Intuition is Real and Amazingly Useful
There are many things in life that are useful and even essential yet are not fully understood. Did you know that much of how anesthesia works is unknown? That’s what my world renowned anesthesiologist friend says. Most of us don’t fully understand how our cars work, how our computers work, and especially how our minds work. Yet that lack of full understanding doesn’t keep us from using these things in our daily lives.
In his book, Blink, Malcolm Gladwell describes intuition well. He calls it knowing without thinking or thinking without thinking: “The book begins with the story of the Getty kouros, which was a statue brought to the J. Paul Getty Museum in California. It was proved by many experts to be legitimate, but when experts first looked at it, their initial responses said something was not right. For example, George Despinis, head of the Acropolis Museum in Athens, said “Anyone who has ever seen a sculpture coming out of the ground could tell that that thing has never been in the ground”. Gradually, the argument for the legitimacy of the kouros fell apart. The letters tracing its history turned out to be fakes, referencing postal codes and bank accounts that did not exist until after the letters were supposedly written. Experts looking more closely at the style of the kouros found it to be miscellaneous of styles from different time periods.[2]” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blink_%28book%29
Part of the problem is we give too much credit to our conscious rational mind.
“Most people don’t even acknowledge that their subconscious mind is at play, when the fact is that the subconscious mind is a million times more powerful than the conscious mind and that we operate 95 to 99 percent of our lives from subconscious programs.” Dr. Bruce Lipton
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Among entrepreneurs and creative people, intuition is often acknowledged and used. Several years ago at a direct mail marketing meeting, I heard Bill Phillips, author of the best selling fitness book Body for Life and founder of EAS supplement company. Most of his speech was about how following his intuition had led to his success. He described being in a bodybuilding competition with his brother Shawn. He looked at his fellow 50 bodybuilders on stage and then looked out at the audience. Then, he had an intuitive flash. He saw that the several business ventures he had started to that point were all aimed at hard core bodybuilders, who would do almost anything to advance in their sport. He then looked at the 5000 people in the audience and thought, what can I do to help them? This led to him the idea of a before and after fitness pictures competition. It was a huge success as is his book which has sold over 4 million copies to date.
So, I see that the way people think about intuition falls into 3 groups: First, those that debate whether it even exists, Second, those who know it exists and are grateful when it spontaneously shows up in their lives, and Third, those who know intuition is can be developed and used on a continuous basis. You can decide which group you want to be in, although I see people who deny intuition or psychic ability, but have no problem going with their gut feeling about which team will win or even which person to hire in their business. Gut feelings are one way we can access intuition.
This third category is the most important: people who know they can develop their intuition and thus get intuitive feedback at will, rather than having to wait for it to spontaneously occur. Rather than debate or wait, this group has access to that intuitive edge on command.
One of the most important ways to be in group three, is to associate yourself with people who know intuition is real. Don’t waste your time debating it with those in group one. We often say at Yoga of the Mind, intuition is like a scared little puppy hiding under the bed. You have to coax it out and befriend it and debating its existence is not the way to do it. Find supportive like minded people and discuss your intuition successes with each other.
Another way to have more certainty in your intuition is to find inner silence and neutrality. We teach a class called Be Grounded and Centered that teaches you a highly useful and easy to do meditation that does just that. Through clearing others influence and your own back log of unprocessed emotion, you can more clearly hear your inner voice and open to your intuitive visions. That’s why this class is a pre-requisite to all our other work at Yoga of the Mind.
A simple practical way to practice your intuition is to notice when you have an intuitive thought, feeling, vision, or knowingness about something or someone. Give yourself credit for noticing it, even in retrospect. This will have your noticing next time your intuition shows up even more.
The last few years, I’ve seen something extremely inspiring. People are starting to learn this more and more easily. I am grateful for all who are studying intuitive development because as each of us succeeds, it makes it easier for all others to succeed. It’s like the four minute mile. For years, it was a goal of runners yet no one was able to achieve it. After the first man, Roger Banister, did many others did so as well.
We love hearing from you. 303-668-2358 or davids@yogaofthemind.com
