sometimes your intuition can cause physical symptoms as well. Like you may be out on a date and suddenly feel sick to your stomach.
Intuition as a Warning System
Many people associate intuition as a feeling because that is how it is presented in your mind. Sure, intuition starts as a simple sensation of which direction you should go or the option you should pick. However, remember that it has the power to do so much more.
Your subconscious evaluates your environment in situational intuition, taking in details that you aren’t necessarily always noticing. Then, if your subconscious begins to notice that something isn’t right, it will warn you. This type of intuition warns you not to walk down a street one night even though you may have walked down the street 100 times before.
Intuition doesn’t just steer you away from negative people, places, or situations however. It can also lead you in the direction that serves a higher path, and looks after your best interests.
For instance, have you ever just had a feeling that you needed to do or create something specific? This feeling is your creative intuition trying to lead you in the right direction. It pulls information to help you make creative decisions that are best for you and your success.
If you continue on a path after your intuition has sent a weird feeling, you may start to feel physical symptoms or pain. This is your intuition working to turn you back. And this alone will prove to you that it is more than a simple feeling.
Intuition Can Help You Make the Right Decision
Intuition is not a feeling. Rather, it is a part of your consciousness that constantly gathers knowledge, pattern matching and warns you of imminent danger. Because its operation is so complex, you should never ignore your it, as it probably knows way more about the situation than you do. More than anything else, you should never brush intuition off as just a feeling to be ignored. It is a collection of subconscious knowledge to help you make decisions when you really need it.
When you go to make a big decision, you may feel drawn in a certain direction, and this could be because of your intuition taking notice of patterns over a long period, maybe even your whole life, and letting you know which decision is best for you.
Intuition also draws off experiences you’ve had in the past, pattern matching them with things that are happening in the present. This part is responsible for ensuring that you don’t fall into the same trap or make the same mistake twice. Well, that is if you follow your intuition of course;)
Once you become aware of your intuitive senses, you can use it to empower your life by making choices you know are intuitively right for you and learn to trust yourself again.
About the Author
Known as, “The Soul Illuminator”, Jennifer Regular specializes in helping Thought Leaders, Creatives and Visionaries direct the life they live so they can create global impact, make the impossible possible, and fulfill their life mission. She is an International Speaker, Author of Embrace Your Power: A Healing Journal of Self-Discovery, and Podcast Host. www.lightingthepath.ca
