If it weren’t for my desire to heal my relationship with food and my body, I may not have rediscovered my intuition. I simply stumbled on it as a necessary step in recovering from emotional eating, overspending, and drinking too much. If you feel out of touch with your own intuition, here are some key steps to finding it again:
- Get quiet. For most of us, life isn’t designed to help us hear our inner voice easily. Not only are we inundated with messages from our devices and the media, but many of us are also taught from a young age that what we think and feel is wrong. We are taught to temper our natural ways in order to fit into our social systems. We are taught to follow the rules, and in so doing, we too often sacrifice our connection to our inner voice. Returning to your intuition is simply returning to your natural sense, before you were taught how to be “normal.” It is connecting to a primal, wild part of you. So get quiet enough to not be distracted by outside influence and to release self-doubt. Meditate or simply be silent. Focus your attention back inward.
- Pay attention to your body. It’s through the body that we can feel our intuition. We experience physical sensations that let us know the intuition is communicating with us, such as chills on the limbs or spine, a feeling in the pit of the stomach, sudden tears, or an overall sense of just knowing. To practice feeling your intuition, try this: Relax your body, take a breath, and simply notice how you feel right now. Ask your body what it wants you to know, and listen for its answer by paying attention to the sensations you experience. If you cannot feel anything at first, your intuition may try to speak to you with images or words. If it does, try to locate where these messages live in your body to gain deeper insight into their meaning. Take your time, notice what comes up, and be open to receiving. There is no wrong way to do this. Just practice listening and be patient.
- Stop eating before you feel too full. I have found that eating past the point of satisfaction hinders my ability to access my inner guidance. When I overeat or drink too much, I become numb to the messages my body is trying to tell me. As a former emotional eater, I am a fierce supporter of eating full, satisfying meals. I am not suggesting any kind of restrictive dieting. Simply put the fork down when you know you’ve had enough food in order to leave room in your body to feel what’s moving through you.
- Practice saying no. If you’re unaccustomed to saying no, it may be difficult to notice when your intuition is advising you against something. In the past, when my intuition was trying to tell me that something or someone wasn’t right for me, I would ignore it because I didn’t want to seem rude. Practicing saying no and walking away from undesirable situations can help you strengthen your ability to intuitively recognize when something or someone isn’t serving you, and to act accordingly.
- Be willing to surrender. The truth is, sometimes your intuition will tell you to do things you don’t necessarily want to do. There have been plenty of times when I’ve wanted to eat a box of cookies, call the wrong guy, or spend money on something I didn’t need — and my intuition said no. The more I practiced following my intuition’s orders, the more awesome my life became, and the more my desires naturally started lining up with my inner voice. Practice listening to your inner voice even when you don’t want to, even when what you hear doesn’t make sense. More often than not, the intuition can pick up on much more than the mind. So surrender to this amazing part of you that just knows, and let yourself be guided toward the life you’re meant to live. Allison works with women who are ready to eat with self-kindness, embrace their femininity, access their intuition, and rekindle a loving relationship with their body. Allison teaches yoga internationally, offers intuitive tarot readings, and holds sacred space in ceremonies, rituals, and retreats around the world.
