First of a 4-part series
Back in the 1960s (ah, yes, I remember them well) we used the phrase “Turn on, tune in, drop out!” I was no activist then, nor now, never marching for a cause or writing my congressmen. However, I was a radical thinker who always believed that we are spirits having a human experience, and believed strongly that peace and love will prevail in our chaotic world.
I still believe those things. “Turn on, tune in, and drop out” now has a new spiritual meaning for me: turn on your intuition, tune into it, and drop out of fear-based decision making! Our inner self, our intuition, is like a beacon shining from the lighthouse of our spiritual Self, illuminating the waters of our lives.
What is intuition? It is the inner knowing we all have inside, our invisible antenna that deciphers information from the energy with which we engage — physically, emotionally, and/or spiritually. Yes, we all have it! Some people are born more aware of their intuition than others, for it can be genetically influenced, personality inclined, or brought forward from a former life.
Engaging with intuition is a skill that anyone can develop and sharpen. It’s like any other skill, like playing the piano, for instance. Everyone reading this article has the ability to play the piano. Only a small percentage of us will choose to learn the skill of how to play the piano. Even fewer will practice enough to desire playing in front of other people. Only a few people will decide to practice enough to play in a recital or play in Carnegie Hall.
Intuition is no different. If you want to develop your intuition, you control how clear it becomes by how much you wish to continuously practice it.
Where does our intuition come from? It is centered in our gut. We use three “brains” in our body to make decisions: our head brain, our heart brain, and our gut brain. Our head brain is in charge of the logic and analysis of a situation, our heart brain is in charge of how we feel about it, and our gut brain is in charge of how we instinctively sense it. The gut brain is the foundation of all three. The gut is where our survival instinct resides. It is our solar plexus chakra, the one containing both fear and spiritual power.
What kind of intuition do we have? There are many kinds, but the most common are clairvoyance (seeing), clairaudience (hearing), and claircognizance (knowing). We all are able to use all of the types of intuition, but will have a stronger default one to begin with.
How do we tap into it or turn it on? We start practicing our intuition by using it on things we have no emotional attachment to in the outcome. For example, when standing in line at the coffee shop, ask intuition what the person in front of you is going to order — coffee, tea or frappé. Then just be open to what arrives in your inner vision. Hear inside your head, or just know. If you are correct in your intuition, and especially if you are not correct in your intuition, remember what it felt like in your body when you received the intuitive information. None of us are 100 percent accurate, due to our own filters, so it’s most important to know what it felt like when we were not accurate so we can use it as a reference in the future.
Over the next three months, I will offer follow-up articles with more exercises on developing each of the three styles of intuition and explain more about intuition. In the meantime, practice the above exercise in as many kinds of ways you can imagine.
