Intuition is a personal thing, I think. Here’s some of the tools that helped me deepen my connection to inner guidance.
Trusting Our Inner Guidance
How Can We Tell the Difference Between Our Thoughts & Our Intuition
This morning I woke with these words pouring through me onto paper, so I’ll share them with you…It’s my perception that we have within us that Unconditional access to inner guidance – in every situation, in every moment. It’s like a muscle that develops with use.
The questions I hear most often are – how can I tell the difference between my thoughts and my intuition. Between my thoughts and guidance.
What helped me years ago when this connection opened for the first time, was a somatic approach. Combined with a healthy amount of doubt and skepticism. I started to enquire and I questioned everything. I demanded proof. I’ve never been at home with the ‘woolly’ when it comes to this stuff.
HOW CAN I TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOUGHTS AND INTUITION?
What I would ask is; when you’re having a moment of inner inquiry and the mind is busy supplying lots of input… can you shift attention to notice how you physically feel on the inside? While the thoughts are happening
And look for these most subtle signals:
A feeling of warmthA feeling of openness or expansionA feeling of lightness or lifting
Or the opposites of any of these.
Can you isolate and identify the sensations or signals that you get.
Make a note of them.And make a note of what happens if you accept the one thought that was connected to any of these feelings
And what happens if you dismiss it.
This approach might sound a bit clunky or time consuming. But if you are not sure what’s thought and what’s intuition or guidance, this can help develop discernment.
And developing discernment is laying the foundation for a relationship with inner guidance that can in the future come with us into almost any place. At any time. In any situation.
Without that solid trust in our inner voice, the mind and its doubts will always be able to crow-bar it’s way in and cause us to hesitate, rather than trust our inner guidance.
HOW IT STARTED FOR ME
This is also something I get asked a lot So here’s how it started for me. When I first opened to this connection, I asked for clear signals that I was connecting to guidance. And I got them. Little blue lights started to appear, when I was contemplating soul searching questions.
Among the throng of cartwheeling thoughts in my mind as I pondered something, for one moment connected to one particular thought, a little blue light would appear in front of me.At first I thought I had ocular damage. I looked for every possible physical cause of this aberration. For some weeks. But two things struck me. One was that this colour and quality of light didn’t appear anywhere in nature or the world of man made things – not I where could find it.
And the other was the light was accompanied by an inner sensation. A resonance and feeling of warmth and wholeness.And over time I realised that it came with a kind of knowingness. An ‘of course! How’s could I have forgotten’ sense of having just remembered something.
Together that was generating a resonance of ‘truth’ that I could physically and mentally identify with sufficient consistency. So I began to be able to rely on it, like on any other sense.
But there was more than that. If I followed through on those – what seemed like thoughts – I would have positive results every time. If I went against them, I would have negative results. I observed this over time. And as much time as I needed to be content to finally accept that this phenomenon was one of guidance from a higher source than just the landscape of my conscious thoughts.
I developed a relationship of trust and discernment with this source of guidance. And began to recognize the signposts of discernment in other situations.
GETTING GUIDANCE IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE
When I had asked and was pursuing a deep metaphysical inner question, I would often go browsing in second book shops. Without overly focusing on the titles, one book would appear brighter than the others. In an oblique sort of way, it would stand out. And I’d notice that same inner sensory set of responses.So I’d pick it up open it at random and there would be either the answer to my question on the page or something to make me realize I should read the book if I wanted my questions answers.
When I was deep in conversation with someone – about something unconnected to my inner soul searching questions of the moment, something they would say would strike that same resonance in me. And it would relate back to my question.This extended to things I saw on the street – a word on someone’s t-shirt, or on a truck or on a sign appearing with almost comical timing in response to a question I was asking inwardly.
HOW WE GET GUIDANCE IS UNIQUE AND BEAUTIFUL
The thing about developing a relationship with our inner guidance is the language we use to dialogue with our higher self, or with the all that is, it’s unique to us.
I know someone who has a very physical grounded connection to their guidance. And their dialogue happens through a subtle and complex system of small, temporary, physical symptoms, popping up to tell the person what they need to work on right now.
INNER GUIDANCE CAN BE OUR PATHWAY TO EMBODIED SOVEREIGNTY
I would say that learning our unique language is essential for Sovereignty.Too often I see people mistake a construct of the mind for connection to inner guidance – there’s a difference between reading into things and getting a reading from things.
Or assuming that because something’s come our way it must be for us. Just because someone’s said it and it popped up in our feed doesn’t mean the universe is giving us a sign.
The inner fact-checker needs nurturing and refinement – needs constant checking.
And we can train ourselves to refine a skill that everyone has potential access to. One that gives us empowerment and Sovereignty over what we take in and take on. One that protects us from manipulation and the agendas of others, however innocent and well intentioned they may be.