Is Intuition a basic instinct?

My son aged 2, toddled into the changing room of the gym after spending an hour in the crèche. “Here you are Charles, this the key, go and find mummy’s locker.” I said it with enthusiasm, it was an activity meant to keep him amused for the next twenty minutes whilst I showered. An endless sea of lockers surrounded the room. Silently, he took the key, and went straight to the locker with my possessions. How did he do that? Was it a lucky coincidence? Did he see through the wall where I put my clothes? Did I give him an unconscious visual clue?

Luck it may have been. Xray eyes – hmm not familiar with that one. An unconscious visual clue? I didn’t even know myself where my locker was. Peering at the number without the aid of my glasses was going to take me a while to find it.

Intuition is a word associated with a mother’s knowing, a woman’s instinct, and having a good idea when someone is lying. In 2004 the US Department of Justice and FBI Training Academy took police intuition seriously enough to sponsor a paper with The American Psychological Society titled: ‘The Nature and Influence of Intuition in Law Enforcement’. Many of their top law enforcement officers put their success down to ‘gut instinct.’ The paper toyed with the idea of teaching the skill of being more intuitive “which then could be used to inform both practice and training of police officers, intelligence agents, border guards, airport screeners and all the other local, state and federal workers who are tasked with detecting people who pose a threat to the American populace”.

Is intuition something instinctual or can it be taught? There is the confusing debate over left brain and right brain activity. The verbal, sorting, detail-orientated side of the brain is to the left, the spatial intuitive nonverbal side is the right. The left brain is associated with logical thinking. We think our ways into most decisions; “Should I, shouldn’t I, buy that new pair of shoes?” Whereas the right brain is silent, it waits, it’s the creative part of our psyche. Intuitive impulses are generally thought to be right brain activities. Is this something we all have, and can develop? I believe the answer is yes.

How to get the right brain buzz – ways to increase your intuition

Intuition is generally quicker than thinking our way into decisions. If you ask most successful entrepreneurs what the key to success is, one of the key ingredients they’ll tell you is intuition, using it as the ability to spot, and act confidently on an opportunity.

Trust Your Tum

It’s not until after the event do we realise our initial gut instinct was correct. Take a moment when making a decision to ask: what does my inner self say? Our deepest feelings surface around the naval area. This is where we feel the emotional effects of ‘butterflies,’ fear, and elation. This is the hub of our emotional activity. It is in the stomach area and if you gently listen to it in your mind, you will hear exactly how you are feeling, it communicates your deepest thoughts. Take a moment to notice it.

Listening to Yourself

Take the time to listen to what you say to yourself. Most people have a party going on in their head; the chaos is challenging to decipher the babble holds up the decision process. If you listen to yourself you’ll see how you spend most of the day trying to justify why you are, or why you are not doing something. By listening to your thoughts they become clearer, more disciplined until the party becomes a library. In a library it is much easier to hear the gentle ebb and flow of your intuition.

Notice

Taking the time to notice the world around you will increase your ability to link with the your intuition and it will train you to use your instinctual capabilities better. This is because you’ll notice tiny energy changes and impressions in order to define what something means. You are already aware of this when walking into a room and knowing the person present is in a bad mood. They have not said a word, you have not seen their body language, but you can feel it. You are unconsciously sensing their vibe. Noticing your environment increases your sensory ability very quickly, confidence in your intuition will increase tenfold.

Imagination

Nowadays we all know imagination is important for child development. There are stimulation toys and development aids in every supermarket and toy shop. Imagination remains important into your adult years as well. It helps the psyche experience pleasure beyond external stimuli, as it creates opportunities for thinking our way out of difficulties rather than worrying about them. If your imagination is open it is easier for you to develop trust in your deeper senses rather than rely on your left brain logic to make all your decisions. Often it is the inspirational thought that came from nowhere that leads us to the most inspiring life changes.