Introduction to Intuition: Trusting Your Inner Guidance
August is the stepping stone to fall, a bridge to cool mornings, colored leaves, and cozy sweaters. I love Fall. I adore everything it brings and want the entire year to feel like Halloween. Living in the Mystical Magical Mansion and experiencing Halloween in our historic neighborhood has fed my heart's desire for Halloween even more. It’s amazing how a place can be just what you have always wanted, and it’s because I trusted my intuition. The first time I saw our house online, I knew it was where we needed to live. It was completely divinely guided.
Do you trust your intuition? Do you follow those feelings that you can’t ignore? Or do you doubt yourself and then later wonder what magical experiences you might have missed because of fear or “common sense.” If you seek a life filled with synchronicity and wonder, you’re not alone. I too aspire to such a life.
I have been nurturing my intuitive gifts for years and it is now second nature, but I had to start somewhere. I took courses, read books, and searched high and low for mentors that felt honest and down to earth. My background is in science and medicine so I am skeptical and many of the people in the metaphysical world at that time felt a bit more into the showmanship of intuitive work than the nuts and bolts of teaching others how to use their abilities.
I want to help you to trust your intuition. You are intuitive. You have psychic abilities whether you believe it or not. From a purely scientific perspective, we are beings made of millions of electrically charged particles. We are energy. Those particles have origins in the stars in our galaxy. The calcium in our bones, the iron in our blood, and the sodium in our plasma came from the cosmos. We are light and we are magical and we are all incredibly special. Why wouldn’t we have magical abilities if we are made of energy and stardust?
So where do we begin? How do you start to trust your intuition?
Set an intention. Why do you want to do intuitive work? What is it that is drawing you to this path? When you can get clarity it puts down a metaphoric point on the map that you can navigate from. Perhaps you have felt lost in your career or your love life. Maybe you want to find a new job or the best city for your life to flourish. Write it down and answer this question-What do I want now? How can my intuition help me to bring this to fruition?
Take an inventory. Write down specific moments that you felt you had an intuitive experience. List the times you had a hunch or you got a call just when you needed it. Maybe you had a hunch about something and it turned out to be the best decision you ever made. Be playful and let your memory flow. Your life may already contain more magical moments than you realize.
Develop a meditation practice. If you were dating someone you would probably want to spend some time alone with them, a quiet place where you could talk. Treat your inner voice like a new lover. Be quiet, listen, feel, and get to know it. It is here for you and if you get still it will be your best and most loyal friend. I meditate every morning, even if it is just for a few minutes. It brings me clarity and during that meditation, I set the intention that the work that I do that day be for the highest good of all. I ask for information and wisdom to come to me in a way that is of service.
Listen. In a time when we are bombarded with information, we have become bad at listening. Your intuitive voice may have been screaming at you for years and you have ignored it, so now you have to learn to listen. Your intuition will come when you are the observer of your reactions and your feelings. During your meditation, take a moment to get still and notice what you hear. It may be nothing or you may hear your chatty mind running through lists of to-do’s or nonsense. Get quiet and listen. It’s in the pauses between your busy thoughts that intuition will begin to emerge.
Trust your gut. When something stressful happens do you get a gut feeling? When you meet someone and immediately feel they are not a good person, do you feel it in your stomach? That is your empathic sense. It is nature and energy and protective. It is part of your intuitive abilities and it will not mislead you. Notice how often you listen to your first sensations or gut feelings about people or situations and if you override those feelings. Also, notice if some specific places or activities bring those intense gut feelings and journal about them. Over time you may see patterns that emerge and you can begin to trust those empathic sensations more naturally.
Keep a magic journal. Write down all of the little synchronicities, signs, beautiful connections, or weird things that happen in your life. You thought of someone and they called. You felt the presence of a loved one who has passed and their favorite song came on the radio. You weren't sure which turn to take in an unfamiliar town and magically your car drove write to a store that had the perfect gift for a friend that is struggling. Write it all down. Magic is happening all around you and when you start to appreciate how much your intuition is available to you, it feels easy.
It doesn’t happen the way you think it does. We, humans, have a hard time letting things unfold slowly. We like immediate results. Working with your intuition will unfold in divine timing and in a way that is best for your soul. You may think you want to be the world's best psychic and become rich and famous for doing readings. You can do that, but it probably won't happen overnight. Give yourself time. Make it playful and joyful. Be of service. Be curious and when something amazing happens say thank you.
Gratitude is the key. After all these years of doing intuitive work, there are still moments when I am shocked and mystified. I love those moments. When they do I say thank you to my angels, my guides, my helping energies and I am grateful. We, humans, get to be here and to experience this lifetime. It is a gift. If you do nothing else to nurture your intuition, start and end your day with gratitude. Make a list, write it in your journal, go through it as you do your chores, but do it! Gratitude shifts our energy and opens us up to even more positive experiences. Being in a positive open state allows our intuitive energy to flourish and expand.
Make it playful. Intuitive energy is childlike and easy. Let it emerge in times of ease and happiness. Dance, go out into nature, and walk on a path that feels nurturing to your energy. I love walking with my three-year-old granddaughter. She is amazed by sticks and leaves and calls them her treasures. I agree with her assessment that there is wonder everywhere around us and intuitive or energetic work should be playful and curious. Adults can complicate things far too much, so keep it fun!
You don’t have to do anything with it. One of the most frequent questions I am asked, is “Now what do I do with it?” Once you start to tap in and allow your intuitive gifts to grow and become a more regular part of yourself what do you do? Many people are looking for a way to monetize their abilities. Many are insecure about sharing the messages they are receiving. Ask your guides, your angels, or your intuitive self, and let it move you in the direction that is alignment with your highest good. If you feel guided to start doing readings, do it with friends and let it be fun. When we begin to trust that we are in service, or are in alignment with our intuition it tends to unfold easily. It may not look like what you had imagined, but in time it will all make sense.
There is no exact order or specific way to work with your intuitive abilities, but these tools can and have helped many. I am always here as a resource and I am grateful to have done intuitive readings or Reiki with many of you. If I can help you along the way, I am happy to be your guide.
Hugs,
Kim Isherwood
Author, Intuitive Medium, Certified Hypnotherapist, and Facilitator of Empowerment