Is There a Place for Intuition in Your Life? Ep 181

On this episode of Evolving Humans, your host Julia Marie explores how intuition can be an asset to anyone, regardless of their life path.

She discusses the value of intuition and provides exercises to strengthen one's intuitive abilities. 

Key points in this episode:

• Definition of Intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without conscious reasoning. [02:53] It is a life skill that can be developed.
• Incorporating intuition into decision-making can lead to better choices compared to relying solely on logic. [17:13]
• Intuition can boost creativity, help find one's true purpose, and enhance relationships. [07:51]
• Exercises like people-watching, card color/suit sensing, and using a traffic light visualization can help strengthen intuitive skills through regular practice. [13:57]
• Quieting the mind, being open to intuitive guidance, and trusting one's inner voice are important for developing intuition. [18:17]

Many thanks to Pixabay's Piotr Witkowski's Relaxing Time-new Age Music-162655 for the music used for the music bed for this episode.

Transcript

Julia Marie (00:00):

Are you intuitive? Does intuition even matter? On this episode of Evolving Humans, I make the case for everyone to take full advantage of their natural intuitive skillset. You've heard me say this before, it's not a gift, it's a life skill, and I believe it's time we all took a serious look at how we can apply intuition in our daily lives. Stay tuned and learn the value of intuition and what you can do about some of the obstacles you may encounter along your way. I'll also talk to you about some exercises you can try to strengthen and enhance your intuition and how you can use your intuition for decision-making.
(01:04)
Welcome to Evolving Humans, the podcast for Awakening Souls. I'm your host, Julia Marie. Settle in and get ready for another spirited conversation. We all have within us an inner guidance system that we can learn to access on demand and at will. All we need to do is pay attention to how our unique inner guidance system works. Since we are all individuals, our intuitive skills will vary from person to person. One thing's for certain. If you've ever had a gut feeling that turned out to be right, that's your intuition at work. Maybe you got goosebumps when somebody said something that really resonated with truth for you. That's intuition.
(02:19)
Seeing those flashes of movement off to the side and when you turn, there's nothing there. Again, that would be an intuitive sensing. Some people believe intuition is our connection to a higher power. Some call it a God thing. Others dismiss it as superstition. So what is intuition? Simply put, it is the ability to acquire knowledge without recourse to conscious reasoning. Now, the challenge for most of us is overcoming the phenomenon of not always being able to explain how or why we've come to know what we know, especially when it just seems to drop into our mind out of nowhere.
(03:26)
Now, history has viewed intuition from different perspectives. Plato, Greek philosopher thought of it as a shared consciousness or a pool of knowledge that's accessible to everyone. I would tend to agree with his perspective. Freud, on the other hand, was not a fan of intuition. He dismissed it as unreliable. Granted, intuition is not infallible and the accuracy of each intuitive hit will vary based on the different factors in play. The moment you get the hit the filters you have, your personal life experiences, for example, will also often color how your intuition comes into your awareness. So it's important for you to be self-aware and understand what your personal biases might be.
(04:41)
Today, science is helping us to better understand the mechanics of the intuitive process, and many believe intuition is our brain's way of rapidly processing information, drawing on our experiences, values, and goals to help us navigate our way through life. Now, I believe all of that does play a part in how our intuition functions because our intuition will access our personal database in order to provide the framework for the information that we're receiving. So should you follow your intuition only you can answer that question. But one thing is certain, most of us have experienced those gut feelings, those hunches that seem to come out of nowhere, those goosebumps that we can't explain playing. It's up to us to learn how to listen to our intuitive hits and decide if it's worth the effort to follow them, especially when we don't know why behind the hit we've just gotten.
(06:06)
The fascinating thing is though, if you do start to follow those hits, those spontaneous promptings that you may receive from time to time and you pay attention to the results, you'll find your intuition getting stronger over time. Now, I always default to following my intuitive hits primarily because I want to better understand how my intuition works for me in any given situation. So what value can be added to your life? If you learn to properly use your intuition, you can be a game changer. Imagine being able to make faster wiser decisions or opening up to new ideas, perhaps even avoiding potential disaster. Paying attention to your intuition can help with all of that and more. Studies have shown that people who incorporate intuition into their decision-making process often make better choices than those who rely solely on logic. That's important, so I'm going to repeat it. Studies have shown that people who incorporate intuition into their decision-making process will often make better choices than those who only rely on their logic. It's like having a secret weapon that helps you navigate your life's challenges with more ease. Your intuition can also boost your creativity, help you find your true purpose and even enhance your relationships.
(08:12)
So why not tap into this incredible resource? Your intuition is always there waiting to guide you towards a happier, more fulfilling life. Of course, accessing your intuition isn't always easy. There are many obstacles that can get in the way of proper intuitive functioning, stress, distractions, and even doubt you don't trust yourself can muffle or drown out your voice entirely. There's more about living an intuition guided life in episode 1 67 where I explore the obstacles more in depth and talk about how you can increase how you intuition functions, whether you're looking to make better decisions, tap into your creativity or simply understand yourself better. I wanted to share some exercises you can try that should help you strengthen your intuition like any other skill, strengthening your intuition requires practice. For most of us, one of my favorite exercises is people watching. I go to a busy place like a park or a mall, and I find a comfortable place to station myself, and then I just with a notebook and a pen handy to take down my impressions. I'll just observe the people around me using my intuition to make guesses, educated guesses, intuitive guesses about their lives. Are they happy? Do they feel happy? What do they do for work? Do they have any pets? That's something you can usually sense around someone.
(10:33)
What kind of place do they live in?
(10:38)
Any other similar questions like this you can use, but if you don't resonate with using your intuition, then give yourself permission to just use your imagination and make up a story about each person's life circumstances. And why do I say use your imagination? Because intuition uses the exact frequency of our imagination to bring information to us. When you read a book images form in your mind, for most of you, that's your imagination. The words didn't create the picture your imagination did. So use your imagination to make up a story if you're not comfortable with calling it your intuition.
(11:37)
Another exercise you can use to help increase your sensitivity is to find a deck of playing cards and practice sensing the color of each card in the stack. So you're going to shuffle them well and place them face down on the table in front of you, and you're going to take a moment to breathe and center yourself, calming your mind, pulling one card from the deck, keeping it face down. You're going to place it on the table in front of you, center yourself, and then hold your hand over the card. Allow a feeling or an image to come to you.
(12:30)
Don't second guess yourself. Just record the very first impression you receive. Remember, intuition works faster than our human brain can process information. And if you hesitate, your human brain is going to try and help you out. And trust me when I tell you most of the time it's wrong. So your job with this exercise is to be alert to the very first impression that comes to you. Don't dismiss it, just write it down because again, if you wait, you will second guess yourself and it's going to usually be wrong. I suggest you keep records of these exercises so you can see your results as they improve over time.
(13:28)
If you want to add another layer of difficulty to this particular exercise, or when you get really good at the color sensing part, you can add the task of sensing, whether it's a number or a suit. For purposes of this exercise, the ace is going to be a number card. So again, at this level, you're sensing both the color of the card and whether it's a number card or a suit card. The most advanced level of this particular exercise, of course, would be placing the card on the table in front of you and then intuiting for yourself exactly what the card is. Is it a nine of diamonds, an eight of spades? You get the idea. Again, record all these in a log. You may find yourself as you do this exercise that after a specific amount of time your accuracy rate goes down or you start getting a headache, that's when it's time to walk away and give yourself a break. It's like building a muscle. You're going to need to go to the gym and increase your rep slowly over time if you want to build muscle. And your intuition is exactly the same.
(15:17)
If you're persistent and patient with yourself though, eventually you'll come to a place where your intuition is functioning all the time, like a background program on your computer. The moment you boot it up, it's there working in the background, you're just not always aware of it. A third very simple exercise that you can try is a good one to experiment with when you're in the process of making a decision. Now, I always say start with simple decisions. In order to build your relationship to your intuition, before you tackle bigger decisions using this exercise, just imagine a traffic light, red, yellow, green. Of course, the red is stopped, the yellow is be careful, and the green is go.
(16:16)
So let's say you have a decision about choice A or choice B, so you're going to really feel into choice A, and imagine yourself living choice A. Then imagine that traffic light in front of you and allow the color that answers the question about choice. A to just appear in your mind or maybe you feel or sense the color and repeat the process with choice B. Again, start with simple decisions in order to build your relationship before you tackle something more important. Now, am I saying to you only use your intuition to make your decisions? No.
(17:16)
I am suggesting however that you apply intuition in addition to any logical factors that you've listed around your decision. The more you practice, the more you'll learn to trust and rely on your intuitive input. And again, it's like building a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it becomes, so you can start to incorporate your intuition in small ways every day, always making a conscious note of what your results are. And over time, you'll be amazed at how much more in tune with yourself you'll become. With practice, your intuition can help guide you towards a more fulfilling life.
(18:17)
When you feel ready to use your intuition to make decisions, there's one thing you can be certain of. Your intuition can be a powerful ally for you in these moments. So let's say you're ready to make a decision. What would that process look like? Start by getting clear on what you truly want, free from the influences of others. Find a quiet place, breathe a few times to calm and center yourself. Then imagine each option that you're facing. And notice as you hold that single option in your mind's eye, how it feels in your body to be living that option.
(19:20)
The right decision or the better decision for you should bring a sense of peace and maybe even excitement while the wrong one, it's going to feel constricting and you'll most often feel that clenching sensation in your gut or your solar plexus. Now, before I close this episode, let me share some tips you can use every day to keep your intuition sharp. I like to use repetitive tasks as opportunities to let my mind wander. Something as simple as a daily walk is a great place to engage in this exercise. You'll have to do it without music or your phone, but try it. Allow yourself to go on your walk and maybe you just hold whatever current situation you're musing over. Just allow it to be held in your mind.
(20:47)
Open yourself up to any potential intuitive input and tell yourself you're going to listen to whatever may come to you that you'll pay attention to whatever you receive as you silently go on your walk, perhaps with more deliberation or slowness in order to allow those feelings and sensations to drop into your awareness at the end of your walk. For example, just record whatever comes to you so you can validate it later. Another tip I have for you is to make some intentional room for quiet moments to connect with your inner voice. This will help you learn to differentiate between your personal preferences or thoughts and true intuitive guidance.
(21:54)
Choose a regular time and a regular place every day to be open to whatever your intuition has to share with you because your intuition is always speaking to you even when you are not actively listening to it. So stay open, practice regularly and allow your intuition room to provide additional input for your life. I hope you're inspired to embrace using your intuition more in your daily life. And I want to thank you for joining me on this journey. And remember, your intuition is a powerful tool. Trust it, nurture it, and let it guide you. My goal is to empower you to live a moral aligned life, a life aligned with the energy of your soul, and your soul speaks to you through your intuition.
(23:06)
Thanks for listening. If you found value here, please share this episode with two other people so that together we can bring more light to this world. Well, that's our time for today. If you need clarity about a current life situation, want to reconnect with your loved ones living on the other side of life or just need some energy healing, please go to my website at Julia Marie us and click the hook now button on the homepage. Check us out at our YouTube channel, evolving Humans with Julia Marie. Hit that subscribe button so you don't miss any of the content being posted there. And now, here's a quote for you to ponder as you go about your day. Listen to your inner voice, trust your intuition. It's important to have the courage to trust yourself, Don.