What is intuition? How do I access it? How do I know the difference between my mind and my intuition?
There exists within everyone and everything a universal intelligent life force. It resides in us as a natural inner intelligence – a deep or inner “knowing”. Sometimes it is a very quiet whispering voice-at other times it can come as a “gut” reaction or feeling. How many times have we gone to pick up the telephone and known who it was before we answered it? Or perhaps walked into a room and felt the uneasy vibrations of negative emotions that had just previously been there?
We are born with a natural intuitive sense. Young children are very intuitive. Although in our culture they are often trained out of it early in life. We are accustomed to thinking that some people are intuitive and some people are not. Women are generally considered to be more intuitive than men for example. Yet many men follow their intuitive hunches on a daily basis.
In indigenous cultures and in many others around the world, intuition is respected and honored as a natural and important aspect of everyday life. Daily life in these cultures is guided by a strong sense of connection to the Universal creative force. Individuals in these cultures learn to follow and trust their own inner sense of truth. They have a profound sense of the interconnectedness of all life.
In the past modern western culture, for the most part, did not acknowledge the validity of intuition. The rational aspect of our nature was honored and developed and often the existence of intuition was discounted. Often our beliefs and laws had been reinforced by the teachings in our schools and our society of the development of the left sides of our brains (rational abilities) and mostly ignored the right side of our brain (intuitive, holistic, creative capacities). We often see the same bias in the business world.
Our rational mind is like a computer—it processes the information that it receives and calculates the logical consequences based on this information. It can only compute the data that it has received directly from the external world—our rational mind can only operate on the basis of the direct experience each of us has had—the knowledge and perceptions that we have gained through our five senses.
The intuitive mind on the other hand seems to have access to an infinite supply of information—including information that we have not collected from our personal experiences. It taps into an endless source of knowledge and wisdom—the Universal mind. As one learns how to access and rely on this guidance, life takes on a flowing, effortless quality.
By utilizing both sides of our brains and tapping into our rational and intuitive abilities we can benefit from a balance and integration of logic and intuition. In recent years there have been some schools and businesses that have begun to truly value intuition and to encourage the kind of creativity and progressive thinking that results from intuitive awareness.
Most of us have spent a lifetime developing our rational minds and have programmed our intellect to doubt our intuition. Doubts can arise when an intuitive feeling comes, and our rational minds can say,
“I don’t think that will work” or “What a crazy idea,” and then the intuition is disregarded. In this time and age a lot of us are now training our intellect to respect, listen to, and express our intuitive voice.
Developing our intuitive ability begins with paying attention to what is going on inside of you so that you can become aware of your inner dialogues and catch them when they are happening. As one practices listening to one’s inner voices we become much more aware of our intuitive feelings. The next step is to learn how to interpret them and to act on them in a practical way. I have found that most people, with a little practice and time, become much more aware of their intuitive feelings.
Gayle Franceschetti is an acclaimed intuitive counselor, healer and Reiki Master. She is an open channel for Divine Energy, integrating the power of Universal Love, Compassion and Understanding. As founder of the L.O.V.E. Institute, (Lightworker Of Vibrational Energy), she hosts a variety of seminars, workshops, learning events and power journeys. She holds Masters Degrees in Education and Counseling and is certified in hypnotherapy, past life regression and The Reconnection™. She is an associate of Life Mastery Programs, a Master Dreamer and a teacher in the lineage of Don Miguel Ruiz, author of The Four Agreements. Gayle has studied with a host of internationally-known spiritual leaders, including Don Miguel Ruiz and his mother, Madre Sarita, who consecrated Gayle as a healer in the Toltec Tradition. Gayle can be contacted at (203) 265-2927, via e-mail at sunnispirit@sbcglobal.net or through www.return2love.net .