What Is Intuition?

What Is Intuition?What does intuition mean for you? For me it’s a very practical, normal thing.

The word “intuition” comes from the Latin word “intueri”, which has the meaning of “to look inside.”

Intuition, for me, is the ability to get information beyond your normal mind. So it’s really “looking inside”, looking beyond your mind.

Intuition is also an immediate insight without conscious reasoning.

How to find out if you’re intuitive

Do you have these qualities?

  • You’re not a brick.
  • You’re human.

If you’re not a dog, either (you know, nobody knows if you’re a dog on the internet, right?) you have intuitive abilities! Congratulations! Who knew? 🙂

(And it seems dogs and other animals really are intuitive, too.)

I think that intuition is something that is completely normal. Every person has intuitive abilities. And it’s not weird or airy-fairy, it’s just immensely practical stuff! 🙂

I also believe that almost everybody has the potential to develop their intuition to a (relatively) high level.

 “Intuition is a reminder of the power of the human spirit.”

— John Holland

Right brain vs. left brain

A lot of people say that intuition is associated with the right brain.

I think that’s not necessarily true, because you also have intuitive abilities when your left brain is the more dominant side of yours. Then you might not use your feelings as a vehicle for receiving intuitive guidance, but you may use your thoughts. That brings me to the next conclusion:

Not everyone has the same gifts. Everybody is unique.

Types of intuitive gifts

There are certain types of intuitive gifts that you can have.

  • Clairvoyance – that seems to be the most famous one (but it’s not necessarily the most practical). It is the ability to see spirit and get get intuitive guidance via images (in your mind’s eye or even without closing the eyes.)
  • Clairaudience – the ability to hear your Higher Self/your spirit guides, etc.
  • Claircognizance – the ability to instantly know things, seemingly from nowhere.
  • Clairsentience – that’s one of the really common types of intuition, it’s the ability to get intuitive guidance through your feelings and physical sensations, like your gut feeling.
  • Dreaming – dreams can be a useful source of intuitive guidance.
  • Empathy – the ability to directly experience what it is like to be another person (also called being an empath.)

You can have one or several (or even all!) of these gifts.

Why is intuition practical?

Let’s say that you have a business opportunity. It seems like a really good deal – on paper.

But there’s this gut feeling that you have that tells you there’s something wrong with it. You don’t really know, but you get a strange feeling when you speak to your business partner. Something is just off.

In the end you don’t do the deal. Your feeling just doesn’t go away, you don’t feel comfortable with it.

Later you find out that your potential business partner was involved in a scam and a lot of people lost all their money! You’re glad that you had trust in your gut feeling.

Especially for business people, when you ask them if they use their intuition, they will often say “no! I don’t use these woo-woo things!”  But when you ask them if they trust their gut feelings, a lot of the time they say yes.

I was using a business opportunity as an example of how practical intuition can be. You can use it for all kinds of things, though! 🙂

A tip for using your intuition

You don’t have to start using your intuition for the really big and important things in your life. Maybe use it just for small things in the beginning.

A really good advice for a beginner is to take it like a game. Relax! The more relaxed and playful you are, the better the experiences and results will be.

Expect that your intuition works for you. Trust.

It’s all about trusting your spiritual side.

Do you think that you have intuitive abilities? How do you use them in your life?

About the Author Peter Huetz

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  • Hey Peter,

    I like your article. 🙂

    I especially like what you said about right brain/left brain. It might not seem so but I am fairly left brained, and I receive intuitive input in a quite mental and verbal way instead of through images or feelings.

    Keep up the good work. 🙂

  • Peter Huetz says:

    Thank you, Rosine!

    I think a lot of people don’t know that they use their intuition, because they think it’s all about the feelings. But – as you said – you can receive it in a quite mental and verbal way. 🙂

  • When I was younger I had experiences where I could smell strange smells that shouldn’t exist. I was much younger though and I haven’t that experience again as an adult. I think it’s called clairscent?

    Good article.

    • Peter Huetz says:

      That’s a rare gift that you had as a child, it’s called clairolfactory or also clair smelling/psychic smelling. Very interesting, not many people have it, I think.

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