Intuition. What is it and why it is important.
Intuition is our "sixth" sense, and in my opinion the most important one.
It is an inner knowing, a gut feeling, a hunch. It's your first response to a situation or decision. Our analytical mind, is a bit slower, and shows up just after our intuitive response. This is important to note.
Intuition can also be related to our instincts. Historically speaking, our ancestors who were very in-tune with their own inner radar, used their intuition or instincts for survival. How? Typically, an intuitive response is formed instinctively based off of historical experiences and tapping into the energy within. So when danger was near, our ancestors could feel it, or when the seasons were changing. They made life or death decisions on the fly in order to survive.
In today's world, most people don’t need to listen to their instincts in order to survive right? So, what does it look like now if we aren’t using it to sense danger, or make quick life or death decisions?
Have you ever felt like you should have done something like invest in some stocks, chose not to, and then regretted it later? Have you ever had a feeling you needed do something without explanation, logic or reason? Have you ever felt that something was wrong but couldn’t explain why? Or my favorite one, have you ever met someone and your first response said “danger” or “untrustworthy”, yet you continue getting to know them and later regretting it on many levels?
Our subconscious mind is communicating with us constantly, all we have to do is start listening! That “gut feeling” is actually referred to as our second brain, also known as the enteric nervous system (ENS). So, when you know you’ve made a bad decision and you get sick to your stomach, that’s your intuition yelling at you for not paying attention.
How does this relate to animals? Well, have you ever had that “gut feeling” that something was wrong with a pet but couldn’t really explain why or put your finger on it? That’s your intuition alerting you to pay attention and look into what’s up. Listening to your inner voice can be a life-or-death situation. I have first hand experience with this and it didn’t end well.
Intuition is directly linked to telepathic communication. How? Remember when I mentioned earlier that our intuition comes in FAST and then our analytical mind is a bit slower? The same thing is true when communicating to animals. Animals are pros at telepathic communication so when they send us a message, it's so fast that it is easily missed or second guessed. A good way to identify a message is by examining what you receive.
Typically, a thought will pop into your mind that portrays a different opinion or point of view. It can be surprising and catch you off guard. Like instincts or intuition, animal communication is a full sensory experience. Images can come into your third eye, you might hear sounds such as words or music, or have a song randomly pop into your head, a full range of emotions that suddenly come on, body sensations whether that be pain or energy levels that aren't yours are just a few examples.
So how can one sharpen their intuition? Easily!
Here are a few games you can play to recognize that quick response:
Grab a deck of cards. Shuffle them. With the card deck face down, pick a card, place it in-front of you, face down. Guess if you think it is black or red. Were you right?
Pick one black card and one red card from the deck. Have a friend place both cards in-front of you, face down. Rub your hands together for about 20 seconds. While you are rubbing your hands together, decide which color of card you want to sense. Focus on that color in your mind. Once you feel warmth or tingles on your palms, take both hands and hover over each card about 1 inch above them. One hand over one card. Do you feel a pressure or a difference in temperature on one of your hands? Select that one and see if it's the color you were focusing on.
Grab 3 non-transparent cups, and a small item that will fit underneath them. Have all three cups lined up with their mouths down. Place the item underneath one of the cups. Have a friend mix the cups up. Now, which cup do you instinctively want to pick up? Do it. Does it have the item underneath?
Start paying attention to your first, fast response. Then notice the slightly slower feelings or thoughts that come in afterwards. As you play these games, notice when you get the right card or cup. Was it the one you chose instinctively?
Developing your intuition takes time and conscious effort. So if you are wrong more than you are right, that's okay! Keep practicing! It'll come.