Inspiration | Self-Awareness | Intuition

How To Make Your Intuition Work Better For You Starting Now

Everyone has it and yes, that includes you

“Cease trying to work everything out with your minds. It will get you nowhere. Live by intuition and inspiration and let your whole life be revelation.”

– Eileen Cadd

Hello, beloved readers and writers!

For the past week or so, no matter where I turn I keep seeing something about intuition, spirits, being a psychic or medium, spiritual messages and so on.

This was what prompted me to write another story about my life as a psychic and medium a couple of days ago. More specifically, what drove me to the decision to never do professional readings again, which I explained in this article.

In particular, I’ve seen the word “intuition” popping up all over the place. So…I’m, um, listening to my intuition, haha — and that’s the theme for this week!

Just What the Heck Is Intuition, Anyway?

I’ll start by telling you what it isn’t. It’s not the same as being psychic but the two are often perceived as being similar — or at least, “kissin’ cousins.”

All of us have intuition. Yes, even you, way at the back, the grumpy one swearing that this is a load of hooey and has nothing to do with you.

Intuition is that “gut feeling,” that sense of “knowing” about something. Everyone has had experiences with “that little voice inside” urging them on, or saying, “No, don’t do that, you pinhead!”

Simply put, it’s the way your subconscious communicates with you. It gives cues and information that it processes much more quickly than your conscious mind.

For many, the only time they notice their intuition is when they didn’t listen to it and paid the price. “I knew I should/shouldn’t have done that!!” they lament. “I had a gut feeling and I ignored it!” And they kick themselves solidly in the @$$.

“That little voice inside” is your intuition and it will never steer you wrong. Ignoring it will most certainly lead to things going awry, with regret cramming itself down your throat shortly thereafter.

Some examples of intuition:

1. When you know who is calling before you look at/answer your phone.
2. When you decide at the last minute not to go that route and you avoid a massive pile-up when you’d have been right in the middle of it.
3. When something feels ‘off’ and you can’t put your finger on it — with a person, a job, a situation, anything.

The trouble is that it’s so subtle, so quiet, it’s easily missed. It doesn’t stand on a ladder in your head and scream into a microphone. It’s a gentle but silent nudge that often goes unnoticed, especially during times of stress or strong emotion — the times it is most often needed.

This is why it’s important to learn how to tap into it, to learn how it feels or shows up for you, and use it to your advantage.

No, Mr Grumpy Pants. It’s Not Hooey.

There has actually been a significant amount of research done on intuition. In fact, according to heysigmund.com:

“Researchers at Leeds University analysed a hefty pile of research papers on intuition. They concluded that intuition is a very real psychological process where the brain uses past experiences and cues from the self and the environment to make a decision. The decision happens so quickly that it doesn’t register on a conscious level.”

As it turns out, your brain has two ‘operating systems.’ One is quick and instinctual. This is where your intution lives. It makes quick decisions about whether or not something is a good idea or a bad one, whether it’s right or wrong etc. based on patterns collected by your life experiences. This processing happens without our conscious awareness. It happens in the subconscious mind.

The second operating system is more analytical, deliberate, takes its time to respond, and is conscious.

Scientific evidence shows that the intuitive part of your brain knows the right answer long before its slow-poke analytical sidekick catches on. In this study, participants were asked to play a card game. They were given a choice between two decks, unaware that both were rigged. One would provide big wins followed by big losses. The other would offer small wins but not many losses.

By the time they got to 50 cards, they reported having “a hunch” about the deck they thought was safer. By 80 cards, they were able to explain the difference between the two.

But after only 10 cards, every time they reached for a card from the ‘dangerous deck,’ the sweat glands on the palms of their hands would open.

This was about the time that all participants started to choose the safer deck, even though they had no conscious awareness that they were doing this.

It was clear that the analytical part of the brain was slow to catch on but the faster intuitive part figured it out quickly, allowing participants to begin making better choices.

How To Tap Into Your Intuition

1. Listen. Be willing to hear that still, small voice. The more open you are to hearing it, the more likely it will work.
2. Gut feeling. According to research, emotion and intuition have a physical presence in your gut. It is lined with a complex network of about 100 million neurons; it’s known as the enteric nervous system (ENS) and is often called the ‘second brain.’ According to ScientificAmerican.com, there is “…a superhighway between the brain and GI system that holds great sway over humans.” That ‘sinking feeling in your gut’ or that ‘sick feeling’ with stress or upsetting news…that’s your superhighway being flooded with chemicals, hormones and information shared between the brain and gut. Pay attention to what’s going on in there.
3. Feel it. A shiver up your spine. That gut thing 👆(again). Your pulse quickens. You feel slightly anxious. These can all be subtle; self-awareness is essential. The more you learn how your body expresses itself when your intuition is speaking, the better you’ll get at noticing.
4. Release negative emotions. They cloud judgment, cover up intuition (in a big way), and don’t do you any good anyway. Learn to release the negativity and keep a positive mindset.
5. Protect your energy. Stay away from Negative Nellies or Toxic Tims. These people drain your energy. They are exhausting and make it hard to hear that quiet inner voice. As soon as you read that sentence, you knew exactly who needs to go…perhaps you’ve already got them out of your life. If not, your intuition knows perfectly well that it’s well past time. Sometimes, it’s impossible to walk away; the spouse’s family, the boss, etc. In these cases, do everything possible to keep at least some emotional distance and protect your energy.
6. Pay attention. Observe what’s happening in your environment. The more information your subconscious can gather, the more it has to drawn on.
7. Spend time with others. The more you’re around people, the more you’re able to pick up cues and information from tone of voice, speech patterns and other behaviours that improve your ‘empathic accuracy.’ This is the ability to pick up signals about the thoughts and feelings of others.
8. Be still. Find time for solitude, meditation, or activities that let your mind wander. Turn down the ‘noise’ — the mental clutter of your ‘busyness’ and thinking. Allow those quiet thoughts to bubble up so you can hear them.
9. Work with dreams. Your dreams are how your brain/subconscious processes what happens during your waking hours. As you’re falling asleep, set an intention to find answers, clarity or solutions to whatever is on your mind. Keep a notebook handy to scribble down first thoughts of dreams as soon as you wake up. The more you try to remember them, the easier it gets. Sometimes intuition speaks through dreams, offering answers and insights. But only if you pay attention.

How has intuition impacted your life — for better or worse? Are there times you listened to it and were so, so extra, super, spectacularly glad you did?

Or have there been times when you were kicking yourself (gently, I hope, with thickly padded soft slippers) for having ignored that gnawing “something” that knew better than you?

How does your intution speak to you? Each of us perceives it in different ways.

Let’s learn more about this important topic from each other. I’d love to see your stories about intuition over the coming week (and beyond — no expiration date on my prompts!)

My intuition tells me we’re going to see some amazing stories!!! 😉

Wow! Shorties But Goodies is up to 144 followers!

Hope, Healing and Humour is up to 95 followers!

And our dear Witchy’s pub has leapt from 23 to 33 in the past week! Woohoo! She is one excited little witch! She’s awfully shy but wanted me to pass on her heartfelt “thank you” to her supporters.

Thank you ever so much to those of you who are following my pubs, and to the wonderful writers who contribute to them. We are growing, reaching more people with your magical words of inspiration, positivity, enlightenment and entertainment!

On that note…check out the wonderful collection of submissions we received over the past week!

Slow train ponders a deep question that virtually all writer ask themselves on a regular basis…but is there an answer?

The ever-prolific Kris Bedenian has written a short, sweet story about how to be more positive about the way we perceives ourselves:

And she has an unusual list of “seasons” that I thought were rather brilliant…

She’s also got a poignant story about endings and beginnings…

Kris is also getting busy with a canvas, thanks to Mother Nature’s bigger white one…

And another about colours — this is fascinating, with loads of information about each colour in the rainbow!

Kris has also shared an insightful look at the role colour plays in our lives, roles I’d never considered until now:

CARMEN F MICSA shares an uplifting and interesting story about daffodils for her first submission in our Pub Family!

Umme Salma shares her thoughts about the new way Medium is handling claps (although apart from a weird day or two, I haven’t had an issue with it recently??):

Sally Prag has written a beautiful poem with an inspiring and thought-provoking message — or question…

And wait till you see what she says about winter plunges into a cold sea!!! Oy vey, I admire her!!! It sure as heck wouldn’t be me!

Kaz Rochford has written a wonderfully inspiring poem about hope and healing:

Christina shares a powerful story of parenting a neuroatypical child...and finding the beauty in every moment…

She has also written about the power of using a mantra. I love this! Do you use mantras?? If not, this article might change your mind:

Sweet Tyra Jaide shared a cheerful little story of her excitement about the date 2/2/22! Her joy was infectious!

Carrie Kolar does an amazing job of expressing what non-writers don’t understand about writers…just wonderful…

pockett dessert has written an absolutely stunning piece that left me speechless. I was in tears, loaded with emotion — but just couldn’t find words:

Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles has written a piece about how do discover who we really are…

Isabel Young has some powerful insights on positive thinking:

Bernie Pullen offers a wonderful way to begin the day…oh, such magic…

…and another one about time…and happiness..

Rhea Anglesey is excited about her budding newsletter success! Share in her joy:

Irene Fassler has come up with a great way for people to connect:

And Victoria Gregg shares an insightful and empowering “piece about peace” :)

Mary Vraa offers an interesting look at alone time and boundaries…

And now…the “light entertainment portion of the event, brought to you by Witchy…”

She had heard about this new restaurant and was so excited to try something new. But…uh…it didn’t go quite as she had expected. 😳

Many thanks to the beautiful souls who contribute to HHH and SBG:

Dr Andrea Polzer Kris Bedenian Rodney Brazier Patti Murray Voncannon Carrie Kolar Croix Sather Deb Fiore Dina Alexander DL Nemeril Donnette Anglin, Loren Lieberthal Jimmy Misner Jr. Judy Millar Julie Gaeta Pene Hodge Karen Schwartz James Knight Laura Izquierdo pockett dessert Dr. Preeti Singh Radhika Iyer Sam Branstner Sharon Sayler, Author Umme Salma Susie Kearley Tamil T Mann Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles Lion~ Wendy S. Bradfield Yana Bostongirl Jo An Fox-Wright Maddox Suma Narayan Penny Walsh Shameem Anwar Irene Fassler Sandy Peckinpah Trista Signe Ainsworth Slow train A.H. Mehr Alex Frederickson Ashley Nicole B.R. Shenoy Carolyn Hastings Christina Christine Vann, MSc. Ellie Jacobson ✍🏻 The Soulful Scribbler Isabel Young Kaz Rochford Nia Simone McLeod Nicole Hilbig Patricia Wright Pam Winter Rachella Angel Page Jodian Marie Thomas, MS, Bsc, Asc L Burton Muhammad Abdullah Kate Aries Danielle Hestand Sahil Patel Jessica Rabel Sharing Words Malky McEwan Belinda Castle Barbara Cook Tyra Jaide Megan Llorente Eko BP Drashti Shroff Evergreen Eden Bernie Pullen Hamsalekha Rhea Anglesey CARMEN F MICSA Robin Oakman Mary Vraa