If you’ve ever thought about someone, and 5 minutes later they call you, you’ve had an intuitive experience. Our intuition is our inner knowing, and if we aren’t actively listening to it, we won’t be able to hear it. Many times when we receive an intuition, our ego immediately questions it and disregards it. So how do we determine if something is intuitive information?

Determining Thought vs. Intuition

Our thoughts are the voice of our ego. There’s a lot of stigma surrounding the ego, but it’s an essential part of our human experience. The ego is our identity. We took on our ego the second we identified with our body in the womb. It’s necessary for this level of experience. We need it to help us navigate relationships and find joy in life, by building hobbies, studies and interests. But when the ego grows out of balance, it becomes increasingly difficult to hear the voice of your intuition.

Our ego talks at us all day long, in an incessantly repetitive, analytical, and judgmental way. Some people even call this the “monkey mind”. When we become aware of our own personal patterns of thinking, it becomes easier to identify when something might be more than just a thought.

That Still, Small Voice

Our intuition is the voice of our soul, the part of us that exists without the ego. This voice comes from love, and is always calm, and unemotional. It tells us what we need to know, not what we want to think. It’s quick, usually the first reaction to something, or a “gut feeling”. We feel intuitive experiences from our stomach, or heart, whereas our thoughts come from our mind.

Most people think intuitive moments are big and obvious, but intuition is very subtle. It’s always there; we just need to essentially “tune in to it”. Intuition sounds just like your normal voice, only this voice is much quieter. It’s never judgmental; it won’t ever flatter you, or make you feel any more or less important than anyone else. When you have an intuitive experience, there is a sense of relief, because you know it’s right. It feels like it’s coming from a centered place, and it feels true.

Immediately after having an intuitive experience, your mind will probably jump in and start analyzing, saying “that was my imagination.” Or “that’s just a coincidence” but it’s important to remember how right and true it felt in that moment. Trust your heart. It knows your deepest soul urges, and the path to your greatest truth.

Tuning In

The word intuition means, to know something instantaneously. It’s almost as if we already know everything, we just need to learn to access it. For most people, intuitive experiences happen randomly, but by practicing listening to your intuition, you can prepare yourself for when it actually does happen.

Meditation is an essential tool for developing your intuition. In order to tune in, you need to have a calm, clear mind. You can’t have a lot of chatter going on.  Meditation helps you to slow your mind and focus on one single thing, to the exclusion of all other things. It’s best to focus on your breath.

Breathing helps ground your energy into your body, so you are present inside your body, and can notice any information that might be coming in. During meditation, observe your thoughts, and then let them pass. Do not judge them, or elaborate on them. Just let them float on by, and focus on your breath. When the next thought pops up, repeat the process.

This helps you to notice your own thinking patterns, and moderate the traffic and flow of your thoughts on a day-to-day basis. This awareness will make you more able to identify an intuition, and trust it, instead of letting the ego question and analyze it.

Since our intuition is felt in our center, keep your awareness centered in your heart, essentially live in your heart, rather than your head. If you’re living in the middle of all that chatter, it’s hard to hear the quiet whispers of your soul. The heart’s electromagnetic field is 5,000 times more powerful than the brain’s, so there’s a lot more energy and information being exchanged there than in our mind.

It’s important to take care of your physical body if you’d like to get in touch with your intuition. Stop using recreational drugs and alcohol. Eat a healthy diet, of mostly raw, organic fruits and vegetables, and sprouted grains. These foods have the highest amount of life force in them, and will keep your vibrations high. And exercise. All of these things keep your body alive; healthy, energetic, clean, and balanced. It’s much easier to keep your awareness in your body, and live from your heart when it’s healthy.

Also, keep a journal of your intuitive experiences. It’s amazing the confirmation we get!