Have you ever walked into a room and just known that something wasn’t right?

No-one said anything, nothing looked obviously out of place… but you just knew?

Maybe you left the room, made your excuses to leave or kept your guard up?

Either way, you trusted that little voice or feeling.

Perhaps when you’re talking to a friend or member of your family, you get a feeling that something’s not right? Maybe the story they’re sharing or the situation feels ‘off’ to you?

But instead of trusting this (same) feeling, you override this inner-knowing with logic or justifications, or just plain ignore it.

Then there’s that voice that tells you that you’ve done something wrong (again), that you’re (still) not good enough or that you don’t deserve what you desire (and never will).

Why do you choose to listen to some types of information and not others?

And more importantly, how do you know which information you should listen to?

The first two examples are your intuition communicating with you.

The third example is your inner critic.

 

So, what is intuition?

Your intuition is your immediate, often unexplained, understanding of something.

It usually comes as a moment of clarity or a deep knowing about something that you couldn’t logically know or explain.

 

What is your inner critic?

Your inner critic is your fears disguised as good intentions or your ‘truth’. However, these messages are based in fear and want to prevent you from moving forward and making change.

 

The difference between intuition and your inner critic

We’re going to look at intuition today, but the key thing to remember is that your intuition will NEVER say anything negative about you or someone else. It will also never encourage you to harm yourself or others in any way (physically, emotionally or mentally).

If you hear anything negative or that sounds like you’re being ‘told off’, that’s your inner critic trying to stop your growth. And you don’t have to listen to it.

A few years ago, I interviewed Becky Walsh and I loved what she had to say about intuition.

She said that we have two types of intuition: heart intuition, and gut intuition.

 

Heart intuition pulls us forward.

It shows us what’s aligned for us to be doing. Perhaps you feel it when you know it’s time to change jobs, start a new career or leave a relationship.

 

Gut intuition moves us ‘back’

It moves us away from dancger.

You meet someone who just feels ‘off’, or you get a sensation not to walkdown a certain road. That’s your gut intuition keeping you safe.

Often, if we’re not overly invested in the situation, we can recognise our intuitive message quickly and act accordingly. We remove ourselves from a situation, choose a different route or choose not to becomes friends with certain people we’ve just met.

It becomes trickier to interpret these messages when we’re more heavily invested in the outcome. For example, it might involve people we care about or the life choices we have to make for ourselves.

It’s easy for us to talk ourselves out of our intuitive insight.

Our intuitive insight -that moment of clarity – comes in fast, and may only last for a second or two.

And yet in that moment, we’re certain in our choice or experience.

Then, almost as quickly, the noise returns.

We’re so used to thinking things through and looking at something from all angles that we don’t trust the speed and clarity of our intuition.

 

Intelligence, logic, and reason are essential to our experience of life, and so is our intuition

It’s not about prioritising one over the other but being able to recognise both.

However, instead of valuing both, we try and reason with our intuition. We may ask for another sign, searching for ‘proof’ and validation of its message. We may pull the intuitive message apart so much that there’s nothing left of it.

Then we feel confused, overwhelmed and unsure if we can trust ourselves.

The thoughts and reasoning we usually rely on are based on the conditioning of our past.

The stories we believe are the judgements and expectations of our families, cultures, and society at large.

Those beliefs may not be true for you, yet you try and contort yourself to conform to their shape and expectations. It’s what you’ve been taught to do.

Getting caught up in trying to please other people, trying to fit in or living in accordance with other people’s values, disconnects from our own inner-knowing.

 

These judgements and expectations become louder than our own inner guidance.

We end up not listening to our intuition. Instead we override it and make poor decisions. We stay in jobs and relationships that we’ve outgrown. We turn a blind eye to behaviours that go against our own standards. We make excuses for people.

Your intuition is that quiet voice that speaks to you and you just know it to be true. Maybe it’s a whisper, a feeling pulling you forward or the quiet voice encouraging you to make the changes you desire or telling you to try again.

When you’re not sure what to do next, or feeling lost, confused or overwhelmed, take a moment to get quiet. Place your hand over your heart and just feel into and listen to that quiet voice inside – not the external noise telling you what to do, but the quiet,  calm voice of inner-knowing.

Tune in and then follow what feels best for you. Don’t seek external validation or want other people to understand your choices.

 

Listen for your intuition and learn to trust yourself again

Do you need some help shutting out the noise so that you can hear your intuition?

If so, I’ve created a quick and easy practice that you can incorporate into your day to help you reconnect to your intuition and make the choices that are right for you.

Click here to learn more >>