How to Follow Your Intuition: 11 Steps
In times of great uncertainty and change, you may find yourself asking, is this what I want to be doing with my life? Is this life mine? Do I feel like I have the right to enjoy life as it is right now?
We are bombarded with tips on how to live our best lives since we’re children. But the reality is, no one can tell you how to live your life. And although it’s natural to feel pulled to constantly compare, no one else’s life is yours. That’s a beautiful thing! In order to live a life that resonates, feels good in our bones, we must cultivate and follow our intuition.
Here are 11 steps to heal what is standing in your way of following your intuition. This is a deep process that I work thru with my clients for months, but this serves as an initial way in.
1. Notice what feels good.
What makes you relaxed or energized? This is what you follow. Are you driven by your expectations or what feels good? Sometimes we think we are following what will make us feel good in the future, but in the present moment, we are suffering.
2. Learn how to notice what causes stress or what drains your energy.
This is what you may release. Life is seasonal. There are moments where we are expanding and moments where we are contracting, that’s part of an organic process. You may feel tension as you expand or contract. But that is not the same as stress.
3. Body Awareness
Your body will guide you. Intuition is not from the rational mind. Connect to your body in order to recognize what feels good and lights you up. And what feels draining. How is my body feeling right now? What physical sensations are in my body? Where do I feel these sensations? What would I need in order to relax my body?
4. Trust
Be willing to listen to the cues you receive from your body even when they don’t make logical sense yet. Often we suppress what doesn’t make sense in our brains yet. For example: When you leave an interaction with a friend/family member/colleague, how does your body feel? Do you feel tired, drained? Do you feel inspired? This is something to notice.
5. Deeper connections
Notice what wounds may be connected to what is holding you back: for example, I may “secretly” feel guilty for creating a life I love because I am not living close to my family.
6. Inner Child Wounds
Get to know these wounds. This may mean re-parenting yourself. Speak out from that vulnerable inner child place. Let the inner child tell you what hurts, scares them, makes them feel angry, feel shame, guilt. Listen to what this innocence within you feels and validate it. There is nothing too much, nothing wrong to feel. It’s okay to feel this way.
7. Re-parent the Inner Child
Offer the inner child the words they never got to hear. For example: “I love you, I hear you, I will never leave you, it’s okay to feel this way, you’re safe with me, you’re doing so great, I am proud of you, you’re beautiful, you’re talented, you’re so smart, I love being with you.”
8. Reprogram Self-talk
Whenever you notice yourself being harsh or judgmental with you, how can you offer kind words of permission and encouragement? “It’s okay you feel frustrated, but I love you and you’re doing great. Step by step.”
9. Internal Navigation
The intuition is much like a car’s navigation system. Sometimes you must pick a direction, go and if necessary, let the navigation system recalculate. Follow the breadcrumbs of what feels aligned in your body, one step at a time. You don’t have to know where you’re going.
10. Messiness
Not every step needs to be the “right” one. It’s okay to be a mess and not know what you’re doing. By not knowing, you are allowing yourself to be curious and not follow just what you think you “should” do.
11. Resiliency
If you make a choice and it ends up not feeling good, receive that information and recalculate. This is where loving self talk makes a difference. Try and not spend a ton of time shaming yourself. Resilience is being able to recognize something isn’t working while still being loving with yourself. Then you can more easily bounce back and make a new choice.
Your life is literally happening in this moment. You don’t need to wait for things to be right or get permission for it to begin. You are a unique being, imagine the freedom of daring to let your life reflect who you truly are.
If you’d like to explore deeper ways to connect to self and create your life, please feel free to book a free clarity call to see if my somatic life coaching can support your journey.