“I have got a bad feeling about this!”  We have all heard it – someone’s intuition kicking in about going down a dark alley – but how do you know that the gut feeling is your intuition and not due to that sketchy place you went for lunch?

This article provides ways to assist you in recognizing your intuition so that you can utilize it to help you succeed in making the right decisions in life for you.

An intuitive feeling is an inherent knowing without taking anything into consideration – no rationalizing, no logic, just feeling that this is something you should/shouldn’t do, somewhere you should/shouldn’t be or someone you should/shouldn’t be around.

Included below are several practices that can be employed to determine where your intuition is pointing. I have used at least one or more of these for every decision from deciding whether or not to contact a friend, to taking a new job, to figuring out what to choose for lunch.

Get to know your intuitive feelings.

Our bodies help us to know what to do in any and every moment by translating the energy of a situation into emotions, feelings and even by affecting our health.

Get a baseline. Have you ever had a gut feeling? What does it feel like to you when you know something is right? How would you describe that feeling?  It is likely unique to each of us, but for what it’s worth, when I know something is right it’s like a state of bliss in my mind.  It is a good, positive feeling.  Like your brain is a bubble of happy, goodness.

On the opposite end, how do you feel when something is undoubtedly wrong? Do you get stressed, feel anxious or want to hide?  What is your “tell” that something is just not right? Do you have a sense of dread, get a headache or even get sick? It is not a completely black/white science, but by knowing that something is off, it calls you to evaluate the situation and what feels right/not-so-right about it, so that you can intervene and avoid impending doom.

Utilize your intuition to help you make decisions. 

The key to your success is following your intuition, but what does that mean and how do you do it? As you go through the day, there are numerous situations you observe and are involved in. How do you know the response which resonates with your truth? The below practices can assist you in engaging your intuition to help you make the right decisions for you.

1. Envision the situation. When you think about the future, how does this decision impact it and does it impact it in a way that you would want?  For example, say you are determining whether you are ready to adopt an animal.  When you think about the future, how do you see life with that pet?  Note the immediate image that comes to mind – Does it look sunny and positive or stressful and dark?
2. Play devil’s advocate with yourself. See if you can sense a difference when you envision each scenario.  You can even practice making choices which seem wrong, but feel right and visa-versa to see whether your feelings were right… and what “right” feelings feel like.  Make the time to reflect on your decisions and how they affected your life, but note that sometimes the true effects of a decision (for example leaving a toxic relationship and rebuilding yourself), may not be apparent for several years to come.
3. List each option and write down your immediate feeling with each. Don’t try to rationalize.  Don’t involve logic.  Just think about the options and see how you immediately feel when thinking about each choice.  Which feeling is most aligned with how you want to feel?  Which option felt the best?  Which felt the worst?  Go with the one which felt the best.  That is the direction that is right for you at that exact moment.
4. Write each of the options on a piece of paper and hold them in each of your hands. Or just feel as though each choice is in one of your hands… imagining one option in each hand.  Which hand feels lighter, feels a gentle touch or good-feeling vibration attached? Which feels more warm and tingly?   Which makes your mind feel good?  Go with the one that feels most positive, bright, and energetic.
5. Write down your question in the morning and ask for the answer to be clear to you that day. Acknowledge any sign you see which makes you think of your question and note where it is pointing you.  Don’t write anything off as chance as there are no coincidences.  All energy flows with purpose.
6. Be open to signs.  There are no coincidences.  If a message/email won’t send or you get a bad feeling when you are about to hit the send button – take it as a sign to wait a couple hours or a day before sending. See how you feel then and whether additional information presents itself which effects the message you were about to send earlier.

Intuition is your higher self, guiding you along your life path.  It may be an angel, loved ones, guides, but no matter who it is, the undeniable feelings we get are pushing us in the direction of our greatest good. As we make choices, we can opt for higher vibratory feelings (gratitude, joy, happiness) or lower vibratory feelings (victimization, blame, hatred).  Practice recognizing the messages around what the right decision is.  You are constantly making decisions… make them consciously and make sure you feel comfortable with all of them.

It also helps to consciously point your internal compass so that you are consistently affirming what it is you want to achieve in this life (I will discuss how to do this in an upcoming blog).