A column style offering.
This is a question I get asked a lot in my work. How do I know when my intuition is speaking to me? How do I know when to trust what I am sensing? What is the difference between my intuition and anxiety, or another emotional response?
I think it’s helpful to first clarify what intuition is. For the sake of this post, I’ll keep this part simple (and will further explore the nature of intuition at a later time). Intuition is a mode of knowing that derives from the deepest part of the self, expressed through direct sensation in the body. We might also relate to intuition as an embodied knowing that mirrors the natural guiding system of all beings. Everybody possesses this type of knowing, but whether or not it feels accessible depends on a variety of factors.
The individual’s intuitive system mirrors the larger cosmic structure, facilitating harmony between the self and the world. When one moves in accordance with their intuition, there is a rhythm to which their life unfolds.
When cultivating intuitive discernment — that is to know when your intuition is speaking to you and what it might be saying — there are a few foundational elements that are essential to keep in mind.
Intuition presents itself through a quiet, calm inner knowing. The intuitive knowing is often not dramatic or chaotic. It is subtle, it is relaxed, it is spacious. Given its inclination to align us with truth, there is an orientation toward freedom. The intuitive knowing is grounded in the expansion of the spirit; therefore, its expression leads us to experience this expansion in our lives.
While there can be fear or constriction around the type of truth being presented, the knowing itself is clear and spacious.
Invitation: find moments of uninterrupted silence and solitude each day to explore what this intuitive guidance might be saying. It can take time to reveal if there is a lot of material to process, but over time, it will make itself known.
Intuition presents guidance that is clear and steady — it will not keep changing every time you check in. If you find the internal response to your inquiry is inconsistent, that is not intuition. It may be emotional reactivity, longings and expectations, or inherited ideas that have conditioned your intuitive system.
While it can take time to reveal, once the knowing has been expressed, it will be there. Check in tomorrow, in a month, or next year, and that same knowing will be there. (Caveat: this does not mean that your intuition over time will not share new information, which can lead to a change in what the intuition is saying, but it is an evolving story, more so than inconsistent truths.)
Invitation: note down what you think your intuition is saying. Check back in over time through a consistent practice to see if the themes and guidance remain the same. There is usually a simplicity through which the information is shared.
Intuition is the spontaneous guidance of the moment-to-moment experience. Sustained presence is key to attuning to this guidance, being with whatever is happening and recognizing that it is part of your experience. When we resist our experience, we are often resisting hidden truths embedded within that experience. While we may not sense the full picture (very rarely do we), we are offered guidance to help us orient at this particular point in time.
As we develop an intimacy with the clear, steady, spontaneous guidance of the moment, we are more receptive to further guidance when it arrives (the next step after this step). You might think of it as awaiting continual instruction, arriving once the initial insights have been integrated.
Invitation: reflect back on a time in your life where you received clear intuitive instruction. Note down the subsequent guidance that presented after that.
Intuitive guidance can be more easily expressed in moments of safety and pleasure. When we are safe, we can relax into the body with less resistance, creating space to receive what wishes to be known. We are also less fixated on expectation and naturally more open to the fullness of the moment, which is especially important for attuning to information that is new or surprising.
Creating rituals that center safety and connection can help us develop the capacity to soften. The softer we meet the moment, the more deeply we can access it.
Invitation: pay attention to what naturally feels clear when you are joyful, connected, relaxed, open, and blissful. Note down the spaces/places that evoke these feelings and the insights that usually arise.
Intuitive guidance contains an element of absurdity, innovation, or irrationality. It might defy logic, it might not ‘make sense,’ and we might feel confused about what to do with the information being presented. Unless we’ve developed psychic congruence, as in the head, heart, and gut are all in harmony, there is usually an inner conflict that arises with this truth.
Developing trust in your own creative capacities is integral to protecting the pearls of wisdom you receive. The more you trust yourself and the source of this wisdom (God, the cosmos, ancestral guidance), the more courage you can anchor into as you integrate this knowledge.
Invitation: reflect on times where your intuition was inviting you to step into completely unfamiliar or uncertain territory, what happened next? Consider times when your intuition drew you into experiences or actions that didn’t make sense — note down where it led you.
Final note: the foundation of intuitive discernment is emotional regulation. The tarot archetype of instinctual power, La Force, represents the creative initiation that becomes possible when we are no longer fighting our emotional life, and have instead learned to befriend it.
Intuition requires learning the language of the body, and it’s impossible to do this without learning to be in wise contact with your emotional life.
