12 Time-Tested Methods For Getting In Tune With Your Intuitive Abilities

The world today can be overwhelming! Each year, society seems to revolve more and more around technology, screens, and stress. It is far too easy to get caught up comparing ourselves to the perfectly curated lives we see on social media, or feel overwhelmed by the never-ending 24-hour news cycle. It’s no wonder we can often find ourselves feeling caught in negative cycles of anxiety, fear, and stress.

Thankfully, we are all born with the ability to access a tool that can help us overcome all of today's modern struggles. A tool that can help guide us through life and stay on the right path. It is our one true superpower, an ancient wisdom buried within each of us. What I’m talking about is your intuition!

The definition of intuition is, “the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning”. In other words, it's the bridging of the gap between our conscious and unconscious minds. For example, have you ever had an unexplainable feeling in your gut that instinctively told you when something you were doing was right or wrong? That was your intuition speaking. Now imagine what your life would be like if you were able to access that inner guidance system whenever you needed it. That sounds amazing, right? Who wouldn’t want more of that?

Listening and trusting that little voice is a marvelous thing on its own, but working to develop that little voice can make it even more powerful. We all have the sacred ability to grow and strengthen our intuition. The more we use it, the more it can expand and evolve. Imagine your intuition as a muscle that needs exercise and nourishment to flourish. Let’s take a look at the 11 best ways to get in tune with and develop your amazing gift!

Meditate: Unless you have been living under a rock for the past 5 years, you know that you should be meditating. We hear about it everywhere! We all know that we should be meditating more. Let's take a look at mediation through the lens of helping us tune into and grow our intuition.

For most people, intuition has a very soft voice. If our minds are busy with the stresses of daily life, it can be very hard to hear that little voice. Meditation is a great way to clear the mind, quiet the constant inner dialogue and make room for our intuition to come through. Try this basic meditation to help you listen and tune into your inner spirit!

 -Set a timer for 10 minutes.

-Find a relaxing and comfortable place to sit.
-Close your eyes and stay quiet.

-Listen to and feel your breath (really pay attention to it) without trying to change it.

-Just observe the breath. Notice any sensations that arise. Just BE present.

-When your mind wanders, just bring your focus back to your breath.

When your timer goes off, slowly open your eyes and take a moment to write down any important thoughts, messages, feelings, or insights you may have received during your meditation.

Dreams: During our waking hours, our cognitive brain is in control. It uses logic and reasoning to override our subconscious mind. However, during sleep that conscious mind rests, allowing our inner subconscious to shine though. We can learn a lot about overcoming issues or problems by listening to this inner consciousness.

Keep a dream journal. Keep a notebook and pen right next to your bed, and immediately upon rising try to record everything you remember about your dreams. Dreams begin to fade from memory immediately upon waking, so make sure to grab your dream journal before you do anything else. Like most things, this takes practice, you will get better over time at interpreting and recording these dreams. You will be able to see patterns and occasions where your inner consciousness is trying to help you solve problems or guide you in the right direction.

Before going to bed, visualize yourself remembering your dreams. Picture yourself waking up and recording these dreams in your journal. Try to keep this thought in your head as you fall asleep. This will help imprint the practice in your mind and make it easier the next morning.

More nature: Spending time in nature, away from technology, is one of the best ways to quiet the mind. Nature is a great way for us to get in tune with our ancestral self and our celestial intuition. This is where we come from, our ancestors relied on their intuition for everything. For finding food, avoiding predators, finding the right path, intuition was one of the most important aspects of life. Anytime we immerse ourselves in nature's beauty, we have an opportunity to dip our toe in another world, a world where intuition rules.

Get creative: Do something creative! Paint, draw, build, sketch, anything that elevates your creative mind. When we are young, our inner voice is loud and not hesitant to shine through. As we get older that inner voice is pushed down with responsibilities and the stresses of life. Tapping into this creative part of our brain can help re-ignite those pathways and amplify our intuitions.

Get in tune with all your senses: Your intuition can flow through any of your five senses. It may come as a strange or loving sensation you feel physically within your body, or as a thought that seems to appear out of nowhere. It may be triggered by a certain scent, or even taste. Start noticing and paying attention to all of your senses. When was the last time that you really concentrated on your breathing, your sense of smell, your taste? We have all heard the phrase, “stop and smell the roses”, but it really can help in developing your intuition. The more you practice getting in tune with these senses, the more your “6th sense” can flourish as well.

Follow your hunches: A surefire way to develop your intuition is to test out your hunches. When you are going about your daily life, keep a journal and write down every time you have a hunch. When that little voice chimes in, be sure to write it down, so you can record and see how these hunches play out.  It can be as simple as seeing the weather reporting rain for tomorrow, but you have a feeling it will be sunny. Maybe a friend's partner gives you bad vibes, write down your feelings and see if it plays out. Follow your hunches and see what you can learn about your intuition.

Switch up your daily routine: The conscious brain loves routine and order, but the more regimented your life is, the further your inner voice is pushed down. When the mind is busy it can be especially hard to hear that little voice. Switching things up can throw your cognitive brain for a loop, and let your intuition shine through. Escape the daily routine, slow down and do something different. Your intuition will thank you.

Replay past events: Sit down and try to think back to a situation where things didn't go as planned, or didn't go as you wanted. Visualize yourself back in that situation, notice any feelings or moments where you felt as if something was wrong. Was there an opportunity to go a different way? Did your inner voice speak up for a moment, only to be overtaken by your cognitive mind? Try to evaluate some of these occurrences and look for patterns, look for ways that you could do things differently the next time. Look for ways your intuition was trying to guide you and the things it was trying to tell you.

Breathwork: Hands down, breathwork is one of the best ways to quiet the mind and get in tune with your inner voice. Try this 4-7-8 method to give your intuition the opportunity to shine through and bring your consciousness to the present.

-Start by emptying your lungs of air.

-Breathe in through your nose for 4 seconds.

-Hold that breath for 7 seconds.

-Exhale slowly through your mouth for 8 seconds. 

-Repeat this process 4 times. 

This 4-7-8 technique will not only help with intuition, it is a great way to mitigate stress and lower anxiety. Basically, the whole world would be a much better place if everyone would practice this simple technique once a day!

Think less, feel more:  Our cognitive brain thinks, our intuition feels. Our minds are always reasoning, questioning and thinking their way through the day. After so many years of this, we don't even realize it's happening. If people could hear all the questions, our cognitive brain is bouncing around all day, they would think we are crazy!

Try to slow down and “feel” more. Feelings that are grounded in your body, are also grounded in truth. These feelings will never lie. Learn to listen to them more. Pay attention to those little signals that our body gives us. Heart beating faster, that knot in the pit of your stomach, feeling hot, feeling cold or a tingling sensation. You know the situation; you meet someone and immediately know something is off about them, you can just feel it. Maybe they are lying to you or treating someone poorly, your physical body can feel that and alert you. If you pay more attention to these physical cues, you could avoid many uncomfortable, painful or awkward situations. This is your intuition speaking and it's trying to guide you in the right direction.

Practice “sensing” people before meeting them: This is a great way to test and grow your intuition. Put yourself into a situation where you can sit and observe someone before meeting them.

Imagine yourself in line at the coffee shop, try to imagine what the person behind the counter will be like, before you speak to them or meet them. Take in everything you can about them just by looking at them and trusting your feelings. Try to create a mental picture of what they will be like, sound like, are they friendly, are they sociable or not? You can use this in almost any situation to test your intuition. This is a powerful and actionable way to help you get in tune with your senses, your body and your inner voice.

Have Gratitude: In this day and age, it's easy to look at the negative aspects of life and forget about all that we are blessed to have. We all do it! It can be so easy to overlook our health, the love of our families, food and water, our home or our community. Take time, every day, to recognize and give thanks for a few of these amazing things that we are lucky enough to have in our lives. This simple practice can open us up to a higher frequency and allow more of life's wonders to find their way to us.

-Gratitude improves relationships.

-Gratitude improves sleep.

-Gratitude improves physical health.

-Gratitude improves self-esteem.

-Gratitude enhances empathy and reduces aggression.

-Gratitude improves psychological health.

The benefits of practicing gratitude have been scientifically researched and proven to be powerful, real tools. Think about just how much a few of those positive benefits could drastically change our daily lives. Gratitude can truly open a plethora of doors to a better life, which in turn, will help our intuitions flourish!