Last updated on February 12th, 2013 at 08:53 pm
“The only real valuable thing is intuition.”
– Albert Einstein
Learning to trust your heart and intuition can take a leap of faith. Illustration by Iman Woods
Ever have a nagging feeling that stayed with you? Either you followed it to success or regretted not listening to the little voice inside.
Science has a hard time explaining the inexplicable, however Oprah.com has an eye-opening article citing a study by scientist Barnaby Dunn, PhD proving the science of intuition. The study found that our bodies know something is off long before our minds can process a wide variety of information and come to a conclusion.
In my professional life I’ve long relied on what I affectionately call “gut feelings”. I didn’t realize until researching for this article that I already practice several of the exercises in my professional life that help me stay in touch with my intuition. It’s brought me financial and professional success.
In the past, I would ignore a feeling because it didn’t add up to the evidence in front of me. I always regretted not listening to the hairs standing up on the back of my neck, the heaviness in the pit of my stomach, or the excited butterflies. I do consider myself to be more aware and in touch with my body than most, and I started to notice a pattern.
This article outlines the steps I would unconsciously take. I’m printing this out to remind me to let my intuition make sense of the myriad of information I’m exposed to. I can get just as caught up as the next person wondering if I’m making a mistake.
The most important aspect of trusting your intuition is learning to trust and believe yourself. If you constantly question yourself, tear yourself down, or fear mistakes as ultimate failure, this can be an uphill battle. I can handle business decisions like a pro. Personal decisions leave me indecisive and painfully vulnerable.
You have to practice trusting yourself. You must believe that even mistakes can take you where you need to go.
Recently I decided to apply this phenomenon to personal relationships. For months before deciding my marriage was over, I tried to meditate and imagine what life would be like without him (scary and unknown) or with him (endlessly depressing, hopeless) so I decided scared was better than hopeless. I clung to a sliver of hope that the world beyond would be better.
If you’d like to explore your own intuition:
Find articles and books to read. Reading can introduce you to new information and substantiate things you suspect but haven’t quantified yet. Talk to friends about instances where they were glad they trusted themselves or regretted not heeding a quiet warning. Start asking yourself if you’ve had similar situations. (You have, you just may not recognize them yet.) Journal times it was hard to make a decision. See if you find a pattern.
More excellent articles from Oprah.com learning about intuition:
The One Thing You Can Do to Honor Your Inner Voice
Intuition 101: Developing Your Clairsenses
Ask Deepak: How to Trust Your Intuition
What do you dream of? Try the techniques above and let us know what happens.
Iman
Iman Woods is an American artist who specializes in pin-up photography. Through a unique and therapeutic process, she’s spent over a decade in perfecting, Iman helps women undo the damage from a negative self-image and unrealistic beauty industry expectations. She helps women embrace their own style of beauty and see themselves in a new light. You can find her on her website, ImanWoods[dot]com.
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