Intuition Is a Powerful Tool Against Life’s Pitfalls

But without the secret to how it speaks, it’s worth zip.

How important is intuition? Well, it once saved my life.

After lunch with a friend, I was heading for a nearby metro station to go home. I felt an inner push to use a different metro line much farther away. No reason, it just didn’t feel right. It was a beautiful day (luckily) so I hiked over to it.

The phone rang the minute I arrived home. My friend cried when she heard my voice. A bomb had exploded in the first station at precisely the time I would have been there. 8 dead and 200 wounded.

Not only that, my husband came home early that day. He, too, decided on a ‘whim’, to walk home instead of going to the bombed station.

We all have an inner teacher, an inner guide, an inner voice that speaks very clearly but usually not very loudly. Its helpful information can be drowned out by the chatter of the mind and the pressure of day-to-day events. But if we quiet down the mind, we can begin to hear what we’re not paying attention to. We can find out what’s right for us.Dean Ornish M.D., author, and leading healthcare researcher

All humans are intuitive. It’s that simple. Our inner knowing, the small, still voice within, gut reaction, instant insight, call it what you will, offers 24/7 help. Sadly, many people don’t think they’re intuitive. One problem is they don’t know how to pick up its signals.

We can fix that. Follow me.

Intuition’s info pops come in four flavors.

You see. You feel. You hear. You know.

We all have at least one strong suit. Here’s a little test to help uncover yours.

Close your eyes. Relax. Imagine you’re at a party. Enjoy the scene.

Where your eyes go as you created the event in your imagination? Up, to the side, down, or more or less unchanged?

Up — You see — Clairvoyance Down — You feel — Clairsentience To the side — You hear — Clairaudience More or less unchanged or slightly up — You know — Claircognizance

Clairvoyance/eyes looked up.

Clairvoyant and psychic are often pinned together because most readers ‘see’ via cards, charts, balls, and the like. It’s a misnomer that unfortunately throws people off because they think it’s the only way intuition comes to us.

This intuitive pop forms images in your mind or attracts your attention to outer visual clues. They could be symbols, a person, a scene, or memories, for example. Sometimes you’ll need to interpret them like you would a dream.

One time my friends and I experimented with holding objects. I held a bracelet to see what I picked up. (This is called psychometry.) My spontaneous answer — “I see Snow White and the seven dwarfs” provoked a snort of laughter. Turns out the owner was married to a person of short stature. Slightly embarrassing. You never know what you’re going to get.

To practice, pay attention to visual clues, especially ones that repeat. When a strange or emotionally charged image crosses your mind or something out of the ordinary appears, write it down. Later in the day, see if it had meaning.

I recently kept seeing hedgehogs on the TV. After the third time, I looked it up. The message was right on.

Tip — Sometimes you need to interpret intuitive information like you would a dream.

Clairsentient/eyes looked down.

This pop appears in your body. This is the most common of the four, probably because we have less resistance to it. You ‘feel’ it in your bones, in your gut, or via shivers, goosebumps, tension or a sudden ‘feel good/bad’. The sensation you get can be about a person, a situation, information, or yourself.

To practice ask yourself a question and sense the answer in your body. Yes/no, move towards/move away, comfortable/uncomfortable. Write it down and see if your pop was correct.

Clairaudience/eyes looked to the side

If you ask a question, you’ll hear the answer via words, sounds, music, etc. This is the least common of the four. It’s closest to the way we sort things out — with words and thinking — and the mind tends to overpower it.

Your intuitive voice will not be bombastic but calm and matter-of-fact. Its messages are usually short and to the point. Partially because most of us go, what the hell is that, and cut it off.

If you sensitive to sounds, voices, or remember songs and events together, this may be your strong suit.

Notice when fragments of songs or words pop up in your mind. Write them down and see if they have some kind of message for you.

My only experience with clairaudience happens with deceased people. One day, I heard “Onward Christian Soldiers” playing in my mind, I didn’t give it much notice until it repeated a number of times.

Finally, I did my big tuning in exercise, I sat down, closed my eyes and asked the question. Why is this playing? From the question came an image of my friend’s nanny, a beloved and intrepid person now gone. Once I had her image, I felt an urge to contact my friend. When I did, I discovered. she was having a rough time. Turns out Nanny’s job is never done.

Now when I hear the song, I know it is Nanny checking in. A few others have joined her over time. A song and a feeling someone I knew is saying hello. It’s comforting.

Claircognizance /eyes unchanged or slightly up

Here you just know. It’s like a download. You have a problem and bang, you know what to do. You meet someone and you know things about them.

I sometimes use this when I work with people. I close my eyes and quiet my mind, then wait for something to show up.

It’s critical not to second guess yourself. Once when I was ‘capturing’ information, my sense of whether the person was Catholic or Jewish oscillated back and forth. (It was relevant to her question.) I worked around it but asked later. She told me she’d been raised Catholic but converted to Judaism. Go with what you get! It saves time and effort.

None of these is better than the other, it’s just what you happen to be good at. In the beginning, you’ll have one or two strong suits. As you use those, all become stronger.

It’s like playing the piano. Not everyone will play Chopin but everyone can start with chopsticks. We all get better with practice.

Speaking of which…

How to practice

Here, a little quiet and calm help a lot. Ask a question. Take a moment and see what comes. Wait with an open kind of focus, like holding out your palm and waiting for a bird to land in it. Be relaxed without expectation. Take the first impression before your mind jumps in. If nothing comes, try again later.

Or ask a question and see what crosses your path / comes up over the next 24 hours. I get great intuitive pops as I wake up in the morning and in the shower. You’ll find your sweet zone, too. It just happens.

Write everything down and check back later. Over time the information will build. You will start to notice themes and patterns. These are invaluable.

Help in interpretation

Best is always your own interpretation. Free associate, draw it, imagine it.

But for hints, my go-to references are https://www.whats-your-sign.com/ and Betty Bethard’s Dream Book. They’ve been uncannily right on for myself and people I’ve worked with.

I’d love to hear your experiences and answer any questions. Email me at [email protected]

Be the miracle that is you.

If prayer is you talking to God, then intuition is God talking to you. — Dr. Wayne Dyer