10 Empowering Tips & Ideas for Highly Intuitive People
Everyone is intuitive. Most people choose to shut off their inner voice and shrug it off as their imagination or as “just a feeling,” because we live in a world where logic is king and where sensitivity is considered an abnormality that should be numbed down with pills. Because intuition is the heart’s truth centre and based on experience, it is unique and different for everyone, which means it cannot be proven, and this is scary for a lot of people. And because intuitive people are highly sensitive and naturally empathic, many will battle with depression or try to hide their abilities out of fear of other people’s judgements, or will put others’ needs and beliefs before their own to avoid conflict, especially with their loved ones and friends. So many intuitive women and men unfortunately live their lives in fear, instead of learning to love themselves for who they are or use their intuition to help others.
If that sounds like you, here are ten empowering tips and ideas to help you shift your thoughts to positive ones and lead a more authentic life.
1. You Are Not Weird Feeling subtle energy, be it someone else’s energy or vibrations/frequencies that can’t be seen through the naked eye is not weird. It is an intuitive gift, one that is accessible to all, but some of us are simply born with greater sensitive faculties than others. Most people are not consciously aware of how far they could allow their intuition to take them, and that’s ok. For those of us who grew up seeing or feeling things, it’s quite normal to want to shut these abilities off at times and to just “be normal.” But at one point, one must realise that someone else’s standards for what is normal are not ours to live up to, and that loving ourselves unconditionally is the most important thing one could ever achieve. If you can see dead people, think of how many grieving souls your gift could help. If you suddenly knowsomething or get hunches about people, this is your intuition trying to get your attention. Listen to it, and pay no mind to what others have to say about it. What you feel and experience on an intuitive level is always valid. Regardless of what your natural intuitive gifts are: you are not weird. You are a sensitive being who is able to tune in to your inner voice and feel things more easily than others, and that’s all there is to it. Embrace your gifts!
2. Most People Believe You They are most likely just too proud, scared or shy to admit it, like many intuitive people are too. Various surveys show that 70 to 80% of people believe in spirits, life after death, and in extra-sensory perception. That’s a lot of people! The most recent survey I could find was from Live Science, in 2011, which also stated that 71% of Americans have had a paranormal experience. You are most definitely not alone, but a lot of people prefer to not admit to these experiences, for fear of being ridiculed or fear of what they cannot explain or prove. Try an experiment and ask people around you if they’ve ever seen a ghost or experienced something paranormal. See if you can get a conversation started. Perhaps you’ll find there are a lot more people around you than you thought who share your beliefs or who have had similar experiences. You might even help someone realize they are more intuitive than they thought!
3. Reclaim Negative or Pejorative Terms New Age. Woo woo. Witch. All these terms and many more are very pejorative and have negative energy attached to them, because people fear what they represent. As people who embody these terms, it is up to us to use them in a positive way and show there is nothing to fear. I use these words all the time, sometimes in a self-deprecating, humorous way, but never apologetically. I am especially fond of witches and their history. Witches were mostly intuitive women (and men too) – mediums, psychics, naturopaths, energy healers, etc. - who were hunted down and killed by leaders of the Christian church in the Middle Ages, because in those days men did not believe women could have divine powers and were therefore deemed as “evil”. (That’s also why most angels and archangel figures were given male attributes and names). As far as I’m concerned, these women were heroes. They refused religious dogma and lived their truth fearlessly, knowing full well they would be hunted down and killed if found out. That’s why I have absolutely no qualms in being called a witch today and consider it a compliment, even though people still associate the term with old and ugly women who cast evil spells, or as someone scary to dress up as for Halloween. I welcome the term and use it to educate people on who these women were and why this is still an issue today. When people ask me what I do, sometimes I’ll say I’m a professional intuitive, other times I’ll say I’m a proud witch or a big woo woo, depending on who is asking (you don’t want to start an argument or be the target of someone’s hostility). It makes room for humour, and it puts people more at ease than saying “I communicate with spirit guides and dead people.” Make these terms your own, and don’t apologize for them.
4. Stay Grounded Sometimes us intuitives and Empaths can have our heads up in the sky for too long, or get carried away with our mystical experiences. Whether it’s spending hours reading books on the subject, daydreaming, meditating, etc., it’s important to always try to find a good balance between heart and mind. Grounding is of utmost importance because it brings back our thoughts to the present moment and to reality, which is where we need to be. Why? Because we have important work to do, people to help, things to see and experience! Go for a walk in a park and do some people watching, sit down in a coffee shop, or do some housework or exercise! Anything that will allow yourself some right brain down time and some important “earth” time! If you are highly sensitive, learn some shielding techniques, especially if you know you will be meeting new people or be at a crowded event. Having a balanced life is crucial for your well-being! The more grounded you are, the easier it will also be for people to relate to you.
5. You Can't Change People's Minds Believing in God or in a source of infinite love and intelligence is just as valid as not believing in it, which is a belief in and of itself. Our beliefs are based on our life experiences, and that’s why it is unacceptable for someone to discredit another person’s belief or life experience. Your experiences are valid, just as someone else’s experiences are valid. It’s what makes the world diverse and beautiful. It’s when we create attachments to our beliefs and belittle or fear others who do not share our point of view that things become unbalanced and tensions are created. If someone belittles your beliefs, remain detached and compassionate of their pain and ignorance, but don’t let it get to you. If you are empathic towards others, try to consciously observe your reactions and feelings so as not to get caught up in someone else’s negativity. Next time you are confronted with someone’s hostile reaction towards your beliefs or the work that you do, stay calm and detached, and stay in your heart centre, which I call your power centre. Send yourself love everyday, and let this love calm you and naturally flow towards others who need it. When someone has a hostile or negative reaction, this person is in pain and needs love, not more hostility. It is not your responsibility to change people’s minds or beliefs, so let people think what they want, and let it go.
6. Intuition Cannot be Theorized, Only Experienced The scientific argument is a pointless one, and here’s why: there is no point in trying to prove something that someone refuses to experience. Intuition cannot be explained logically; it needs to be experienced and felt from the heart, which is why it goes against everything science stands for, and that’s ok. Science is logic-based, intuition is heart-based, and both have immense merits. This world is made of contrasts and we need as many logical people as we need sensitive people, thinkers and feelers, doubters and believers, etc. Trying to argue this to death is pointless, as Andrew W. K also brilliantly points out in his answer to an angry biology student. Members of the scientific community who have experienced intuitive phenomenons and who use both their intuition and logic to explain them are still to this day belittled as “pseudo-scientists.” If science was able to prove the existence of a source of infinite love and intelligence, it would only create chaos because it would shake people’s beliefs, and we don’t want that. Free will is sacred, and quite frankly, the last thing we want is for science to clue in on the immense powers of telepathy, remote viewing or reading auras, as I doubt these things would be used for the greater good. Live your life to the fullest and ignore the naysayers.
7. Love Yourself! This is probably the most important thing you could ever do. To trust your feelings and feel worthy of them, you must first love yourself unconditionally. If you are intuitive and resonate with what I’ve written so far, you are most likely a healer, like so many women and men before you who have used their intuition to heal and spread peace. Your energy is powerful, and you most likely already know this because you feel other people’s energy more easily than others. It’s the same with you: what you put out is a reflection of what is inside you. If you have issues with other people’s energy blending with yours, try to consciously work on observing your reactions and your own energy, to be fully aware of what is yours and what isn’t. I personally did this by doing a ten-day Vipassana meditation retreat, which helped me observe my feelings and confront them. If you want to use your gifts to heal others, it’s important for “the healer to be healed” so that you only send out love, light and peace to others. Loving yourself unconditionally also allows you to free yourself from other people’s judgements, drama, and negativity. Forgive others for hurting you, forgive yourself for hurting yourself and others, and move on. Be free! Which brings us to point no. 8.
8. You Are Free! You are no longer living in the Middle Ages, when thought patrol extremists, misogynists and religious zealots hunted and killed people like us. Intuitive people still cause a lot of sceptics and intellectuals to lose sleep at night and might cause some atheists with anger issues to blow a fuse and say nasty things on Twitter, but that’s pretty much it! We live in a wonderful time where coming out of the intuitive closet is considered nothing more than “woo woo” kookiness. Sure, there are plenty of people out there who either think we are charlatans or doing the devil’s work, but that is their own personal belief and you cannot stop being who you are because someone misunderstands or fears what you are about. Today, intuitive people write books, have blogs, teach, have radio and TV shows, are the subject of Huffington Post articles, go on Oprah and have PBS specials. We are free to be who we are, and we pave the way for others to be who they are. Live your life authentically and be grateful for being right here, right now. Being intuitive doesn’t mean you have to become a yogi psychic angel-channelling fortune-teller! You can use your intuition freely and let it guide you to be who you want to be, your authentic self. Intuition is your heart’s voice, and this is the voice that leads to freedom and joy. It's your time to shine!
9. There Are Thousands of People Like YOU Out There So many people today are embracing their intuitive abilities, and more parents are also encouraging their gifted children to do the same, which is fantastic! Go on Facebook and type the word “Intuition” or any other word that you feel represents you. There are hundreds of thousands of people like you out there, reclaiming their gifts and supporting each other. Join a Facebook group that speaks to you and participate in discussions. Nowadays, there are Facebook groups for just about any subject matter! If you can’t find one you like, create one! Being intuitive and right-brained in a logical, left-brained world is not always easy (I wouldn’t be writing this article if it were), and that’s why having a support system is so important. Go on Meetup.com and find people near you who have the same interests. If there aren’t any: create one! Open an Instagram or Pinterest account and post about things that interest you. Try to meet people locally and find a spiritualist church or any other intuitive or spiritual community that interests you, and make a point of attending or volunteering for their activities. If you are shy or scared, that’s understandable, but try to do it at least once. You don’t have to go through this alone.
10. Be Your Own Guru Let’s face it: the spiritual and intuitive world can sometimes be filled with strange or ungrounded characters and other times, big egos fishing for vulnerable clients. This is something a lot of people are scared of, and while there is some truth to it, it is something that is found in every field of business and in every part of life. There are weirdos and egos everywhere, not just in the intuitive world. That being said, understand that there are a lot of people out there with opinions and experiences that are not the same as yours, and while all experiences are valid, it doesn’t mean everyone else’s experience is right for you, or that yours is not as valuable. You must first always experience something in order to understand it, and not allow anyone else to tell you your experiences are not valid just because you haven’t reached their level of truth or so-called enlightenment (if someone makes you feel that way, I can tell you right now they are everything but “enlightened”. Run, don’t walk). If you stumble upon someone who is very wise and says or writes things that appeal to you, take what resonates with you and use it to question things and think about your own truth, but don’t allow yourself to believe this person knows more than you, is better than you, or is someone you should blindly follow. We all have a truth centre, an inner voice and wisdom, and the more we listen to it, the more we become our own authorities and our own gurus. You don’t need anyone else’s wisdom but your own. What you know now is perfect, and your experiences will lead you where you need to be and tell you what you need to know if you follow your heart.
...Mireille C. Goodman is an intuitive writer, channeler, Intuition Development Coach and Certified Angel Card Reader. Be sure to check out her blog and consider Mireille for your next reading! http://www.mireillecgoodman.com/about-me.html
