I’ve been teaching many popular workshops on the use of intuition for creating a life of ease. As my dear friend and coach, Laura Plato, says, as explored through her coach training, “life doesn’t have to be easy, but we can embrace it with ease.” Accessing intuition is easy, right? Well… um… even for those who feel fairly intuitive, many things can get in the way – chief among them is the almighty ego, often disguised as the powerful, rational mind. Mostly ego’s role is to talk us down, to lead us on a completely different path, the safe one, the boring one, the one that will bring survival but not necessarily thrival. But we want more from our lives, right?

In my workshops and private sessions, I teach the use of multiple creative, spiritual tools for stepping beyond the limitations of the rational and into the world of magical possibilities and probabilities. These are useful to dive deeper into our experience of what is here now in our lives, how we are showing up in this context, and how we can best utilize the energies present in any given moment to maximize our potential in a life-fully-lived. Some of tools I include in my life and teaching are:

• Reiki for deepest healing and transformation, for unleashing our best and brightest gifts
• Shamanic breathing for integrating the energies of the earth and sky within us, to open our channels of knowing, and to cleanse and vitalize our energy fields
• Journaling for allowing our intuitive knowing to flow through our bodies and hands
• Tarot for exploring archetypes, shadow expressions, soul-level patterns, and energetic influences
• Pendulum use for gaining quick yes or no answers from our subconscious, higher-consciousness or spirit guides/angels
• The Stargate Experience meditations to access multi-dimensional support in expanding intuition (added in 2015)
• Creativity as a gateway for enriching right-brain expression and knowing
• Chakra reading
• Shamanic journeys to meet angels and guides
• Shamanic divination and tracking through the levels of perception (body, mind, mythic, spirit)
• Channeling spiritual guidance through direct access
• Awareness of the role of shadows and projections that filter our perceptions and limit our capacity to intuit effectively

Most of these tools integrate beautifully, offering many creative opportunities for custom guidance on demand. Today I want to offer you an overview of some of the lessons I’ve learned that have helped me to more deeply and accurately access my own intuition.

• There’s so much power in daily practices, whether we include journaling, breath work, yoga, meditation, walks in nature, crystal energies, or whatever else calls to our spirits. Regularly allowing space for intentional, quiet, tapping-in time refines skills and access to insights.
• There are powerful questions and not so powerful questions. A powerful question will be specific to the situation and come from a place of empowerment. I like to use, “is it in the greatest good of all for me to choose…” or “is it safe and appropriate to…” If the response I receive is vague, I create a more powerful question. I like to avoid “should” questions as these inherently un-powerful, plus they hold judgment and self-limitation within them.
• There aren’t any “right” answers, just those that reflect our hearts’ desires in the moment. Where our hearts wish to lead one day may radically change the next as the mysteries of our lives unfold.
• Trust the first response. We may not always like the guidance, but learning to trust will help us to refine our listening skills and to trust the results of follow-through. We know we’re onto something big when we begin to argue with ourselves.
• Intuitive guidance helps us to access probabilities in the future, but the future is not set. Our choices define the life we live into. We are empowered and masterful creators. As such, if we don’t like what we’re shown about the outcome of our current path, we can ask questions that will help us to pick a better path with a more favorable outcome.

Another powerful inquiry involves those things that get in the way of powerful intuition. I’ve discovered all of the following, and then some…

• Attachments to people, places, things and outcomes impact interpretations. You might think of these as filters that alter your interpretations of what you discover. When asking the questions, it’s best to feel clear, clean, connected, and open to any answer. When in doubt, we can breathe or meditate for several moments to come back to center.
• Letting go of perfection or being right creates space for going deeper into discovery. If we receive an image or message that feels a little off, rather than judging, we can become curious and go a little deeper into the inquiry.
• When we do our own personal growth work, we better see the world behind and before our eyes and we become more intuitive. When we have shadow aspects of ourselves,  traits we haven’t yet embraced or even acknowledged, they tend to run our lives in nasty little covert ways that limit who we be and what we create. Not all shadow aspects are dark. We also have golden shadows that beg us to go deeper into our gifts. Whatever we don’t own, we project onto others. The jerk who enrages us shows us a piece of ourselves to heal. The angel-in-earthsuit who seems so magical and “perfect” shows us another view of who we are.
• The archetypes of saboteur or gremlin, alive and well in each of us, will try to undermine our efforts at growth. You know the voice – nagging, fearful, insistent. It begs us to stay the same and to play it safe. It’s important to learn how to distinguish this voice from the intuitive one, which tends to be more calm, expansive, encouraging of growth, desiring of thriving. Here’s a great old post on my discoveries on this.

What do you regard as the source of your intuition? Sub-conscious, higher-self, angels, spirit guides, ascended masters, God/Source/Spirit, other?

What would be possible in your life with greater access to intuition?

What are your best practices for accessing and following intuition?