From gut feelings that warn you when something feels off, to helping you make better informed decisions, your sixth sense is your own, built-in “wisdom channel.” It can help navigate and guide you through life’s challenges with greater clarity. It also plays an integral role in helping you live a life of greater purpose, authenticity and alignment. Doesn’t that sound incredible?!
If you’ve ever experienced a strong gut feeling, an inner voice, or an instinctive sense about something or someone then you have felt your intuition at work. The problem is that we live in a world that tends to distract and dumb down this natural ability. Instead of it being as laser sharp and fine-tuned as the instincts of animals, our intuition tends to be overlooked and even scoffed at. The good news is that with a little practice you can activate and hone your intuitive skills!
There are lots of simple ways you can begin this process. Let me share a few starting with a few fun exercises to try at home:
1. Yes and no
This is a fun training exercise to start learning about your intuitive response to yes and no! Start by grabbing something you know isn’t very good for you – cigarettes, alcohol, a vape, a bag of sugar, or an unhealthy snack etc., Take one object at a time and hold it against your solar plexus (on your belly button) and ask yourself, “Is this good for me?” Pay attention to how you receive a no is it a sensation, a feeling, or a quiet voice?
Now try the exercise again with something you know is good for you, like natural or healthy food. Ask “Is this good for me?” and notice what a yes is. Repeat this multiple times.
2. The blind intuition test
This time, you’ll repeat the above exercise but without knowing what you’re holding. Cut some paper into strips. On some of the strips write negative words like hate, violence, and poison. Then write the same number of positive words like love, nature and harmony. Scrunch them all up individually and mix them in a cup. One by one, pick a piece of paper at random, hold it against your solar plexus and ask, “is this good for me?” Then without opening it, place it in one spot designated yes or another for no. Once you’ve gone through them all, open each strip and see how your intuition has guided you.
Remember this isn’t a test. This is a fun exercise that allows you to start activating, and working with your intuition. Keep playing at these games and very quickly you will always be right and you will have a clear idea as to your own cue for yes and no signals.
3. Quiet the mind
It is easiest to hear your intuition when you are peaceful. Small and regular moments, even just five or ten minutes work – a walk in nature, a coffee alone, gardening, a bath, journaling your thoughts all create such a space. Activities such as yoga and Qigong even craft and exercise can all be opportunities to practice mindfulness and create peace.
4. Connect with your soul
Connecting with your Higher Self is key to deepening your intuitive skills. Meditation and mindfulness both enable you to do this. They quieten the mind and its mental chatter, and help you go beyond the ego and its limitations to your deepest essence. It is here that you can access wisdom and truth and tap into your instinctive guidance system.
5. Intuition manifests in many ways
Your intuition can communicate with you in mind, body and also spirit.
1. Physically
You’ve probably familiar with physical signals like chills, goose bumps, or knots in your stomach. But you might also experience sensations such as expansiveness, warmth and even tingling.
2. Emotionally
Emotional shifts such as a sense of peace, excitement, or unease in response to a conversation, event or situation can also be signs. Notice mood swings and emotions that wash over you.
3. Spiritually
Dreams and visions are a common way your intuition can dialogue to you. And have you ever experienced a moment when you just know something is right – you can’t say how you know it to be true, you just do? It is also possible to hear your intuition as a calm, internal voice, distinct from the mental chatter of the mind.
6. The voice of intuition
Have you ever had a fleeting thought flash through your mind, so fast that you don’t really register it, only to realize later that you should have listened to it? A warning shot like, “Don’t put that there,” moments before an object or cup gets knocked over, or “Don’t forget that” just before you do. These fleeting shots of intuition, that I call darts, only become clear with hindsight. The key is to recognize them for what they are. With practice you’ll be able to catch these warning shots as they fly through your mind.
7. Get out of your own way
Doubt, fear and over thinking can cloud, disorientate and confuse you. This is natural. You’re developing a new way of working, and it takes time to grow into this. Notice any internal voices and what they have to say. Often, your inner critic isn’t your voice! Trusting and honing your intuition is a gradual process in which you build your confidence and learn to trust yourself. Keeping a journal can be useful to track your experiences, thoughts and feelings to gain clarity and insight as well as improve your confidence.
8. Signs from the universe
The moment you begin to work with your intuition you are inherently beginning to explore a more spiritual way of living. As your intention and vibrational energy shifts the universe is able to help you in ever new ways. But what about adding to your intuitive training by asking the universe to help you? Ask the universe for signs to help guide and navigate you, and then keep your eyes and mind open to the many ways in which this might occur! You’ll be amazed at the synchronicities and magic that will start happening when you call upon the universe to become involved in your life.
9. Body speak
Pay attention to any physical sensations within your body. Notice goose bumps, tingles, nerves, uplifting or foreboding sensations. Your aura is constantly picking up and receiving information. This information is channeled to you through your bodies spiritual energy highway (the chakras). Your solar plexus chakra is linked to intuition and energy perception. It is why so much happens here and why our language is so rich in gut relates expressions: From sayings such as, “butterflies in my tummy,” “a sinking feeling,” “a punch to the gut,” “my stomach dropped,” to “knots in my stomach.” We even have sayings such as “trust your gut” to “gut feeling.” Think about it!
Pay particular attention to the energetic signals in your tummy and remember you can protect your spiritual energy with simple techniques found in my blog. And if you need further help or assistance, don’t hesitate to reach out to me personally. I want to help; I love being a part of someone’s life-changing, eye-opening spiritual journey!
Louis Grassi 