Why Your Intuition Tells More Lies Than Pinocchio

5 Steps to Reconnect to Your True Intuition

The Problem With Intuition

My intuition had me chase the wrong girls.

My intuition had me run away from the right girls.

My intuition told me to isolate from situations that scared me.

My intuition said it’d be a good idea to yell at my boss.

My intuition picked the wrong school majors, careers, foods, and exercise.

What is Intuition?

Intuition is that feeling in your gut and voice in your head telling you how to think, feel, and act.

It’s your initial internal response to an external stimulus that we deem correct.

The problem is our gut is one big fat liar.

What we perceive as intuitive and pure is actually scripted and contaminated.

Trauma infects and distorts your thoughts and feelings about an external event, which then determines your action.

Trauma isn’t limited to war veterans and rape victims. Any external event and information that has branded negative thoughts and feelings into your mind and body can be traumatic.

A single mother raised me. She was caring and loving. I couldn’t have asked for a better mom.

But she wasn’t perfect and, like any parent, couldn’t meet all my needs.

So growing up, I had an emptiness within my heart that romance movies and music exploited.

I longed for the on-again-off-again, push-pull relationship dynamic because, instinctually, I believed this meant my partner cared for me.

Most of my relationships, until recently, have been chaotic, hectic, codependent, and toxic. If a “normal” girl showed interest in me, I’d get bored and leave.

My excuse: “It just didn’t feel right.”

I’ve been slightly or moderately overweight my whole life. To lose some extra pounds and finally get a six-pack, I began reading articles and watching Youtube videos about nutrition and exercise.

I’ve tried every diet and exercise regime you can imagine: Paleo, vegan, keto, flexible calorie counting, cheat meals, intermittent fasting, heavy weight lifting, Crossfit, high-intensity interval training, hot yoga, long-distance running.

I’d eat chicken when I felt like eating a bagel.

I’d eat broccoli when I craved steak.

I’d run when I felt like lifting weights.

I’d do yoga when my body felt tired and wanted to rest.

Instead of listening to my body, I blindly followed the gurus because I thought they knew better than me. What resulted were years of yoyo dieting and failure, which led to lower self-esteem and self-trust.

False VS True Intuition

There are two types of intuition — false and true.

False intuition is the one controlled by your trauma.

True intuition holds deep wisdom, understanding, empathy, and authenticity but is blanketed by false intuition.

How To Reconnect to Your True Intuition

To reconnect to your true intuition, you have to peel the false layers. Here are 5 steps to reconnect to your true intuition:

1.Consume Content

I know diet culture messed me up a bit, but it’s crucial to consume content to understand and connect to realities that your trauma has distanced you from or are foreign to you.

Humans are very naive and innocent. Marketers, content creators, and gurus have conscious and unconscious agendas that exploit our plasticity.

I had no idea about nutrition until I read a couple of books. The paleo diet instinctually made the most sense to me.

The paleo diet is the way our ancestors used to eat before the industrial revolution. It includes only whole foods: meat, fruits, vegetables, and nuts.

With the elimination of processed foods, it’d make sense why this diet would help you lose weight or become the healthiest version of yourself.

The diet has worked for many, especially the authors. I tried it and saw excellent results.

I lost weight without calorie counting, had more energy, and felt happier. But the diet didn’t work for me long term.

The knowledge, understanding, and implementation of the diet was not common sense. I wouldn’t have ever thought to eat like that or seen the many benefits if I didn’t sample it.

If it would’ve permanently improved my life, I’d still be following it, but I’m grateful for the information that wasn’t intuitive.

I had no dating results in high school. I never had a girlfriend, went on a date, or kissed a girl.

To improve my love life, I read and watched anything I could get my hands on.

Much of the information was helpful, but some of it worsened my results.

Like the paleo diet, a lot of the information felt unrelatable because either my trauma disconnected me from it or it was nuanced.

It took years of trial and error to learn and unlearn pieces of information.

Connection to my true intuition would’ve made my dieting and dating journeys less painful.

It’s essential to test ideas while also using your true intuition to filter out the harmful fluff.

2.Mindfulness

Trauma can cause our initial internal reactions to be incorrect, so it’s vital to become mindful of them without acting upon them.

Become aware of your emotions and the sensations they cause in your body. Awareness of thoughts isn’t as useful as body awareness because many thoughts can create one emotion.

For example, your boss calls you into his office. Immediately you might wonder “why is he calling me into his office? Did I do something wrong? Am I going to get fired? What will my friends and family think if I get fired? How will I pay my rent without a job?”

These questions create anxiety. Your anxiety is justified, or perhaps your trauma is being triggered.

Lets say your parents were very critical of you growing up. They’d yell and disapprove of you if you got a B on your report card.

Their disdain installed shame into your mind and body. Humans fear the feeling of shame, so when your boss calls you into his office, fear is a protective layer to shame.

Perhaps the guilt wasn’t within your soul, you wouldn’t have had that initial reaction of fear when your boss called you into his office.

3.Unconditional Self-Acceptance

Don’t judge or try and alter your initial reaction because it’ll remain stored in your mind and body.

Judging your thoughts and emotions causes them to filter within your mind and body. “Negative” thoughts get filed in the “unacceptable” aspects of our personality.

When you deem parts of yourself inferior, the shame and accompanying fear about these aspects get suppressed and stored within your mind and body.

To rid your personality of these splits, you have to accept everything that is you unconditionally.

Your fearful reaction to your boss calling you into his office may be triggered shame, but you can’t label your response as inadequate because it’ll only cause it to remain stored within yourself.

Lastly, it’s important to accept our positive sensations as well.

If we’re unwilling to feel our lows, we won’t fully experience our highs.

More importantly, you’re neither good nor bad. You have to unconditionally accept all aspects of yourself to heal trauma and become whole again.

To remove personality splits and the trauma that’s coloring your internal and external world, you have to become whole by accepting yourself unconditionally.

4.Self-Compassion

Self-compassion helps relieve resistance towards experiencing painful emotions, allowing them to be accepted, processed, and healed.

“It’s OK” is a comforting affirmation that’ll remove layers of resistance, allowing your true intuition to surface.

“It’s OK and normal to have these emotions.”

“It’s OK. Everything’s going to be OK.”

“It’s OK” is an organic statement of self-compassion, unlike traditional affirmations that fight and attempt to alter your thoughts and emotions.

5.Self-Trust

The only way to build instinctual confidence is to test your intuition and notice your results.

With acquired knowledge and released trauma, you’re equipped to reconnect to your true intuition and respond authentically.

Again, don’t depend on outer information to determine your actions. That’ll only lead to the self-judgment we’re trying to avoid.

“I’m not feeling happy, so I need to think positively.”

“I’m craving a donut, and that means I’m addicted to sugar, which is bad.”

“I’m feeling nervous. That’s not good. I need to act confident, so people think I’m attractive.”

There is always a grey area. There is no right or wrong way to think, feel, or act. Context is king.

There may be moments where you need to act happy. Perhaps at work.

Maybe the donut would be a wrong choice at night cause the sugar will prevent you from falling asleep.

It’s helpful to appear confident in job interviews.

Your true intuition is your master control panel. From a centered, widened perspective, it scans all the best possible options to think, feel, and act.

With time and practice, you’ll be able to process, respond quicker, and, more times than not, correctly because you’ll trust your intuition.

Practices

The 5 steps mentioned are general practices. They’re individual skills that can be developed. Here are 4 tools and scenarios to sharpen your intuition:

1.Journal

Often we’re unaware of or can’t identify our experiences. Also, we can’t work through emotions that we’re unable to recognize.

Journaling assists and strengthens your awareness and capacity to discover your inner workings.

I’m not the biggest fan of physical journaling, but many find it helpful.

I find I become self-conscious when I feel forced to express myself.

Instead, I internally journal the moment I notice positive or negative emotions. I state my feelings without further commentary other than “it’s OK. This is normal. It’s OK to have these feelings.”

I prefer this journaling style because I don’t have to stop what I’m doing to write it down, and I can practice it anywhere.

I can internally journal my experiences watching a movie, listening to music, working out, or talking with my friends.

2.Food Choices

There is no better opportunity to practice using your intuition than when it’s time to eat.

I’m currently recovering from a binge eating disorder. An aspect of becoming an intuitive eater (no pun. That’s what dietitians call it) is to listen to your hunger cues.

You have to notice when your hungry, ask yourself what sounds good, then eat until satiety.

3.Yoga

Trauma gets stored in the body as tension. Yoga helps release this tension in the muscles, which allows the emotions to be processed.

I don’t do the same poses every time I roll out my mat. I notice where my body feels tight and hold postures that’ll best release that tension.

4.Meditation

There are many mediation forms, but I use mediation to practice unconditional self-acceptance and relieve tension in my body.

I ask myself how I’m feeling, then validate my experience by saying, “it’s OK,” while breathing and relaxing any tension in my body.

Mediation is a less physical form of yoga but can be used for the same purposes. Try both and use your intuition to determine which tool is best for you.

Real-Life Success

I knew my true intuition was working it’s magic when I:

Stopped Overthinking

I used to overthink everything.

I’ve changed my school major five times.

I’ve started and quit multiple professions.

I’ve tried every diet imaginable.

I’ve sported hairstyles I knew I’d regret.

I’ve talked myself in and out of many relationships.

To help make decisions, I’d read articles and books, watch Youtube videos, and ask my friends and family for advice.

My trauma made me believe failure meant personal inadequacy. So to avoid feeling terrible about myself, I’d turn to outside resources to prevent making a mistake.

That only led to more mistakes, failure, lower self-esteem, and time wasted.

Now I can easily and quickly make decisions based on how I feel and without fear of failure.

I make choices I’m confident and proud of because they’re an expression of me.

I’ve found my purpose.

I eat what I want without guilt and anxiety.

I participate in and choose my relationships with ease.

I still debate about different hairstyles, though. Perhaps hair indecision is one of my many quirks.

Felt More Confident in Unknown Circumstances

When you trust your feelings and decisions, you feel more calm engaging in new experiences.

I used to be very socially anxious. To ease my angst, I’d read books and watch videos before going to bars or clubs.

When I’d get to a social environment, I felt so trapped in my head that I’d freeze and leave.

I ultimately abstained from leaving my house because the thought of socializing was overwhelming.

My lack of self-trust made me believe, “I didn’t know what to do.”

With less traumatic self-judgment and more freedom from outcome, I enter new settings confidently.

Felt More Connected to Others

Trauma surrounds your being like walls that prevents you from connecting to the outside world.

When you become aware of your suffering, you’re able to recognize it in others.

Silent understanding of people has helped me feel more connected to them, which has improved my professional and personal success.

Empathy has allowed me to connect better with employers and employees, which has landed me jobs and promotions.

Empathy has improved my ability to broaden my awareness, so I’m better able to connect with various friends, family, and loved ones.

The Pain is Worth the Rewards

Learning to trust your gut is a scary process. The fear of failure and failure itself are never easy to accept. But improving your intuition is worth the pain.

True intuition will help you make fewer mistakes, build solid confidence, and authentically structure your life.

Remember:

• Don’t trust your initial response. Trauma’s nose is more extended than Pinocchio’s.
• Consume content to expand and rediscover intuitive possibilities. Use your intuition to filter the fluff.
• Forgive your nativity. You’re only human.
• Be nice to yourself to accept yourself unconditionally and become whole again.
• There is no right or wrong way to act. Context and authenticity are more important than technical theories.
• Trust yourself as if your life depended on it.

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