Remarkably, we are all born with the ability to access a tool that can help us overcome all of today's modern, man-made struggles. A tool that can help guide us through life and stay on our right path. It is our one true superpower, an ancient wisdom buried within each of us. What I’m talking about is intuition!  That voice inside your head.  That feeling in your gut.  The knowing in your bones. INTUITION!

The definition of intuition is, “the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning”. In other words, it's the bridging of the gap between our knowing/conscious and our unknowing/unconscious minds. For example, have you ever had an unexplainable feeling in your gut that told you when something you were doing was right or wrong? That was your intuition speaking. Now imagine what your life would be like if you were able to access that inner guidance system whenever you needed it. That sounds amazing, right?

Listening and trusting that little voice/tingling feeling is a marvelous thing on its own, but working to develop that voice can make it even more powerful. We all have this sacred ability to grow and strengthen our intuition. The more we use it, the more it can expand and evolve. The more you utilize it and you experience it not leading you astray, the more you will trust in it and yourself.  Imagine your intuition as a muscle that needs exercise and nourishment to flourish. Let’s take a look at some of the best ways I've found to help tune in with and strengthen our intuition below.

Meditate: Unless you have been living under a rock in a cave on Mars with your eyes shut and your fingers in your ears for the past few years, you know that you should be meditating. We hear about it literally everywhere! We all know that we should be meditating more. Let's take a look at mediation through the idea of helping us tune into and grow our intuition.

For most people, intuition has a very soft voice. If our minds are busy with the stresses of daily life, it can be very hard to hear it. Meditation is a great way to clear the mind, quiet the constant inner chatter, and make room for our intuition to come through. Try this basic meditation to help you listen and tune into your inner spirit!

-Set a timer for 10 minutes.

-Find a relaxing and comfortable place to sit or lie.  I meditate laying down as that is what feels best for me.
-Close your eyes and stay quiet.

-Listen to and feel your breath (really truly pay attention to it) without trying to change it.

-Just observe the breath. Notice any sensations that arise. Just BE present.  Just BE with your breath.

-When your mind wanders off (and it will!), just bring your focus back to your breath.

When your timer goes off, slowly open your eyes and take a moment to write down any important thoughts, messages, feelings, or visions you may have received during your meditation.

Dreams: During our waking hours, our cognitive/knowing/conscious brain is in control. It uses logic and reasoning to override our subconscious mind. However, during sleep that conscious mind rests, which allows our inner subconscious to shine though. We can learn a lot about overcoming issues or problems by simply paying attention to and listening for this inner subconsciousness.  Sometimes I ask myself to "show me the truth of this (situation/person/etc.) tonight as I sleep" to invite my intuition to speak up. 

Keep a dream journal. Keep a notebook and pen right next to your bed, and immediately upon rising try to record everything you remember about your dreams. Dreams begin to fade from memory quickly upon waking, so make sure to grab your dream journal before you do anything else. Like most things, this will take practice.  You will get better over time at interpreting and recording your dreams. You will be able to see patterns and occasions where your inner consciousness is trying to help you solve problems or guide you in the best direction.

More nature: Spending time in nature, away from technology, is one of the best ways to quiet the mind. Nature is a great way for us to get in tune with our ancestral self and our celestial intuition. This is where we come from.  Ancestors relied upon their intuition for everything. Finding food, avoiding predators, discovering the right path, intuition was one of the most important aspects of life. Anytime we immerse ourselves in nature's beauty, we have an opportunity to dip our toe in another world - a world where intuition rules.  Give yourself some time to go wander a hiking trail and just focus on being present with the earth. 

Get creative: Do something creative! Paint, draw, build, sketch, anything that elevates your creative mind. When we are children, our inner voice is loud and doesn't hesitate to shine through. As we get older that inner voice is pushed down with all of the responsibilities, obligations, expectations, shoulds, and the stresses of life. Tapping into this creative part of our brain can help re-ignite those pathways to our intuition.  I myself love painting but am trash at it.  I do it for the love of the doing, not because it needs to be flawless.

Get in tune with all your senses: Your intuition can flow through all of your five senses. For some, it may come as a strange tingling or loving sensation you feel physically within your body, or as a thought that seems to appear out of nowhere that's your voice but not quite.  It may be triggered by a certain scent, or even taste. Become aware and start paying attention to all of your senses. When was the last time that you really concentrated on your breathing, or your sense of smell, or how your food tastes? We have all heard the phrase, “stop and smell the roses”, but it really can help in developing your intuition. The more you practice getting in tune with all of the senses we have available as humans, the more our “6th sense” can flourish as well.

Follow your hunches: A surefire way to develop your intuition is to test out your hunches. When you are going about your daily life, keep a journal and write down every time you have a hunch. When that little voice chimes in, write it down so you can record and see how these hunches play out. It can be as simple as seeing the weather reporting rain for tomorrow, but you have a feeling it will be sunny. Maybe a friend's new partner gives you bad vibes, write down your feelings and see if it plays out. Follow your hunches and see what you can learn about your intuition.

Switch up your daily routine: The conscious brain loves routine and order, but the more regimented your life is, the further your inner voice is pushed down. When the mind is busy it can be especially hard to hear your inner voice. Switching things up can throw your cognitive brain for a loop, and let your intuition shine through. Escape the daily routine, slow down, and do something different. It can be as simple as putting your left sock on before your right one or you can go more in depth and consciously stop allowing yourself to run on auto pilot.  Your intuition will thank you.

Replay past events: Sit down and try to think back to a situation where things didn't go as planned, or didn't go as you wanted. Visualize yourself back in that situation and focus on any feelings or moments where you felt as if something was wrong. Was there an opportunity for it to go a different way? Did your inner voice speak up for a moment, only to be shoo-ed away by your cognitive mind? Try to evaluate some of these occurrences and look for patterns and become aware of the ways that you could do things differently the next time. Look for ways your intuition was trying to guide you and the things it was trying to tell you.

Breathwork: Hands down, breathwork is one of the best ways to quiet the mind and get in tune with your inner voice. Try this 4-7-8 box breathing method to give your intuition the opportunity to shine through and bring your subconsciousness to the present.

-Start by emptying your lungs of air.

-Breathe in through your nose for 4 seconds.

-Hold that breath for 7 seconds.

-Exhale slowly through your mouth for 8 seconds. 

-Repeat this process 4 times. 

This 4-7-8 technique will not only help with intuition, it is a great way to mitigate stress and lower anxiety.

Think less, feel more: Our cognitive brain thinks, our intuition feels. Our minds are always reasoning, questioning and thinking their way through the day. After so many years of this, we don't even realize it's happening. If people could hear all the questions, our cognitive brain is bouncing around all day, they would think we are crazy!

Try to slow down and “feel” more. Feelings that are grounded in your body, are also grounded in truth. These feelings will never lie to you. Learn to listen to them more. Pay attention to those little signals that our body gives us. The heart beating faster, that knot in your stomach, that feeling of having a pit in your chest, feeling hot, feeling cold or a tingling sensation. You know the situation; you meet someone and immediately know something is off about them, you can just feel it. They fail the vibe check.  Maybe they are lying to you or are misrepresenting themselves and their intentions with you - your physical body can feel that and alert you. If you pay more attention to these physical cues, you could avoid many uncomfortable, painful or awkward situations. This is your intuition speaking and it's trying to guide you in the right direction.

Practice “sensing” people before meeting them: This is a great way to test and grow your intuition. Put yourself into a situation where you can sit and observe someone before meeting them. 

Imagine yourself in line at your favorite local coffee shop, try to imagine what the person behind the counter will be like before you speak to them or meet them. Take in everything you can about them just by looking at them and listening to your gut.  Try to create a mental picture of what they will be like, sound like, are they friendly, are they sociable or not? You can use this in almost any situation to test your intuition. This is a powerful and actionable way to help you get in tune with your senses, your body and your inner voice.

Have Gratitude: In this day and age, it's easy to look at the negative aspects of life and forget about all that we are blessed to have. We all do it! It can be so easy to overlook our health, our jobs, getting the bills paid, the love of our families, having access to enough food and clean water, having a home to call our own or a close knit community.  Take some time each and every day, to recognize and give thanks for a few of these amazing things that we are lucky enough to have in our lives. This simple practice can open us up to a higher frequency and allow more of life's wonders to find their way to us.

-Gratitude improves relationships.

-Gratitude improves sleep.

-Gratitude improves physical health.

-Gratitude improves self-esteem.

-Gratitude enhances empathy and reduces aggression.

-Gratitude improves psychological health.

The benefits of practicing gratitude have been scientifically researched and proven to be powerful, real tools. Think about just how much a few of those positive benefits could drastically change our daily lives. It's a daily practice of mine to write down at least one thing daily I am thankful for. 

What is one thing you are going to do today to help your intuition flourish?