Intuition - Should We Trust It
Intuition exists in all of us, whether we acknowledge it or not, but should we actually listen to that gut instinct? I know that in the past with certain jobs I’ve had I relied heavily on my gut instinct!
As a police officer and especially when I was working undercover it was really important to trust those feelings, they could mean life or death.
Collins dictionary defines intuition as: ‘Your intuition or your intuitions are unexplained feelings you have that something is true even when you have no evidence or proof of it.’
We have all had the experience of intuition and it is the way the subconscious mind communicates with the conscious. Sometimes it is our inner sense of right and wrong!
I honestly believe that we should listen and trust our gut feelings. We need to pay attention to what’s going on around us. Applying gut instinct to problems can speed up the processing time of your conscious mind, which can be useful in a crisis.
The more information you gather from the environment, the more the intuitive subconscious part of your brain has to work with – and the more accurately it will inform your decisions.
I know that sometimes my intuition makes me stop and think, so I try to make a habit of listing to my hunches. It really is amazing how many times I was right to listen to that thought and there are times when I have been wrong, but that’s okay.
Researchers from the University of Iowa have found that intuition is housed in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. How can you exercise this part of your brain? Meditation is a good way to start, according to a study by scientists at Wake Forest University. They found that meditation-related anxiety relief increases activity in various parts of the brain, including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex.
Researchers have also found that highly intuitive people are grounded in their authenticity which means that they put their authentic self-first. They also found that they often experience a lot of empathy because they are able to imagine what an experience is like for someone else. They have found highly intuitive people are always seeking new experiences and to learn new things and finally that they are very creative people because they trust their intuitions and feelings to guide them with certain projects and tasks.
So the next time you get that gut feeling about something be courageous and go with it!
“At times, you have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself.” ― Alan Alda