October 5, 2022
Wellness
The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.
Albert Einstein
The quote above may make you think that scholars like Einstein are trying to speak poorly of reason, but the truth is quotes like this are meant to remind us how much we as a society rely on thoughts over anything else. The rational mind is not meant to be done away with or ignored…it helps us with a lot of things. The rational mind is here to protect you and keep you safe. The problem is, we as a culture have relied so heavily on reason and have put so much influence on people outside of ourselves that it is hard to hear our own calling, our own intuition.
Listening to your intuition is not always an easy or smooth path. It also won’t be perfect. Oftentimes our intuition will want us to take the road less traveled or ask us to go against the grain. A lot of fear can come up while working with your intuition. Through my experience with myself and working with clients I have come up with a list of common blocks to intuition and ways to nurture your intuition.
What is blocking your intuition:
As mentioned above, we are taught to value fact and reason so much in our society that anything within the unknown is automatically labeled as fiction. If you have spent your life criticizing yourself or wanting to have all the right answers, working with your intuition can bring up a lot of self-criticism.
Fear of Being Wrong and Perfectionism
Perfectionism is one of the first blocks I see when trying to access intuition. If you have spent a lot of your life wanting to be the best at what you do (haven’t we all been there?) or have all the right answers, starting to trust your own inner knowing and body can bring up a lot. Practices that help release perfectionism like taking moments to just be messy, therapy, and saying affirming words to yourself are some ways to combat this. If you need an extra push to continue to start the process of learning to understand your own intuition, remember that the process will help you release perfectionism. Because your intuition, just like everything else will never be perfect and learning to become okay with that will help bring you peace.
Forcing an answer
Your intuition doesn’t work in right or wrongs or yes’s and no’s. Your intuition may speak to you as an inner knowing, colors, feelings, songs, etc. Your intuition is unique to you. Intuition is a subtle energy that takes some time to get to know. If you don’t feel a lot of self-trust or trust of your intuition don’t fret. It doesn’t mean you won’t get there. But just like any relationship you have to build it and tend to it before getting everything out of it. You wouldn’t make a new friend and demand that they tell you everything about themselves on the spot. You build a relationship, and over time you will begin to learn.
Codependency
A major block to intuition is codependency. When you are in a codependent relationship/s we lose connection to our own feelings, desires, and self-trust because you put the other person’s wants and needs before your own. When working with intuition, it is important to start to take note of how often you put others’ needs before your own. Everytime you allow someone to dictate how you should feel or what you should do, you lose a little bit of self-trust and connection to your inner knowing. Books, like “Codependent No More” by Melody Beattie, are a great resource for codependency. Another resource could be seeking out help from a coach or therapist.
Remember, everyone has the gift of intuition. There is not one person in this world that doesn’t have access to it. Everyone can hone in on their own inner knowing, it just takes a little practice and maybe some trial and error. Join me, Massey Armistead, and Kim Breese for Intuitive Integration, a two-part workshop on October 7 and October 21 to start the process of deepening your intuition!