Learning To Trust Your Intuition

How often have you said, “If only I had gone with my gut?” This is a question that many of us have asked ourselves at one time or another about a matter, or even about the sincerity of a person who turned out to be untrustworthy, and we gave them the benefit of the doubt, only to feel heartbroken when they betrayed us.

We don’t have to throw reason out the window when we tune into our inner wisdom called intuition. But while it’s good to have as many facts and information available as possible before making a choice or decision, there are certain times when we don’t have the luxury of first weighing all the pros and cons. Tapping into our intuition is a powerful tool for making difficult decisions and important life choices by spontaneously ‘knowing’ or ‘sensing’ what’s best for us in our work, business, relationship, or lifestyle.

For example, as a manager you may be hiring someone for a job who ticks all the boxes in terms of qualifications and experience, but that little inner voice is screaming, “Don’t hire this person!” If you then do hire them, you may find out later that they have deep-seated issues that will upset the rest of the staff and antagonize your customers.

So many clients have told me over the years that they had an overwhelming feeling that they were making a huge mistake, but they decided to marry someone because they wanted to make everyone else happy, or because so much effort and expense had gone into the wedding arrangements. Just the other day a client told me that he should have listened to his inner guidance, not to mention the guidance he received in a psychic reading that warned him that he would end up separating within a few months of the wedding. If only he had trusted his intuition.

Intuition is always right in at least two important ways; It is always in response to something. it always has your best interest at heart ~ Gavin De Becker

Sometimes we have nagging inner voices or the external voices of other people telling us what to do and what not to do. Many of these distracting thoughts, assumptions and fears are often the result of childhood conditioning, or a lack of self-trust. When this happens, the best thing to do is to create some intuitive space by setting firm mental boundaries. Turn off those inner and outer voices, and turn up the volume on your inner guidance.

Intuitive awareness can be developed through the practice of meditation. Meditation teaches us to quiet our analytical mind so that the subconscious mind can be more open and active. Meditation allows us to access a quiet state of mind where inner wisdom and divine insight can filter into our conscious awareness. This is known as the Alpha Wave state of mind, when the brain is more at rest and not very focused on anything. In contrast, the beta wave state is our normal waking state, when we are most aware, alert, focused, and attentive.

Our bodies have five senses: touch, smell, taste, sight, hearing. But not to be overlooked are the senses of our souls: intuition, peace, foresight, trust, empathy ~ C. JoyBell C

Another way to improve your intuitive awareness is to ‘sleep on it.’ Before you go to sleep, think about a specific question or problem in your life that you need answers to. You can even write it down on a piece of paper and place the question under your pillow. In this way, you are trusting your subconscious mind to sift through the options to give you the best answer, and you will know the answer when you wake up. Just surrender and trust and it will happen. Then follow your inner guidance.

Trusting your intuition is especially valuable in matters of health and safety. For example, if you have a nagging feeling that you need to address a medical problem before there are obvious signs that your health is out of balance, check it out! Your body often knows intuitively what is wrong, long before your conscious mind does.