13 ways to develop your intuition- your cat nose for knowing!

“Intuition is a spiritual faculty and does not explain, but simply points the way.”

Florence Scovel Shinn

 

One of the Cat Essences we talk about at Cat Box Zen is intuition. Cats are natural at it!

Cats have an awesome ability to be perceptive and intuitive.

Cats pick up on subtle cues that most of us overlook. One of their abilities comes from their nose. Their sense of smell that is 14 times stronger then us humans. The cat also has an extra organ right inside the mouth, so when they sniff, they open their mouth slightly which opens the ducts to the nasal cavity. This increases their sense of smell.  

We all  have the ability to sense what is around us and use our intuition, providing we don’t get caught up in our thinking mind. The rational mind is important as it helps us make decisions and focus on day to day living and it keeps us present and safe. But you have another nose for knowledge right inside of you; Intuition.

Intuition is a sense or internal knowing about a person, event, or a situation. This “knowing” is given to you independently from an outside source.  In other words, you can’t explain how or why you have this information although it is linked to your learned experiences and instincts. Your 5 senses are trying tell you something.  This is the “nudge”, the intuitive “hello” that makes you sense something you can’t explain. An awareness and ‘knowing’ of something you can’t put your finger on. 

 I also believe that Intuition is a direct link to a higher universal power. It aligns with your heart center and your true authentic self. It wants you to succeed! It is meant to be used, and if you listen, you will be lead with the best guidance system you will ever have.  Just like a cat. The difference, we need to develop ours so it works properly. 

 The intuitive sensation is a strange perception of a situation. The rational mind can’t rationalize it, so it discounts the information until more is gathered. By that time, it is too late. Intuition can tell you about danger, things you may subconscious know but are not directly aware of, and it can direct you on your pathway through life.  

 Intuition is…

• The mother who knows something is wrong when she talks to her daughter.
• When you meet someone new, but it doesn’t feel right. Your fur stand up on edge.
• Getting in the car and “knowing” you forgot something. You look around seeing you have your lunch, phone, and iPad. Because the feeling is so strong, instead of driving off, you walk back in the house realizing you left the coffee pot on. 
• It is an internal knowing that a decision is right. That you’re on the right road, despite what everyone else says.
• It’s making a decision out of faith, not fear.

They say the first “gut” reaction or “intuitive nudge” is usually right.

How do you know?

Here are a few easy suggestions to get you started….

1. Trust yourself. This is hard at first because the rational mind wants direct information. Since these internal nudges have no validity in the rational mind, it wants discounts them. Don’t let it! Turn off your ration mind and feel for the answer. Most good answers give an internal heartfelt feeling of expansion and most bad answers give a heartfelt feeling of contraction. The more you use your intuition, the better you will recognize these feeling.
2.  To help with number 1, do things that bring you awareness to your body and emotions; meditation, yoga, being present in the moment, breathing slowly. 
3. Don’t just use your nose. Use your 5 senses to increase awareness. Your senses are very powerful gifts to look, feel, hear, taste and listen. Do so mindfully.
4. If you are analyzing it, it’s not intuition. It’s rationalizing which is thinking and that removes intuition every time. Don’t make excuses not to listen to that nudge.  The rational mind is like a folded map, intuition is like a universal gps. There is a difference! 
5. Use your cat like curiosity to be receptive without judgment.
6. Did you know that studies are showing that the heart knows intuitively before the brain? Makes you wonder where intuition is located. Now we know why are moms say…”follow your heart, not your head!”
7. Go by feelings and emotions. You can have an emotion and feeling without attaching thoughts to it. You have over 60,000 thoughts that run through your head every day and most are reruns and negative ones at that. When you have an emotion, keep it simple and unfiltered, otherwise don’t attach an emotion to thought.  
8. Start making notes. (No! not charts or analyzing) Write down without question or analyzing when you have an intuitive nudge. Describe how your body feels and what you felt emotionally.
9. Pay attention to your laughter and waffling about a personal situation. When you say “I don’t know”, deep down, you usually do.
10. When you laugh about a situation it can be an unconscious way to hide nervousness or a deep concern. That is usually a sign that you are sensing or hiding something you already know.
11. Avoiding your intuition can spreads to other areas of your life.  Do you seem to have “bad luck”, missed opportunities that could have been avoided? Your nose twitches, tail gets in a kink, your fur stands on edge, but you still avoid it? It really takes courage, determination and all the aspects of Cat Essence to start to build your intuition. When you become confident in other areas of your life, intuition will fall into place.
12. Trust in the universe and ask for it! Use affirmations and words to “ask” for intuitive information. Then pay attention to responses including repeating patterns, dreams, inspiration, strange nudges, or if you are really stubborn, a cosmic 2×4! 
    1. Affirmation: take in three slow deeps breathes…then with direct intent, repeat 5 times.  “I ask my intuition to give me guidance…NOW.”
13. If you’re uncomfortable using intuition, ask yourself why? Learned behavior? Don’t trust it?  All of these reasons can push away intuition.  Intuition often shines the spotlight on the truth before you are willing to acknowledge it in your rational head. The rational mind wants to keep you safe; the intuitive mind WANTS you to live your purpose. It really is a gift! 

The best part about the intuitive process is it opens you to the “web” of synchronicity which connects you to mind-boggling occurrences in your life. This is when the real FUN begins!

Peace, Hugs and Purrs, KT

 

 

“… but it is wisdom to believe the heart.”

– From a poem by George Santayana, 1863-1952