I want to talk about the difference between fear and trauma responses in your body and your intuition.

When you start to listen for your intuition, you become more aware of the feelings and sensations in your body.

Not all of these sensations will be your intuition.

 

So how can you tell the difference?

People can often struggle to understand what’s their intuition, and question whether they were receiving intuitive guidance or if it was something different.

Every moment of the day, your body is giving you feedback.

Many of these messages come from life experiences and are designed to keep you safe.

However, a trauma or experience that happened in the past may be stored in your body as fear. Then, every time you encounter a similar situation, your body goes into super protection mode, sending you messages that you aren’t safe.

When you receive these messages, you may interpret them as your intuition telling you that this person is ‘bad’ and to be avoided, or that an opportunity isn’t right for you.

When you start to work with your intuition, it’s essential to get to know yourself really well.

You need to learn to regulate your nervous system so that you can tell the difference between an emotional encounter and the wisdom of your intuition.

Helping to regulate your nervous system is as simple as giving yourself a moment to take a breath.

When you feel something that could be your intuition, notice the sensation you feel.

Where do you feel it in your body?

How emotionally charged does it – and do you – feel?

If you do feel charged, take a couple of slow deep breaths and exhale fully.

Witness the feeling, then become present in your body and breathe through it.

How do you feel now?

Close your eyes, put your hand on your heart and remind yourself that you’re safe.

 

Keep a record

Start to keep a record of anything you think is your intuition.

Note down how the message felt,

• Where did you feel it in your body?
• Was it accompanied by any emotion
• What happened when you listened to the ‘intuition’?
• What was the outcome of taking action on what you thought was your intuition?

Keeping a record of these things will help you to untangle the messages of your emotions, stored trauma and fear, and your actual intuition.

 

Clarity

You’ll be able to clearly identify if the information you received was an intuitive hit, or if a situation triggered you to feel an emotionally charged reaction.  

You may do the same when it comes to making a choice, especially one that would require you to step out of your comfort zone.

You may feel the answer is not to take the opportunity. But it could be fear. You could be intellectualising the reason why you shouldn’t do it, and thinking it’s your intuition guiding you.

 

Intuition is subtle and nuanced.

In my experience, if there are highly charged emotions attached to the guidance you receive from your body, that’s not your intuition.

People have spent most of their lives ignoring their intuition because they didn’t actually know what it was, let alone being able to interpret and trust the messages.

And humans can often love drama. It’s loud and exciting – and in an already noisy world – we can hear it.

So it’s easy to think that the loud message you heard was your intuition talking to you.

But hearing your intuition and interpreting its messages, are skills.

It’s a practice.

It’s not glamorous or exciting. Instead, it’s a practice that refines your ability to listen for the subtle messages coming from your body and the quality of your energy.

 

Pay attention to the quality of the messages you receive

Pay particular attention to the messages that appear neutral and not charged. The ones that are quieter and easier to overlook, are the information that you can more often trust.

It’s not exciting. It’s just a clear inner-knowing.

It’s not numb or suppressed. That energy is still charged, but negatively.

Instead, pay attention and become aware of the energy, information, and messages that are ‘clean’ and clear.

 

A person I knew, made a significant life-changing decision based on their intuition.

Except it wasn’t their intuition.

When I asked them why they thought it was their intuition, they said that they could feel the excitement – like butterflies in their stomach.

When we dived a bit deeper, it became clear to them that it hadn’t been their intuition guiding them, but fear. They desperately needed a change. What they were feeling was desperation and the hope that this change might be the one they so needed in their life.

Except it wasn’t.

That’s not to say that your intuition won’t speak to you as excitement.

But make sure that you’re clear on how your intuition does speak to you.

When you do receive a message, slow down. Take a moment to check in with how you feel and how the message feels, and then see if it’s your intuition or an emotional response.