To make a difficult decision, find a quiet place, ask yourself the question, and observe what comes up first without reacting; then, imagine two parts of yourself (one scared, one supportive) to process the fear, allowing you to sit with potential answers.
Start building your intuitive muscle by asking yourself hard questions and observing your body’s initial response without immediate reaction, gradually pushing past the fear that prevents you from listening to your body’s truth.
Recognize that your conscious mind’s ‘head voice’ (rambling, paranoid, anxious thoughts) needs boundaries, like an unruly toddler, to prevent it from controlling everything and overshadowing the valuable information from your gut intuition.
Understand that trusting your gut is a practice, not an immediate action; dedicate time and effort to develop an authentic relationship with your intuition, as it can be wrong if not properly cultivated over time.
Practice meditation and sitting in silence to quiet verbal thoughts and access feelings without language, allowing for a deeper connection with your intuitive process and gut feelings.
Engage in an active practice of being physically in nature, such as finding a ‘sit spot’ to visit daily and putting your feet in the dirt, to foster healing and strengthen the body’s connection to the natural world.
Dedicate a fraction of the time you spend thinking about food choices to actively asking, ‘What is my body telling me right now?’ to cultivate a deeper respect and understanding of its signals.
If you can’t distinguish between anxiety and intuition, or if you distrust your gut instincts, rely on your trusted community (friends, family, partners) as a ‘shield’ or ‘safety net’ to help you process and validate your feelings.
Recognize that intuition is a ’team sport’; share your intuitive insights and boundaries with people you love, allowing them to provide support, accountability, and a different perspective when you are blinded by fear or grief.
Pay attention to your dream life, especially recurring dreams or specific symbols, as they can serve as tools from your unconscious mind to help you intuit meaning, resolve past traumas, and better understand your intuition.
Maintain a diligent diary of your dreams, especially recurring ones, to track patterns and visuals that your subconscious mind might be using to lead you towards resolving unresolved issues or understanding past traumatic events.
If you feel a deep, intuitive pull towards an ’existential death’ of your current self or life path, lean into that feeling as a catalyst for rebirth and transformation into a more authentic, multifaceted identity.
When undertaking a creative project, allow an intuitive, almost uncontrollable urge to guide your process, even if the ultimate outcome or purpose isn’t immediately clear, as it can lead to profound personal and career transformation.
After sitting with an intuitive truth and processing the fear, recognize that you have choices; acting on something that terrifies you but your body indicates is true can be life-changing, even if not immediately.
When reflecting on past experiences, acknowledge and label physical sensations as intuitive moments, even if you didn’t act on them at the time, to build trust in your body’s signals for future decisions.
Foster connection to your body and others by engaging in simple activities like sitting around a fire with friends or strangers, and talking to people you don’t know, which helps to counter feelings of numbness and separation.
Practice cold plunging or other forms of cold exposure to shock your central nervous system back into feeling, which is beneficial for health and reconnecting with your body’s instincts.
Incorporate play and service to others into your life as ways to get out of your head and connect more deeply with your body and intuition.
If facing a major ailment, consider a holistic approach that includes retraining your body’s story of illness, adjusting diet (cutting/adding specific things), using herbs and natural remedies, and integrating Western medicine.
If interested in sharing mindfulness with young people, consider enrolling in IBME’s comprehensive year-long teacher training program to gain confidence as a mindfulness educator and make a difference.