Intuition: A Mirror of the Soul
How to sharpen that little voice to make it more reliable
Maybe you recognize this: someone asks you to do something, and somewhere deep inside you feel a clear ‘no’. You quickly push that gut feeling aside and respond with yes. Maybe because you think it’s the right thing to do, because you don’t want to disappoint someone, or simply because it doesn't seem like a big thing.
What happens next?
I can almost guarantee that at some point later, you feel regret. No matter how small the situation seemed. You ask yourself, what just happened? It wasn’t that big of a deal, right? I did what was ‘right’, didn’t I?
The answer is simple: you didn’t follow your intuition. Your intuition: a kind of magical advisor. And every time you don’t listen to it, no matter how trivial it may seem at the moment, you abandon yourself little by little. Your body keeps the score: every yes to someone else that isn’t a heartfelt yes for you is a no to yourself.
Intuition: so essential, yet not always easy to hear. It doesn’t come with a loud voice, but with gentle whispers. Let’s explore what intuition really is and perhaps more importantly: how can you learn to understand it better. So that voice becomes clearer and helps you stay closer to yourself.
Diving into the Unconscious
There are many ideas about what intuition actually is. For me, it has always been clear knowing. Knowing something without having (physical) proof at that moment, though the proof would come later. And it always did.
Dreams play an important role in this for me. Carl Jung (Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology) believed that dreams are a means of communication between our conscious and unconscious mind. Not something you simply interpret, but something you engage with in dialogue. More than once, I’ve experienced knowing something intuitively, then having it confirmed in a dream, and later seeing it become reality. A friend becoming pregnant, a clear understanding of a dynamic with someone that helped me better understand the connection, moving to Ibiza. My intuition gives direction before the mind can fully comprehend it.
Jung saw dreams, like intuition, as messengers from the unconscious. The symbolism you receive in the dream world is similar to the subtle messages your intuition gives you when you are awake.
How do you learn to understand and use this wisdom?
What I often suggest to clients is this: start listening more consciously to this voice when you are awake. Every time - even if it seems like something very small - that you listen, you send a signal: ‘Hey, I hear you, and I take you seriously.’ It’s the same as going to the gym and training your muscles, you are training your ‘intuition muscle’.
Start with small steps. The next time someone asks you something, don’t respond with ‘I don’t mind’. Pause for a moment. Check in with yourself. Feel, and then: respond. Whether it’s choosing coffee or tea, going left or right, ordering takeout or cooking at home: listen, feel, and choose. By training this, the messages in your ‘sleeping’ state (through dreams) will also become stronger. You are focusing on strengthening your intuition muscle. Gradually you’ll move to using your intuition with bigger decisions.
Why would you want to do this? Why train this 'muscle'?
Because your intuition is a solid compass, your unique compass. It guides you back to yourself, from within yourself, and reinforces your authentic power. It brings you closer to who you are. This allows situations, people, and opportunities that truly align with you to find you more easily. Less ambiguity, less scattered energy, more focus, and a more fulfilling path.
The world doesn’t need copies. It needs authentic individuals, each contributing in their own unique way. Let your intuition guide you and make it tangible with your mind.
Intuition: the voice that says what’s already there.
