How to Calm Your Mind and Let Your Intuition Guide You

Guided by intuition - illuminating the path forward (Image courtesy of worldofmiri.com)

A solution to analysis paralysis

Intuition as my guide?

It can seem challenging to connect with our intuition. At least for me, it is.

There are many voices in my head: my own, my parents’, my teachers’, my friends’, society’s…

My mind is always going over old conversations and situations, often scolding me for allegedly inappropriate behaviour, or warning me of potential dangers to avoid pain, fear, or other unpleasant experiences.

On top of this, we are presented with enormous amounts of information each day which are impossible to process from a human perspective. I often feel overwhelmed when making a decision. I easily fall into a rabbit hole when I research a topic. Information is available from every angle. It is difficult for me to discern. How should I filter through all this data? I have answered this question for myself: I can’t.

No offense, but my mind does not seem to be the most reliable consultant when I’ve asked myself for the best way to move forward.

Somewhere deep within in me resides my intuition, the part of me holding my highest intentions and connecting me to my highest path. The part of me that simply “knows”. Knows when to turn right even though the mind is arguing a case against it because we went left in the past, because we’ve experienced it before, because everyone else says so. My mind does this with the best intention, to protect and keep me safe, drawing conclusions from similar situations or thought processes. How would my mind know that this time, in contrast to everything it knows, it would be wiser for me to turn right? It doesn’t.

My intuition could tell me.

How to access intuition:

But how can I access this wisdom within? How do I get past the noise? Who can help me? Where do I get my questions truly answered?

Deep within me resides my connection to the divine, to my soul, to my heart. The wisdom stored here draws upon a higher perspective, tuning into what “feels” right. I have heard this voice, but it is shy and small at first.

When I allow myself to connect to my intuition, I must make my mind calm. This can be a challenge, though my meditation practice helps me with this. The best moments to ask are when I’ve just finished a meditation or when I’m cruising through nature on a walk, just my breathing and me.

Breathing into my belly is important for connecting with my inner truth. Then it’s time to ask my question. My mind jumps in straight away, offering a range of answers. I know it’s my mind because the answers form in my head. To listen to my intuitive voice, I move deeper and tune my awareness into my heart space.

It helps to place my hands onto my heart or my belly and to keep breathing. This way, I can drop my consciousness lower. Then, I wait. It’s never a long wait, but it takes longer than when my mind answers, so it feels like an eternity and my mind can get impatient. I try not to get pulled out of my concentration. I try to stay focused on keeping my mind calm and open. Openness is important, because often, the answer is at odds with what my mind wants to offer.

Sometimes the answer comes as a word drifting into my mind. Often, I get an image which I have to translate into meaning. Sometimes, I get a number. It depends on the situation.

It takes time and trust to develop the language of intuition. The more I trust my inner voice, the quicker and clearer the answers become. I’ve spent years developing my own intuitive language. For example, the image of a snake for me means healing. For others, this may mean danger. It is important to work on your own code system which usually incorporates your unique experiences and feelings.

How does this look in real life? How can I use intuition for decision-making?

Let’s look at an example. Our son wants to go on a high school exchange in Europe. Because the school he attends at home finishes with the IB (International Baccalaureate), it would be best if he attended another IB school abroad to keep him up to date with the curriculum. He does not have a preference for which country, so we have two variables to work with: Europe and IB-school.

There are hundreds of IB schools in Europe.

It felt overwhelming. There was no way we would be able to draw up enough excel spreadsheets to compare each and every school. How would we rate them? How could we find out which school was a good match? By looking at thousands of web pages? This did not seem appealing.

Our son and I chose a different approach.

We set the intention to be guided be our Higher Selves. We let go of any expectations and cleared our minds, letting them become blank slates. Then, we looked at a directory of European IB schools. We let ourselves be guided by our hearts. Interestingly, a few school names stood out. They sort of glowed, or the names felt right. We put these ones on our shortlist, in total about ten of them.

Now, we had a starting point. Two days later, we came back to the list and prioritized those schools again by feeling into which ones felt best. We ended up with a group of about four schools to look into. Up until this point, we had not even checked their websites. Only then did we start our research and kick in with our minds.

We dived into the details of each school. We considered the curriculum, their sports programs, the geography, and everything else that seemed important. We engaged with the schools and inquired about the options. During this process, one school in particular stood out, approved by the heart and the mind. That was the school our son chose. He is yet to depart, but we are all excited about his adventure.

I have to admit I would never have allowed myself to go into a decision like this until a few years ago. I was too conditioned and focused on the powers of the mind. I probably would have stressed myself a lot by setting up all of those excel sheets.

Today, I feel comfortable following my intuition, most of the time. The greatest challenges are calming my mind and allowing the answers to present to me.

If you’d like to start exploring the voice of your intuition, I recommend you begin with small questions, e.g. “Do I have eggs or fruit for breakfast today?” or “Should I exercise now or later?” Follow what you get. It will help you discern whether you tuned into your intuition or into one of your mind’s voices. Build up your trust and your skills.

And remember, learning a new language to proficiency takes practice and lots of time.