Last week, I attended a wake. Maybe it was the coffin in the parlor, or the availability of alcohol, but I ended up engaged in a revealing and hilarious conversation about the nature of intuition.
What I’ve learned about intuition is that it comes in fragments from a wordless place, not as complete stories (which are a construct of our minds). Intuition sends a message, not urgent, unattached to any outcome, and it honors our core values. It’s not a justification for fear, as it comes to us only when we’re in a calm state. It’s effortless. And it comes from your essential self, that part of you that is completely connected to your truths and totally present in the moment.
When my friend Kim expressed doubts about the authenticity of her intuition, she joked that sometimes she’ll see a sign, but ask for MORE proof: “Hey, thanks for the sign. Now send me another.” When her still, small voice calls, she hangs up the receiver and waits for it to call back. “Hello, still, small voice? Yeah? Well if it’s really you, call me back.” This sent us into endless gales of laughter.
What we were really talking about was how to learn to recognize and trust our intuition, which is really about trusting our selves. It’s never wrong, even if it leads you down a path that you later decide isn’t one you want to continue to follow. It’s the lessons you were meant to learn along the way that are the reason you followed that ‘wrong’ path in the first place.
The trick is in distinguishing intuition from fear, which MBI Master Coach Terry DeMeo does brilliantly in her post “Is it fear or is it intuition?” In one of her classes, she teaches an exercise to become more familiar with the qualities of our own intuition, to which I’ve added my own two cents. See where it takes you.
Imagine your intuition has some sort of physical form. Describe it with all your senses: see the size and color of it, hear the timbre of its voice, notice any scents you associate with it, feel its texture. Take a moment to inhabit this form–slow your breath and access your calmest energy state to merge with your intuition.
Now, as the manifestation of your intuition, answer the following questions:
-Where can you be found?
-How can you be accessed by the person who manifests your form?
-What can you help this person know and understand?
-Is there an action the person can take?
-What sign can you exchange together, so the person knows it’s really you?
-What should your person know about you?
The physical form of intuition will be different than the physical form of fear. Taking it to this level, actually feeling it in your body, will help you tell the difference and prevent you from hanging up on the most important call you’ll get all day.
