Gut feeling,
Sixth sense,
Premonition,
Instinct.
We have a lot of terms to describe that peculiar sensation of knowing something to be true without necessarily knowing how or why.
Whether it came in the form of a dream,
A serendipitous occurrence,
Or a bone-deep feeling,
We've all experienced that kind of primal hunch at some point in our lives,
Even if in the smallest of ways.
But how do we know the difference between those times when our bio- energetic radar actually sounds the alarm and the times our inner narratives,
Our beliefs,
And our fears and traumas get the best of us?
The word intuition itself comes from the 15th century Latin words meaning direct cognition and spiritual perception.
Now in the West we have a tendency to view the world from a head-centered,
Top-down approach.
It's easy to see then why the idea of immediately knowing something feels like it should be a brain-centered experience.
And sometimes that's absolutely the case because the brow chakra is related to direct perception and insight.
In fact the word premonition has roots meaning to warn,
But kind of like passing on wisdom.
So there is a thinking,
Head-centered connotation there.
But what about those times when it feels like something other than our desire-driven lizard brain demands to lead the way?
Turns out there are reasons we identify intuition as a gut feeling,
Or that we feel our heart needs to lead the way.
For decades,
Research from the HeartMath Institute has shown that the heart actually sends many more regulating signals to the brain than it receives from it.
In other words,
By focusing on,
Say,
Our breathing and heart rate,
We can alter our nervous system and brain function.
Not to mention the effect of loving-kindness meditation on the body is enough to make anyone want to sit down and smile for a while.
So what about the gut?
Well,
Some of the newest research in the brain-gut connection shows that we have a second brain in our digestive system.
Called the enteric nervous system,
Or ENS for short,
This network of millions of nerve cells in our GI tract plays a huge role in working with the central nervous system to regulate our hormones,
Our moods.
So in a way,
It's never been more true that you are what you eat.
But it also could be that our whole bodies are in constant communication with not only our brain,
But our entire field of consciousness.
So when we trust our instincts,
We put faith in something beyond intelligence or reasoning.
The word instinct even means a kind of inspiration or instigation in a prodding or goading sort of way.
So it's like an inner poke to grab attention that seems to come from deep,
Almost genetic kind of omniscience.
But how do we hone our ability to trust our sixth sense?
How do we tell the difference between our spirit pointing us toward truth and our habitual fears disguised as warnings?
Regardless of backgrounds or beliefs,
Anyone can learn to both awaken and hone their intuitive capabilities.
And like nearly all inner endeavors,
It just takes patience and practice.
Here's a couple ways that you can develop your sense of intuition.
Step one is to practice pausing.
Developing inner senses like intuition is an intimate process of self-acceptance,
Honesty,
And curiosity that can become quickly marred by judgment or expectation.
So we have to become scientists of ourselves and our inner experiences,
Observing and watching with a gentle kind of openness.
Meditation finds its home in the early steps of many spiritual paths,
And it plays an equally important role in developing intuition.
So it's my favorite way to practice the first step in this awakening process.
As we cultivate the capacity to pause in meditation,
We gain the ability to observe our thoughts without getting so caught up in them.
In the feelings they provoke,
Caught up in our righteousness for having them,
Caught up in the stories they reinforce.
And this is one of the core benefits of mindfulness,
To be able to pause,
And then observe,
And then bring that into our daily lives.
When we have that kind of objectivity,
At least some of the time,
We then have the opportunity to become that inner observing scientist.
The scientist who,
When a strange feeling or perception arises,
Doesn't react,
But pauses,
Takes note,
And remembers.
So then the second step to honing our intuition then is to cultivate space.
Whether you wake up from an ominous feeling dream,
Or you see a coincidence of signs in your environment,
By pausing you disconnect any habitual reactive tendencies.
You get out of your thinking,
Analyzing self that wants to start looking for proof,
And into the open sensing of the rest of your body.
To help facilitate that space,
You might even place one hand on your heart,
And one on your belly,
And take a few deep breaths.
It will help you further drop in your sense of embodied awareness,
And hold space for the intelligent of your heart,
And your core.
Step three is to ask,
Was this intuitive thought,
Or sixth sense kind of perception,
Stimulated by something outside of myself?
In other words,
Was there something in your outer environment,
Something perceived or received by your five physical senses,
Something you heard,
Saw,
Smell,
Tasted,
Or touched,
That stimulated a thought,
That then quickly felt like a hunch or an omen?
It sounds like an intellectual rabbit hole,
I know,
But you'll be surprised how much you can learn about your own thinking by observing your mind like this.
For most of us,
Distractions and thoughts typically arise by an environmental stimulus,
That then triggers a memory,
That finally jumps to a new imagined thought.
This hopping around of our attention from the present,
To the past,
To the future,
Like this is so quick for most of us,
That it happens far below our radar.
Instead,
We find ourselves in the midst of a thought about the future,
And because we weren't aware of the first few steps of this process,
We decide that it must be precognitive or intuitive.
And over time,
We become victims of our own thinking like this.
And what started as potentially an inner communication,
Breaks down into restriction and limitation.
And so this is why the first two steps,
Space through meditation,
And then pausing and objectivity,
Are so important in this process.
We have to get better at watching our thinking as it occurs,
So we can come to know ourselves beyond our thoughts,
Judgments,
And beliefs.
Because beyond all that is the vast,
Interconnected intelligence of life and consciousness.
All the work of creating space and mind and body through breath and mindfulness,
Is so that we come to exist with sustained presence within these interconnected states.
When we're centered in that place of interbeing,
The wisdom of the inner world spontaneously opens like a flower to us,
Bringing with it both the joy and love and compassion of home deep inside,
As well as the clear,
Direct grasp of reality outside of just time and space.
It's this direct perception that is the pinnacle of intuition,
The clear light of open chakras and an intelligence deeply in tune with the body.
Within this kind of inner space,
Because it's not just mental space or emotional space or just physical space,
It's unified space both inside and out,
So that even during life's hurricanes,
You remain the I.
And within this kind of space,
The intuitions and perceptions that arise are whole being experiences that come from inside.
Rather than an environmental stimulus,
They come from the heart,
The gut,
The soul.
It's the goading poke of instinct that doesn't need to wait for you to reason out the possibilities.
And even though we may doubt those intuitive moments,
With practice we can really come to discover fascinating things about our own compulsive reactions,
Our judgments,
And the amount of space we honor in ourselves and our lives.
Just like creation stories tell us,
There must first be space,
A pause,
In order to create room for light to enter.
So let there be light in your mind and your awareness,
But let there be space first,
So that the light that enters is free to pour out into your mind and also your heart,
Your gut,
And the rest of your intuitive meat suit you get to wear this lifetime.
Because beyond even the most convincing mind chatter is a deep well of truth and love and being.
The signs and truths of life are everywhere,
Both in and around us all.
It's more important than ever that we pause,
Create space,
And contemplate.
My guess is that for all of us,
Spirit is constantly clearly showing the way.
Thanks for listening.
