Intuition is one of those elusive concepts that many of us know we should be using to enhance our opportunities for healing, but often, don’t quite know how to access. I remember a friend that had been a meditator for many years asking me how he would know when his intuition was speaking to him.
I was taken aback. I had assumed that because he had been an active meditator at one time in his life, that he would automatically be open to and recognize his intuitive wisdom, but that was not the case.
Because he did not have a relationship with his own intuitive insight, he spent countless hours researching about various allopathic and alternative approaches to the treatment of his medical condition, and made logical deductions about which of those treatments gave him the best chance of success—all without the benefit of his intuition.
I can’t personally imagine a more challenging approach. Had I been him, I would have been constantly wondering if I had made the right choice. When I base my decisions on good research and intuitive guidance, I don’t worry about whether or not my choice is right because: 1) I trust my intuition to put me on the right and best path for me and 2) I trust my research will show me how to get the most out of the path I have chosen.
Intuition can be profoundly subtle, and that is one of the reasons we miss its messages. Many of us have not been taught to recognize our intuition when it is speaking to us, so we can feel as though we are intuitionally challenged, and as a result, lean more heavily on our deductive reasoning.
Even if we do recognize it, if the message doesn’t seem logical, we may disregard it. Have you ever had one of those moments where you were arguing with yourself and finally chose the more logical course of action, only to discover later,that the part of yourself you were arguing with actually had a clearer picture about what was going on and what you needed to realize or do?
Whoever coined the words, “the little voice in the back of your head” did a great job of describing the subtle nature of intuition. It can be so faint that intuition can be very easy to dismiss. To get the intuitive message, you really have to become aware of the subtle responses your mind and body make in regard to questions, dilemmas and concerns about your health.
I’ve learned to really pay attention when I have a thought that comes up in response to a decision I need to make, particularly if it is counter to what I normally would choose. I really pay attention if that thought is persistent. And I pay extra special attention when my predominant thought or the little voice in the back of my head is having a visceral effect on my body. Those are signs of intuition trying to break through my habitual thoughts, assumptions, and sometimes, through my logical deductions.
Hunches, gut feelings, tingling, or a tightening belly, for example, are more tell-tale signs of intuition at work. By becoming a more astute observer of your subtle thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations, you start recognizing intuitive insights.
Your awareness of intuitive messages gets stronger as you pay attention to how your intuition speaks through you. Act on your intuition, and you’ll notice the insights even more frequently because you will have developed faith in your inner wisdom.
I used to be a master at overriding my intuition. I would get a feeling about something, sometimes accompanied by one of those thoughts in the back of my mind about a direction or choice to make, and then I would logically make a case for taking a different course of action. Because I placed greater value in my logic than I did in my intuitive hunches, I persuaded myself to follow my logic.