Recognizing the difference between intuition and emotion or wishful thinking can be confusing, but developing this feeling is an exciting part of our spiritual journey. It can give us access to guidance from our higher self, allow us to trust our decisions, and open our eyes to the synchronicities that playfully arise before us.
There are very noticeable differences in the way intuition feels in the body versus the way thoughts and feelings are experienced. Tuning into your true intuitive voice begins by taking some time to pause and be present to the experience when you feel like you are receiving intuitive information.
To help you determine whether what you are observing is true intuition or not, I recommend asking yourself the following three questions. These are checkpoints for yourself. As you go through them, consciously turn your awareness inward. The more you practice this presence with yourself, the easier it will become to recognize the difference between true knowledge and your own emotions or thoughts.
1. Is the information related to a strong sense of fear or emotion in the body?
Many of our emotions involve a physical sensation – these are often intense. Emotion or wishful thinking is agitated and restless and also inconsistent. Your mind comes up with the ‘what if’ scenario and your emotions play a role in it. It creates an uncertain and unstable feeling around the information.
Intuition is silent, it does not carry the same charge that emotions carry. It is settled and calm. Even if the intuition is not the outcome you would like, it does not bring up a powerful, unpleasant charge in the body. You may experience feelings such as the hairs standing up on your arms or neck, or you may experience tingling or pressure in your crown chakra. But none of these will be unpleasant or scary. You may also experience the feeling as if your body is expanding into the knowledge that is emerging. That this information is not outside of you, but rather part of you. If this is what your experience feels like, you can trust that it is intuition.
2. Ask yourself: is this true?
You can do this to yourself in your head, but I actually recommend saying it out loud and then asking yourself if what you said feels true. If you can’t answer that question with confidence, if you can’t really answer yes or no, chances are it’s not intuition. This is where consistency comes into play. Intuition is clear and consistent. It’s quiet and subtle, but it gives you the same answer every time – and it won’t nag you about it. Intuition will not ask you to believe in it. On the other hand, your emotions will. Your emotions will generate thoughts that feed your ‘what if’ story. Intuition is a calm sense of knowing, and when you ask yourself if this is true, your heart answers YES. You can experiment by saying your intuition out loud and then asking yourself out loud: Is this true? Or you can write down your intuitions and come back to them a few days or weeks later to see what was true intuition and what wasn’t. When you write things down, include all the sensations associated with the information.
3. Where do you feel the intuition in the body?
Intuition is a knowing that comes from the heart and the energetic body. It’s not a mental exercise. When we are engaged in thinking, we are engaging in the loop between thoughts and feelings. If your intuition comes from your mind, I advise you to be suspicious of it. Intuition is usually felt most strongly in the heart or intestinal region of the body and the energetic body or light body. If you feel like the information is here, it’s much more likely to be intuition than if it’s just a thought or image in your head.
Always remember that intuition is neutral and objective, and not tied to one outcome or another. That’s not emotion. Emotion wants something or is afraid of something. Intuition can still speak to us when we are emotionally charged, but it can be challenging to hear that intuition when our emotions are so loud.
When this happens, it is essential that you let go of your attachment to one outcome or the other. Let your emotions calm down and then listen to that calm, steady voice. These are opportunities to balance our emotional and energetic bodies and also to understand ourselves more deeply.
Give yourself space to feel what intuition is and what emotion is. Use the circumstances in your life to sharpen this awareness. And have something fun with it! Use these three questions to help you tune in to your inner voice and develop your intuitive senses.
Article by http://tarotbyseraphim.ca/
