Guest Blog: How To Begin To Open Up Your Intuitive Nature
I am so happy to share with you this guest blog written by Shannon Wallace - someone I admire very much. I have trained with Shannon in Shamanic Journeying and so know first hand the quality of Shannon's wisdom and teachings. Enjoy...
How To Begin To Open Up Your Intuitive Nature
How do you know which path you were called to take in life? Is it something that you sat down and reasoned out with a pen, paper, and complicated spreadsheets? My guess is that your answer to that one is a resounding “No!”
You chose this path and your passion to pursue because there was something bigger inside of you that called out to it. Something in your heart and soul that said “This way! Over here!”
What do you call that mysterious “something” that whispers to you as it leads you down this exciting (and sometimes scary) new path?
I call it intuition. And the more you listen to it, the more you can support yourself in living out the life of your dreams.
Intuition: The Sixth Sense
Now, some of you may be thinking that you don’t have an intuitive nature, but I want to assure you that you do! Intuition is often called the sixth sense for a reason and that is because every person on this earth has the ability to connect with it.
Luckily, it is a sense that can be honed. Just like I could learn to identify the sound of different scales if I worked long enough with an instrument. Or, how we can deepen our sensitivity to color and light through painting and drawing, you can also learn to connect with your intuitive nature through mindfulness and inner focus.
Mindfulness is the Key to Intuition
One way to increase your intuition is to learn to be really mindful of your internal landscape and noticing which experiences most often occur hand in hand.
Mindfulness is about noticing the tenor of your thoughts and the sensory feelings within your body without judgment. When you are mindful, you are aware, not controlling.
Let’s use an example of how this works with intuition. Let’s say that you want to be able to pick up on your inner knowledge when something is wrong. The idea would be to become accustomed to the type of thoughts, emotions, and sensory experiences that often accompany experiences such as shame or fear.
Get in the habit of running a check-list of thoughts, sensory feelings, and emotions until it becomes almost automatic.
Then, keep this up until one day you run the check-list and something feels just a little different from usual. Maybe that fear feeling comes up, but you aren’t thinking of anything fearful. Or you feel a strange sick feeling in your stomach, but aren’t thinking anything that could cause it.
Chances are, this difference is your intuitive voice!
How to Support Intuition
The best thing that you can do at this point is to record the experience immediately.
This is important for two reasons.
First, it helps to have some kind of written record. It’s like being a scientist. You want to first collect your data and then develop your theory of your intuitive nature from there.
Second, it reinforces that connection your intuitive voice. It tells your subconscious that you are listening.
When we have an intuition, the worst thing we can do is disregard it. We are telling our mind not to pay attention to that feeling and effectively shut it down. When you pause and write a quick note, you are telling your subconscious to pay attention, that this is important. Even if you decide to act against
your intuition, you have consciously acknowledged it and reinforced that connection.
Don’t Let Your Expectations Get in the Way
As you collect more and more of these experiences, you will come to recognize what your intuitive voice sounds like. Many times it is a quiet tickling. For some, it is like someone whispering in your ear, so soft that you aren’t quite sure what you are hearing.
Be careful not to allow expectations of having a thunderclap moment or of a sudden vision get in the way of you really feeling what your intuition feels like for you. It’s not that these things can’t happen, they sure do. It just works differently for most people.
Learn the Shamanic Journey for Intuitive Growth
And, finally, my favorite method of increasing your ability to connect with the unseen and know the unknown, is learning the shamanic journey. When you can connect with your Spirit Guides from within the journey, you are able to see your path to your passion unfold before you.
The Shamanic Journey is kind of like having a GPS to your destiny and having your Spirit Guides on speed dial.
About the Writer:
Shannon Wallace is a trained Shamanic Practitioner, Certified Reiki Master, Soul Coach, and the creator of the Radiant Connection Method of Healing. Those who have worked with Shannon have described her as a “gentle fire” as her nurturing demeanor combined with her ability to effect transformation come together to create a clear ladder that anyone can ascend to begin living in their limitless potential.
