In modern life, it’s common to feel bombarded with information, opinions, and decisions to make. Not only is it overwhelming to have this much information thrown at us all the time, but it also makes it all too easy to discount our own intuition in the process!
But, in my opinion, our intuition – sometimes called our inner wisdom or sixth sense – is the key to making better decisions, finding clarity, and navigating the ups and downs of life with confidence and self trust.
As someone who has struggled with chronic distrust of myself and my capacity to make effective decisions in the past, learning how to tap into my intuition has been a key part of my growth and healing journey.
Not only has building my intuition helped me to make difficult decisions faster, but it’s also helped me to relax after the fact, trusting that I’m on the right path and releasing the hold that regret and overthinking used to have on me.
So, in this guide on how to tap into your intuition, we’ll explore what intuition is, how to recognise its signs, and 20 powerful tips to tap into it effectively. Let’s get stuck in!
Here’s what you’ll find in this post:
What is Intuition?
Intuition is a deep, instinctual knowing that can guide us without the need for conscious reasoning. It’s that gut feeling that nudges us in a certain direction, even when logic may suggest otherwise.
From a spiritual perspective, intuition draws upon our connection to the higher self and our ability to be fully present in the moment. You might think of it like a second brain, often referred to as the “heart brain”, that processes information beyond the limitations of our analytical mind.
But perhaps more scientifically, intuition might be considered to stem from our subconscious mind and nervous system, drawing information from our past experiences and emotions, while bypassing the need for fully conscious thought.
Our nervous system processes information in this way all the time, but many of us aren’t tuned into its signals. By learning to work with the cues of our body and our intuition, we can feel guided without always needing to use up mental energy!
What are Some Common Signs of Intuition?
Recognising intuition starts with paying attention to subtle cues and signals.
Here are some common signs that indicate a strong intuition:
- Gut Feeling: A visceral sensation in the pit of your stomach that signals a strong intuition about a person, situation, or decision. This is likely your nervous system responding to cues based on past experiences, but this may be difficult to decipher if you’re someone who suffers from chronic anxiety.
- Inner Voice: Hearing a quiet, persistent voice within you that guides you in a certain direction or offers insights and advice. This might be thought of as coming from your “higher self” or “true self”.
- Physical Sensations: Goosebumps, chills, or tingling sensations that accompany intuitive insights, signalling a resonance that your body is communicating with you before your mind has had a chance to catch up.
- Dreams and Visions: Receiving intuitive messages or guidance through dreams, sudden visions, or flashes of insight during moments of wakefulness. Recurring dreams are of particular importance as they may signal a message that we’re failing to respond to.
- Body Language: Sensing subtle shifts in your own and other’s body language, energy, or atmosphere when interacting with others, providing clues about their/your intentions or feelings.
- Synchronicities: Noticing meaningful coincidences/synchronicities that seem to align with your intuitive guidance e.g. thinking of making a particular decision and then seeing signs related to that decision.
- Deep Knowing: Sometimes it’s just a case of “knowing”, and having a profound sense of certainty or conviction about a particular choice, path, or course of action, even in the absence of concrete evidence.
How to Tap Into Your Intuition (20 Powerful Tips)
Knowing the signs of intuition is one thing, but often many of us are so out of touch with these feelings because we’ve lived our lives entirely in our analytical minds.
From my own experience, it wasn’t until I developed chronic physical symptoms that I began a journey of tuning into the messages of my body and building my intuition. But you don’t have to wait until your body is screaming to start listening to its cues!
These 20 tips on how to tap into your intuition will help you to develop a deeper connection between your mind and body, so you can start making decisions from a more connected place.
- Practice Mindfulness:
Tapping into your intuition begins with learning how to be present in the here and now. You can cultivate conscious awareness of the present moment through mindfulness practices such as meditation, deep breathing exercises, or mindful walking. The key is to notice your senses, your thoughts, and your feelings without judgment.
- Keep a Dream Journal:
Intuitive messages often come to us in dreams, where our subconscious mind has a greater ability to take hold. Record your dreams in a journal as soon as you wake up to start deciphering any intuitive messages, symbols, or insights they may contain. This can also help you to become aware of thoughts and feelings that you might be repressing in your day to day life.
- Listen to Your Body:
Start paying attention to your body’s subtle signals and sensations, like where you’re prone to storing tension and the subtle changes in your posture in response to external information. This can help you to become aware of the way that your nervous system and body are responding, irrespective of your logical mind.
- Trust Your Gut Instinct:
Experiment with honouring your initial gut feelings and instincts, even if they seem to defy logic and rationality. You don’t have to listen to your gut for all of your decisions (especially the big ones), but in order to build up trust in yourself it can especially help to practice this in small moments like deciding what to have for dinner!
- Engage in Free Writing:
Set aside time for stream of consciousness writing on a daily basis, which involves writing freely on whatever comes to mind, without censorship or judgement. This can help to give your intuition room to freely express itself, and make coming to a decision much easier.
- Create Space for Silence and Solitude:
It can feel almost impossible to hear the whispers of your intuition when there is so much noise and external feedback. It’s important to embrace moments of stillness and solitude daily to quiet any mental chatter and tune into your own inner guidance system.
- Limit Exposure to Social Media:
Try to reduce distractions and external influences from technology and social media, that may drown out your inner voice and make you more prone to making decisions based on comparison and social pressures.
- Use Tarot or Oracle Cards:
Explore divination tools such as tarot cards or oracle decks as a way of tapping into your intuition and gaining insights into your life’s path. I love using tarot/oracle as guidance because I find that it encourages me to tap into my subconscious in response to the cards I pull.
- Take Deep Breaths:
Incorporating deep breathing exercises, or even just mindful awareness of your breath, into your daily routine can help to centre yourself, calm your mind and attune to your intuition. This is because it helps you to ground back into the body if you’ve been spending a lot of time up in your head!
- Pay Attention to Body Language:
Try to notice subtle cues in the body language and nonverbal communication of others. This can help to reveal valuable information on a deeper level, rather than relying on listening to their words alone.
- Set Daily Intentions:
Listening to your intuition doesn’t have to mean getting rid of your to-do list and any plans for your day. In fact, it can help to start each day with a clear intention. This can help to give you a sense of purpose, and also open your mind to intuitive guidance and aligned action to move towards your goals.
- Practice Daily Reflection:
Reflecting on your experiences, choices, and interactions each day is essential for noticing patterns and themes that may reveal important insights. I personally like to reflect on my day through journaling, which can help to build self-awareness and build your intuition over time.
- Be Open-Minded:
This may take practice, but try to approach life with curiosity and an open mind as much as possible. Logic, routines and reasoning have their place, but it’s essential also to allow the space for intuitive insights and guidance to arise naturally.
- Practice Guided Meditation/Visualisation:
If you struggle to access your intuition, visualisation and meditation exercises may help you tap into it and access deeper layers of consciousness than you might otherwise be able to.
- Connect To Your Inner Child:
Inner child work can help to bring awareness to patterns and behaviours that we may be stuck in unconsciously. By bringing these things to light you can begin to release anything that may be blocking your true self and innate wisdom.
- Practice Gratitude:
Cultivate a mindset of gratitude by regularly acknowledging and appreciating the blessings, lessons, and synchronicities in your life. Gratitude really opens up your heart and makes you more likely to pay attention to intuitive guidance.
Related post: 30 Days of Gratitude Journal Prompts
- Follow Your Passions:
Pay attention to the activities, hobbies, and pursuits that give you a clear sense of passion and purpose. Your passions often align with your soul’s calling, and can serve as a compass to guide you.
- Seek Inspiration and Creativity:
Surround yourself with sources of inspiration, whether it’s through art, music, nature, or inspiring stories. Getting into this creative space can help you enter a state of flow, take you out of your logical brain, and make it easier for your intuition to speak to you.
- Trust Divine Timing:
Surrender the need for immediate answers or outcomes, and instead try to trust in the divine timing of the Universe. Leaning into trust can help you to tap into your intuition step by step, rather than chasing something that ultimately isn’t meant for you right now.
- Make Intuition a Daily Practice:
Commit to incorporating these tips into your daily routine! Remember, intuition is a skill that often needs developing over time, so keep practising and look for ways to tap into your intuition daily.
Tapping into your intuition is a journey of self-discovery, empowerment, and alignment with your truest self, and I hope that these tips have given you some clear insight on how to do that.
I truly believe that consciously practising tips and practices like these to tap into your intuition offers a path to more peace and fulfillment in your life, because I practice all of them myself!
As someone who often leans towards logical and analytical thinking, these practices help to keep me open-minded and keep my heart open. Because the truth is, there are times in life when the path forward will be unclear, and you will face difficult decisions that logic alone can’t solve.
I’ve found that in these times consciously practicing tapping into my intuition offers greater peace and freedom to feel guided forward and to trust myself and the outcome. And this confidence is unmatched when it comes to navigating life’s challenges.
So remember, your intuition is always there, ready to guide you towards your highest good – all you need to do is open your heart, listen, and trust the process.
Liked this post on building your intuition? Check out some of these related posts:
- 70 Inspirational Intuition Quotes to Help You Trust Your Gut
- How to Find Your Divine Purpose (and Fulfil It)
- 5 Signs That You’re Not Living in Alignment with Your Purpose
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Esther is the founder of Through the Phases, a wellbeing and healthy lifestyle blog dedicated to sharing mind/body/soul practices for self-exploration, healing, and fulfilment. She has a degree in Psychology, is yoga teacher trained (200hr), and is currently pursuing a Neuroscience MSc to further study the mind-body connection. Read more about her story here.