Honing in on your intuitiveness

greenthing

Hey all!

Is there anything in particular you do to help develop your intuitive skills?

I'll be honest, sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not for me. I mean, I always feel it present, but focusing it and trying to harness it sometimes is a major battle. I feel like there are moments when I get too anxious or nervous and feel expected to be right that it just falls from me and I lose it.

I'm hoping to develop it enough to always have it when I need it, but how do I go about doing that? I've read books, Googled the crap out of the subject, I'm just at a loss.

Is this a thing that happens because intuition is fragile as it is, or is this because of me??

Thanks in advance, guys!
 

Citrin

I can totally relate :) I also sometimes feel like I "lose" my intuition; when I'm nervous, really tired, or simply when I'm just trying way too hard to "reach it". It's almost like singing or dancing, if you try too hard you will either look like a maniac or you will freeze up not able to move or make a sound...

I personally think that meditation can help you both relax in the long run, but also develop intuition, since you connect with yourself more when meditating.

There are also some exercises you can do. Like before you reach for your mail, try to sense how many letters you will have in there. When someone calls you, try to feel who is Calling you and then see who it is. Look at art and try to connect with the energies of the image - What do they tell you? How do they make you feel?

And work on not trying to be perfect. :) Intuition isn't simple and mundane, it will always be a bit more difficult to grasp it than most other things in life. I'm trying to work on these things above also... ;)

Oh I've found that the book Psychic Tarot by N. Antenucci has some great exercises for developing intuition! Despite the corny title it's a great book in my opinion, teaches you to trust your intuition better, develop it, and connect to the tarot on a more personal level.
 

greenthing

Citrin!

Your response was so helpful and so comforting!
I will definitely look into your book recommendation!

It is so nice to know that someone out there struggles too! I've read a lot about it, and it seems like most of the people who discuss it are just ~naturals~ and ~gifted~ and it is all so effortless. Which I'm not denying! But, I mean, that doesn't help nervous people like me, you know?

Anyway, thank you again!
I appreciate it!
 

jolie_amethyst

Everything Citrin said is valuable.

Here's my bit: It might be helpful to know that "intuition" is actually a mental process of near-instantaneous deduction that can be learned and is scientifically understood (there are people teaching it to computers!), while psychic ability is seperate and is a talent that may or may not manifest in someone. They are NOT the same thing, though people often confuse the two. Most anyone can improve their intuitive ability, typically through expanding their knowledge base and practice. That's a good thing in my book, because once I got that through my head--that I *could* improve my ability even if any psychic gifts I had weren't responding to a reading--I began to relax and stop being quite so hard on myself. Tarot became a tool to learn, rather than just some mystical woo-woo thing that only an chosen few could master, and I became a sponge, soaking in everything I could from this place with joy.

When that happened, lo and behold, my own gifts began to wake up and expand further than they had gone previously, working in concert with my knowledge-based intuition to read more accurately.

Just keep learning and practicing and picking up every bit of knowledge you can find. It will happen for you.
 

Amanda

I would say, don't try to focus so hard. In some personal experiments, I discovered that my intuition worked much better when I had a distraction; that is, I was listening to upbeat music, or those meditative tone sounds. It helped separate out the noisy chatter of my mind so the intuition could flow through freely. Even now, as I take a pretty intense strategic financial analysis course, I tend to start singing about consolidated balance sheets or whatever :D if I'm not already listening to music so the noisy chatter of my mind will go away and I can intuitively focus on the work in front of me. "Play" was suggested -- yes. If you have a tough inner critic, do something silly for distraction.
 

RiverRunsDeep

I am working on honing my intuitive skills as well and I agree, it
is not easy! In my personal experience, I am less likely to be successful
with my intuition if I am too focused and try to force it to happen. For
me, intuition kicks in when I am relaxed, receptive, and allow it to happen
rather than forcing it (if that makes sense...)

There are three ways I've been practicing:

1. Guided meditation. I like to use smartphone apps for this. With guided
meditation, I can let go of the reins and let my mind get hazy and unfocused,
which works best for me .

2. Daydreaming. Or, as someone else posted, "play". Some people may
see daydreaming as a waste of time, but I think it is healthy to spend a bit
of time allowing my mind to wander and fantasize. It is often at these moments
that ideas or images pop into my mind.

3. I really like the "Psychic Medium Exercise" and "Peeking through the
Keyhole" threads on the Divination part of the forum. You should join in!
It is a lot of fun, great practice, and ATers with more experience give me very
kind feedback whether my arrow hits the mark or whether it flies 10 miles into
the distance. :D
 

La Force

Clairaudience / Intuition = same

Your psychic self is heard as a voice inside your head. The ability to hear an internal voice is not a phenomenon but part of the process called thinking, normal, everyday experiences. The conscious mind is responsible for the logical and professional presentation of this information and delivery of healing energy. Introspection and self-healing are important to the reader. Meditation is helpful, Tarot meditation I do is; I select a card from the deck without looking at it, turn it over and that first thought (maybe just one word), I then use that word as my focus ( contemplate) it for 15 - 20 min. I get best results walking in circles while I meditate (Walking meditation)
 

danieljuk

divination over and over again. If I try to meditate or be more intuitive in some other way, it just doesn't work for me! do readings and practice and go with the first thing that comes to you. Trust your gut feeling in decision making :)