7 Ways to Sharpen Your Intuition
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Intuition can become mute, stifled, or drowned out when we find ourselves out of balance. Here are some ways to help you get grounded so that you can reconnect with that inner voice.
Your intuition may make itself heard as a voice in your head—messages in the form of words and phrases arise without deliberate thought. Or it may manifest as a true gut feeling, a discomfort in your belly when you are in a situation that does not feel right.
With self-care, wellness, and spiritual practices in place, the body, mind, and intuition coordinate and collaborate.
However, intuition can become mute, stifled, or drowned out when we find ourselves out of balance. Here are some ways to help you get grounded so that you can reconnect with that inner voice.
Turn Down the Noise
Before you can hear your inner voice with reliable clarity, you must turn down the noise—in all literal and metaphorical forms. Our built world is noisy, and our devices make it hard to find quiet retreat, unless we are disciplined about turning them off or leaving them at home. Media and social media, the constant distractions of living online, and anxieties about the trajectory of world events mean our brains are bombarded all day (and night, if we allow it).
Social media algorithms are designed to keep us fed and full of desirable images and products and lifestyle “goals” that keep us craving more and more stimulation, more stuff. What do you think about when you’re not mindlessly swimming in other people’s curated ideas or chatter?
Get Outdoors
Start simple. Take a walk, breathe deeply, swing your arms, feel your body. If weather permits, enjoy bare skin or even bare feet. Feel your physical body moving on the earth and through the air. If you love to run or bike or do any other sport, try to do it without the competitive or goal-oriented mode switched on. (Cold-water swimming, walking meditation, and forest bathing are nature- and body-loving practices that have no competitive agenda.) Getting back into your body—as it is, without distraction or agenda—can help you feel more like yourself, and thus open up your intuitive airwaves.
Once you have reclaimed some of your mental space and reconnected to your physical body, you should be able to hear the whispers—maybe louder—of your inner voice more clearly. It will feel familiar to you, an intimate and clear voice revealed without the cyclical thoughts or cravings of the cluttered brain. What do you know to be true when you are not overthinking, oversaturated, or overstimulated? This is the seat of intuition.
Make friends with your intuition and it can be a more reliable guide than other people’s opinions, media messaging, or social pressure.
Up Leveling
When your inner voice has gotten more robust, your felt sense is vibrant, attuned, and speaking to you clearly, you may be inspired to try more esoteric intuitive practices.
Find a Mantra
In many spiritual traditions, mantra is used to channel or connect with the divine. A mantra can also help focus the mind on an intention. Choose a mantra that resonates with you; if you have a mindfulness or meditation practice, using mantra may invite quiet and amplify your inner voice.
Get a Professional Reading
Make an appointment to have your tarot cards read or to consult with a well-trained or reputable medium or psychic. Take notes, if allowed, so you have a record of the story arc sketched out. How does the reading connect with your felt sense? Keep the reading’s messages in mind in the future to see if new insights reveal themselves, which can help you connect the dots.
Build Your library
Find a book or audiobook that offers insight and instruction for developing your intuition, being an empath, nurturing energetic boundaries, and other mind-body-spirit topics. Read samples and get recommendations: an author’s voice and message should resonate with you, like having a conversation with a trusted mentor or friend.
Attend a Workshop
Inquire at local healing arts centers, yoga studios, or wellness centers about upcoming workshops with reputable instructors. Guidance and support in community is invaluable when working with such deeply personal and sensitive energies.
Your intuition, if nurtured and allowed to flourish, is a tool for understanding yourself and your path, and like all long-lasting tools, it must be cared for.
Signs You’ve Lost Touch With Your Gut Wisdom
You say yes to things you should say no to, like, for example:
- Second dates after mediocre first ones
- Food that upsets your belly
- New projects you have no time for
- Mindless purchases
And no to things you should say yes to, like, for example:
- Joyful time with friends or in community
- Exercise and fresh air
- Answering phone calls, texts, and emails
- Fresh, healthy food choices and regular meals
Your body is in pain or dis-ease.
- Manifesting as chronic headaches or pain, GI upset, weight gain or loss, flaring up of old injuries or trauma
- Colds or mild seasonal viruses that linger longer than usual; depression or anxiety
- Feeling uncomfortable in your skin
Your inner voice sounds more like an inner critic.
- You self-criticize or compare yourself more with others.
- Negative commentary dominates.
- Progress halts on creative or expressive works.
Want more on intuition? Try "4 Meditations to Tap into Your Intuition."
About the Author
Rochelle Bourgault is a writer, editor, maker, longtime yoga practitioner, sometime yoga teacher, and all-the-time mother. She lives in Portland, Maine, with her husband and two young doppelgängers.
