Anxiety vs Intuition: Learning to Tell the Difference
I’ve struggled to tell the difference between anxiety/fear and intuition. Both feel like a message from within and it’s taken me a long time to tell the difference. How have I learned to tell the difference?
Learning to Tell The Difference Between Anxiety and Intuition
Whatever it is I’m thinking about, I take 3 deep, relaxing breaths, and then think about the thing and notice. Notice how it feels in my body. When I imagine the scenario, do I feel expansiveness, lightness in my chest, my shoulders relax, a smile break across my face? Do I feel a contracting in my body, tightness in my chest, knots forming in my stomach? Does my body feel like it wants to retreat? Anxiety physically feels like a reaction to fear,while intuition will feel relaxed and even.
Remember, this is about what it feels like in your body, not what your mind is telling you. Not what your brain thinks it should do, not what your friends and family want you to do. How does your body feel? Pay attention to the wisdom your body holds. Our souls are much more wise than we give them credit for, and our brains love to run the show, they love to jump in and over analyze. The thing is, you can’t think your way to intuition, it just is innately within you, you have to feel your way.
Our culture normalizes living from the neck up, it normalizes following blindly as our brains lead us. Our rational brains can be useful for a lot of things, but learning to tune in, to communicate with your own intuition is a below-the-neck practice. It can be developed, but we must begin practicing listening and trusting our intuition.
Another great way to begin practicing this is through meditation. Practice identifying thoughts and feelings without judgement or attachment. (Ps. I started recording meditations for YouTube, you can subscribe to be the first to know when they’re live.)
Challenges That May Arise
One thing I struggled with, especially at the beginning, is that anxiety can feel more intense than intuition - which sometimes made me feel like it had to be the right decision, because I felt it more strongly. Anxiety felt more demanding, and so, I gave it more attention. This was a mistake, intuition should feel less verbal, more of a vibe or feeling and less all encompassing, while anxiety will fill your brain space with thoughts. I learned that more intense doesn’t mean more worthy of my attention. Intuition will feel safe, even when you can’t rationalize it.
Another question that may arise is, aren’t there things that we should do that will scare us? Absolutely but for those i implore you to follow the practice above, not for the action itself but for the outcome. Maybe you’ve been invited to give a major speech, that can absolutely feel scary but it might still be worth doing. When you think of the moment after you’ve given the speech, when you think about the people you’ll have helped, how does that feel in your body? Does it feel joy and ease? Or does it feel constricted? There will absolutely be moments we need to face our fears, but your intuition can guide you through those choices too.
Is It Worth It?
Learning to discern the difference between anxiety is a challenging practice that takes time and dedication. Anxiety can absolutely make it harder to listen to our intuition but it’s absolutely doable and so worth it. Building a healthy relationship where we can listen to our body’s innate wisdom is one of the most powerful things you can do.