How To Listen to Your Intuition

When you are trying to make an important decision, everyone you ask in some form or another will recommend, “Listen to your intuition”. This is excellent advice, but often not helpful. If you knew how to listen to your intuition, would you be asking your friends and family for advice in the first place? Probably not. I think it is pretty clear that most people will agree that if you listen to your intuition, the process of making decisions will become clearer, simpler, and more successful. For most people, the challenge is not wanting to listen to your intuition; it is knowing how to effectively listen to your intuition. I invite you to join me as we explore different methods on how to listen to your intuition.

How to Listen to Your Intuition

Before we get too deeply into techniques for how to listen to your intuition; I sense we need to begin at the beginning. If you really want to learn how to listen to your intuition, committing to listening to your intuition is the first step. Like most skills, we need to make some internal commitment or investment. If you want to dance ballet, you’ll probably need to do more than decide you want to dance ballet. If you decide you want to be a court stenographer, there are skills and training necessary to do so successfully. If you want to be a professional archer, I encourage you to buy a bow, arrows, and archery class. All of these skills need some level of commitment or investment that proceeds the ability to master the desired outcome. Learning how to listen to your intuition does as well.

Listen To Your Intuition: Meditation and Reiki

The two most effective methods I use to listen to my intuition are silent meditation and Reiki. I combine the two more often than not. The article below, 7 Ways to Better Listen to Your Intuition by Elizabeth Renter, briefly summarizes different methods of listening to your intuition. I am going to focus on meditation for now.

Meditation, Brain Rhythm and How to Listen to Your Intuition

Now that we have established that you need to commit to listening to your intuition, the obvious next step is how to do so. My teacher emphasized the importance of asking yourself the correct questions and being in a slowed brain rhythm. As you know, we have an incredible amount ways to slow our brain rhythms through meditation. I typically use breath-watching meditation, but you can use whatever form works best for you. The slower the brain rhythm, typically, the more accurate the response. If you do not know how to slow your brain rhythm in meditation, I invite you to contact me or any other Meditation Instructor.

Listen to Your Intuition: Clear Questions

Assuming we have learned how to slow our brain rhythm, now we can focus on what questions to ask. My Teacher was very clear that beginners learning how to listen to their intuition would be more effective when only asking yes or no questions. She recommended not asking open-ended questions until we have enough experience.

Listen to Your Intuition: Real-Life Applications

Example. Let’s say you are working at a job that offers you several positive rewards, but you do not feel very inspired by the work that you do. Out of the blue, someone offers you another job. What should you do? A combination of doing some research, consulting with your support network, and choosing to listen to your intuition seems like a good plan. You get online and do your research; it’s the easiest place to start. You connect with friends and family and process your options. Now it’s time for meditation so you can listen to your intuition. You are in a slowed brain rhythm. Here are some possible questions to ask your Higher Self or your belly.

Do I need to stay at my current job? If the answer is yes, there’s probably no need to continue your exploration. Congratulations, you have your answer! If the answer is no, we move to the next question.

Will I serve the Highest Good at my current job? Again, if the answer is yes, a process is completed if the answer is no, on to the next question.

Do I need to accept the new job offer? If the answer is yes, congratulations—you have a new job! If the answer is no, proceed.

Will I serve the Highest Good if I accept the new job offer? I think you get the basic idea at this point.

If this line of questioning does not feel correct to you, let’s start from a different direction.

Is there a way for me to be happy at my current job?

Can I make my current job more inspiring?

Do I need to honor my commitment to my current job?

Can I grow as a human being at my current job?

These are examples of the first questions to ask your Higher Self. Let’s explore deeper with the first question for more discernment.

Is there a way for me to be happy at my current job? If the answer is yes, we can exhale, knowing that it is not necessary to leave your job to be happy. This is really helpful information. It does not mean you have to stay at your current job. The information just lets you know you can do so and be happy. Now, you are in a position of strength instead of a place of fear. Let’s go deeper.

Listen to Your Intuition: Exploring Deeper

Do I need to change what tasks I do at my current job to be happy? If the answer is no, we could move on to questions about mindset, attitude, and personal growth and development. If the answer is yes, we could move on and explore specific tasks to see if they are supporting our happiness or an obstacle. Let’s pretend the answer is no. Since we did not begin this process with a real job and job description, I am just going to make up some possible professional responsibilities.

Do I need to be involved in fewer meetings at my current job to be happy?

Do I need to spend less time on the phone to be happy at my current job?

Do I need to do more research at my job to be happy?

Do I need more opportunities for creative expression at my job to be happy?

Do I need to work fewer hours at my job to be happy?

Do I need to spend less time on the Internet and my job to be happy?

I think you get a general idea of how this works. To listen to your intuition effectively, utilizing questions that only have a yes or no answer is a great place to start. We ask clear, concise questions and continue to explore at each level, becoming more specific. Generally speaking, this is more effective and successful than open-ended questions. If we are fully invested and patient, we can ask enough questions to feel comfortable and confident with the insight and information we have gained. What a relief!

I hope the model that I have shared with you on how to listen to your intuition through meditation and inner discernment is helpful. Please let me know if I can support your process in learning how to listen to your intuition in any way. Enjoy reading the 7 Ways to Better Listen to Your Intuition.

7 Ways to Better Listen to Your Intuition by Elizabeth Renter

“Have you ever been in a situation where your “gut feeling” told you one thing, but your rational mind said another? If you went with your brain rather than your intuition, there’s a good chance you ended up regretting your decision. Your intuition is the subconscious leader that many people fail to give proper respect to. But learning to listen to this internal compass could help you make better decisions and live a more fulfilling life.

“I define intuition as the subtle knowing without ever having any idea why you know it,” explains Sophy Burnham, bestselling author of The Art of Intuition, to The Huffington Post. “It’s different from thinking, it’s different from logic or analysis … It’s a knowing without knowing.”

It’s unconscious reasoning, the guidance that compels you to turn left when all signs may be pointing right. It’s often the whisper inside that can lead you to the best results possible, if you will just learn to let go and give it a chance.

Intuition is commonly associated with New Age mysticism or a metaphysical way of thinking, but it doesn’t have to be so. Our intuition was here long before anyone even gave a word to it, and it will be here long after other fad words expire.

“There is a growing body of anecdotal evidence, combined with solid research efforts, that suggests intuition is a critical aspect of how we humans interact with our environment and how, ultimately, we make many of our decisions,” said Ivy Estabrooke of the Office of Naval Research, who is investigating the power of intuition which has helped troops make important and quick decisions during combat.

Whether it’s deciding which job to take, which direction to turn when you’re lost, or how to handle a conflict in your family, intuition sometimes knows better than the rational mind. The problem is that many of us have buried that little voice so deeply within, we have a hard time hearing or feeling where it is guiding us.

The good news is that your intuition is still there, you merely have to learn to hear it again.

To better listen to your intuition, try:

1. Meditation: Spend time in silence, simply listening.

2. Commune with nature: Aim to get at least sometime outside every single day.

3. Creativity: Tap into your internal artist by drawing, writing, painting, or making music.

4. Learn to listen: In general, listen to friends, families, silence, and yourself.

5. Be body conscious: Learn to appreciate the little signs and signals from your body, when it tells you it’s tired, joyful, in need of love, or getting sick.

6. Let go: Warm up to the idea that you don’t have to control everything. Life is going to happen whether you overthink it or not. Relax.

7. Stay positive: A 2013 study in the journal Psychological Science found that being in a good mood boosted participant’s abilities to make intuitive calls in a word game. So smile!

Working on becoming more intuitive requires you to adopt healthier habits and a healthier mindset. These are things that are good for your mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing, no matter your end goal. And if cultivated regularly, they could lend themselves to better decision making and more happiness overall.”

via The Mind Unleashed.

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