Intuition Development 101: 5 Ways You Can Strengthen Your Innate Abilities

We all have intuition. It’s the source of that gut feeling something is or isn’t right or that you should or shouldn’t do something; your inner knowing helping you navigate life. Having a strong intuition helps you connect better with your highest self / your soul, have a deeper trust in your decisions, and develop more confidence. In my last blog, I discussed the different types of intuition, specifically the “clairs.” In this blog, I’m diving deeper into intuitive development and a variety of practices/exercises you can use to strengthen your intuition.

a woman with blonde hair holding a just lit match. She is looking at the match, and it is lighting up her face. She is outside and it is dusk.

Intuition Development Practices

Breathwork

What’s the first thing you do when you’re feeling overwhelmed or stressed out? You take a deep breath, right? Breathing deeply and slowly is scientifically proven to reduce stress and anxiety, lower your blood pressure, and boost your energy. This is what we call breathwork.

Breathwork is a fantastic way to begin your intuition development. Taking a moment of your day to be still, breathe, and create calm can clear your mind, increase self-awareness, and improve your focus.

There are many ways to practice breathwork, but to keep it simple:

  • Take a moment to pause, and be still. This can be standing, sitting, or lying down.

  • Inhale deeply for four seconds, hold for one second.

  • Exhale deeply for four seconds, hold for one second.

  • Repeat that for three or more rounds to begin to oxygenate the body and clear the mind.

Keep in mind that you don’t have to do any of this perfectly or precisely. The 3 rounds is a good benchmark. Make it your own. Begin by starting to use your breath to cleanse and clear out your body, your mind, and your vessel.

As you breathe, you can also set intentions. Use the voice in your mind, and say things like:

  • “I am easily and organically developing my intuitive abilities.”

  • “I am calling forward my innate psychic & extrasensory abilities.”

  • “I am listening to my truth.”

  • “I am trusting my intuition.”

  • “I trust my gut instincts.”

  • “I am connecting my human consciousness with my higher consciousness.”

  • “I have the courage to communicate my intuitive hits and insights.”

Breathwork also doubles as a grounding tool; being the first and easiest, most reachable grounding tool.

Grounding

When developing your intuition, it’s very important to stay grounded. Grounding is a practice to create immediate calm and sense of connection with yourself. Being present and feeling “in your body” promotes personal security, rather than feeling overrun by scattered and overwhelming energies. Grounding regularly can stimulate healthy self-awareness, heal anxiety, promote overall clarity (mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually) and strengthen intuition, to name a few.

There are multiple ways to practice grounding, and you can ground for as little or as long as you’d like.

One method of grounding is simply going outside into nature, taking your shoes off, and planting your feet firmly on the ground. Take it a step further by reciting things like “I am rooted,” “I am connected,” “I am physically present in my human body,” while you inhale and exhale (practicing your breathwork).

Use your breath to connect with the natural world and open all of your senses. Keep your eyes open and fixated, almost like a seeing eye picture. This will enhance your “sight” through the natural rhythms of the world.

Even if you aren’t able to get out in nature, you can still ground yourself in a busy city. Intuition doesn’t just come in super quiet meditative states, it also comes in busy places, like the grocery store or the airport. Practice in busy, distracting places. It’s also really important to develop your intuition in very quiet, clear places as well. This is especially important for psychics or intuitives, as our frequency is on like a channel all the time.

While you are sitting (or standing) with your shoes off, whether you’re on the ground, a park bench, a rock, or at the beach, look out into the world and recognize what you feel, smell, taste, hear, and see. Try to do this in a meditative way – a way where you lose yourself a little bit while grounding and getting present in your body with the world around you.

Grounding is about being present, yet connected. Think about how tree roots stretch down into the earth for nutrients – your ‘branches’ stretch up into the heavens, and you are able to pull down information from higher levels of consciousness.

Meditation

Meditation is a fantastic tool to develop your intuition. It also will help you to focus in the present moment (versus regretting the past or worrying in the future), reduce stress & anxiety, increase self-awareness, and so much more.

A common misconception of meditation is that it has to be done sitting down, cross-legged, and eyes closed for three hours. Meditation can simply be going on a walk, sitting on a park bench, keeping your eyes open, and just actively breathing.

Using a guided meditation can be very helpful in developing your psychic abilities. This takes the guesswork out of meditating and will aid you in the experience.

If you’re dedicated to developing your intuition and connecting to your highest self, I recommend checking out the 18-Day Meditation Dedication. This is an amazing way to begin to really develop your intuition, because it allows you to create a meditation routine that is designed to support you in that and help you strengthen your point of attraction.

You can also turn on meditation music and simply create some presence. This can be lying down, seated, inside, outside, at your desk chair, etc. Practice this for 20 seconds, 20 minutes, or however long feels right for you. You don’t need to put any limitations around meditation that make it feel stressful; that would be counterintuitive and counterproductive. You want to be able to find quiet where you are going to be intentionally open and aligned.

Before you meditate, because you are wanting to develop your intuition, you should always set an intention.

Something like: “In quieting my mind, I am learning to listen to my inner voice, my higher consciousness, my truth. I am developing my intuitive gifts by creating a quiet and a presence in my body and opening up my ability to see beyond, to see intuitively, and to find ways to express my instincts and intuition.”

At the end of your meditation, say “thank you,” and express appreciation. You can say something like, “Thank you Spirit / Soul / God / higher consciousness / guides, that my intuitive gifts are healthfully and organically developing, and I am trusting them.”

Intentions

Setting intentions is another great tool for intuition development. Intentions can be a thought, a journal prompt, a mantra, or anything that connects you with your spirit and the divine. If you’re interested in getting started with intentions, check out my free 7 Days of Intentions guide, where I walk you through the importance of intention setting, instructions for how to do it effectively, and 7 days of morning and evening intentions.

Real World Exercises For Intuition Development

An easy way to strengthen your intuitive muscles is through really simple exercises that have no bearing on you and are not stressful.

Here are some examples of different exercises you can try:

  • If you know someone who is expecting a baby, guess the sex of the baby.

  • When you park at a store, make a guess as to which cars next to you will be gone or will still be there when you come back to your car.

  • Cut strips of different colored paper to put in a bag. Start with 3 or 4 colors, and work your way up to more if you’d like. Mix up the bag and guess which color you will pull out.

  • Shuffle a deck of playing cards and guess which suit you will pull, or whether you will pull a red or black card.

With any of these exercises, it’s important to set a starting and closing intention. Start by saying something like “Thank you that I’m enjoying having fun and excited about developing my intuition.” End your exercises by saying something like “Thank you that these exercises are strengthening my intuitive confidence, muscles, abilities, and gifts.”

During your exercises, if you guess correctly, your intuition is aligned and on point – then you say something like “Thank you that my intuitive abilities and muscles are strengthening.” If you guess incorrectly, then you laugh and say something like “Although I didn’t get this one right, I am open to continuing to strengthen and build my intuition. I trust that my intuitive muscles, gifts and abilities are strengthening. I am dedicated to continuing my exercises.”

Intuition Development Takes Consistent Practice

Practice and consistency are the biggest takeaways when it comes to intuition development. If you want to develop your intuition, then you have to strengthen that muscle. Anything that strengthens a muscle means you work it out consistently, routinely. You don’t have to be hard on yourself, or push yourself, but do continue to practice in a deliberate routine way. The more consistent and intentional you are in practicing intuition development, the more likely you are to reap the benefits.

a woman sitting on a swing that is tied to a tree, overlooking a large body of water at sunset.

Developing your intuition and learning to trust it is a skill that will help you in all aspects of your life. Using breathwork, grounding, meditating, and setting intentions consistently are great ways to begin intuition development and feel more connected with your higher consciousness.

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