How to sharpen your intuition? 7 practical ways
Intuition is a thought process that focuses on quickly matching situations with already known templates and relationships. It is not a supernatural force – it is a channel of access to the subconscious through which we receive timely hunches. In fact, it is analysis at the subconscious level that allows us to go through life more easily. Intuition cannot be controlled, we can only decide whether we will listen to it or not.
The word intuition calles from medieval Latin – intuitio, meaning a premonition, a whisper.
Each of us has intuition. However, not everyone uses it. Intuition is a kind of ability to understand yourself, your own emotions and those of others. Intuition makes itself known in very subtle ways – through a premonition, a glare, an idea, a feeling that something unpleasant will happen; a sense that something will happen that we are not prepared for. We may have a feeling that something is hanging in the air, that certainty has come to us out of the blue, or that we have been in a similar situation before. Intuition is a very useful tool that works even in everyday life. An inner voice can guide us to the right solutions and steer us away from those that are not good for us in any way.
The reason why people have stopped following their intuition is that it very often doesn’t go hand in hand with reason – the solutions it prompts go straight from the heart, and therefore very often seem irrational and meaningless to someone who thinks logically. It’s hard to trust a hunch when it seems to totally contradict what we have in our heads and what our knowledge and experience is based on. Intuition is problematic for hard-nosed realists, because who has seen it to make irrational decisions?
How to let intuition come to the fore?
1. Consciously ask for advice. Step away from logical thinking and let your inner voice have space. Do nothing to solve the problem in a logical and orderly way, guided by experience and possibilities. Sit down, express your intention – describe your problem and open yourself up to letting the solution come to you on its own. Breathe, relax, push away negative thoughts and anxiety. Intuition is a mine of creative solutions, so let it present a few that will work best for you. You need to be open-minded and stop getting upset about an existing problem. You need to KNOW that the solution is already coming to you.
2. Love yourself and your fellow human beings. It is definitely easier to follow our inner voice when we love ourselves and pay attention to our needs. Loving others also makes it easier for us to love ourselves – so-called compassion is intuition’s partner. When we feel love, give love and receive love, we can more easily listen to ourselves. Therefore, let’s first feel and then listen.
3. Quantum Questions. Questions that stimulate intuition and dilute the found energy. By asking them, the subconscious involuntarily seeks answers. The answer, a hint or advice, appears in various forms: coincidences, premonition, words, songs, heard dialogues or physical sensations.
4. The principle of first thought. Intuition is that first thought that occurs before we begin to analyze and evaluate all the points for and against. Be sensitive to the first sensation that arises in you – towards new situations, new people, new things.
5. Meditate. Meditation and slow, deep breathing clear the channels of intuition flow. Try to meditate as often as possible and during meditation observe yourself – do flashes of intuition appear? If so, what are they about?
6. Do brainstorming, as much as one-on-one. When making decisions, write down all the ideas that come to mind. Let it be anything that is devoid of logic and rationality. Writing stimulates creativity and the creative mind, and opens intuition. After such a session of a few minutes, sleep on the idea and determine with your mind that the best solution for you will appear the next morning.
7. Observe yourself in your interactions with others. Pay attention to whether being around someone sucks the energy out of you, or on the contrary, recharges you? If you don’t feel comfortable around certain people then you can be sure that your intuition has something to tell you.
We must remember that intuition always works, whether we believe in it and whether we use it or not. It’s up to us to work well with it, make space for it and LISTEN to what it has to say. If you’re on the brink of life’s paths next time, let her advise you – following your inner voice from the level of your heart is something even the most rational and logical mind can’t come up with better.
