What is intuition ?

Man....I feel like I’m so in tune with mine. Sometimes I never get the answers but in times when I have, it ALWAYS aligns with what my “gut” told me.

Soooo...I’m trying to “listen” more to my gut. For me, that means clearing my head of all of the “noise” (which is sometimes inaccurately driven by your fears/ inner dialogue based on past experiences) and clearing my heart of all my emotional desires (because that is what changes the truth into what I want it to be instead of what it is).

After clearing my head and heart, I try to sit with all the facts.....what I know about that person’s beliefs (whether or not I understand or align with them), any external circumstances.... and then I lean into what I really believe is going on. It’s magic 😉

I guess I would define my gut less as a physical thing and more of a deeper spiritual thing. It's hard to explain....like when you feel someone staring at you and then you turn and someone is staring at you. It's another sense that we aren't fully aware of. Fast decisions for me are hard because all of your "primary" senses are involved. It really takes clearing all of that to source your sense of intuition. But even as I say that, many times when faced with a fast decision, my "gut" (outer sense) pulls me one way, I challenge it with my heart, head, etc...and about 70% of the time, I go back to my initial instinct. I think instinct is born with experience, knowledge, awareness.

I have asked an Expert:

The biggest barrier to listening and relying on your intuition is often the doubt. How do you know your idea or decision is right? How do you know if it is the intuition or old survival strategies that speak? You do this by knowing your inner state and being aware of it. The successful leaders and self-employed counselors say that when all the calculations and considerations are reviewed, it is ultimately the intuition that decides the final decision.
The intuition is neutral. It is only the moment after you have received your intuitive message that your mindset and old emotional patterns are coming in. So, if you intentionally use your intuition, you should be able to bring yourself into an intuitive state where you are more neutral and thus manageable.

Your crooked condition affects your emotional state and your cognitive condition and vice versa. Are you challenged on one of your "channels" you do not have access to your intuition. For example, try to think about how difficult it is to make big and long-term decisions if you're tired, stressed, upset or angry.
If you are aware that you are under pressure, you can change your condition. It's called "self-regulating". An example of self-regulation can be to take a few deep breath exercises and lower the stress level in the body. Or go for a walk outside. The contact with your body's condition is called the interoceptive sense. It is the sense that reads the body's inner state. It is our ability to sense how we feel and understand what is going on inside the body. Many of us have never learned to use the interoceptive sense. But there is every reason to do so. Neuroscience shows that when we strengthen our interoceptive sense, we strengthen the activity in the right hemisphere. And our ability to think holistically, forward-looking and intuitively sits just in the right hemisphere. So that's all possible. Neuroscience shows that when we strengthen our interoceptive sense, we strengthen the activity in the right hemisphere. And our ability to think holistically, forward-looking and intuitively sits just in the right hemisphere. So there is every reason to strengthen your interoceptive sense.
The most important thing is that you yourself know your optimal condition, where you are in balance. Then you can assess whether you have access to your intuition or not. Then you intentionally use your intuition, then you need to be able to read and regulate your own condition.

The intuition often speaks during breaks. If your life is full of activity, there's no room for you to hear your intuition, that's why it often works to sleep on a bigger decision. Many people find that when they wake up in the morning, they know what is right to do in a decision-making process. There are many ways to create the right circumstances to hear your intuition.

Your bodily intuition:
Your bodily intuition is the part that we call our belly sensation/the gut. But the body has no language. Our body senses. We read other people and the outside world with our body. We enter a meeting room and sense a mood. We listen to others and sense if they do not speak the true.
The most basic tool is to know your "yes" and your "no" in the body. The first is your truth signal, your "yes". It is your body that tells you that this is the right choice. When the body says "yes" you will typically experience it as a sense of expansion in the body. Your chest opens up. You straighten your body. You can experience chills in different places on the body. Your body feels lighter and full of energy. When you notice your body's "yes" reactions, you will begin to feel feelings, such as joy, curiosity, security, calmness and serenity. You can feel something is the right decision because it feels good, calm and safe.
The second signal is your warning signal. It's your body that says "no". You can feel that your system is contracting. Your body collapses a little. The stomach contracts. Often, a no feeling is empty. Your bodily intuition tells you that this is not the right solution.

The more you notice your body's signals, the easier it will be for you to make the right decisions. Many of us have been accustomed to ignoring our body signals. We have learned to base important decisions solely on logic. In fact, listening to what the body tells you is far more sustainable and strategically wise.

Your cognitive intuition
Our brains have two sides, the left and the right half. In our society, we have been brought up to primarily use our left brain. It is the part of the brain that thinks logically and rationally. It is really good at solving problems. To weigh for and against. To think things through an extra time. You use your left brain when you solve problems, write to-do lists or research on the Internet. For most of us there is a non-stop inner dialogue from we wake up until we fall asleep at night. It is the left hemisphere that is active.
Our cognitive intuition is primarily located in the right hemisphere. Our right brain half perceives and processes emotions, sensations, music and art. Right brain half thinks holistically and creatively, but it is without language. Right brain half communicates in pictures, in visions and music. The right hemisphere typically presents us with a solid solution.
If you want a greater access to your overall potential, then you must consciously learn to draw on both the right and left brain. A simple exercise is to take a piece of paper and write down a problem that you would like a solution to. Your left hemisphere job is to take notes that come from your right hemisphere. The most important thing is that, without judging, you write down everything that comes to you. Try it and you'll be surprised at what answers you get.

Your emotional intuition
Our heart is an important tool for strengthening our intuition. At the HeartMath Institute, scientists have found a concept that they call heart coherence - which means "to be logical, coherent, consistent and understandable". When there are similarities between our three intuitive systems: body, brain and heart, we experience heart coherence.
Heart coherence activates feelings of calm, coherence, attachment to others and security. You can train your ability to experience heart coherence.
The reason you need to train your ability to experience heart coherence is that you can learn to feel the difference between making decisions from either:

1) Fears and old beliefs
2) Based on trust and the ability of your intuitions to take holistic and sustainable solutions.

If you make decisions based on old beliefs, you will be guided by a limited mindset, old stories and traumas on an unconscious level. Very inappropriate and not very professional. So how do you avoid this potential danger? You do this by learning how to train your heart coherence. When making important decisions while maintaining the experience of heart coherence, you have access to your full potential and will make decisions on a much more nuanced and sustainable basis. Imagine what a huge difference it will make when making important decisions!
So training your heart's intuition will strengthen your decision-making ability. That you will also experience a huge improvement in all your relationships, both privately and professionally, is a side benefit. Your ability to communicate and understand other people will increase significantly. It can be felt in all areas of life.

I don’t think so. I think attachment stuff is the lens through which I view relationships with people. “Gut”, and “spark” are two terms that I don’t think work with insecurely attached people like me. It could depend on how badly one is damaged, I don’t know.

I cant necessarily explain the feeling all the time, I just know, its like a 6th sense kicks in. Sometimes it is in my gut, its like a knot/sinking feeling.