How to Tap Into Your Intuition

You know when you hear the telephone ring and you know who it is before answering? Or when you're humming that Sam Hunt song and it appears on the radio? It's not as freaky as it seems. Often dismissed as coincidence, these moments are a look into your intuition hard at work.

While every person on this planet has intuition, not everyone chooses to listen to that voice nestled deep down in their gut. Noted as a way the subconscious mind communicates with the conscious, you start sensing information you "feel" is real.

Oprah refers to it as a "whisper," while others see it as a spiritual phenomenon quietly nudging you along. But according to anthropologist and renowned TED talk speaker, Helen Fisher, intuition is all about a deep knowledge of patterns stemming from stored experiences.

When we organize these blocks of info, we "chunk" them into a bigger picture. Days or weeks pass, and that thing you absolutely needed answers for suddenly springs to life. Not because you're Theresa Caputo, Long Island Medium — but because you spotted clues to help solve your riddle.

Contrary to what you think, you don't need to be a yogi master atop a hill to connect with your intuition. With simple strategies, your intuition can guide you through life's toughest challenges and unleash your true self.

Meditate
Not only is meditating ideal for your health, but it can help to quiet your inner self. Since intuition lives in the present, access your instinctual intelligence by communicating with yourself through ridding mental clutter and focusing attention on you. Through a tranquil mind of attentiveness for just 15 minutes a day, you can develop the foundational skill in building your intuitive intelligence.

Pay Attention to Your Dreams
Dreams are one of the more powerful sources of our intuitive guidance. Since we retain information and store them as data "chunks," our dreams have the ability to liberate clues to any area of our life where we're meeting with unmet answers through the stages of REM sleep. From dreams about relationships to dreams relating to work, these golden slumbers act as intuitive messengers and keys to a profound communicative system that helps us to understand and transform our lives. Jot down your dreams and focus on one aspect of them to help you along your way. Answers are not always immediate, so keep these notes on hand.

Listen to Your Gut
You might not think it, but intuition plays a huge role in our biology. According to the University of Leeds, emotion and intuition have a physical presence in our gut. Since our gut is lined with a network of neurons connecting to our spinal cord, this enteric nervous system processes information straightaway. Before your brain kicks in with a decision, your gut reacts first, forcing the two to check in with each other causing intuition to spark. Touted by scientists as a "second brain," our guts are the reason why you react the way you do following a concern or decision.

Choose Fearlessness
None of us like being scared, but the more you move past anxiety, the further you sharpen intuition. Allow yourself to feel what scares you the most and use it as an advantage by turning attention inward. Opening up this vulnerability helps to strengthen intuition and rid negativity through mindful concentration. By listening to your inner world, you feel a transcendent clarity when you mentally disentangle from worry and reframe the situation.

Connect with Others
Because many things enlighten our opinions and decisions, make sure you genuinely connect with others. The more we spend time with other people, the more we are able to notice thoughts, feelings, and their intentions. This is known as "empathic accuracy" and can be seen most commonly when women read non-verbal cues of babies, giving us the advantage over men for reading gestures, facial expressions and tone of voice. The more information you gather from your world for making informed decisions, the more the subconscious opens up to awaken your intuition.