Intuition: Whispers From The Soul

BY KIRSTEN HARRELL, PSY.D.

Explore how intuition can help you find answers to questions your rational mind cannot.

What is intuition?

Intuition: immediate insight or understanding without conscious reasoning.

Our soul is constantly sending us information to help us along our path. Intuition is one of the vehicles the soul uses to relay messages to us. Intuitive messages can come as a sudden "knowing," gut feelings, thoughts, images, emotions, or bodily sensations. Intuition is a powerful source of information, creativity, and inspiration. When we follow our intuition our life flows more easily, things seem to fall into place, and we are generally more satisfied because we know we are following our soul path.

We all have intuitive potential. It is not something that only a few gifted people possess. It is a natural ability that we all have and a skill we can all develop. As children we freely access our intuition. Unfortunately, we often receive negative messages from our parents, teachers, or peers and we then begin to doubt our intuition. Once we lose that trust in our intuitive knowledge and ourselves we begin to close down that channel of information. We still receive intuitive messages, but we ignore them. When we do not honor these intuitive impulses, our ability to hear our intuitive voice often fades and we miss valuable information.

Developing Intuition

Fortunately, we never really lose the ability to be intuitive. With a little patience and practice we can rediscover our powerful intuitive potential and develop the necessary skills to use our intuition to guide us on a daily basis. The first step is to increase our awareness of the intuitive impulses that we already receive. It is very important to trust and honor the natural intuitive abilities we already have. If we did nothing more than increase our awareness and honor our current intuitive impulses we would find a dramatic difference in our intuitive abilities.

In addition to paying closer attention to our intuitive impulses, there are some specific practices and exercises that we can do to enhance our intuitive potential. Centering, listening, and interpreting are important components of the intuitive skill.

Centering

Centering is the practice of quieting the mind and relaxing the body to create a sense of peace and acceptance. It is a process of clearing away the mental clutter so that you can access your own inner resources and power. Centering can be accomplished in many ways. It is important to find several ways that work best for you so that you can easily center yourself even in the midst of chaos. The important thing is to allow your body to relax and let your mind become quiet. As you are centering, you will likely find that your mind wanders occasionally. That is perfectly natural. Simply bring your awareness gently back to the quiet peaceful feeling. Once you are centered you will find that you can access your intuitive voice much more readily. The following are some of the common practices for centering.

Deep breathing — Deep diaphragmatic breathing is an excellent way to get centered. Place one hand on your chest and one on your abdomen and breathe naturally. Notice which hand moves more as you breathe. It is likely that the hand on your chest moves up and down more than the one on your abdomen, indicating shallow chest breathing. It is easy to retrain your body to breathe deeply. Imagine a balloon in your stomach. As you inhale imagine filling this balloon up with air - your abdomen will rise. Then imagine letting the air out of this balloon as you exhale - your abdomen will fall. Try breathing in this deep way for several minutes at a time. Research has shown that breathing in this manner will produce the relaxation response. This will also help to focus and quiet your mind.

Meditation — There are many forms of meditation. Any of these forms are excellent ways to get centered and to quiet the mind. Even a few minutes of meditation daily can increase your ability to hear your intuitive voice. If you are new to meditation you might try sitting quietly and focusing your attention on a flame. When your awareness drifts simply bring your attention gently back to the flame. You can also try focusing your attention on a short phrase or word (mantra) that you can repeat over and over to yourself. Whatever you choose to focus on is not important - what is most important is that you are gentle with yourself as you focus your mind.

Music — Many types of classical and/or relaxing music can be used to center. Try experimenting with different types of music and notice the impact each one has on your emotional and physical states. Instrumental music is often best because your mind is not distracted by lyrics.

Prayer — For some people prayer is an excellent way to get centered. It is a way to connect with the Divine energy and this can bring the mind into a more quiet state and relax the body. When using prayer as a centering practice, be sure to pay attention to the way you feel when you connect with the Divine energy. You can use this to reconnect quickly to the Divine by simply remembering this feeling.

Affirmations — You can use affirmations to focus your mind. It is best to use affirmations with some form of relaxation (such as deep breathing) in order to get the combined effects of a relaxed body and focused or centered mind. Affirmations are a terrific way to tap into the power of your subconscious mind to help you reach your conscious desires. Affirmations should be concise sentences stated in a positive way. When creating an affirmation remember to state what it is that you want, not what you don't want. Another important guideline is to always use the present tense when creating your affirmations.

The following are a few examples of affirmations to increase your intuitive abilities.

I trust my intuition.

My intuitive ability is consistently accurate.

My intuitive signals are strong and clear.

I can easily distinguish my intuitive voice from other internal voices.

I access my intuition easily.

My intuition delivers simple and straightforward messages.

Listening

When you are centered, you are more open to the flow of intuitive information. Once you are centered, you can pose your question or ask for intuitive guidance. Then listen for an answer from your soul. Be sure to use all of your senses when you "listen" to your intuition. Intuitive messages come in many ways. You may hear the answer, get a chill, feel a sense of peace, or notice a certain taste or odor. As you practice listening and honoring your intuition you will get better at recognizing the ways that you receive this information. Even though you might typically receive your intuitive messages through one particular sense — such as visual images - it is good to be open and receptive to your intuition in whatever form it may appear.

As you "listen" for intuitive messages, sometimes you will receive a clear message right away. Honor these direct messages and you will continue to open up this channel of information from your soul. There may be times that you will not receive a clear answer right away; however, the information will come to you later through feelings, dreams, songs, or other synchronistic events. Be patient! If you become frustrated and try to force an answer to come, you will likely block the flow of intuitive information.

When you first start practicing you may want to begin with small issues that do not have significant impact on your life. For example, try to discern who is calling before you answer a ringing telephone or try to guess how many pieces of mail you will receive in your mailbox. Practicing with these simple issues will allow you to stay relaxed and focused without too much distraction from other inner voices such as fear or wishful thinking.

True intuitive messages are always in service of your best interest and lead you in the direction of your soul path. Until you become very familiar with your own intuition you may have trouble distinguishing your intuitive voice from other inner voices - such as fear or wishful thinking. It is very important to pay attention to the way you feel when you know you have received an intuitive message. Being very familiar with this feeling will help you discern intuition from other messages.

Distinguishing between intuition and ego

Sometimes we get conflicting messages and we have difficulty figuring out which message is our intuition. For example, you may get an intuitive sense that you need to take a certain action, but thoughts of following this action produce fear. As the fear arises, your ego or personality begins to rationalize and create reasons that you should not follow this course of action. Without clear awareness of your own process you can become confused by these conflicting messages and not know how to discern the voice of fear from intuition. This is why centering is such an important skill to master when developing your intuitive skills. When you find yourself in the confusing swirl of inner messages, you must center yourself so that you can feel the difference among the messages. Once you are centered and your awareness is focused inward, review each of these messages slowly. When you are centered your fear is reduced and you are more able to discern the true intuitive message.

©2002 Kirsten Harrell, Psy.D.

Kirsten Harrell, Psy.D. is a Psychologist in Ohio and President of Popular Inspirations, Ltd.  Dr. Harrell has expertise in the areas of transpersonal psychology, mind-body therapies, quantum psychology, and stress management.  She is a consultant/coach for individuals and businesses wishing to maximize their potential for success and reach their goals.  Dr. Harrell is a co-creator of ipop-ins, which are one minute attitude boosters that can be downloaded from the website www.ipopin.com.