Hunches, Inner voice, Instinct and Gut feelings are all aspects of the feminine principle quality called Intuition. It is a quality often attributed primarily to women for various reasons. Women may have greater ease with this ability, but it is equally accessible to both men and women who choose to flex this “muscle.” It is a matter of training, use, cultural expectation, receptivity and practice.
I put intuition into the category of emotional intelligence and consider it both an intellectual and spiritual quality that can be developed in everyone. Every human being can access their higher nature if they so choose.
Webster defines intuition as: “the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning/a thing that one knows or considers likely from instinctive feeling rather than conscious reasoning” (the latter being more in the masculine principle realm). Again, keep in mind that both functions are in potential, and accessible to both genders depending upon how consciously one focuses one’s attention and one’s attitude toward listening to an inner voice.
Whether you know it or not, your intuition works perfectly according to the authors of the book, Sixth Sense, Laurel Nadel, Judy Haims and Robert Stempson. “...becoming more intuitive is a process of learning to notice how you think and respond.” The authors emphasize, “while certain characteristics and criteria are fairly universal to intuition, the language through which your intuitive intelligence speaks is entirely your own.” When a person uses both conscious reasoning and intuition, a person is using their “whole brain”.
For a knowledgeable telling of their encounter with whole brain function, I highly recommend the book, Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D., a neuroscientist. By telling the fascinating story of her personal experience, Jill created a thoughtful, introspective report of her loss and subsequent recovery of her whole brain function over a period of eight years.
Consider the next few blog posts as an adventure in self-discovery. The first class I taught was titled, “Intuition and Imagery - Self Discovery through Myth, Symbol and Imagery”. I have always been drawn to this topic and am excited about re-visiting it again 30 years later! I know that there are many of you who have much experience with this topic also so feel free to chime in.
“Whole Brain thinking allows you to take in more information than you would if you used only one processing system.” In order to effectively develop intuition, “you will have to suspend rational thought for a while so that you can relinquish your attachment to it as the only valid mental experience.” Nadel, Haims and Stempson, p. 14.
“Releasing some of your preconceptions about the need to be logical at all times gives you a chance to suspend the control of your conscious mind while you enter a mode of freeform thought, visualization and association of images and ideas.” p. 14. In a left-brained world, this becomes an adventure, but we are exploring the feminine principle so we:
Suspend Judgements * Make no Comparisons * Delete the need to Understand.
Take a moment to identify some times when you were aware that your intuition was present. Was it a visual intuitive flash? Awareness of an inner voice or a symbolic message? Or was it a gut feeling where you have a strong physical sensation or emotional response about someone or something?
As an illustration of how intuition can manifest, I have a memory of an intuitive friend who was coming to my house for a meeting. She arrived late and explained that she had literally encountered one roadblock after another on her way which caused her to be late. She had been thinking about her experience and commented, “I think I am being told to slow down in my life!” That is what you call a symbolic, intuitive hit which was received and understood.
Another example was one time when I was talking on the phone with a friend. When I hung up, I had a distinct gut feeling of disliking talking on the phone that had nothing to do with the friend or the conversation. I asked myself what that feeling was about and the inner voice message I got was, “When you are talking on the telephone, you can’t hear yourself think!”
I find that the memory of intuitive thoughts often do not stay with me for very long unless I make conscious note of them in some way. I need to write them down or repeat them over and over much like I have to do with dreams. I suggest that for a couple of days you write down your intuitive experiences as they happen, just as a way to validate that you have them and also so you remember their wisdom.
Another example happened when I met someone from whom I got the distinct impression that I “knew” them. (No rational explanations necessary here—and I never solved this mystery.) And at another time, I asked myself for an image of what had just happened in a fraught interaction I was involved in. A fluffed up, clucking, flapping chicken immediately popped into my mind. It was the perfect image! (Sometimes I laugh out loud with the creativity that comes forward from intuition). Intuition and creativity are inseparable.
As my last example, as I was trying to make a difficult decision, I asked my intuition for help. An inner voice, very clear and calm came, one that I often heard from my husband. “You will make a good decision.” I then had confidence that my considered decision was a good one, and it later on turned out that it was!
When you are able to identify examples of intuitive experiences, recognize and give yourself credit that:
You have experienced intuition.
Intuition exists.
You can readily access it.
You experienced it once and you can experience it again.
Attitude is everything and trust in your own knowing builds over time.
Anyone have examples of intuitive experiences, large or small to share?
So what qualities or characteristics does an intuitive person have? Robert Stimpson created a long list gleaned from workshops he taught on the subject. Here are just some of those qualities he identified.
Good self-image. Curiosity
Independence Open to new experiences
Willing to experiment A sense of Self-Esteem
Willing to learn new things Self-confidence
Calm Acceptance of self and others
Ability to be child-like Flexibility
Centered Spontaneous
Risk taker A sense of wonder
These are just a few. What ones would you add?
Now, to work. Choose three characteristics from this list and your list that you would like to strengthen. Write them as an equation. Curiosity + Sense of Wonder + Risk taker = Intuition.
Now relax with eyes open or closed take a few deep breaths and then, following your breath, bring to mind a time when you experienced being a risk taker. Notice the circumstances surrounding this time and any visual or auditory cues that you associate with this experience. You may have a bodily sense of how this felt. Make these cues more pronounced and vivid and when ready, repeat the word three times. Risk taker, Risk taker, Risk taker. This will anchor the experience in your mind……….Now do the same process for yourself with the other two qualities you have chosen. Then just let go and see what happens.
A second related exercise would be:
Once again create an equation of three qualities and write a sum for yourself. Wonder + Inner Strength + Fun = Intuition.
-Choose one of the characteristics you want to develop and choose at least one activity for each and perform it regularly for a week. For example:
Wonder - Walk in nature and create a sense of wonder at each detail you see, hear, smell and touch.
Inner Strength - Do a life review and bring forward a memory of a time you had inner strength. Ponder how that felt and what it meant to you.
Fun - Make sure to experience in a week, one or more things that are fun--a swim, sharing laughter with a friend, choosing an activity that brings pleasure or joy. Build your own repertoire of fun things to do. (This one is a challenge for me!)
Remember to affirm that you are aware of these qualities in yourself by repeating their words three times.
As a final contribution to this blog, I am including a Guided Imagery Exercise to help you recognize your intuition. Just by doing it, you are flexing your intuition muscle. It is adapted from the book, Sixth Sense.
Meeting your Intuition - Guided Imagery
Note: If you do not have someone to read this meditation to you, you can record it for yourself and play it back. Hearing your own voice can be powerful.
First, settle into your seat and take several deep breaths. Feel your body getting comfortable, calm and centered. Continue breathing and just notice where your breath takes your attention. If thoughts intervene, notice them, thank them, and move them on, continuing to focus on your breathing and where in your body it takes you. Pause
Now in your mind’s eye, create a room that represents your mind. Give it some time to appear...As you slowly look around your room, realize that it contains all of your abilities because in this room you have placed all of your multiple intelligences, including your Intuition. Also somewhere in this room you will find dreaming, memory, emotional intelligence, will, creativity and imagination. In fact, you can put any mental attribute in this room that you choose, for it is your room….
As you look around your room, you can see that some of these attributes are large, others are small. Some are closer to where you are standing, others are hidden away or stacked up in corners, on shelves or along walls, much like it is your own library of attributes. Each one is a different shape or color. As your eyes move around the room, notice where you have placed your memory. What is its image, shape or color? What is your response to it? Take a moment to let it present itself to you. Pause
Now look for your logic. Where do you find it and what is its image, size, shape, color or felt sense of it? Take a moment to let this quality present itself to you. Pause
Now find dreaming and let it present itself to you as a shape color or image. Take a moment to receive its image or emotional “felt sense” response. Pause
Leaving these images behind, now search out the place where your Intuition rests. Approach it and request that it give you a shape, color, image or sense of what it is. Take your time on this one, letting it come to you clearly…...Is it close to you or far away? Is it large or small, hard or soft? Do you feel like moving toward it or away from it? Pause
Gradually move closer to your intuition and notice how you respond. What are your feelings about it? Take a few moments to just “be” in its presence and perhaps find a way to start a conversation with it. Listen to what it has to say or tell it how you would like it to help you and listen for its response. Pay attention to its voice…….
Longer Pause for conversation
Now that you are more familiar with your intuition, reflect on whether you have heard this inner voice before. How do you feel when you hear it? Are those feelings located in any particular part of your body? Pause
And now preparing to bring yourself back to conscious mind, remember that this is your room and you can come back to it whenever you choose. You have selected and arranged everything in it so that you feel great when you are here. Spend as much time as you like acknowledging your intuition and your other mental abilities and when you are ready, come back to this room and your chair, back into waking consciousness, knowing that you can return to this room whenever you need to be reminded that your intuition is always present.