The 6 Secrets To Working With Your Intuition

Mindful Divine

// Introduction:

Today it’s all about YOU. Your higher self, your intuition and how you can learn to tap in and turn on anytime anywhere. We are always being guided to live in our life’s alignment, many of us just don’t know when or how to listen to the signs from our intuition, angels, or spirit guides. Everyone’s had that gut reaction, and through this podcast, you can learn how to listen to it, instead of ignoring those butterflies or inkling to avoid that person or business deal. It’s your birthright to live a fulfilling and abundant life. You’re listening to these words, in this moment, right here and right now for a reason. Learn how to trust and celebrate the little moments of your guided life by tuning in and tapping into Source. You’ll discover your cosmic self, and never feel alone again. If you turn inwards, you’ll discover, if you haven’t already, that you possess a powerful guidance system that has been within you all along. We are all blessed with an intuitive guidance system and the more we learn to listen to it and use it, the more confident and tactful we will become at reassuring ourselves throughout the journey of this life.

We are always being guided, but the more friends, clients and family members I talk to, the more I realize that people don't always know how to listen to that intuition. According to Deepak Chopra, “Intuition is an intelligence beyond your rational mind.”

And your rational mind, or conscious mind, is often led by the ego. So It’s important to separate yourself from your ego in order to listen to the signs. So in short, Intuition is the way the subconscious mind communicates with the conscious mind. The information that informs ‘that feeling’ is real. It’s like any other decision but the workings of it – the collection, the storage, the putting together – happen outside of our conscious mind.

I personally receive signs from many places, and you likely do too, you just aren’t looking for them. I resonate with signs from the universe (sometimes I call this source, or even god, and you can call it Jesus, or Buddha or whatever resonates with you as your higher power, the denomination does not matter). I also get info and downloads from my spirit guides, guardian angels, and archangels (which you all also have, too), and last but not least, I also lean on my personal intuition for info and intel on what to do and how to do it, which is what we will be talking about today. It’s like having an invisible force of spiritual guiding gurus always on your side, helping and facilitating you in every aspect of your life. We’ll talk more about spirit guides and angels in a future episode, but they do lend a bit of a hand in your invisible intuition, so we’ll touch on it a bit today too. Certainly, you’ve had that intuitive gut reaction, or heard the little voice in your head telling you to do or not to do something. But ask yourself this: How often do you lean in and listen to that intuitive feeling?

// Method to Manifesting 101:

Thankfully, we all come equipped with an intuition. Many of us may already have a strong connection with it, while many of us are unaware that we have within us an inner wisdom that is always on our side.

Jiddu Krishnamurti says, “Intuition is the whisper of the soul.” which I love. Often times, the messages you receive will be a whisper. It will be quiet but omnipresent. It will be meaningful, and full of intel. Sometimes, though, it may not be a whisper… it may be a yell, or a cry, or a repetitive sign you keep seeing. It’s important to recognize the different ways your messages come in. Everyone receives and understands signs differently, so unlocking your intuitive “code” can be a super fun process!

Taking the steps and efforts to cultivate a more intimate relationship with our inner guidance and wisdom is a journey of self-exploration and empowerment.

Honing into and honoring the signs from your emotional body. Investigating potential underlying stories and triggers of physical ailments. Marveling at the magical coincidences of your life. Making time to clear mental chatter to deeply listen to your inner desires. Bringing healing love to unprocessed wounds. Honoring the process of deepening our relationship with our intuition is a journey towards living a more rich, meaningful and connected life.

Alyse Parker, founder of Alignment Accelerator, has some wonderful step by step guidance I’d love to share with you today in this method to manifesting segment. In it, I’ll outline 6 ways to listen to your intuition, plus a few action items I recommend you start to incorporate into your daily routines... and once you do, your magic and potential will expand beyond your wildest dreams.

1. Trust Your Gut

We all know the sensation of when something doesn’t feel right. When our circumstances are just wrong, it’s common to feel a strong urge or twisting of our gut. This is often the most obvious if not first telltale sign that our intuition is tugging at the sleeve of our attention. If something doesn’t feel good, right or just simply off, perhaps your gut is telling you it’s time for a change. It’s so important to always pay attention to your gut. When the neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) in your gut fire up, you may be feeling either “butterflies” or queasy sensations. Pay attention to those. It’s no accident we use the term intuition and gut feeling interchangeably because science has now shown us that our gut has a brain of its own, a second brain so to speak. In fact, our gut has an entire network of neurotransmitters called the enteric nervous system. Be honest with yourself and acknowledge those unsettled feelings; they are there to guide and support you. Listen to them. Follow the hunches until your situation feels right again. Trust your emotional compass. How you feel is your greatest indicator of whether your choices are in alignment with your intuitive wisdom or not.

MINDFUL ACTION: Try this with little things at first, see if making a left or a right turn has a different feeling in your stomach. If you immediately are pulled to “turn right instead of left” on the drive home, listen. The more you prime your mind to listening to your initial “gut” reactions, the easier it will be to listen on bigger decisions.

2. Follow Energy Shifts

One way to measure whether you’ve acted in accordance to your intrinsic knowledge or not is to tune into your energy levels. Chances are you’ve experienced the feeling of having a weight lifted from your shoulders immediately after making a long-awaited decision. Maybe you sensed a return of joy or energy, charisma and physical stamina that you had felt severed from for some time. How do you feel around a co-worker or potential customer? Drained or energized? Using your intuition to read people can make you a more effective leader or negotiator in your business dealings. If these shifts are present, rejoice in the knowing that you have acted from a place of alignment with your higher, true self.

MINDFUL ACTION: Next time you’re faced with a decision, see if the weight of it feels heavy or light on your shoulders. That’s a quick indicator of an energy read in a room or a situation.

3. Tune To Your Body

Is a recurring situation in your life triggering a tight feeling in your chest? Or maybe there’s a circumstance that sparks that sinking, chronic stomach aches? If your reality isn’t paralleled to your innermost longings, your intuition will use your physical body as a medium to bring your attention to what desperately wants to be seen. As many of us have a tendency to ignore our internal guidance system, the repressed messages will develop into more severe symptoms… anything from anxiety and depression, fatigue, migraines, nausea and other physical ailments and dis-ease. What are you experiencing in your body? And what is it trying to communicate to you? What, if any, repressed messages, urges and needs are underlying the physical discomfort you may be experiencing in your life? Open yourself to positive, curious inquiry with the knowing that you intuitively hold the knowledge to be your own healer and transform your life.

MINDFUL ACTION: What consistent ailments are coming up in your body? Think about why they may be affecting you, and try reading the book “Heal Your Body” by Louise Hay. In it, you’ll find ailments, the connection to personal or professional lockages, and provides mantras for you to say daily to eradicate any physical symptoms you’re having.

4. Pay Attention to the Synchronicities

The Universe will frequently gift us with signs of assurance. Things like seeing 11:11 daily, or always getting lucky pennies are all signs to tap in. Even as we dream, manifest and shoot off rockets of desires through our thoughts and beliefs, the Universe supports us in turn by sending us the circumstances, people, opportunities and situations that will bring our advancement in life. Be present in your day-to-day activities so that you can see the meaningful patterns and coincidences when they occur. These signs can be messages from your higher self that you are on the right path. I also think these signs can also be messages from your guardian angels, archangels, or spirit guides nudging you on the right path, forcing you to listen to something being said, or showing you the way.

MINDFUL ACTION: Next time you see a recurring sign, say out loud, “what would you like to show me” and focus on the next immediate statement that comes into your mind as an answer. Without thinking, without analyzing. Just the first thing that comes to mind.

5. Get Quiet

In our world of constant chatter and content bombardment there are multiple forces grabbing for our attention, and it can become challenging to tap into the voice or sensation of our intuition. When we are up against making a decision, it’s important to create room for clarity. When you allow your mind to rest, the mud of many thoughts settles, and your mind becomes an open and clear channel for your thoughts and emotions to flow through.

Step away from your current situation and bring yourself to a state of mind and location where you can decompress and find some quiet, even just for a few minutes. Dissolve any sense of pressure by focusing on deep, elongated breaths. In this spaciousness, we can dissolve the clutter of our fears, insecurities, doubts and uncertainty to hear the deep, confident, clear knowing of our inner wisdom.

In this expansiveness, you have the lucidity necessary to listen, with all your might, to what your higher self is telling you. Even if you are not pressed to make a difficult choice in your life, making it a regular practice to quiet the mind is a great approach to deepening your connection with your intuition. Make space to get quiet. I’ll meditate for a few minutes, and just see what the first things that come to mind are - they are often short messages from my intuition and guides telling me what to do. Also if that seems too hard at first, try to just free-write. Journal in a quiet room with relaxing music playing and write quick without much thought to the words, just the first things that come to mind. You’ll often receive much clarity from this practice as well.

MINDFUL ACTION: Try free-write, meditation journaling for 5 min per day before bed.

6. Do Your Shadow Work

“You will never follow your own inner voice until you clear up the doubts in your mind.”–Roy T. Bennett. In order for us to experience a clear, uninterrupted dialogue with our intuition, we must clear, touch and heal the parts of ourselves we would rather pretend did not exist. The shadow is a term coined by psychologist Carl Jung, and it refers to our deepest wounds. The wounds from our past or present that have us believing we are flawed, unlovable, undeserving people. (ps. Here’s a secret, you don’t need to live by those narratives, you can remove the blockages by clearing the shadows. Think of it like mental spring cleaning. Shadow work can support you in embracing all aspects of yourself. This experience of self-acceptance is essential for you to love and trust yourself more, which puts you more in touch with your intuition. By communing with the aspects of ourselves that we attempt to reject and hide, we heighten our awareness of their habitual patterns and thoughts. In regards to tapping into our intuitive powers, this awareness will allow us to skillfully decipher between limiting beliefs, judgments and criticisms from the internal guide that is edging us towards appropriate discernment and caution. As we venture down the path of healing our shadow self and past wounds, we can realize that our history may be projecting onto our present moment. By looking into your shadow work, you will heighten your ability to decipher between pained, habitual thinking and our inner wisdom illuminating our path.

MINDFUL ACTION: Try allocating an hour a week to cleansing shadow work.

Remember: You possess all the reassurance, encouragement and answers to all your questions. All you need to do is look inside.

// Ancient Ancestors:

The Medicine Wheel, or Sacred Hoop, is a Native American approach to energy and intuitive healing that can be used to resolve post-traumatic stress, anxiety, grief, and health issues. It can also be used to call upon your higher power to make decisions for healing and conflict within and outside the body mind. The Medicine Wheel way of healing reconnects you to your intuition, nature, your ancestors, and the infinite circle of life. It guides you to walk your sacred path in balance and with love in your heart.

So what exactly is the Medicine Wheel?

The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Native American culture thinks that everything has a spirit — a voice, a meaning, and a power. They call this Orenda and it’s the basis of energy. When we use this energy properly and live a life in balance, we can cultivate a “good mind.”

The Shift Network says that The Medicine Wheel is an ancient symbol of the sacred hoop of life — or the circle of life — in Native American culture. It has been used for thousands of years. Different Nations have different ways of interpreting the Medicine Wheel — the colors, specific uses, and meanings…

The Lakota, Ojibwa, and Cree Nations, (just to name a few), have researched and used the Medicine Wheel in therapy for PTSD, trauma release, stress management, problem solving, conflict resolution, business consulting, and more. There are some basics of the Medicine Wheel that are the same across cultures and others that are different. How you use the Medicine Wheel can be highly personal, too.

Like Chinese medicine, Native American medicine and culture look to our Mother the Earth for guidance. Observing patterns, shapes, rhythms, cycles, and all of life’s natural patterns is part of how we are guided.

Circles are important in Native American culture. They are how we connect to nature and all of life. When we see everything as a circle, we can appreciate that the cycle of life has no beginning and no end. Within nature and the human body, we can see many circles represented, like cells, bones, the system of circulation (blood and lymph). Even our DNA consists of circular, spiral patterns (the double helix).

Medicine Wheel Image Linked Here

Image Credit: Sage Goddess

Ok, so let’s dig into The Seven Directions, and how to read, navigate, and use a medicine wheel.

Seven is also a sacred number in Native American culture. Within the Medicine Wheel are the following seven directions. Although there are 7 in total, obviously the 4 main ones are north, south, east and west. Each come with various totems, focuses, elements and herbs. Different tribes have slightly different wheels, but I’m going to focus on the most commonly used wheel today.

To use the medicine wheel, I would recommend you say in your head or out loud whatever you need help with or guidance on, it can be an informal or formal question, you can write it down and say a little prayer, or just riff. There’s no right or wrong. I’d say something like:

“I call forth and open the gates of the east, of air, of the rising sun, the spring time. I call forth your protection and guidance and intuitive support and ask for your guardianship of my journey and current questions. All hail and give thanks to the direction of the east.”

Another way can be - to have a little alter or offering plate for that direction in your room. Or You can make your own circle with rocks in the backyard to meditate in, or sit in and face that direction when asking for support...Or simply sit and face the direction wherever you are while you write or sit calmly to meditate to ask for assistance. Now onto the directions themselves...

East

The East is often where we enter a circle and begin our journey. It represents the mental body, childhood, and the spring season. Think about spring as becoming aware of new creation, when ideas show up within your consciousness. It’s when something seems to come from nothing or light comes from darkness. It’s where we create our vision. If you feel empty, you can look to the East to bring awareness. If you are stressed, you look to the East to heal from trauma (or PTSD). This is where we seek purification, healing, and renewal.

South

The South represents the emotional body, adolescence, and the summer season. It’s where we work out our emotions and relationships with others. We experiment with people, ideas, and experiences. It is the time for taking our vision and testing it out (or going on a vision quest). We test out our values and identity to understand what works for us vs. what others teach us. As we look to the South, we can move from confusion to wisdom. It’s also a place where we learn patience and commitment, moving from feeling like we have to have a result right now, to being willing to put in the time and work for those results. If you need guidance on a relationship issue with family, friends or coworkers, look to the South for support.

West

The West represents the physical body, adulthood, and the fall season. It is where our ideas are coming into physical form and we can see them in action. It’s a time when we recognize that we have to show up and do the work to create the results we want in our lives. We begin to understand and honor that we are physical beings on an important journey. It is a time to right the ship, get unstuck, shake things off, and move forward in our lives. This often includes letting go of limiting beliefs and holding true to our values. We learn that it’s important to honor and take care of ourselves because we now know the difference between self-care and being selfish. If we are willing to respect ourselves and others, we also bring humility to the wisdom of maturity, which is the goal. If you need guidance on finding the right course of action in life or a circumstance, you know kind of cleansing that shadow work we talked about earlier… let the West help you remove the past to outline your future (either immediate or long term).

North

The North represents the spiritual body, the elder, and the winter season. The North is the true source of all things, Creator, Orenda, or Great Spirit energy. In this direction, we understand the process of change and recognize that we find our place in the world by seeing things through to their completion. We work on caring vs. apathy and we realize that we can’t receive care and love from others until we care for and love ourselves. In this direction, we often find clarity and deep wisdom. We no longer fear not having the answers because we trust being led. If you need help with self-care or caring for others, look to the North for guidance.

Down

The downward direction represents Mother Earth and our connection to her, along with our connection to the soil. We learn that our Mother, the Earth, is always there supporting us. In this direction, we realize we have the opportunity for growth and as we feel our connection to Mother Earth, we are always safe. If you are not feeling supported, heard, or helped in your journey, look down to the earth for grounding guidance.

Up

This upward direction represents Father Sky and your higher self. Looking in this direction, you recognize that you are part of the circle of life, the intersection of eternity. This is where you learn to become who you are and give of yourself from this place. If you want to connect to your intuition and higher self, look up and ask for daily support to awaken and tap in.

Center

The center of the circle is you. It’s where you realize that you are in the locus of control. You can shed everything others have told you. You stop looking to other people to tell you what to do and listen to your own body and inner wisdom. You focus on being who you are with authenticity. Feeling yourself in the center of the circle can be tremendously transformational because you can look to all other directions and honor all emotions without fearing the negative ones. This is where you can find meaning on your journey, even if you are in a phase of your life that is particularly difficult. Find your inner strength and trust that your wellbeing is in your hands. Similar to up, looking within, to your center will also help you connect with your intuition. Put both hands on your heart as you close your eyes and focus on your center, which will remind you of your strength if you are feeling weak.

The Medicine Wheel is represented in a circle to remind us of this continuous cycle. We are taught that this is the circle our ancestors walked. In this circle, we carry our ancestors and their strength within us. We carry their lessons and their dreams. This reminds us that we are never alone. It reminds us that we can call on our ancestors for guidance because they’ve walked the circle for thousands of years before us. This deep history is very grounding and can provide support and guidance through trauma, stress, or grief.

I’ll be sure to link a photo of the wheel in the episode notes, and I’ll be sharing info on instagram for guidance and coursework on this too!

// Mindful & Metaphysical:

Interestingly enough, science shows there is retinol tissue in the location of your “third eye” that has neurotransmitters, the same connective receptors that speak to your brain (yes, the same way your eyes do to show visual cues). So we literally have a third eye, it’s not just a woo-woo expression save for yogis and meditation gurus. By accessing your pineal gland, and working with your third eye, you can unlock your inner consciousness and intuition. You’ll be shown ways to let life in, and feel supported in every aspect of your life, while having your deepest desires manifested.

Researchers at Leeds University analyzed a hefty pile of research papers on intuition. They concluded that intuition is a very real psychological process where the brain uses past experiences and cues from the self and the environment to make a decision. The decision happens so quickly that it doesn’t register on a conscious level. Intuition exists in all of us, whether we acknowledge it or not, and the more we can learn about it, the more we can use it to shape our lives for the better.

Basically, the human brain has two ‘operating systems’. The first is quick, instinctual and effortless. This is where our intuition lies. Intuition works by drawing on patterns collected by our experience and when we have to make a quick decision about whether something is real, fake, feels good, feels bad, right or wrong, we draw on these patterns. It all happens ‘offline’, outside our conscious awareness. The second operating system is slower to respond. It’s more analytical and deliberate and it’s conscious.

Science has found real evidence to support the existence of intuition. There was aw wonderful study performed called, “Deciding advantageously before knowing the advantageous strategy” which showed how the intuitive part of our brain knows the right answer long before the more analytical part.

In this study, participants played a card game which, unknown to the participants, was rigged from the beginning. Participants had to choose from one of two decks of cards. One was rigged to provide big wins, then big losses. The other – small gains but hardly any losses.

The participants reported that after 50 cards, they had a hunch about which deck was safer. After 80 they were able to explain the difference between the two decks.

But here’s where it gets interesting – after only 10 cards, the sweat glands on the palms of their hands opened whenever they took from the dangerous deck. It was then that participants started to prefer the safer deck but there was no conscious awareness that this was happening. So, before the analytical part of their brain knew what was going on, the subjects’ intuition guided them towards a better decision. Pretty cool, right?

I also want to share insight from a great Forbes article, where Dr. Judith Orloff MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA and author of Guide To Intuitive Health and The Empath’s Survival Guide has a private practice where she works with women executives who come to her to develop their intuition. They see it as a ‘superpower’ to use in all decisions at work as well as a guide for how to be good leaders and organizers.

According to Dr. Orloff, scientists believe intuition operates through the entire right side of our brain, the brain’s hippocampus and through our gut (the digestive system has neurons as well). And this is where it gets interesting for us ladies. Women’s corpus callosum, the connective white matter that connects our left and right brain hemispheres together, is thicker than men’s. This more substantial brain super highway gives us women better and faster abilities to access each hemisphere, further integrating our emotion and gut feelings with the more logical left hemisphere into our decision making process. Basically women’s brains have superpowers and are actually optimized for rapid intuitive decision making. No offense to the boys, certainly they have intuitions, and strong ones at that, they may just have to work on thickening their corpus callosum to connect their hemispheres and bring on more intuitive guidance!

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As always, thank you for reading along, listening to, sharing, and subscribing, and don’t forget to stay Mindful & Divine.

x.shana

Mindful Divine Website

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