Last week, my coach told me to record how often I trust my intuition. Of course, to complete that homework, I must first become conscious of receiving an intuitive message. Then, I have to take action, but I can’t do that unless I trust my intuition.
The trust step is where my assignment starts to feel challenging.
I spent last year in a coaching program focused on following intuitive messages. By the end, I trusted my intuition more but not as much as I had hoped. Mostly, I question if I am receiving any guidance at all…and if I should follow it.
In other words, I simply don’t trust my intuition enough…yet.
If you’d like to be intuitively guided, like me, maybe you’ve spent time thinking about intuition. Perhaps you’ve explored what intuition is, how to access it more often, and how to trust intuitive messages enough to take action on them. So, we can agree that to discuss intuition—or even know we are being intuitively guided, we need to understand intuition.
What is Intuition?
Let’s start with the basics: What is intuition?
The dictionary defines it as the ability to understand or know something immediately without conscious reasoning.
Psychology Today refers to it as “that ‘inner voice,’ that gut feeling, that little something instinctual from within that tells us how we feel beneath those layers of logic.” In [his article], Francis P Cholle says intuition “is a sensation that appears quickly in consciousness (noticeable enough to be acted on if one chooses to) without us being fully aware of the underlying reasons for its occurrence.” He writes, “Intuition is a process that gives us the ability to know something directly without analytic reasoning, bridging the gap between the conscious and non-conscious parts of our mind, and also between instinct and reason.”
Thus, following your intuition—acting on it is a “balancing act between instinct and reason, a hunch and true intuition,” he says.
Therefore, I can deduce that intuition is awareness of “knowing” without any idea how you know. Or it is a sense that you “should” take a specific action without logically understanding why.
I now handle the knowing part about 50% of the time. However, taking action without logic is a bit more difficult, and I accomplish this only about 30% of the time.
Religion and Intuition
Being intuitive fits into my spiritual beliefs, but I never considered intuition an element of religion or religious belief. In fact, I thought of it as a more woo-woo or mystical element—a bit like being clairvoyant or psychic—not often accepted in religious circles.
But, according to Paramahansa Yogananda, an Indian Hindu monk, yogi, and guru who introduced millions to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga, it holds an essential position in religious spheres as well.
I saved an email from author Steven Pressfield in which he shared something Paramahansa Yogananda said during a recorded talk. “The true basis of religion is not belief, but intuitive experience. Intuition is the soul’s power of knowing God. To know what religion is really all about, one must know God,” said Yogananda. (You can order “An Informal Talk By Paramahansa Yogananda: Awake in the Cosmic Dream” from the Self Realization Fellowship.)
Of course, Yogananda knew more than I do about intuition and knowing God. But, for what it’s worth, here’s my take…
Intuition is Your Soul Speaking
Your soul is a spark of Divinity, a part of God—the Divine Creator or Source. And it is always connected to that Source. Thus, your soul knows God intimately.
Intuition is your soul’s way of communicating with you. It’s a little whisper—or Still Small Voice—nudging you toward action.
Those intuitive messages serve as spiritual guidance. In fact, you could liken intuition to a phone call between you and God…or God’s representative (your soul). You have a direct line at all times to your soul and, therefore, God.
Listening to Your Intuition
So, let’s say you are aware and able to receive intuitive messages, but you don’t pay attention or act on them. By ignoring your intuition, you send a message to your soul that says, “I don’t trust you to offer good guidance.” That’s like saying, “I don’t trust God either.”
However, the more you listen to and act on your intuition, the greater your demonstration of trust. Additionally, the stronger your connection with your soul and Source becomes. Plus, receiving and acting on intuitive guidance increases the number and frequency of the intuitive messages you receive. Thus, the more you trust and take intuitively guided action, the more intuitive guidance you receive.
Don’t be Afraid to Act on Your Intuition
So what’s to fear, right? Nothing, but your brain’s reasoning function deduces that there is a reason to worry. Specifically, the reptilian part of the brain sees anything different or unpredictable as dangerous. And a decision to follow your intuition raises a red flag because your choice is not based on information or logic.
Here’s another way to look at it…
Your brain perceives taking intuitive action as a trust fall, which can be pretty scary the first few times you try it. I did a trust fall years ago at the Warrior’s Wisdom event with the late Stewart Wilde. Allowing yourself to drop backward from a height and assume—trust—that the people below will catch you as you fall is a pretty crazy experience.
When you take intuitive action, you trust that you will land safely into the arms of soul and Source. That’s like trusting that “the Universe has your back,” or that you will catch yourself. After all, you trust your soul to have your best interests at heart.
So taking intuitive action involves knowing that the spiritual part of you will break your fall. You could say your soul or God is there to catch you when you follow your unique spiritual guidance.
When you trust your intuition—even a little, your brain begins to see that nothing bad happens as a result of doing so. Then it trusts more, too. After a while, it will stop telling you that trusting your intuition is unsafe.
Stand in Your Spiritual Power
Beyond the brain’s impact on a human being’s ability to trust intuition, most people also fear our spiritual power and connection to Source. Imagine what will happen if you realize you have constant access to spiritual guidance and that, when you act on it, so-called miracles happen?
Seems you’d want that, right?
But I believe we fear that power as well. Again use your mind’s eye and visualize what you will be like, how you will live your life, and what others will think if you demonstrate your spiritual power.
Speaking for myself, I worry that the result of truly tapping into my spiritual nature will be negative. And that fact alone keeps me from receiving or acting on my intuition. Can you relate?
It’s time to move through the fear and access and act on our intuition, is it not? I know it is for me.
If you agree, let’s take a 30-day intuitive trust fall together. Daily ask for guidance, increase your awareness of intuitive hits, and act on them. Then, see what magic happens. My coach asked me to do that homework, and I’m passing that homework along to you, my reader. So let’s do it together.
Do you receive and act on your intuition? What miracles have you experienced as a result? Tell me in a comment below. And please share this post with a friend or on social media.
If you want to increase your ability to create desired results—like trusting your intuition, let’s chat. Get on my calendar here. Or join the Inspired Creator Community for group personal and spiritual growth coaching every month.