“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” ~Albert Einstein
Have you ever had a ‘gut’ feeling about something? Maybe you had an impulse to take a different route than normal to work, and then later discovered that there was a major four-car pileup on the usual highway you would have taken. Maybe you got bad vibes on a first date and made an excuse to leave, only to later find out that the guy had a violent criminal record. Maybe you saw a flyer about a concert in town, and decided on impulse that you really wanted to go…only to end up meeting someone who would become a lifelong friend.
What gives us these gut instincts? What is intuition and is it even real?
It certainly is. Scientists have discovered that we are exposed to 40 billion bits of information per millisecond but only consciously process 2000 of them. That’s right: Your brain is only consciously taking in .05% of what is really happening in your environment!
But subconsciously, on some level, our brains are probably absorbing much, much more. That is why we get ‘gut’ feelings or seemingly random strokes of genius. We may not be able to know or understand everything about the universes around us and within us, but on some level, we are very aware that there is a world far beyond what our 5 senses can tell us.
Getting in touch with this intuition is very important, and not just because it can give you valuable insights when you are making decisions about your career, your love life, and so much more. But our intuition is also the seat of healing. It is the place where we can go to connect with what is really *true* for us. Our intuition is the tool we can use to guide us to the parts of ourselves that most need attention and conscious awareness. Our intuition will be what helps us decipher not only our wounds and points of fracture but that of our family lineage as well. It will give us a clearer, fuller picture of who we are and why we are.
Yet getting in touch with your intuition can be easier than done, especially if you pride yourself on being a ‘rational’ person or a person who likes to only deal with what you can see, hear, feel, taste, and see. Leaning into your intuition requires you to go much, much further than that.
That is why I was so honored to have bestselling author and intuition expert Sonia Choquette on the latest episode of my podcast “The Language of Love.” Along with her daughters Sonia and Sabrina Tully, we discussed what intuitive intelligence is all about and how you can start exercising this part of your brain. You can listen to the podcast here and read more about Quantum Physics and the world beyond our 5 senses in my book Quantum Love.
Ready to start leaning into your intuition? Here are some tips to help you start opening up this priceless gift:
Ground yourself. If you want to get in touch with your intuition, it’s really important to be able to silence the chatter around you and within you, and to really connect with that wise, powerful guide within you. One excellent way to do this is by grounding, such as with a grounding meditation. Click here to be guided by me through a simple step-by-step grounding meditation.
Accept the mystery. Don’t go into this practice needing to know how this all works. None of us know all the secrets of the universe yet, and the human mind can be an incredible mystery indeed. But you don’t have to know why things work to utilize them. I have no idea how my blender was built (I mean, I have a vague idea but I couldn’t build one myself), but I use it every day to make yummy smoothies that nourish me. See what I mean? The whys and wherefores aren’t important. It’s how you use it.
Listen for a ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ When you first start honing your intuition, keep it simple. Look for yes or no answers. When you sit with a question or a problem, sit in your body and see what happens when you think of a possible solution. Does your body light up and come alive? When this happens, I call it a full body yes. It’s a signal from the universe that you’re on the right track. If you don’t get this feeling, you will know you haven’t quite hit on the right answer yet.
Start small at first: Use your intuition to decide whether you want Chinese for dinner or pizza. Use your intuition to decide whether you want to go out with your friends or stay home for the evening. The more you begin to trust your intuition for small-stake choices, the more you will sharpen your intuition, and the more you will be able to use this intuition for big choices down the road.
Don’t run from your unwanted feelings. Quantum physics teaches us that it is impossible to close yourself off to one set of feelings without closing yourself off to all others. If you do not allow yourself to feel fear or sadness or any other unpleasant emotion, you are typically also blocking your own access to your intuition.