Is that my intuition or am I just making it up? I cannot tell you how many books and podcasts I was combing through to find the answer to this question. For years It seemed like some of the older Teachers were gate keeping. They would say “well you just know” or “it feels different and then you know.” I’m the kind of person that needs a better answer than that. Along my search I finally found the answer, and I was able to put it into practice over and over again.
The answer is it’s a KNOWING out of NOWHERE.
Now Depending on the type of person you are that can come into your body and emotional mind in many different ways. You could see something in your mind’s eye, hear something, feel something, smell something, and just have the knowing. But again, the knowing can come in very differently for each person. That could be a post all on its own. Right now, let’s focus on how we know the difference between Intuition and Imagination.
Let me explain.
You get home from work, and you go to your teenage daughter’s room to see if she is home. She is not there. You see her room is a mess after you told her to clean it up. Now you are a little irritated and start picking up clothes from the ground. On your way up from the floor you notice the bedside picture of the boyfriend you aren’t the biggest fan of. You think it’s his fault she didn’t clean up her room, she was never like this before. She has been gone a lot lately and she’s not as interested in the things she used to love. All she wants to do is be with him. Where are they? I hope he isn’t taking her to some bad place or a bar or something around bad people. What if he drinks? does he drink and drive? is she ok? oh my now I’m worried. I have a “feeling” she’s not ok. something is wrong… Been there? Before going any further I have to say this is why I am such a big advocate for meditation.
If you implemented a tiny practice, you would be able to see these kinds of thoughts coming a mile away and be able to slow down the process.
(I wrote a blog post about meditation here) There is a few things going on here and one of them is one of the most basic laws of the universe “The Law of attraction” You think a thought and you attract another thought like it, and another and another. The other thing going on is in fact your imagination coupled with subconscious programming from past experiences in your life making this one seems like another memory that is stuck in your core memory processor. These thoughts trigger you to react a certain away. Whether you believe it or not. This is why self-help and trauma work are very important. These practices help us see that situations in our lives only mirror ourselves and what we are programmed to see. I digress let’s get to the intuition part.
Ok here goes. You get home from work; you see your teenage daughter isn’t in her room. You remember she was going out to dinner with her boyfriend and would be home after. You pick up the few things she left on the floor and you shut the door and head to the kitchen to prepare dinner for the rest of the family. Your husband comes home you chit chat about your days. Your washing vegetables in the sink and all of a sudden you KNOW something is wrong. Out of nowhere. No leading thoughts. You weren’t even thinking about her and then bam. She needs you.
That is your intuition.
When something pops in out of nowhere with no leading thought. That is Intuition.
It doesn’t always have to be such a big deal like this example here. It can most definitely be the smaller things in our daily lives. I’m just trying to show you,
If you want to be able to tune into that kind of guidance all the time, you have got to be able to be aware of what you’re thinking so that you can have that type of discernment.
There is also a feeling.
When you get in touch with your body and tune into the way things make you feel in certain situations you will be able to tell the difference as well. But it takes practice!
It like a muscle you have to work out to feel and see the changes in the body.
Here is also a bonus piece of information that I would like to share with you and possibly write about if anyone is interested at a later date. I believe that sometimes our intuition can be our spirit guides, angels, or the universe (whatever verbiage you prefer) wanting to tell us things, guide us, warn us. Especially if you talk to them and ask them for guidance. I remember I heard the great Sonia Choquette say,
“Spirit comes to you in your own voice, but they will speak to you by your name or call you Hunny or something other than the way you would talk to yourself in your head. “
That really changed things for me, I always thought I would hear some Godlike voice if something was trying to connect with me! That is just the stuff movies are made of.
We all have this ability to tune in and connect with our intuition, spirit guides and more.
We just have to put in the effort on a regular basis to be able to pinpoint with accuracy where our thoughts are coming from, if they are Intuition or imagination. I’ve linked some different divination tools that I personally love along with a few other mind quieting tools. As an amazon associate, I may earn a commission off of qualifying Items. How do you tune into your intuition? are there other ways you can tell the difference between the two? Please reach out or leave a comment if you have questions.!
The N.O.W Tone therapy speakers are something I use daily and recommend often. They are meditation speakers that play sounds that help you get into the meditative state fast! There is a 3 min timer, and they turn off. They are great if you are just starting or if you are having a busy day and need to center yourself and tune in quickly. Pendulums ae a great tool for getting fast guidance from your subconscious and the little answer pad makes things clearer. Also, some great books by Sonia Choquette if you are interested in diving deeper into this topic!
