Do you ever find yourself asking a friend or family member what should I do? What if you were able to answer those questions yourself? Intuition is a quality that we all have within ourselves that is that gentle (or sometimes loud) nudge towards your truth.

In this blog I share six ways to lean into intuition. Yeah, it might get a little woo woo for some of you, but I promise even if you pick one method of connecting to our intuition, if you do the work, you will be wildy surprised by the results.

Every person has an internal compass. When faced with a choice, our intuition might urge us in a certain direction.  However, we often ignore our internal compass to please others, or simply because we’re not used to tapping into our intuition.

Before we get started, I want to make it clear that I am pulling from my own experience. I am sure many people have different flows and ways to tap into intuition and while these are not novel, it’s the practice and your rituals to look inward on yourself where the real magic happens. 

What is intuition?

Intuition is your inner voice and knowledge within, without the influence of outside sources. In short, intuition is the practice of: from moving to being. If you are always busy doing, your intuition can’t be heard.

You may have heard the phrase described as people who are said to be “in tune” with their intuition might mean they are good at minimizing distractions and knowing what they want in life. This could also be connected to a deeper why – people who are clear on their why tap into their intuition often to keep their focus narrow and mission-focused.

But the good news is that there are ways to tap into the wonderful human power that is your intuition. I’m going to walk through six ways to tap into your intuition as well as share how you can activate it. Like anything, this will take practice. But slowly, over time, and with pure intentions, you will begin to learn how to go deep within yourself and hear your inner knowing,  and how to leverage it when you need it most. 

Here are the 6 ways to lean into your intuition.

1. Quiet your mind.

This can be done in many ways, but one of the most popular is through meditation. Meditation has been known to help with stress, anxiety and depression to name a few. It’s also a way to tap into your intuition. If being quiet in your own mind sounds intimidating at first, another way to meditate is by talking to God or Source and telling Him all of the the things you are most grateful for – share your blessings and gratitude. If you want, stop and write them down too to add to the feeling in your body. 

2. Listen to your body.

This doesn’t mean everything is peachy, but by acknowledging it you are finally accepting and responding to your intuition instead of fighting against it and your body will thank you for it. Letting go and having faith is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, as someone who doesn’t want to feel out of control – but it’s in that letting go and trusting that things will unfold as they are meant to, you’ll notice it all will start to fall back into place and order is restored.

Your body will always tell you what’s up. My recent motto has been “Let go and let God” Be ready to lean in to yourself, or look inward. Most of us spend a lot of time looking at others for approval of us, or we look in the mirror at ourselves and find flaws rather than beauty and grace for ourselves.

Listen to your body, lean in and ask yourself the hard questions you know you need to – the ones where the answers might be hard to even say out loud but they need to be said. I promise, your body will react – the heaviness will be lifted.

3. Spend time outdoors.

Nature is one of God’s greatest gifts to us. There is so much beauty and restorativeness that comes from a long hike, run or time by the water and getting fresh air into our lungs. Just think back to a time when you were outside and just felt alive! We let our days get so packed with other things to do, we forget to take a moment to simply go out and explore what nature has for us.

Connecting with nature and being quiet long enough to hear her is a true gift. She is trying to connect with you if you just let her. Build some time into your week to get outside and go to that spot you dream of or wish you visited more with your notebook and just write how you feel or unleash what is creating friction for the life you wish you had or relationship. Allow her to help you find the words or solidify the feelings so you can peacefully move forward.

4. Journal your thoughts, feelings and emotions.

This goes along with number 3, but whether you journal outside in your favorite spot or in your living room in the most comfortable chair, writing out our thoughts, fears, emotions, goals, anything, helps us not only process them but actually assists in making it tangible.

It’s one thing to think about something – but once that thought leaves it may come back, maybe not. If prompted maybe. A journal helps you to capture those thoughts. When you revisit that thought, whether the next day, next week or a year from now, you still can not only remember that moment, but you can make a decision to do something with it. You can take action.

5. Be calm.

Negative or nervous energy in the body comes from a feeling of loss of control. It’s hard to tap into your intuition if you feel this way. Taking deep breaths or doing yoga can relieve the body of all the negative self-talk and urgent energy. Earlier this year I was so tense I couldn’t even move my upper body, my back and shoulders constantly pain, I had headaches daily – I wanted to release the heavy – leaning in God and letting go of the wheel allowed me to do that.

6. Focus on one thing at a time.

In the worlds of Tony Robbins, “where focus goes energy flows.” If you are trying to focus on a lot of things, your energy is split amongst all those things. Choose one goal, one task, one thing at a time. We are not meant or designed to multitask no matter what anyone else tells you – we are made to focus on one thing, check it off and feel accomplished and take that energy into the next task, meeting our need for contribution and feeling fulfilled. 

We are all equipped with an intuition that is potent, trustworthy to guide us along our true path. Whether you use it or not is up to you. Here are a few ways to turn up the volume on your intuition.

How do you activate your intuition: 

1. Meditate. Get quiet with yourself
2. Follow Your Gut Instinct: Do something spontaneous that just feels good – don’t worry about what others will say, just do it. 
3. Spend Time Outside: Again, be one with nature, breathe that fresh air. 
4. Do a Technology Fast: Stop watching and consuming everyone else’s life and start living yours. Take a break and fill the time you would usually be on your phone or watching TV and go exploring, playing and doing what fills you up.
5. Ask Yourself some hard questions: When I do X action, how does my body feel? What supports me at this moment? What is the aligned action for me to show up as my best self?  If I’m being 100% honest with myself, what do I really want?
6. Journal, Draw, Doodle, or Start an Art Journal.

If you’re wanting to tap into your intuition, like really become best friends with her, I want you to take a moment and just simply close your eyes. Put one hand on your heart and another on your belly and simply take deep breaths in and out. Allow your body and mind to get quiet and just pay attention to it.

How are you feeling at that moment? Keep breathing, slowly in and out until you feel the wash of calm come over you. If you’ve been tense for a while, it may take a bit, but if you keep breathing and focus on your breath, it will come. Be patient, it’s worth waiting for.

Once you get to that point of peace in your body, open your eyes and pick any of the 6 ways to lean into your intuition we just talked about. Perhaps you can grab a journal and write or grab your phone to record any audio about how you’re feeling.

Take more time to sit here and breathe, paint or draw, go for a walk without any devices to stay quiet with yourself. The more you can leave your mind quiet and still the easier it will be to hear and listen to your intuition. 

I hope this blog was so helpful for you. I know I personally gain so much from stillness and quiet. I learn something new about myself each time. Build a practice like this into your day – even if for 5 minutes – to be still, quiet, breathe, remain open, clear the mental clutter. It makes the start or close of your day much more peaceful.