Intuition -- What It Is and How to Trust It

I toured the University of Minnesota when I was 17 years old and fell in love. Truth be told, I knew I wanted to go there before I even visited. I spent hours browsing the website, reading Reddit posts, and gazing at Google Images.

It's your body's way of telling your brain "You might not understand, but I've seen enough to know the answer."

When I finally made the 12 hour trip from Ohio to Minnesota, I knew I had to be there. I could tell you it was the changing of the leaves on a blue-sky day, or the smiles of the pretty girls on campus as I toured. Truth be told, it was none of that. It was something I couldn't, and still can't, put into words. Deep inside of me I felt

I'm just supposed to be there.

Due to financial reasons, I ended up not attending the University of Minnesota and stayed closer to home. But the calling to Minnesota was there, pulling at me every year.

Through therapy, I learned about intuition, and came to realize the power of it is something to be embraced by all -- a belief that I am happy to share with anybody who listens.

At it's core, intuition is your body's instinctual reaction to something, without conscious reasoning. You may know it as a gut feeling. You may know it as your heart's calling. Ultimately, it's your body's way of telling your brain "You might not understand, but I've seen enough to know the answer."

This has been a topic of many a researchers and philosophers for centuries. In recent years, intuition has been largely discussed (both positively and negatively) by Drs. Brené Brown, Daniel Kahneman, and Tara Stewart.

From a scientific perspective, it's actually pretty logical to understand: Every waking moment, your body and brain are gathering data. The way people look at you, the sound of traffic, the [mango mango mango]. Unconsciously, it is then comparing these patterns to new situations, and adding to it's understanding of the world accordingly.

Then there's the more spiritual side of intuition -- the calling to a place, a person, or profession felt in your core that you can't explain. Many don't feel this, but everyone is capable. It's a sense of peace in yourself that you know what you want out of life and the right way to get there.

The world in it's current state is loud and overwhelming your senses, preventing you. Below, some strategies to slow down, tune in, and get in touch with your intuition.

Getting In Touch With Yourself:

1) Quiet The World

Turn off social media. Turn off the TV. Sit in silence. If you practice Yoga or meditation, this may be easy for you. If this is a new practice for you, it may be more difficult, but give yourself grace and time to adjust.

Here are some great guided meditations to get started!

• 10 Minute Meditation

• Calm Be Present

• Jess Yoga 10 Minute Meditation

2) Journal

The first step to trusting yourself is to get to know yourself better. There's no better way to do this than journalling. Initially, it really doesn't matter what to journal about. Just write the thoughts that come to your head. As you go, you will likely feel the writing start to take shape and guide you towards a topic. Follow this. As we've talked about in other articles, the brain holds onto open loops. Writing is a proven way to close those loops. By putting it into notes, you are relieving your mind of the duty to hold onto it.

3) Get Outside

Only in the small blip that is the last few hundred years have humans trapped themselves inside. Get outside, take a hike, leave the AirPods at home and listen to nature. You'll find that between the birds chirping and leaves rustling that you can hear yourself much better.

Take a moment to notice things. It doesn't have to be a grand waterfall or a view, it can be the way a leaf flutters or how a squirrel bounces between trees. A crack in the ground that you pass everyday and hadn't paid attention to before. As you tune into nature, your mind will wander

4) Reflect

Oftentimes, all it takes to make change is to recognize behavior for what it is. Take time to think about past situations where you felt uneasy, and how you acted. Did you trust your gut? How did the event turn out?

Now, turn to the present. What situations are you facing where you have a feeling about what to do? Do any of these feel similar to past events?

References you should check out!

• Tara Stewart on Manifestion, Intuition, and the 6th Sense

• Meghan Livingstone on Intuition

• The Science of Intuitive Decision Making