Can I trust my intuition? How to know the voice of your spirit

I was dog-sitting for my sister one weekend, so I had not just one dog, but two on my usual dog walk.  Managing the two pups, I have my usual turnoff that I take to go back to my house, but felt the pull to leave at the earlier turnoff. I noticed the feeling, but didn’t understand the logic of it – Am I being lazy? Impatient to get home? I didn’t have an answer, so I kept walking. 

About a minute later, an off-leash dog shot out from the trees and attacked my dogs. It was a bramble of barking and pulling and I eventually managed to wrangle everybody out of there without any injury. Shaken up, I arrived home and realized I had been sent a signal by my intuition, if I would have turned off earlier, then I would have avoided the rogue dog.

How did I know that? And – Why didn’t I listen? After so many years of working to connect to my intuition, I wonder at how I still doubt when it’s communicating to me.

Is intuition the voice of my spirit? How do I know I can trust it?

What is intuition? Scientific studies suggest it’s derived from a mechanism deep in the long term memory that gathers and recognizes patterns. This makes sense, especially with first impressions when meeting someone or reading if a situation is safe or not.

But what kind of pattern was I recognizing when I got the nudge to turn off at an earlier path? There was no noise in the forest to signal the attacking dog was on its way. If anything, the message was like a precognition.

I believe that while intuition is built into our brain function, it’s also how our spirit communicates with us. This inner-wisdom helps us to navigate our daily lives and decisions, big and small. 

There can be as much value in the blink of an eye as in months of rational analysis – Malcolm Gladwell

But how do you know that what you are feeling is intuition? Sometimes intuition is just a feeling or a gentle voice in your head. Other times it has physical signals – belly flutters, goosebumps, even sweaty palms. It’s easy to confuse intuition with feelings our body can make when we are experiencing anxiety. 

What’s the difference between intuition or anxiety?

Consider that anxiety is based more on instinct, which is related to the survival portion of the brain, where intuition is rooted in the deeper memory centres. I find that intuition has a clear, simple quality to it, whereas anxiety will bounce around my head, create cyclical thinking and often doesn’t feel easily resolved. 

The practice is to lean into the certainty of intuition, even if it doesn’t make sense.

Meditation is an excellent tool to deepen your communication with intuition. In meditation, we build the focus to observe our inner world and discern the voices that guide us. When we reach for our connection to our authentic, spiritual selves, here you will find intuition, a force that has your best interest at heart.

In my situation, when I meditated on why I didn’t listen to the signal, I found roots deep in my childhood training. In my house growing up, only logic was seen as a valid source of information. I realized I still hold this standard to myself, even when I know in my conscious mind that logic has its limitations.  

Intuition is a vital tool, from signals about your physical safety, health, relationships and life decisions, it’s worthwhile nurturing this relationship to your inner guidance system. The more you meditate, the more you get to know this voice.

Try out these reflections for your mediations:

Where have I been taught to doubt myself? What does it feel like to trust myself? How can deepen my relationship to the voice of my spirit and intuition?