How to Listen to Your Intuition (especially when you don’t know what to do)
Intuition is something you feel. You might feel it in your stomach, you might get goosebumps or feel a shiver down your spine, or you might even feel it in your chest. Sometimes it’s just a quiet sense of knowing..
Intuition is described in the dictionary as:
Intuition is a thing that one knows or considers likely from instinctive feeling rather than conscious reasoning:
And that’s the thing – Inside each of us, we have an inner guide that is always there to help us when we need it.
But sometimes it’s difficult to know what to do, when there is SO much noise around us.
What is your intuition and what is outside influence?
Here are a few things I do to help me tune into my intuition when I need to figure out what to do about something. I hope they help you to connect to your inner guide too.
Quiet the noise around you.
There is often SO much noise around us. There is Google, YouTube, Instagram, the suggestions of our friends and family… With so much information and so many ideas and opinions around us, it’s tough to hear your quiet inner voice trying to tell you something.
Your intuition is within you, not outside. And that’s why a great idea is to quiet the noise around you.
Some ideas of how you can quiet the noise around you include stopping looking for answers online, taking a social media detox (especially Instagram), and stopping asking other people for advice.
Step away from the noise. Create space in your life and practice just being in the moment.
In the space and quiet, what comes up?
Spend time with yourself.
Another great way to connect to your intuition is to simply connect to yourself and your true nature.
Think about what truly lights you up, and go do that. Take yourself on an Artist’s Date and spend some quality time with yourself.
How do you love to spend your time? What is something you love doing?
This may be going out for a long walk, spending time in nature, going to the beach, relaxing at home, having a spa day, getting creative, painting, gardening, going to a second-hand bookstore… It could be anything.
Taking the time to do the things that bring you joy and just spending time with ourselves is a great way to reconnect to that your inner voice. Also, when you do something that lights you up, you spark your creativity, and that’s when your inner voice can get louder.
Think about something you love to do with yourself, and go and do it. Reconnect to your true self.
Journal.
I speak about this a lot, but journalling is a powerful way to reconnect to yourself and what you want.
Journalling is an opportunity to pour out whatever is on your mind. This is extremely therapeutic, as we often have many residual thoughts in our heads that cloud our intuition. By letting it all out into your journal, you can start to clear out your mind and create space for your intuition.
I often refer to journalling as free therapy. In therapy sessions, what works most is you being able to let out whatever you think and feel, in a safe and non-judgemental space. And that is what you are able to do with journalling.
Another great benefit of journalling is that it can spark ideas. As you pour out onto your page, you start to sort through everything. As you write, you notice what is most important to you, what is bugging you, what you’re pining for…
You can simply find a quiet space and start writing whatever comes to mind, and just go with it. Or you can use journal prompts to get you started.
Some great journal prompts: Who am I? What is deeply important to me? If I had one year to live, what would I definitely want to do? If I won the lottery, what is one thing I’d focus on doing? What do I need to change in my life?
Tune into your body.
Our bodies give us clues.
When you’re trying to make a decision, practice sitting in the quiet, cross-legged on the floor or on a chair. Close your eyes and just focus on your breath for a bit. Breath in deeply, in and out. Relax into the moment and just be present with your breath. Then, once you feel nice and relaxed, think about a decision you’re trying to make. Think about the different options you have, one at a time. As you think about an option, tune into your body and see how you feel.
This is an amazing way to tune into your intuition, as you calm your mind, and listen to your body.
As you think about each option, you will notice how your body feels different. You may tense up and feel fear. Or you might feel butterflies in your stomach and excitement in your chest. Take your time and feel into it. Side note: When you feel anxiety, don’t push it away. Rather just sit with it for a moment. Pay attention to what is anxiety based on something not being right for us vs excitement of the unknown.
Sometimes we over-analyse situations in our minds, and with many options swirling around in our heads, we have no idea which way to turn. This is a way to get out of your head and see what your body feels.
This should give you a pretty clear answer on which 1 or 2 options feel right for you.
Don’t overthink it. Practice trusting yourself.
We constantly look to others for the answers, when we know many of them already.
Seriously… Oftentimes I think that it’s not that we can’t hear our intuition, it’s that we don’t trust our intuition.
If you’re trying to figure out what to do about something – it could be about a relationship, your career, where you live, anything – chances are, you have an idea of what you want already. Think about something you’re trying to work out… Ask yourself the question out loud “What should I do about…” Now, without overthinking, answer it out loud “I feel that I need to……”
Often, what comes up straight away is the answer. But instead of trusting ourselves, we suppress it. We do a google search and find out what others think we should do. We add more and more options to the list, and we end up confused.
Start practising listening to your inner voice and trust yourself. Know that you and your dreams are worthy and that you have a powerful intuition within you that you can listen to if you choose.
When you hear it, be willing to take a small step forward.
Often it’s not that we don’t know what to do, it’s that we know what we want to do by we’re too scared to do it. So we ignore it, look outside for answers, and get lost in a sea of decisions that don’t feel right so we end up feeling lost.
There comes a point that, if you want to trust your intuition and build that guiding light inside you, you need to start actually listening to it, trusting it, and taking action. No matter how scary.
Remember, there is no right or wrong way. If you have a feeling to go a certain direction, then trust yourself. If it works out as you planned, then great. If it doesn’t, then you will learn a valuable lesson that will help you grow. So either way, it’s the right way.
Are you willing to take a small step towards something you feel is right for you, no matter how scary?
It’s time to face any fears and step forward. That is how you’ll grow, your intuition will get stronger, and you start creating a deeply meaningful life.
Ready to trust yourself and listen to your intuition the next time it speaks?
So many people type into Google questions like “How do I connect to my intuition?’“
The thing is, it is in each and every one of us. Every time we have a decision to make, it’s there, ready to guide us. We just need to quiet the noise, listen for it, and trust our gut feeling.
Life is magical and unpredictable, and none of us know what is around the corner. So, at some point we’ve just got to trust how we feel and go with it. Trust yourself, and follow your gut feeling when it pops up. It knows the way.
Simply put, follow what feels good.
xoxo
Sian
