Distinguishing Intuition from Other Voices

Chapter 8
Copied, in parts from the book Developing Intuition: Practical Guidance for Daily Life
by Shakti Gawain


"How do I distinguish my intuition from all the other thoughts and feelings going on inside me?"

The Rational Mind
Intuition
The Responsible Self
The Free Spirit
The Caretaker
The Perfectionist
The Vulnerable Child
The Playful Child
The Doer or Pusher
Being
The Rule Maker
The Rebel
Self Acceptance
The Critic
The Straight Talker
The Pleaser


As you begin to recognize some of these energies inside of you, you can learn to distinguish them from your intuition. For example, if there's a part of you feeling that you should take a particular action, that is probably your inner rule maker or perfectionist, not your intuition. If you are feeling self-critical or judgmental of others, that is your inner critic, or judge, definitely not your intuitive voice.

Intuition never guides us with an authoritarian or critical edge. It doesn't impose rules, it never feels heavy handed or burdensome, it doesn't push us to anything that we're really not ready to do, and it never makes us feel guilty about anything. It's also not self-indulgent or rebellious, and never leads us to do something that isn't good for us physically or emotionally. These feelings come from other parts of ourselves. Our intuition guidance brings a feeling of enlivenment, openness, even sometimes relief and release. It feels good in our hearts and soul. It feels like exactly the right step to take in the moment.

False Cravings and Addictions

It's very important to distinguish between our false cravings or addictions and our true intuitive impulses. One takes us down a familiar road that we know is ultimately futile and painful. The other leads us in a new direction that is satisfying and enlivening.

A false craving is something we think we want, but when we get it, it doesn't really satisfy us or enhance our lives. We are lured by false cravings when we are not conscious of our true needs and desires, or when we don't know how to fulfill them.

When we pursue a false craving to the point where we become obsessive and out of control, it becomes an addiction. An addiction appears to satisfy some of our needs momentarily, but not for long, because it does not address our real needs. In fact, an addiction cause an increasing amount of damage and destruction to our lives and the lives of those around us.

Our addictions are ways we unconsciously try to fill the emptiness we feel inside. This emptiness can only be filled by the things we truly need, such as deep connection to our spiritual source, a close relationship with nature, loving contact with other humans, satisfying work, and a sense of making a contribution. In order to fill those needs, we must allow ourselves to feel them.

Our intuitive self has a unique energy or feeling, and we can learn to recognize and distinguish it from all the other voices inside us. Many of our other voices seem to be located primarily in our head, whereas our intuitive feelings usually seem to come through a deeper place in our bodies. The following exercises may help you distinguish your intuitive energy from some of the others.



Becoming Aware of Your Selves Exercise

Sit in a comfortable position and close your eyes. See if you can become aware of any "selves" that are with you right now, or any voices that are going on in your head. Do you have any sense of who they are? What are they feeling or saying to you? Take a few minutes to be with them and listen to them. See if you can identify any of them from the list I gave you earlier.

Now take several long, slow deep breaths, and imagine moving your attention out of your head and dropping it slowly down to a deeper place in your body - your heart, your solar plexus, or your belly. Imagine that your wise, intuitive self lives in there. Ask if it has any message for you - a feeling, a thought, or an image. Be receptive to whatever comes to you.

Sit with it for a few minutes. When you feel complete, get up and go about your life.


Expressing Different Voices Exercise

If you are feeling a lot of inner conflict about an issue or a decision you need to make, try this exercise:

Get several pens with different colors of ink, and a pad of paper or your journal. Sit in a comfortable position and close your eyes. Get in touch with some of the different voices that are going on inside you. Choose one of the voice to express, and pick up a pen to represent that voice. Let it write anything it wants to say. They choose another voice, and a different colored pen. Write anything that voice wants to say.

For example, if you are trying to decide whether to make a particular change in your life, you might use a black pen to express the conservative voice in you that think it's unwise to make a change, a red pen to express the risk-taking voice that wants to do something new and different, a blue pen to express the vulnerable child in you who is afraid of the change (or who may want the change), a green pen to express your creative voice, and so on.

Continue this until the major voices have gotten a chance to express themselves. you may find that some of them are directly in opposition to others. Don't try to find a resolution right now. Just be aware of all the different feelings and points of view inside of you.

Then take a few slow deep breaths and let your attention move down into a deep place inside. Ask your intuition if there's anything you need to be aware of right now. Be receptive to whatever comes to you. If nothing comes right now, that's okay too.

When you feel complete for now, get up and go about your life.

Don't try to resolve anything or make a decision right away. Chances are that some clarity about this issue or this decision will begin to come to you within a few days or a week or two.

Copied in parts from the book Developing Intuition: Practical Guidance for Daily Life by Shakti Gawain