You may have heard the words “intuition” and “gut feeling” being bandied about.
Any idea what it means? As it is hard to tie them down with clear-cut definitions, you cannot be blamed for entertaining vague notions.
This article delves into the topic of intuitions – what is it, how it works, signs of intuition, and how to improve it.
What is intuition?
Trust your gut. Follow your intuition. Tap into your inner wisdom.
You may have come across such statements and have a vague idea about what is being said. The concept of intuition itself is abstract and intangible and so it is hard to get a clear idea about it.
The dictionary defines intuition as “the ability to understand or know something immediately based on your feelings rather than facts”. It is the skill to “understand something instinctively, without the need for conscious reasoning”.
In simpler language, intuition is the feeling you have that assumes something is true when you have no evidence to prove it.
How do you recognize intuition?
In psychology, intuition is thought of as the bridge that connects our conscious and subconscious minds. The conscious mind is the part of the mind that contains thoughts that you are aware of. The subconscious mind is the master storage facility for all data related to the experiences throughout your lifetime. Nothing ever gets deleted from here, though you are not aware of what is stored.
When a connection is established between the two parts of the mind, information flows from the subconscious to the conscious mind. Intuition is this information transferred from the subconscious mind.
This means, intuition is based on your own past experiences, either forgotten or vaguely remembered in your conscious mind.
However, you need to stay alert to your emotions corrupting your intuitive thoughts. Overthinking, biases, judgments, prejudices, and compulsions can distort your intuition and alter it beyond recognition. As long as your intuition stays pure and unadulterated, it is more reliable than hard facts and logical reasoning.
6 signs your intuition is trying to talk to you
You may have come across that tiny voice in your head offering your insights, suggestions, and warning signs. Most of this is based on your intuitive abilities.
You may have a gut feeling about relationship or you may be thinking about the same person. You need to recognize that they are not the same.
Not all your thoughts are backed by intuition. So, how to recognize when the thoughts you are having are based on intuitions?
Here are some signs to look out for to know that it is intuition that is telling you something.
1. You have persistent thoughts.
Some idea or inspiration may pop up in your mind out of the blue. You may dismiss this as outlandish or impractical and carry on with your life. The same thought keeps coming back to you as if insisting you notice it and take action.
This is your subconscious mind trying to get your attention and trying to tell you something. When you find it difficult to shake off such thoughts, it is a clear sign of intuition at work.
2. Things fall into place and begin to make sense.
You may be trying to find the answer to some question or trying to solve a dilemma. You spend hours thinking about it. The more you think, the murkier it gets. After a while, you give up and relax. When your mind is clear of anxiety, stress, and fear, you will experience moments of clarity.
These lightbulb moments come to you when you wake up in the morning feeling refreshed or when you are in the shower and the cold water hits you. You can consciously develop this ability by slowing down your lifestyle and making your mind clear and still.
3. You have clear and coherent dreams.
Your subconscious mind often uses dreams to communicate with you. When your dreams make perfect sense and they are logical and intelligible, the chances are high that your intuition is behind them. You can interpret or analyze your dreams by yourself or approach a professional for psychoanalysis.
4. You feel confident about something that doesn’t make sense.
You know that it doesn’t conform to logic and is not backed by facts. But you have this strange feeling that you should believe in it. You can’t pinpoint why you feel this way. This is your intuition at play.
Intuition is that invisible weird feeling that pops up in your mind out of nowhere and insists that you pay heed to it. The more you push it away or ignore it, the more insistent it will be and the more it will try to get your attention. Until you feel sure about it and accept it.
5. You have this strange uncomfortable feeling.
It can be about a decision you made or about a situation you are in or about a person you met. You may even feel irritated and troubled by these unsubstantiated thoughts. And try to dismiss them as weird. But they refuse to leave you alone until you acknowledge and accept them.
You may even experience the fallouts of these thoughts in your body. Such as an upset stomach or a heavy heart. This is your intuition trying to warn you and to deter you from something you are planning. When you believe and follow this suggestion, the uneasy feeling will automatically disappear.
6. You feel a strange sense of calm.
You are in the middle of something crazy. Stressed out to the limit, you are at your wit’s end. Then all of a sudden you experience this blanket of calmness enveloping you. At the same time, you will find a solution to your predicament coming up in your mind out of nowhere. This is the working of your intuition.
Tips and suggestions to make your intuition stronger
Your intuitive skills are sharp and at their prime, when your mind is clear of clutter and has gained the ability to stand still.
Here are some more tips to boost your intuition.
- Practice meditation
- Live in the present moment
- Stay in touch with your emotions
- Listen to your inner voice
- Pay heed to your dreams
- Stay tuned to your sensations
- Develop your creative talents
- Test your instincts to see if they are right
- Get out of your comfort zone
- Teach yourself to think out of the box
- Get close to nature
- Embrace lessons from the past before you let them go
- Learn to think less
- Do things that don’t require the involvement of the mind
Bottom line
We all have intuition. Before you choose to go along with your instinct, you need to remember that it is neither based on facts nor logical reasoning. Your intuition is based solely on your past experiences hidden in your subconscious mind.
Use your common sense to know whether your intuition is pure and incorruptible. Or whether you should choose it over fact-based thoughts or analytical reasoning. In some instances, you will be able to combine the best elements of them all and arrive at a decision.
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