Learning to Follow Your Gut

Lessons from rebuilding intuition after loss.

When we have bad things happen, we lose our self-confidence. When we lose our self-confidence, our intuition also seems to disappear.

This is something that I have felt myself, and it’s something that I have worked to rebuild. When my husband died, ALL of my intuition (and mediumship abilities) went away. It actually felt like they had literally been sucked out of my body. Until that moment, I did not realize how much I had relied upon them to make my way through life.

Apparently, this vacuum feeling is something that 99.9% of traumatic loss survivors also feel.

I’m not just talking about loss from a death perspective either. It can be losing a job, suddenly having to move, being diagnosed with a disease, being cheated on, etc, etc *insert loss here*.

We suddenly are not able to rely on our senses in the way we are accustomed.

This knowledge about rebuilding intuition has helped me teach 100’s of people how to build their intuition and follow their gut.

Here are my steps for rebuilding our intuition and our sense of deep inner knowing:

1. Self-Reflection:

   - Start by reflecting on the times when you felt most confident and in touch with your intuition in the past. What were the circumstances, and what contributed to those feelings? Don’t get bogged down mourning that loss of intuition. We are rebuilding! Find specific instances and write them down.

2. Acknowledge the Source of Self-Doubt:

   - Know that loss has caused this self-doubt and know that you will be confident again. You are not permanently broken.

3. Self-Compassion:

   - Be kind to yourself and practice self-compassion as you work through this loss of confidence. Treat yourself with the same understanding and empathy you'd offer a another.

4. Journaling:

   - Here she goes again - talking about journaling (and yes, I too used to roll my eyes at this – but it works!) Keeping a journal can help you track your thoughts, feelings, and decisions. It gets the ish out so you can concentrate on other feelings.

5. Seek Professional Help:

   - If your lack of self-confidence is severely impacting your life, consider consulting a therapist or counselor who specializes in self-esteem and self-confidence issues. I did and it was essential to my recovery. You can also book a session with me to talk about it!

7. Practice Intuition:

    - Start making small decisions based on your gut feeling or intuition. Trust your instincts and gradually build up your confidence in your inner wisdom. Keep track of what works and what doesn’t.

6. Celebrate Successes

    - Write down what did or did not work – and CELEBRATE when you are on track (but also don’t get distracted by being wrong. It happens, we are human, and it is a skill to rebuild). Positive reinforcement will help our brain hone our intuition.

Following your gut takes practice and positive reinforcement, much like any skill. You can do it, just give yourself time, grace, and space along the way.