4 everyday reasons for connecting with your intuition

Because we all naturally have intuition, at times we can all sense that something’s a bit off. However, when you’re connected to your intuition and work with it daily, you’ll not only sense the more subtle signs that something’s off, perhaps when the balance is just going off-kilter, you’ll also heed and act on what you’re sensing.

When you’re not so connected to your intuition or your intuition isn’t so strong, you’ll either receive signs and sensations that something’s off when things have gotten so bad that there’s no fixing them, or you doubt your feelings and fail to act on the quickly enough.

For example, you’re meeting up with a friend for your usual weekly coffee and chat. You walk into the coffee shop, see your friend, and instantly know that something’s not right, something’s off.

You settle down with your friend, order your coffee and you start to catch up. Although they’re being chatty and upbeat you can’t shake the feeling that something’s not right, something’s off.

As they’re such a good friend, and you care for them deeply and have a great relationship, you decide to ask them what the matter is.

After some hesitation and looking a little surprised that you picked up on something, they confide in you something that they haven’t shared with anyone, not even their Mum. However, as you seem to have already picked up that something’s wrong and they know they can trust you to keep it quiet but also lend them the support they so desperately need, they tell you they’re starting to have problems in their marriage and are frightened that if they continue their marriage may eventually end, something they don’t want but they don’t know how to fix things.

You let them share and you listen to them with your heart. You happen to be friends with someone who went to a marriage counsellor for support and advice and, if your friend is open to it, you can get the contact details for that counsellor.

They are and you do.

A few months later, you bump into your friend and she hugs and thanks you. She and her partner are working through the issues with the help of the counsellor and things are starting to look and feel a bit better. She thanks you because if you hadn’t had picked up on things as quickly as you did, by the time she had plucked up the courage to tell you, her marriage may have been too damaged to be saved.

It doesn’t need to be a voice in your head, it can be just a feeling like a sick feeling or tightness in your stomach.

When you’re in tune with your intuition, you’ll experience the voice of caution more regularly and, critically, you’ll heed it.

For example, someone calls you from your bank and provides you with all their official identification to clarify their authenticity.

They advise that there has been some suspicious activity in your account and they would like to clarify if it was you or if someone has illegally accessed your account. They continue to mention a number of outgoing transactions that you don’t recognise and you confirm this to them.

In order to stop any further money being stolen, you need to change your access immediately and they’ll help you do so. You know if you don’t act now, more money could be stolen.

However, there’s that little voice in your head saying ‘don’t’, there’s that little uncomfortable niggle. Even though you know if you don’t act now you could lose more money, you can’t ignore the warnings you’re receiving from your intuition. So, you thank the person for their help but you’ll deal with it yourself.

After the phonecall, you immediately log into your bank account to discover that nothing’s been stolen, that the call was fraudulent. You’ve just had a ‘lucky’ escape.

A study performed by psychology researchers from Stanford University found that people who follow their intuition are more likely to make correct decisions than those who rely purely on logic. In their study they found that intuition led to the best choice being made 68% of the time, compared to only 26% of best choices being made when people made rational decisions.

Suppose you’re looking for a new job and you’ve had a few interviews. Suddenly you unexpectedly have two job offers on the table. They’re very different offers and on paper one is substantially better, financially, than the other.

However, you remember that during the interview for that job, you didn’t feel completely comfortable. There was just something you couldn’t put your finger on.

 You’re moving from a job where demands and pressure have been high and you’re looking for a better position but one that isn’t so stressful and demands a lot of unpaid over-hours.

On paper, the higher paid position sounds ideal, everything you could wish for. But you feel your heart expand more when you think about the other job. So, you listen to your heart and choose the other, less financially rewarding job.

You start the job and feel instantly welcomed by your colleagues. You love the work. It’s challenging but not overly-pressured and stressful. And you no longer have to work the long, unpaid hours you did in your previous job.

Within 6 months of starting, you receive your permanent contract and a pay increase; a pay increase that takes you a little above the amount that had been offered in the other job that you turned down.

In another 3 months, you bump into someone you know and tell them about your new job and the one you turned down. And they tell you how lucky your are. They know someone who works for that other company and says they’re always stressed and always working long, unpaid hours.

Our bodies are sending us subtle messages all the time. If we aren’t in tune with those messages or choose to ignore them, it can result in chronic health issues.

Additionally, a healthy body means a healthy mind and vice versa. The mind and body are in constant communication with the health of one impacting the health of the other.

When you make intuitive choices and decisions that take care of your body, you secure a balanced and healthy state of mind also.

For example, you’re a conscientious and diligent worker. When someone needs support in a project or someone to help with a deadline, you’re the one everybody turns to because you’re always there and always committed.

However, recently, there have been a lot of demands placed upon you and whilst you find it hard to say ‘no’, every time someone asks you for something new, you get a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. But you ignore it. You just can’t bring yourself to let people down. So you keep helping and supporting.

Gradually the sick feeling turns into a slight discomfort in your stomach area. But you continue to ignore it.

And then one morning you waken up in agony. You can’t get out of bed you’re in so much pain. You’re rushed to the emergency department of the nearest hospital where they quickly tell you your appendix is about to rupture, and you need to go into surgery immediately.

You have the surgery, however, it takes 6 weeks before you can return to work and even when you do you’re nowhere near able to perform the way you used to. People realise they can no longer ask you for the support and help you used to give and so your workload lessens.

Three months down the line, the company announces that it has to tighten its belt and make some redundancies. And you find yourself on the list.

The support, the help, the hard work you did are a long-distant and forgotten memory to those who are choosing who to make redundant and who to retain. And, so, you lose your job.

Had you listened to your body and placed stronger limits on who you could help and when, your health would never have deteriorated to the extent it did, leading you to lose your appendix and your job.