How often have you been told to “trust your gut” when you asked for advice? That’s great advice, but useless if you don’t recognise the voice of your intuition and your Higher Self, in the first place.
What makes this so difficult is that most people simply don’t know what they’re listening for. Or they listen and believe that negative voice inside their head that makes them second guess themselves so they reject the intuitive guidance.
This doubt we feel often comes from a belief that when intuition speaks it yells. But that’s rarely the case. Unless you’ve come to know and recognise the soft murmuring voice of your intuition it can sometimes be really difficult to hear. This is especially true when you are feeling overwhelmed, emotional or you’re at a crossroads in your life. And ironically these are the very times we most want to rely on our intuition for guidance.
Sometimes we dismiss our intuitive voice, even when we have actually heard it. We second-guess ourselves and disclaim our ability or our worthiness, as our subconscious mind very quickly steps in to plant doubt about the guidance we received.
Our intuition communicates with each of us in a unique way. And unless you’re familiar with what that is for you it’s easy to dismiss or even miss, the messages altogether.
If you’re waiting for a loud message from your intuition you will be waiting for a while. Intuition isn’t a show-pony, it doesn’t shout from the rooftops. Intuition speaks to us in a whisper … “psst, go here”. It is quiet and efficient.
Intuitive Signs
In times of need, when we really need a helping hand to guide us towards the truth of our heart, there are signs or clues that our intuition may provide. Being aware of these signs and clues can make it easier for us to identify true intuitive guidance when we feel unsure.
For some of us intuition directs us through a firm and clear feeling of ‘knowing’. We know at a very deep level of conviction that something is right, or what we must do. This deep knowing comes from our intuition. But more often it will come through feelings, which may be challenging to interpret, or symbols we repeatedly notice, or even through a strong urge to do something weird or at least, out of character.
But frequently the signs may be so subtle you will have to become very open to seeing and hearing them, even coming to expect to see and hear them.
Intuition vs Limited Thought
Sometimes our thoughts cause us to feel so confused that it can be difficult to separate the voice of our intuition from the voice of our lower mind, or ego.
However, our intuitive voice is quite different to the voice of our thoughts. Intuition is the voice of our Higher Mind and therefore it does not carry emotion. It’s always very calm, measured and stable. If the message carries emotion, anxiety or fear you can be sure it is not your intuition speaking. When there is emotion attached, the message comes from your Lower Mind.
How Intutition Speaks To Us
Whatever way intuition speaks to you, it’s important to become really familiar with its language. These are just a few of the ways you might recognise it:
- Tingling, shocks, tightness, or goosebumps
- Prophetic or vivid dreams that seem to hold a message
- Hearing a song stuck in your head
- Seeing a poster, billboard, image, TV show or street sign with a synchronistic message
- Seeing number patterns like 11:11, 333, 999 or 12:12
- Receiving advice at exactly the perfect time
- A vision or inspiration during meditating, exercising or showering
- Day dreams where you mind is able to just drift
- A very strong urge to do something that may seem quite strange
- Buzzing or ringing in the ears, that is not a medical issue
- Feeling physically ill for no apparent reason
- A feeling of urgency, uncomfortable or ‘butterflies’
Through our Senses
Intuition often provides information, answers or guidance through our senses, for example through a feeling in our body, or a vision in our mind, or a strong knowledge. The prefix ‘clair’, meaning ‘clear’ is added to the start of eight sensory words to describe these and other intuitive ways we receive this information psychically.
This is all explained in ‘The 8 Clair Senses: Your Intuitive Psychic Senses’
The ‘clairs’ are:
- clairvoyance = clear seeing
- clairaudience = clear hearing
- clairsentience = clear physical feeling
- claircognisence = clear knowing
- clairalience = clear smelling
- clairgustance = clear tasting
- clairempathy = clear emotional feeling
- clairtangency = clear touching
Through Symbols
Dreams can hold the keys to our subconscious mind which often unfolds in the language of symbol and metaphor.
Keep a dream journal and record what you notice, particularly recurring themes or images that occur in your dreams because these can create a direct link to your Higher Consciousness.
Consider each of the recurring objects or symbols in your dreams through these questions:
- What do they do and how are they used? For example a car is used for transportation. But it may have other uses to you, such as somewhere to sleep if you were homeless.
- What do they mean to you? That car may be freedom, mobility, independence, shelter
- What do they represent to society? The car might represent status, performance, hard work, a family
- How do they make you feel? Think of this both in how it makes you feel generally and of how you actually feel waking from the dream. These may differ.
- Become aware of the emotional theme of your dreams by noticing how you feel as soon as you wake.
When you’ve done this you can determine why the symbol or object appears in your dream, in order to work out what your intuition might be telling you.
Through Synchronicities
Synchronicities are the meaningful coincidence of things that are not casually connected. The emphasis is on when coincidences are meaningful. Staying aware and observing your surroundings and what happens around you will help you notice synchronicities.
Through Persistent Thoughts
Thoughts that are consistently pulled in a certain direction can be a sign from your intuition to draw your attention towards a particular possibility.
Through Your Body
Intuition received through your body is related to the ‘clairs’, your intuitive psychic senses .
Intuition often sends signs through sensations in your body like tingling, small electric shocks, a tightness, sense of expansion, or goosebumps and others.
When intuition is sending a warning to wait, it can also be what’s behind uneasiness or feeling physically ill for no apparent reason, especially when it’s in the stomach or head area.
When your body responds to intuitive guidance in alignment with your highest good it feels peaceful, stable, content and balanced. Compare this with how messages that come from lower mind (your thoughts) feel – agitated, unstable or generally amiss.
We all have intuition, and it can provide us with powerful guidance when we listen and hear it, helping us to make wise choices for ourselves. But for many of us our intuition lies undeveloped and under-utilised. Discover how to strengthen your intuitive listening skill here with 18 ways to strengthen your intuition.