The age old dilemma, did I just make that up, or is it my intuition speaking to me. You are not alone, I think every one of us asks ourselves this questions. I know I do, and there have been times when I have jumped at ideas I thought came from my intuition, and was wrong, then times when I ignored a message, thinking I made it up in my head, and found out it really was my intuition. So how do we know for sure? Here is the truth.
First off, your intuition is never going to yell at you, unless it is a life or death situation. You have to listen to the quiet voice, which means becoming quiet inside. This can be difficult in stressful situations, that is why a regular meditation practice is so beneficial. Meditation allows us to become quiet inside, it allows us to become familiar with that space, it allows us to slow our thinking down. Meditation allows us to go through our day on a different level, meaning, you are more focused, more aware, and more present in each moment. That inner voice is easier to hear, and because you are familiar with it, it's easier to trust. Your first step to hearing and trusting your intuition is slowing everything down, stop asking, and start listening.
Your intuition is not only a quiet voice, in fact it lives in every area of your body. Your body will always tell you right from wrong. That gut feeling, yes, that is your intuition. The hair standing up on the back of your neck? Yup, intuition. Clenched fist or jaw? That's right, your intuition telling you something isn't right. On the other hand, that peaceful feeling of safety and security, that calmness within, again, your intuition saying, yes. Your next step in hearing and trusting your inner self, is learning to pay attention to what your body is telling you. If your body is tense or tight around certain people, or in situations, its telling you to back away, it's telling you this isn't completely right for you. How many times has your body given you this indication and you ignored it, only to find out down the road that you had an inner knowing that this wouldn't work out? Listen to your body, it never lies.
What about those ideas or thoughts that come into your mind? Ha! They can really get you can't they? Here is how to sift through them and know which ones to trust. Again, it's all about slowing down and paying attention. We all get ideas that come out of the blue, but not all of them are your intuition speaking. How do we discern what is true and what isn't? First of, listen to the tone of the message. Is it rushed? Is it loud? Is it pushy? Pay attention to how it feels. Does it feel pushed? Does it feel forced? Does it feel tense? Does it make your head and neck tense? If you answer yes to any of these, it's your big ole ego mind speaking to you. If however it feels safe, comfortable, doable, if it's quiet and gives you confidence, and tends to repeat itself throughout the day, then bingo, it's your intuition speaking.
Now, we have to take a few more steps. Because if you are anything like me, you will take that quiet comfortable idea, and start to pick away at it, start to analyse it. Once we start to do that, we engage our ego mind, We start interpreting what the message meant, or how it will turn out. We can make that soft message seem loud and stressful by doing this. That is when we have to stop ourselves. Walk away from the situation, clear our minds, become quiet again and listen. The truth always repeats itself. Listen for it. Trust it. Follow it. Practice makes perfect.