Cease trying to work everything out with your minds. It will get you nowhere. Live by intuition and inspiration and let your whole life be Revelation. –Eileen Caddy. Findhorn community co-founder.
How do you recognize intuition when it comes through differently each time?
Until you understand how your intuition works it’s a bit like being lost in the woods after dark and trying to get back to the caravan park without any idea what’s what or sense of direction.
Intuition can take various forms. The term “intuition” is loosely used to describe a variety of brain functions and their corresponding experiences which is why everyone has such difficulty recognizing it.
Your intuition has several purposes:
- Warns you of danger
- Takes control of thinking during a crisis
- Illuminates the mind with insight and inspiration
- Connects you with others to inform you of their thoughts and feelings.
Each of these four categories can be broken down even further.
For example when your intuition informs you of danger you could “feel that something is wrong” in your gut meaning you have that “gut feeling.” Or, you could have a strong “knowing” that says, “My child has been hurt in an accident!” You might also be walking in a dark ally when all “the hairs stand up on the back of your neck” as you sense a dangerous individual approaching.
Have you ever found yourself in a critical situation and something in you just clicked? And, you went on autopilot and did what had to be done without “thinking” about it? That’s an example of our intuitive mind taking control.
To help you begin to understand the different variations of receiving intuitive information I asked a few colleagues to share some of their intuitive moments. Here are examples of two of the categories; intuitively connecting with another being and receiving intuitive illumination.
Connecting to another being and experiencing their thoughts and feelings:
“I studied music theory with one of the most unique and God inspired individual I’ve ever met, Don Rappaport. Don not only taught me music but he became my spiritual guide. When I met him, my belief in God had eroded. In his gentle manner, Don got me reading passages from the Bible by saying ‘Just open it to any page and read a few lines’. And I d Because of him, I was able to do things I never thought possible…like writing an opera. His love was unconditional..Although he never mentioned it to me, I knew Don was sick. When I got the phone call that he died, I walked to the french doors overlooking my garden. In that moment, something happened. I experienced a sense of joy and knew that Don, although not in body, would be with me eternally. I was radiating, tears were flowing non-stop…I knew that I had opened myself to what had always been there. I felt this other worldliness for the next day or two…and then it slowly wore off..I have never experienced anything like that again. But my faith and sense of Godliness in each moment became and has remained strong and full of light. All because of one man who was an angel. How lucky I was that he radiated his light onto me.” –Fran Sorin www.AwakeCreate.com..
“My “aha” moment came several years ago when my wife decided to go to graduate school. Mary Beth needed time to attend class, study and write papers – time that was once spent with me. Rather than sulking, I decided to do something productive with my new-found time..I always had the itch to write, but lacked the discipline to do it. On Saturday afternoon when my wife was busy with her work, I had the revelation that blogging would be a good path for me. I typed “How to start a blog” in Google which took me to Blogger. That afternoon, I created my first blog and I haven’t stop blogging, or writing, since.” –Alex Blackwell www.TheBridgeMaker.com.
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“I was in my late 20?s when my intuition literally screamed at me.
While I was living a pretty good life (happily married, good job and plenty of opportunity) my intuition knew it wasn’t what was right for me. I knew I wanted much more. That little voice in my head yelled, “Go west and do something with horses!” My logical mind replied, “Where west? It’s awfully big. And what with horses? There’s a lot I could do (even though I had done nothing with horses except some trail rides at camp when I was a kid).” My intuition wisely replied, “You go figure it out.” And I did.
At the time I was living in Boston, working in a big firm and had no exposure to “west” or “horses.” I was a city girl who always had her life all mapped out. But it was the first time I felt like I had to listen to that little voice. I knew listening to it would be the best thing for me. It was the first time in my life that I headed out with no goals, no plans, nothing concrete. I just KNEW that something great would happen.
Over the following two years, I openly ventured way out of my comfort zone, always following my intuition and had some amazing experiences. I went to outfitting school, living in a tent in the deep woods for a month and a half. I managed a dude ranch and helped to care for five packs of wolves. I trained horses. I learned about the magical abilities of horses to cure people’s physical and emotional pains through programs where I volunteered.
I learned a lot about myself and what I’m capable of. I now know that I can handle anything life throws at me. I learned what makes me happy in life (and it’s not doing what others think I should do). I learned that there’s no failure in life – it’s simply a series of experiences from which we learn and grow.
And that “something great” that I knew would happen? It’s the amazing life and family that I now have. The heart always knows.” –Paige Burkes www.SimpleMindfulness.com
I hope you found these examples helpful. You can see that intuition appears differently. For Fran it was the connection to the spirit of her dear music theory tutor, for Alex the sudden inspiration to start a blog, for Paige the internal pull “to go west.”
If you’d like to learn more about intuition check out my books on Amazon (The Intuition Primer is a great book for beginners and it’s free to Amazon Prime members). At Barnes & Noble both online or at one of their stores.
Have you had any intuitive experiences? Please leave a comment sharing what happened to you. Was it a gut feeling, a going on autopilot experience, an “aha” moment of revelation or connection to another person?
If you enjoyed this post please subscribe and receive a free gift from me.
P.S. I was honored to be interviewed by Evelyn Lim of Abundance Tapestry. Read the interview here.
Related articles
- Developing Intuition, Identifying Intuition and Getting Unstuck too! (poweredbyintuition.com)
- What’s Your Intuition Quotient? (poweredbyintuition.com)
- The Top 10 Signs Your Intuition is More Developed Than You Think (poweredbyintuition.com)
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Angela,
Thanks for sharing these examples (including my own) of intuition. I believe our intuition is powered by our inner wisdom. When we pause long enough to listen and receive the message, our lives become open to tremendous possibilities.
Alex
Hi Alex,
Thank you for contributing to the post.
Absolutely – our intuition is powered by the subconscious mind, our inner wisdom and our higher wisdom.
We mine the subconscious for answers hidden in our brain’s stored files, access our inner wisdom or “instincts” when we get a gut feeling about something and access our higher wisdom when we connect beyond ourselves to others.
You’re so right too. When we pause to create the space for our intuition to come through it does and bearing a great many possibilities!
Angela,
Thanks so much for including me in this post! Over the years I’ve learned how to listen to my intuition instead of being pulled around by my monkey mind. When that little voice speaks, I now know to listen to it. It always has my best interest in mind. And, like my story above, it may make no sense at the time but I know to follow it anyway.
I hope more people can learn to slow down, be quiet and tune into that little voice. It certainly adds infinite new levels of fun and excitement to life!
Paige | simple mindfulness recently posted..Head vs. Heart: Which Is Smarter?
Hi Paige,
Thank you so much for your contribution to this post.
Mentioning this in a comment you left for me on PbI is what inspired me to write it.
When that little voice speaks – whoa – pay attention, right?
Exactly, intuition is not “rational.” It is “fact” devoid of emotion or any of the manipulating factors that we use to “rationalize.”
Yes, Alex said the same thing too. When we slow down and listen we open the door to so many more opportunities in our lives.
I certainly have had intuitive experiences. I have also been told that my gift is in claircognizance. I have done a lot of things without thinking, that is for sure LOL!
Still, I continue to need to learn how to distinguish the voices between ego and intuition. I sometimes find myself taking a step back to double check my answers and then wonder, why I am not trusting myself in the first place. I guess I don’t want to act out of fear for the wrong reasons. Your thoughts?
Evelyn Lim recently posted..Luminary Interview: Angela Artemis – Powered by Intuition
Hi Evelyn,
When we master things such as say, “driving” we can go on autopilot and get to work and not remember driving. It’s the same with many skills and learned behaviors that we draw upon in a crisis or stressful situation when we go on autopilot.
When we are claircognizant – that falls into the psychic realm. We are not using intuition although there is such a stigma to calling oneself a psychic that most people use the word intuition but, it is very misleading. Intuition has to do with us – and our own inner guidance therefore it is called IN- tuition.
If you “know” things about people and the future without having any rational explanation for knowing you are psychic and claircognizant. You are getting information beyond the self – does this make sense?
If you’re battling over which voice to trust the ego or the intuition you need to let go. It really comes down to fear of losing control or fear of being wrong as I said in the interview. You would probably do well to work 1:1 with some intuition mentoring. Once you overcame the fears holding you back you’d probably open up to a whole new level of psychic and intuitive development.
Beautifully expressed and I enjoyed reading the exepriences of Paige, Fran and Alex. You are absolutely right about listening to our intuition/heart/gut feelings. It is like God’s voice whispering to us directly, like my Mom would say. Thank you for a wonderful post, Angela.
Vidya Sury recently posted..Sundays In My City – Om Sweet Om
Hi Vidya,
Yes – that’s it. Our intuition is how God whispers to us. It is our own innate personal guidance system that God placed in us.
It is the “life instruction manual.”
I’m so glad you enjoyed this post Vidya!
Angela…
Thanks so much for including my experience with other bloggers whose work I admire.
It never ceases to amaze how intuition shows itself in so many ways. They are all miracles…if we open up, listen, and hear what they are saying. Fran
Fran recently posted..The Shocking Truth About Group Brainstorming
Hi Fran,
Thank you for contributing to this post.
You realize that you had a “psychic” experience, not an intuitive one don’t you?
I said we use the term intuition loosely to describe 4 different functions but the last function is really a function of connecting beyond the self to others both living and in spirit.
Awareness of the presence of spirit it part of psychism not intuition.
The fact that your music theory teacher came to you shows how much he cared for you.
He found “the peace that passeth all understanding” when he passed over and wanted to share it with you.
Often when we are visited by spirit the incredible ethereal love that we feel leaves an indelible mark upon us.
I’m so glad you had this experience.
I can’t count the number of times my intuition told me to split with V. But my rational mind kept telling me that my past failures were the result of “not sticking it out”–not giving the good in him a “chance.” but my gut was right. There was no fixing him or our relationship. My intuition also told me that Bill was right and this time I listend. I’ve never been happier. Thanks for these examples and always for your inspiration.
Hi Rosemarie,
You know have a great framework to use when making decisions in the future.
Obviously your higher self needed to show without a shadow of a doubt how to tell the difference between your intuition and rational thoughts and this experience was what you needed to impress this upon you forever.
You’ll never doubt your intuition again and you’ll live a better life for it.
Better late than never, right?
Hi Angela,
Wonderful post and I enjoyed reading the experiences of Fran, Alex and Paige. You have made it so clear that intuition comes in many forms and for different reasons. It is always so interesting to me when one event leads to another. We can plod along in life until something shakes us to the core and we have insight into a new path that our life could take. Thanks for sharing these three great examples.
Cathy | Treatment Talk recently posted..How to Help Yourself and Get Your Life Back
Hi Cathy,
I’m so glad you found these examples so valuable.
Yes, and you’re so right, “We can plod along in life until something shakes us to the core and we have insight into a new path that our life could take.”
Love the quote you started this post with – far too often our minds & logic do lead us nowhere. Funny though, many of us continue that path and struggle to surrender to the tiny quiet voice of intuition.
It’s a mission of mine to listen more, follow it more and cultivate it more. How strange the tendency to ignore it
Aileen,
I definitely understand what you’re saying. I struggled too.
That’s why I felt so compelled to start Powered by Intuition.
For every time I looked back when I’d made a mistake and said,”Dammit, I knew it. I knew I should have listened to that nudge, or prompt, or little voice” and didn’t.
I realize we only ignore it out of fear. We are afraid to “let go and trust.” We are so conditioned to give in to the “rational mind” which is very tied to the “critical mind” that very often has the voice of our parents or authority figures. I was told that I “didn’t know what was best for me” my whole life so trusting my own voice was very scary.
What incredible stories by Paige, Alex and Fran! It is so amazing that they were able to listen to their intuition and act on it. So many people don’t! Thanks for a very moving post Angela. It’s a reminder again to keep paying close attention to my intuition.
Betsy at Zen Mama recently posted..Start Thinking You’re Lucky With “Lucky Thinking”
Hi Betsy,
I’m so glad you enjoyed the post.
That’s the trouble – so many people don’t listen to their inner guidance and look back with regret later.