How to Calm Your Mind and Let Your Intuition Guide You
A solution to analysis paralysis
There are many voices in our heads.
It can seem challenging to connect with our intuition. At least for me, it is.
There are many voices in my head: my own, my parents, my teachers, my friends, society’s.
My mind is always going over old conversations and situations, often scolding me for allegedly inappropriate behavior, or warning me of potential dangers to avoid pain, fear, or other unpleasant experiences.
On top of this, we are presented with enormous amounts of information each day, which are impossible to process from a human perspective. I often feel overwhelmed when deciding. I easily fall into a rabbit hole when I research a topic. Information is available from every angle. It is difficult for me to discern. How should I filter through all this data? I have answered this question for myself: I can’t.
No offense, but my mind does not seem to be the most reliable consultant when I’ve asked myself for the best way to move forward.
Somewhere deep within in me lives my intuition, the part of me holding my highest intentions and connecting me to my highest path. The part of me that simply “knows”. Knows when to turn right, even though the mind is arguing a case against it because we went left in the past because we’ve experienced it before because everyone else says so. My mind does this with the best intention, to protect and keep me safe, drawing conclusions from similar situations or thought processes. How would my mind know that this time, in contrast to everything it knows, it would be wiser for me to turn right? It doesn’t.
My intuition could tell me.
How do I connect with my intuition?
How can I access this wisdom within? How do I get past the noise? Who can help me? Where do I get my questions truly answered?
Deep within me lives my connection to the divine, to my soul, to my heart. The wisdom stored here draws upon a higher perspective, tuning into what “feels” right. I have heard this voice, but it is shy and small at first.
When I allow myself to connect to my intuition, I must make my mind calm. This can be a challenge, though my meditation practice helps me with this. The best moments to ask are when I’ve just finished a meditation or when I’m cruising through nature on a walk, just my breathing and me.
Breathing into my belly is important for connecting with my inner truth. Then it’s time to ask my question. My mind jumps in straight away, offering a range of answers. I know it’s my mind because the answers form in my head. To listen to my intuitive voice, I move deeper and tune my awareness into my heart space.
It helps to place my hands onto my heart or my belly and to keep breathing. This way, I can drop my consciousness lower. Then I wait. It’s never a long wait, but it takes longer than when my mind answers, so it feels like an eternity and my mind can get impatient. I try not to get pulled out of my concentration. I try to stay focused on keeping my mind calm and open. Openness is important because often, the answer is at odds with what my mind wants to offer.
Sometimes the answer comes as a word drifting into my mind. Often, I get an image that I have to translate into meaning. Sometimes, I get a number. It depends on the situation.
It takes time and trust to develop the language of intuition. The more I trust my inner voice, the quicker and clearer the answers become. I’ve spent years developing my own intuitive language. For example, the image of a snake for me means healing. For others, this may mean danger. It is important to work on your own code system, which usually incorporates your unique experiences and feelings.
How can I use intuition for decision-making?
Let’s look at an example. Our son wants to go on a high school exchange in Europe. Because the school he attends at home finishes with the IB (International Baccalaureate), it would be best if he attended another IB school abroad to keep him up to date with the curriculum. He does not prefer which country, so we have two variables to work with: Europe and IB-school.
There are hundreds of IB schools in Europe.
It felt overwhelming. There was no way we could draw up enough excel spreadsheets to compare every school. How would we rate them? How could we find out which school was a suitable match? By looking at thousands of web pages? This did not seem appealing.
Our son and I chose a different approach.
We set the intention to be guided by our Higher Selves. We let go of any expectations and cleared our minds, letting them become blank slates. Then we looked at a directory of European IB schools. We let ourselves be guided by our hearts. Interestingly, a few school names stood out. They sort of glow, or the names felt right. We put these on our shortlist, in total about ten of them.
Now, we had a starting point. Two days later, we came back to the list and prioritized those schools again by feeling into which one's felt best. We ended up with a group of about four schools to look into. Until this point, we had not even checked their websites. Only then did we start our research and kick in with our minds.
We dived into the details of each school. We considered the curriculum, their sports programs, the geography, and everything else that seemed important. We engaged with the schools and inquired about the options. During this process, one school stood out, approved by the heart and the mind. That was the school our son chose. He is yet to depart, but we are all excited about his adventure.
I have to admit, I would never have allowed myself to go into a decision like this until a few years ago. I was too conditioned and focused on the powers of the mind. I probably would have stressed myself a lot by setting up all of those excel sheets.
Today, I feel comfortable following my intuition, most of the time. The greatest challenges are calming my mind and allowing the answers to present to me.
If you’d like to explore the voice of your intuition, I recommend you begin with minor questions, e.g. “Do I have eggs or fruit for breakfast today?” or “Should I exercise now or later?” Follow what you get. It will help you discern whether you tuned into your intuition or into one of your mind’s voices. Build up your trust and your skills.
And remember, learning a new language to proficiency takes practice and lots of time.