Back

Intuition guidelines

31 March 2009

Before I worked as a business coach and mentor working in the Midlands and London, I associated intuition with women but I have discovered that there are a huge number of men around that are incredibly intuitive and use their intuition as a main indicator for communicating and decision making. This article provides some hints about recognising your intuition and how to use it.

After reading this tip sheet, you will:

have a good understanding about what intuition is and how to recognise yours
know about the importance of Level 3 listening, which is all about listening to your intuition
be able to relate what you feel to what is going on around you
know what to look for in the course of the normal day when the something isn’t quite right and what is being said doesn’t match what you are feeling
have the courage to give your intuition more of a free reign

Intuition - reognising and using yours

Listening levels
The first time that I discovered intuition being involved in a behaviour model was Listening as taught on my initial coaching training, when I was introduced to the three level model...

Level 1 - when you were only listening to oneself and one’s own ceaseless chatter and maybe what you were going to say next, itching for an opportunity to speak
Level 2 - when you are listening to everything that the other person was saying, completely with them giving them every ounce of concentration
Level 3 - when you were taking everything in, totally relaxed, dancing in the moment and listening to what your feelings were saying about the body language of the person speaking and their facial expressions, the energy in the room and inputting all of this information into your intuitive self to come up with a total holistic perspective as to what was going on.

As I later learnt many times all of this information didn’t add up and I would get these feelings that all was not right. I began to ask permission to speak my intuition and I was amazed at the feedback from my clients – how did you know that, what made you say that, that’s absolutely right and sometimes the reaction would be tears, as I touched something deep. I have learnt that my intuition is my strongest, purest guideline. I may not be right 100% of the time but the times that I am right make up for the few times that I am not quite on the spot.

Giving yourself permission
This has allowed me to help my clients cultivate their intuition, develop their Level 3 listening skills, respect their inner voices, honour their sixth sense and speak their intuition. For most of them, like myself nobody had talked to them about their intuition, especially my male clients and this was a revelation that they could actually speak out about what their gut feeling, even though there was nothing specific to go on.

Spotting intuitive people
I have discovered that whenever I am in the company of someone who has the following external symptoms, I know that they will have good intuition in them be they male or female..

they colour up or blush easily
small beads of sweat appear on the forehead
they are in constant movement, fidgeting a lot
they are interested and appreciate more than the average person in art – go to museums, love the countryside - which does not necessarily mean they paint or play a musical instrument
they like being around people
they are good listeners
they use feeling kinaesthetic language – sense, touch, comfort, soft - and use phrases that denote sensing origins – cool, calm and collected, hold it, keep your hair on, go with your gut, follow your hunch
they make insightful comments
they get easily emotional and upset about things

Using your intuition
It is kind of obvious to say use one’s intuition all the time, as it always switched on i.e. you cannot turn it of. The thing is that it is a very powerful part of your personal toolbox and so it will give you an advantage in anything you do, providing that you recognise and honour it. For example

In business meetings you will have an edge on what is going on and be able to pick up on unspoken ideas, opinions, feelings, meanings
In family discussions you will have an insight into what is being felt but not said
When someone behaves out of character you will be able to suss out the driver
If you are feeling uncomfortable in a given situation, listen to what your body is telling you
When crossing the road, driving or walking in unfamiliar territory listen for those tell tail signals that are looking out for your safety

Outcomes
It is very necessary to experiment to gain an inner confidence to your inner voice. The more you do the more you will get from your intuition and the more you will be relaxed, the more you will be in touch with your unconscious, the more that you will be honouring all of you rather than just the obvious conscious.

Websites
As with most subjects there are a number of useful websites and here are three

http://www.meaningoflife.i12.com/intuition.htm

http://www.crystalinks.com/gms.html

http://www.askalana.com/aw/3.html - here is a free download on developing your intuition..

and an article from the BBC about some research in Edinburgh.. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4436021.stm