Trust You Gut
the science and spirit of intuition
Hello, Lovelies! I hope everyone is having a peaceful Sunday morning. The summer season is starting to dwindle, and Fall is weaving its way in 🍁. I am so grateful to be back in the Northeast, where the seasonal transitions are more expressive. There is something sacred in moving through our body’s cycles in union with the seasonal changes—something I didn’t realize until I didn’t have it anymore. If you live in a region where the seasons are subtle, I strongly encourage you to travel and immerse yourself in the vibrant experience of a full fall season.
Before we get started today, I have an exciting announcement for all the busy boss ladies!! One of the common patterns I see for women in today’s world is struggling to make time for balance amidst the chaos. So, I'm launching a new Instagram series called "Weekend Warrior," tailored specifically for you. This series offers quick and easy tips to infuse spirituality into your weekends AND empowers you to recharge and reconnect with yourself, even when time is tight. These tips will help you take control of your week ahead, nurturing your spirit and setting the stage for a more balanced and fulfilled life.
I highly encourage you to explore the series and discover what Spirituality truly means—it often surprises people! This series offers a simple and engaging way to experience it firsthand. Join me and see how easy it is to implement spirituality into your week. Follow me on Instagram @indigo_danu, where we’ll be starting with preparations for the upcoming Fall series (which will nicely complement today's topic). Look for the post every Friday afternoon!
Ok! Let’s get into today’s topic: Intuition. We will do a little mini-series on this because our intuition is heightened in the fall season, as fall brings a sense of reflection while we prepare for winter. I want you ladies to be ready and feeling fabulous as fall sets in, so let’s get ahead of it ☺
First, we are going to unpack intuition and how it benefits us because, personally, I don’t particularly appreciate that it has become synonymous with magic or mystical practices. Your intuition is essential for maintaining your mental and physical health, enhancing your intelligence, and achieving success in life.
I hate to kill the charm for some people, but technically, we all can be “psychic,” as that sixth sense is a part of human nature. Some of us are simply more in tune with our intuition, just as some tend to be more analytical.
Over the next few weeks, we will come to understand how our intuition benefits us, explore ways to use and nurture it, and consider what transgressions on our intuition- like fear and burnout- do to us as women.
The official definition of intuition is the ability to understand something immediately without the need for conscious reasoning.
Intuition is foundational for humans because it allows us to quickly and efficiently process vast amounts of information, drawing on past experiences and subconscious knowledge to make decisions and judgments without needing to analyze. This ability is crucial for navigating complex situations, responding to immediate challenges, and enhancing survival by allowing us to act quickly based on subtle cues and patterns our conscious mind might not comprehend at the moment.
Intuition is a vital cognitive tool that supplements logical reasoning and emotional responses, helping us adapt and thrive in a busy world.
It is often perceived as an irrational process because it doesn’t follow the structured, linear reasoning that defines rational thought. However, labeling intuition as purely irrational oversimplifies its nature, as an intuitive experience involves your entire body.
Let’s take a look at what’s going on physiologically when we experience intuition.
The Role of the Subconscious Mind
According to research on intuition and decision-making, the brain constantly processes vast amounts of information—more than we can consciously handle. This includes everything we see, hear, feel, and experience. Most of this processing happens below the level of conscious awareness, in what we call the subconscious mind.
The subconscious mind excels at recognizing patterns and associations based on past experiences. Over time, your brain stores these patterns as memories, which it can then quickly access when faced with a new situation. When something familiar or similar occurs, the brain automatically retrieves this stored information, leading to a "gut feeling" or intuitive insight. The communication going on behind the scenes is so subtle that it can feel like a surprise when the information is suddenly presented to our conscious awareness, like an “intuitive hit.”
Neural Networks and Brain Activity
The brain is made up of complex networks of neurons that communicate with each other through electrical and chemical signals. These networks are constantly being shaped by experiences, forming neural pathways. The more frequently a particular pathway is used (for example, when you repeatedly encounter similar situations), the stronger it becomes, allowing for faster and more efficient processing.
According to psychologist Daniel Kahneman, the brain operates in two modes: System 1 (fast, automatic, and intuitive) and System 2 (slow, deliberate, and analytical). Intuition is a function of System 1, which operates based on the brain’s ability to retrieve relevant information and make judgments without conscious reasoning quickly. This is why intuitive decisions often feel immediate and effortless.
The prefrontal cortex integrates intuitive insights with conscious decision-making by working with other brain regions during intuitive processing. This allows you to evaluate whether an intuitive insight aligns with logical reasoning and past experiences.
The Role of the Amygdala and Emotional Responses
The amygdala, a small almond-shaped structure in the brain, plays a crucial role in processing emotions and is closely linked to both fear and reward responses. It helps the brain quickly assess whether a situation is safe or dangerous, often influencing gut feelings or intuitive reactions.
Emotionally significant experiences are more likely to be stored in memory and retrieved quickly when similar situations arise. This emotional "tagging" allows the brain to prioritize certain information, contributing to the speed and accuracy of intuitive responses.
Body-Mind Connection
Intuition is also influenced by interoception, which is the brain's ability to sense and interpret signals from the body (such as heart rate, gut feelings, or muscle tension). The brain integrates these bodily signals with other sensory information, creating a holistic perception leading to intuitive feelings.
According to neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, the body plays a critical role in intuition through what he calls "somatic markers." These are bodily responses triggered by emotional experiences that guide decision-making. For example, when faced with a choice, your body might react with a sense of unease or calmness, which the brain interprets as a signal to either avoid that choice or move towards it.
Intuition and Implicit Learning
Intuition is also a product of implicit learning, which occurs when you acquire knowledge or skills without conscious awareness. This type of learning allows the brain to develop a reservoir of knowledge that can be accessed intuitively, often without you realizing how or why you know something. Think of this as muscle memory, pattern recognition, or social norms and how we learn to behave in our culture (like body language).
Benefits of a Strong Intuition
A strong intuition is priceless when it comes to our success and feeling good about who we are. The spiritual benefits of intuition involve a closer relationship with the Divine, which can guide you to deeper truths in any circumstance. It guides you toward decisions and paths that align with your soul’s purpose, helping you live a more meaningful and fulfilling life. It cultivates inner peace, a path to resolving inner conflicts, and a deeper connection with others. When we nurture our intuition, we are able to connect more empathically with others, because we’ve cleared our energy blocks.
I can see how this could be misconstrued as magic because our whole body is activated, and when we nourish our intuition, we are able to sense more about others’ feelings and thoughts (without needing words).
The other, more grounded benefits of intuition include: quick decision making, enhanced problem-solving, better risk assessment, improved interpersonal relationships, increased confidence, adaptive flexibility, and stress reduction.
To put all of this into the simplest of terms- ladies, trust your gut! It’s not magic, just powerful. Spend this week leaning into your intuition and seeing how often you listen to it. If you need help hearing it, try meditation or somatic exercises to get in contact with your body.
I’ll see you back here next Sunday when we’ll discuss how to nourish your intuition and why it unlocks a more empathic side of your humanness. In the meantime, don’t forget to check out my new series on Instagram on Fridays!
Enjoy these waning days of summer, and have a wonderful week 🍂!