Intuition is about far more than “having a feeling something will happen” or vague impressions.
It’s about closeness to one’s heart and knowing how to judge gut feelings.
Those who are more intuitive than most are able to separate out brief sensations and flitting thoughts from deeper gut instincts and meaningful intuition.
They are able to parse and understand relationships, people and situations at a far deeper, gut-level.
Are you one of them?
Let’s take a look at the signs…
1) You care more
You often find yourself deeply attuned to the emotions and experiences of other people and places.
Whether it’s a friend, a coworker or your romantic partner, you don’t just pretend to care and empathize with how they’re doing:
You really do care, and you feel it at the most foundational level.
The situation of other people hits you at the physical level, not just metaphorically.
As psychology writer Carolyn Gregoire notes:
“If you’ve ever started feeling sick to your stomach when you knew something was wrong but couldn’t put your finger on what, you understand that intuitions can cause a physical sensation in the body.”
2) You feel energy of people and places
This ties into the previous point, because you possess an acute sensitivity to the energy of your surroundings and the people you encounter.
The “vibe” that places give off just comes across naturally to you without usually putting that much thought into it.
It’s just obvious to you.
You are able to generally trust your gut on where you belong and what you want to be part of and vice versa.
“Humans have strong intuitions about other people,” observes psychology researcher Matthew Hutson.
“That’s because character judgment has such dire consequences, and because we have so much experience with it, over our lifetimes and over evolution.”
3) You can predict what will likely happen with high accuracy
You have a knack for anticipating future events or outcomes based on subtle patterns and cues.
This isn’t magic, of course, but it is second nature that comes about from observing patterns and trends that have occurred before.
This is something that is hardwired into us at the biological and perceptual level.
“Intuition comes from patterns we’ve identified in our past experiences. From the time we are born, we constantly seek out patterns in our environment,” explains psychology author and business consultant Al Pittampalli.
“In order to trust our intuition, we need to have had enough practice. Our intuitions are only as good as the database of patterns that we draw them from.”
4) You trust your gut at a deep, primal level
You have a strong inclination to trust your intuition and gut feelings.
This carries over into every area of your life, including your business and career life.
Studies have borne out that intuition is more than just a random feeling and is often correlated with actual success.
“In an annual competition by The Wall Street Journal, teams competed on how their stocks performed.
But while one side was a group of highly skilled expert brokers, the other was a group of journalists choosing their shares by the throw of a dart. Intuitively, expertise should win,” writes psychologist Jeremy Sutton, Ph.D.
“And yet, it appears, that wasn’t true in this case. The contest ceased without explanation, most likely to avoid the stockbrokers’ embarrassment.”
5) You’re an expert at reading non-verbal cues
You excel at interpreting nonverbal communication, such as body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice.
It can sometimes feel as if you were born with this skill, and you mostly take it for granted.
Your intuitions and “thin slice” impressions of people and places are rarely wrong.
“We’re better at detecting deception and sexual orientation from thin slices when we rely on intuition instead of reflection,” notes Hutson.
“Sometimes the heart is smarter than the head.”
6) You connect with nature at a deep emotional and spiritual level
You feel a deep connection with nature and the environment.
When you’re out in nature you feel connected to your intuition and get in touch with your true self.
You explore nature in a way that echoes and parallels your own exploration of yourself.
“Intuition thrives in an environment of self-awareness and open-minded exploration.
Those committed to ongoing growth are naturally with their true selves, and thereby are to the subtle cues and insights that intuition provides,” writes clinical psychologist Sarah Peleaz.
7) You have a profound connection to symbols and mythology
You possess an intuitive understanding of symbolism and metaphor, often finding deeper meaning and significance in everyday experiences, dreams, and symbols.
When it comes to your dreams, for example, you try your best to practice lucid dreaming and to remember your dreams when you wake up.
You look at what they mean and the symbols and mythological elements of your dream and relate that to your life path, spiritual development and faith.
As Travis Bradberry writes:
“Intuitive people don’t just think, ‘Wow, that was a weird dream!”; they ask themselves, “Where did that come from, and what can I take away from it?’”
8) You can tell when somebody’s not OK or struggling
You can tell when somebody’s pretending to be OK but is actually going through a rough time.
Seeing this comes as second nature to you, and it always has.
Whereas other people may buy the “surface mask” that other people show their way, you’ve always seen below the surface.
You have a natural ability to provide comfort, support, and healing to others through your empathic presence and compassionate nature.
9) You have deep creative insight and inspiration out of nowhere
You demonstrate a creative flair and insight that many other people don’t have.
You bring this to bear in your professional life and in your hobbies.
On the practical side, this allows you to think outside the box and solve problems innovatively.
On the creative side it helps you create art and engage in activities that open people’s minds and make the world a more beautiful place.
As psychology writer Sarah Ryan puts it:
“Creativity and intuition go hand in hand. As you take time to practice your creativity, your intuition will also get a boost, and vice versa.”
10) You have a knack for intuitive decision-making
You have an uncanny knack to make decisions without over-analyzing.
You look at the data, of course, but you have a gut instinct for what you think is the best option out of a range of choices.
The upside is that you don’t waste time overthinking. A potential downside is that sometimes you can be borderline reckless in your decisions.
As Sutton advises:
“Where the current or future situation is significantly different, we must use our intuition with caution. Without rational analysis, any decision taken could be ineffective at best or dangerous at worst.”
11) You’re more sensitive to substances than the average joe
When it comes to medication and substances, you’re more sensitive than most.
You may get the jitters from caffeine, intense anxiety or disorientation from cannabis and hallucinogens, and anger or sadness from alcohol.
When it comes to medicine, for example, it’s important for you to check dosage and sometimes take a bit less than what a less sensitive and less intuitive person might take, subject to professional medical guidance, of course.
As Judith Orloff M.D. notes:
“If you experience something, it is real.
It is important to know how medication affects empaths and sensitive people.”
12) You have an innate and intense spiritual awareness
You possess a heightened sense of spiritual awareness and connection to something greater than yourself.
This is especially true out in nature as I noted, but it goes for every area of your life.
You know that physical life is part of a bigger tapestry, and however you choose to express and phrase that, you’ve always had a sense that life does mean something even if your ideas and concepts about that something have evolved, shifted or changed.
You see the miracles around you in other people and nature, and even through the dark times you don’t give up on the fact that life means something and that we’re part of something larger.
As the iconic 18th Century Rabbi Baal Shem Tov said:
“The world is full of wonders and miracles but man takes his little hand and covers his eyes and sees nothing.”
Just launched: The Vessel’s Youtube Channel
Explore our first video: The Brain Beneath Our Feet — a short-film by shaman Rudá Iandê that challenges where we believe intelligence comes from.
Instead of looking to the stars or machines, Rudá invites us to consider that the first great mind on Earth may have existed without a brain at all… and that the oldest form of thought might be living beneath our feet.
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