What My Near Death Experience Taught Me About Intuition

Here’s the thing about intuition…

In part 1 of this series, I gave some backstory on my Near Death Experience and how it taught me some life-changing lessons. Here’s a quick recap just in case you missed it:

Thanks to modern medicine (and thanks to some life-sustaining equipment) I’m alive and writing this article. I couldn’t go back to my old life though.

I lost a lot throughout this process, and went through more than I could disclose in a short, readable article, but what I gained was life experience and many helpful new perspectives that allowed me to see the bigger picture.

Without this experience, I’d still be trying to figure out who I am, so in a funny way, I’m grateful for it.

Here’s what I’ve learned, part deux.

2) Your Body Speaks a Hidden Language

Your body is an oracle. If you listen to what you’re feeling, you’ll hear things that will change your life.

You don’t have to be sick to do this. Healthy bodies talk all the time, and they work really hard to communicate their messages and keep you well. I somehow cracked the code while pursuing a diagnosis for my chronic condition; some providers continued to invalidate and ignore my condition and symptoms, despite their life-threatening nature. I was repeatedly hospitalized due to this.

Listening to my body helped me identify potential illnesses and find the research for my rare disease. This made it easier to study medical journals and surf patient experiences on Reddit (the best place to do this, in my opinion), and then make requests for proper testing.

Throughout this process, I also learned about medical advocacy, which is like being a translator and interpreter for your body that can’t speak for itself.

A Twist of Fate

At my lowest emotional point during the diagnosis journey, a very strange thing happened; I suddenly had the urge to contact a friend who works at the hospital I attend. She knew of another colleague-and-friend who happens to work for patient liaison. She contacted the vice president of patient affairs, then a few practice managers…

and the rest is history.

My “hunch” did not only help me identify and seek treatment, it also led me to a team of advocates who worked tirelessly to aid me in my fight. I’m eternally grateful for these people because they changed and saved my life. All of this on a hunch, mind you.

Eventually, thanks to following the secret, subtle language of my body (and with my new dream team of friends) I secured a difficult diagnosis that improved my access to care and quality of life. If I didn’t explore these internal feelings of knowing, I likely wouldn’t be here to reflect on the helpful tidbits in this article.

I now also have a support system inside of the hospital that provides a safety net for when things go wrong, as they sometimes do with untreatable conditions.

Taking “Intuition” to the Next Level

Have you ever heard of somatic feedback? This is where your body shares hidden information through emotions, sensations, knowingness, and “feelings.” It can be felt in response to thoughts, people, situations, or things in your environment (to name a few sources).

There are messages trying to reach you through somatic feedback events, and if you lean into them and look for patterns, you’ll hear your body “talk.”

A specific example of when I listened to “somatic feedback” with great success was in July of this year (2023). I started feeling unusually sick and knew something was off. It felt systemic because the uncomfortable feeling was hitting me from head to toe with dizziness, fatigue, and a disorienting type of exhaustion. There were also telltale signs in my central IV line that something wasn’t right. In my gut, all signs pointed to sepsis.

The ER initially didn’t agree with my opinion, so they took some blood samples and sent me home. The next day I rested and tried to go back to my normal routines without success. Just after 5 pm though, I got a surprising phone call. They called to tell me that my blood test results were back, and I was experiencing the early symptoms of a blood infection. I needed to return to the ER right away.

Because I voiced my gut feelings and communicated them, they ran the proper tests the first time and caught the infection early (always tell doctors what you need, and don’t go in without a plan). I was treated during a short hospital stay of only five days, and this prevented a lengthy, life-threatening battle. To my surprise, the ER doctor did something most doctors won’t do; he made a point to visit me in my room and congratulate me on being a good advocate.

“Keep it up,” he said. That warmed my heart. It felt like a huge victory and an amazing stroke of luck. Up until then, every successful step in my treatment had been hard-won.

Thank you, body, for telling me what to do.

My whole experience came full circle when my new friend and advocate, the woman I previously mentioned who works as a head of patient liaison, came to visit me during my hospital stay. Her presence uplifted me, and I had a much different experience that included themes like understanding, empathy, warmth, and quality care.

Maybe you can’t relate to my story, but that’s okay because many of my “weird feelings” and hunches aren’t about sickness. They operate like an internal compass or barometer that points to the things happening inside me, and around me.

My gut feelings also tell me when to check in on my loved ones, avoid a situation, or take an easier day to avoid burnout. They help me solve problems, tune into what others need, and tell me how to support them. I have built an entire career and life around that.

When I don’t listen, I always realize that I should have, so every year that goes by I try to listen and learn a lot more. Often I hear something urgent like, “Slow down, or you’re going to end up stuck in bed,” but… there’s a lot to keep up with and life is feeling hectic.

I don’t just drop everything on those days. Instead, I pull back where I can and make a supportive plan, and it does help. Sometimes those urgent feelings are also solutions to big problems, but I’ve learned that I must be the calm within the storm to get results.

It’s all about timing.

You are a tactician, and your body is a watchtower tuned into all the happenings; in you, your environment, and the people you care about. Most of the time your body isn’t saying “Do this now!”, it’s actually saying “Keep this in mind,” so you can develop an approach.

My rule about listening to my body’s “sixth sense” is to calmly make use of this information as soon as possible. I continue to pay attention, but I don’t get caught up in the need to take urgent action every time if it’s not an emergency. Doing that often just creates more urgency, which defeats the purpose of trying to be in tune with yourself.

Your Body is Your Destiny

You have a body that talks, and with practice, you can learn to speak its hidden language. When my body talks, I try to be brave and listen. Intuition loves to go against the grain and innovate, it spits in the face of expectation.

I save a lot of energy by not wasting time on things I don’t need to do in the first place, or guessing about what I should do next. If I have the luxury to do so, I sit with things until I can follow a solid feeling, but sometimes it takes a while. In the meantime, there’s nothing wrong with being practical or focusing on something else.

I frequently use my body’s messages to tap into creative solutions and calm my sense of urgency. I see a lot of things work out in their own unique ways now, but previously I would have mindlessly thrown myself into brick wall after brick wall just to be “proactive.”

This change of approach has resulted in a sense of knowingness about where I can best put my time, attention, and often limited energy. I like to believe that since the little energy I have is so precious and easy to waste, my body wants to help me make sure it’s all going to the right places by sending me signals.

If you listen, you’ll hear something too.

At first I didn’t understand these signals, and I often misinterpreted them. Sometimes I still do, especially when I encounter something new. But, with time and persistence, I recognized there are patterns that connect feelings, emotions, and sensations with experiences and outcomes.

As a reminder, some people call this “somatic feedback,” and my method follows the same kind of concept. I recommend you keep a journal on hand, take notes, and try to listen to your body throughout the next week.

Sometimes it’s hard to accept what you hear because it can seem out of place or inconvenient, intuition is innovative, but I’ve learned that I’d rather choose the most beneficial way forward than a path of avoidance and least resistance (most of the time, at least).

After all, who doesn’t want to experience more flow, synchronicity, and inner knowing? Life is difficult, and if you have unread messages in your body’s inbox, it’s time to open them.