“Listen to your inner voice. Trust your intuition. It’s important to have the courage to trust yourself”—Dawn Ostroff

“It’s just a hunch” is a great example of how we’re all taught to downplay one of our greatest natural gifts: The Power of Intuition, the Sixth Sense or the Third Eye that opens us to our inner realms and higher consciousness.

When I look back on my life, the most foolish, truly embarrassing, and time-consuming problems have been the result of not listening to my intuition. I always felt that my intuition was strong and events that I had foreseen for my life would often occur. However, I was conditioned to second guess myself, so often took the wrong path. Like many of us, I was taught that intuition was “superstitious” and foolish and only harm would come if I let it guide me.

Every human has the power of intuition, but it can be deeply buried until we finally learn to trust ourselves. Despite how hard we try to submerge it, there’s an inner voice in all of us that’s there to protect and guide us. Intuition is the feeling in our gut that tells us the truth even when we don’t want to hear it. It’s there to guide us, creating the source of our wisdom from experience. I believe, intuition is such a powerful guiding force that without it we’ll never reach our full potential. Learning to listen and interpret our intuition is the path to creating our truth and making our dreams come true. Intuition is at the heart of creating a magical and happier life. Our gut instinct is our truth!

That’s what my “guts” telling me to write anyway…

WHAT IT IS

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift”—Albert Einstein

Intuitive thinking helps us understand reality in the moment, without logic or analysis. Intuitive thinkers live in the present, confident in their abilities to create, and move forward in life. Intuitive thinkers believe in using creativity to create the life they desire and deserve.

The sixth sense (or third eye) is another term for our natural sense of intuition. It's the inner voice that speaks to us through those truthful gut feelings that aren't always taken seriously. Intuition shows us that ideas that are “felt” can sometimes have more value than ideas that are “thought”.

Intuition is a true reflection of who we are.

Traditionally, intuition has gotten a bad rap from the scientific community. It has often been seen as “inferior” to reason and not to be glorified. However, more and more researchers see intuition as our brain’s way of taking a shortcut based on our memories, wisdom, and knowledge. Like our ability to reason, our intuition is often accurate in its attempt to set us on the right path.

Our quick-thinking brains tend to have biases. For example, our brains tend to think that something that is attractive must be good, when this isn’t necessarily true. We also tend to pay attention to information that confirms our beliefs and ignore information that challenges our beliefs, causing us to believe things that are wrong. Sometimes we make a quick decision without thinking of all the possible options and end up regretting it or feeling foolish. As a result, it is likely wise to use a balance of reason and intuition in our decision-making.

There are four types of intuitive thinking:

1. Emotional: The ability to pick up on ie: “read” someone else’s emotions or personality traits. A feeling of seeing who that person is, often without them having to say anything.

2. Mental: This is when we have an immediate answer to a problem without any analysis. This is common for people with jobs that require quick decision-making.

3. Psychic: The ability to select the best route to solve a personal problem or situation without putting much mental effort into it.

4. Spiritual: This comes when we feel a revelation or sense of enlightenment. These are more experiential than logical. Often this comes with a feeling of seeing the future and making it happen in real life.

HOW TO LISTEN FOR INTUITION

Compared to the other senses, intuition requires a deeper level of receptivity and interpretation. It cannot operate when the mind is busy with other thoughts. A distracted mind can never be a fully functioning intuitive mind. Intuition helps us process information related to the outside world as well as information about our being.

What gets in the way:

• * Overthinking, often the first thought that comes to our mind in a crisis or difficult situation is the correct solution. Overthinking is our way of casting doubt on ourselves and feeling stuck and unable to move forward.

• * Telling yourself or someone else that they “should do something”. This reinforces the concept of shame and provides no growth or opportunity for change and adaptation.

• * Need for approval. Stop looking to others for approval.

• * Being too focused on a want or need and losing touch with intuition. The desire to be popular or acquire material goods often can block our intuition.

• * Trauma and abuse

How to develop intuition:

• * Slow down and clear your mind. Learn breathing techniques for slowing down the heart rate and feeling at peace. Intuition is not about impulse, but more focused on what we want or need in life.

• * Begin to recognize patterns, repeated events and monitor the results. Patterns can become intuitive routines that help us respond to crises and events in a logical and unemotional manner.

• * Make the mind/body connection. What are you feeling inside your body? Emotions or sensations?

• * Take a look at the big picture and focus on ourselves, dig deep and ask yourself what you really need and why it’s important?

• * Take action, intuition is a tool for creation and moving forward in life.

Intuition is seeing with the soul—Dean Koontz

Intuition can help us see any given situation in a manner that the thinking mind cannot conceive. Even a rudimentary intuitive capacity is more valuable than a cluttered mind full of accumulated knowledge. It takes a certain degree of trust and an initial leap of faith to leave the comfort of accumulated knowledge to an uncertain open space where intuition manifests.

Intuition may not always provide the most logical path or solution, but it’s always there in our subconscious to guide and help us learn. Once we tackle our fears and remove disempowering negative emotions and habits, we can begin to renew our lives with creativity and inspiration to begin trusting our unique intuitive powers. When we learn to trust ourselves, life opens-up, and becoming more creative, empowering, and filled with intention. Intuition inspires creativity and confidence to help us rise and create the lives we deserve. While intuition is always accurate because it is based on our core truth, it’s not always easy to follow without creating an empowering mindset for trusting ourselves.

When we base our intentions on the messages from our intuition, we create lives with greater happiness and joy. Intention creates the action-steps based upon our own intuition to manifest our desires. Once we understand how powerful intuition is, we can continue creating and expanding our lives.

By learning to trust intuition we can open ourselves up to a creating a happier life filled with purpose and meaning. The universe is continually sending us messages to give us knowledge and find our truth. Learning to trust ourselves is the highest message of all.