Do you know that feeling when you need to make a decision and something inside you whispers: "This doesn't feel right"? Or when you spontaneously call someone because you "just had a feeling" – and at that exact moment, this person needed you? That's your intuition, your inner voice, which has become barely audible background noise for many people in daily life.
In a world that values logic, data, and rational analysis above all else, we've unlearned how to listen to the subtle signals of our inner compass. Yet intuition isn't esoteric nonsense – it's a real, measurable ability based on complex neurological processes that can be trained.
In this article, you'll learn what intuition really is, why it's so often blocked, and how you can reactivate it step by step with practical exercises.
What Is Intuition Really?
Intuition is often described as a "gut feeling," but that's too simplistic. Intuition is your body-mind system's ability to process complex information from your environment, experiences, and unconscious knowledge in a flash and make it available to you as a "feeling" or "knowing" – often before your conscious mind has even understood what's happening.
Intuition is not:
Fear: Fear is loud, urgent, and often accompanied by muscle tension, rapid heartbeat, and worst-case scenarios. It screams: "Danger! Do something! Now!" Intuition, on the other hand, is quiet, clear, and neutral – a gentle "yes" or "no" without drama.
Wishful thinking: When you want something so badly that you "feel" it must be right, that's usually your ego, not your intuition. Wishful thinking is driven by desire; intuition is disinterested.
Impulse: An impulse is reactive and often emotionally charged ("I need to buy these shoes right now!"). Intuition persists even when you pause and wait – it actually becomes clearer.
You recognize true intuition by the fact that it feels calm, coherent, and physically "right" – like an inner nod. There's no internal struggle, no justifications, no debate. It's simply there.
Why Modern People Have Lost Their Intuition
Our ancestors relied daily on their intuition to recognize danger, find food, or navigate social dynamics. Today we live in a world that systematically undermines our intuitive perception:
Information overload: Our brains process more information daily than ever before in human history. With constant input, the quiet, subtle signals of intuition have no chance of getting through.
Rationalization of everything: From childhood, we learn to justify, explain, and prove everything. "It doesn't feel good" doesn't count as a valid argument. We systematically train ourselves to ignore feelings and body signals.
Disconnection from the body: We increasingly live "from the neck up." Screen work, sedentary lifestyle, and constant mental stimulation lead us to lose contact with our bodily sensations.
Fast-paced living: Intuition needs space and silence. In a culture of immediate answers, quick decisions, and constant availability, there are hardly any moments when we can actually listen within.
Conditioning and adaptation: We learn early to suppress our true feelings to be loved and accepted. This conditioning extends to our intuition – especially when it tells us "uncomfortable" truths.
The Science Behind Intuition
Intuition may feel mystical, but it's based on fascinating neurobiology:
The enteric nervous system (gut brain): Your digestive tract contains about 100 million nerve cells – more than in the spinal cord. This "second brain" constantly communicates with your head brain via the vagus nerve. It responds to subtle environmental stimuli and sends signals that we perceive as a "gut feeling." When you have butterflies in your stomach or something "weighs heavy on your stomach" – these are real physiological reactions.
Implicit knowledge: Your brain stores countless patterns, experiences, and information that you don't consciously have access to. When you meet someone and immediately have a "weird feeling," your brain may have unconsciously detected microexpressions, body language, or subtle inconsistencies that your conscious mind hasn't processed yet.
Somatic markers: Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio showed that the body stores emotional "markers" for various situations. Before we consciously decide, the body already sends signals – what feels "right" or "wrong" is based on this unconscious knowledge storage.
Heart intelligence: The HeartMath Institute has demonstrated that the heart has its own nervous system with about 40,000 neurons and sends signals to the brain that influence our perception and decisions. Coherent heart patterns correlate with clearer intuition.
So intuition isn't a magical force, but rather your body's ability to process information that your conscious mind hasn't grasped yet.
Self-Test: How Strong Is Your Intuition Currently?
Answer the following questions honestly:
- Can you feel how your body responds to different decisions (expansion vs. contraction)?
- Have you ever "just known" that something would happen – and it did?
- Is it easy for you to find moments of silence in daily life?
- Do you trust your first feeling or do you constantly doubt?
- Do you notice when someone is lying or hiding something, even without concrete evidence?
- Can you distinguish between fear and genuine intuition?
- Do you sometimes make decisions simply because they "feel right"?
- Are you physically relaxed enough to perceive subtle sensations?
- Do you listen to your dreams and body signals?
- Do you follow your intuitive impulses or mostly ignore them?
7-10 Yes: Your intuition is active and accessible. With targeted training, you can refine it. 4-6 Yes: Your intuition is present but often covered up. Regular practice will strengthen it. 0-3 Yes: Your intuition is strongly blocked. Patience and consistent practice will restore access.
10 Practical Exercises for Intuition Training
1. The Traffic Light Exercise
At every traffic light where you're waiting, briefly close your eyes and sense: Will it turn green in the next 3 seconds? Let the first answer come without thinking. Open your eyes and check. This exercise trains your "first impulse" without consequences.
2. Body Scan for Decisions
Imagine you've chosen Option A. Scan your body from head to toe: Where do you feel tightness, tension, discomfort? Where do you feel expansion, lightness, relaxation? Repeat this with Option B. Your body often knows before your head what's right.
3. The Morning Ritual
Every morning before getting up, ask yourself a simple question: "What do I need today?" Let the answer come without thinking. It could be: "Rest," "Movement," "A conversation with X," "Time in nature." Follow this guidance as much as possible.
4. Reading People Without Words
In conversations or when observing people, consciously turn off your analytical mind. Ask yourself: "What do I feel with this person?" Not: "What do I think about them?" Pay attention to subtle body sensations, images, or words that emerge.
5. The 3-Minute Silence
Sit down daily for just 3 minutes, close your eyes, and do nothing. No meditation, no technique. Just be. In this silence, your inner voice learns to speak up again.
6. Intuitive Everyday Decisions
Consciously choose unimportant situations (which way home, which café, which book next) and decide spontaneously from your gut. Train the muscle of trust without high stakes.
7. Yes/No Body Test
Establish a physical "yes" and "no" for yourself. Say "yes" out loud and feel how your body reacts (usually expansion, uprightness, opening). Say "no" and feel the difference (usually contraction, withdrawal, heaviness). Use this physical signal for real decisions.
8. Dream Journal
Your dreams are direct messages from your unconscious. Keep pen and paper by your bed and immediately note what you remember every morning – even fragments. Over time, you'll recognize patterns and messages.
9. The Palm Exercise
Hold both palms 10 cm apart. Feel the energy field between them – a tingling, warmth, magnetism. Move them slowly apart and together. This exercise sensitizes you to subtle perceptions beyond the five senses.
10. Intuition Check-In
Set a timer 3 times daily and ask: "How do I really feel right now?" Not what you think or should feel, but what you actually feel. Name it without judgment. This exercise rebuilds the connection to your inner experience.
Intuition vs. Ratio – When to Use Which?
It's not about turning off your rational mind and living only "from your gut." Both systems have their justification and strengths:
Use intuition for:
- Complex situations with many variables (partner choice, job change, relocation)
- Interpersonal dynamics (trust or caution?)
- Creative decisions and innovation
- Time-pressured situations where complete analysis isn't possible
- When all rational arguments seem equally valid
- Your life direction and major life decisions
Use ratio for:
- Financial calculations and contracts
- Technical problem-solving with clear parameters
- Planning and organization
- Risk assessment based on data
- Implementation of intuitive decisions (the plan for the intuitive impulse)
The ideal combination: Use intuition for direction, ratio for the path. Your gut feeling tells you if a job is right – your mind negotiates the salary. Your intuition chooses the partner – your ratio builds the functional relationship.
Modern science shows: The best decision-makers use both systems in an integrated way. They analyze data AND listen to their feeling. They're neither purely rational nor purely intuitive but can flexibly switch between both modes.
Common Blocks to Intuition
Overthinking
The biggest obstacle to intuition is the overactive mind. When you play through every decision in 100 variations, write pro-con lists, and analyze all possible scenarios, you drown out the quiet voice of intuition.
Solution: Set thinking times. Analyze for 20 minutes, then stop. Ask: "What feels most aligned now?" and trust the first answer.
Trauma and Old Wounds
Traumatic experiences, especially in childhood, can lead us to mistrust our bodily sensations or completely dissociate from them. If "listening to your feelings" previously led to pain (because caregivers invalidated your perception), you may have learned to ignore these signals.
Solution: Trauma-informed therapy or body-oriented approaches like Somatic Experiencing can help gently restore the connection to the body. Be patient with yourself.
Conditioning and Beliefs
"Don't be so emotional," "You're imagining things," "You're exaggerating" – such phrases from childhood run deep. We learn not to trust our perceptions, especially when they contradict what others say or expect.
Solution: Recognize these old programs. Write down: "What did I learn about my feelings/perceptions?" Then consciously establish new beliefs: "My perception is valuable," "I'm allowed to trust my body."
Chronic Stress and Dysregulation
A constantly activated nervous system (fight-flight-freeze) makes it impossible to perceive fine intuitive signals. It's like radio reception during a storm – too much noise.
Solution: Nervous system regulation through breathwork, vagus nerve stimulation, movement, nature, social connection. Only when your system is safe and relaxed does the channel to intuition open.
Self-Doubt
"Is this really intuition or am I just imagining it?" This question blocks more intuition than almost anything else. Constant doubt becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Solution: Experiment without pressure. Make small intuitive decisions and check the results. Collect evidence for yourself that your intuition works. Trust grows through experience.
How Remote Reiki Supports Access to Intuition
Remote Reiki works with the body's subtle energy level and can promote access to intuition in several ways:
Nervous system regulation: Reiki puts the nervous system into a parasympathetic (relaxed) state. In this state, the brain is active in alpha or theta wave ranges – exactly those frequencies where intuitive insights are most easily accessible.
Dissolving energetic blockages: Often intuitive channels are clogged by energetic blockages – old emotions, trauma, absorbed energies. Reiki can gently dissolve these blockages and restore energy flow, which also harmonizes the information flow between body, heart, and mind.
Third eye activation: The sixth chakra (Ajna), traditionally associated with intuition, inner wisdom, and clear perception, is stimulated and cleared through Reiki. Many people report more vivid dreams, clearer inner images, and stronger intuition after Reiki sessions.
Heart opening: The heart chakra is the bridge between lower (physical) and upper (spiritual) energy. An open, harmonious heart energy enables intuition not only to be received but also interpreted with love and wisdom – without fear or ego distortion.
Body awareness: During a Reiki session, people are often consciously "brought back" into their body. This embodiment is essential for intuition because the body is the receiving organ for intuitive signals.
Silence and inner space: Remote Reiki creates a sacred space of silence where constant mental noise comes to rest. In this silence, the inner voice can finally speak up again.
Remote Reiki isn't a replacement for active intuition training, but a powerful complement that prepares the ground on which intuition can grow again.
30-Day Intuition Journal Framework
An intuition journal is one of the most effective tools for developing your inner voice. Here's how to proceed:
Daily Entry (5-10 minutes):
Morning:
- What's my first feeling for the day? (Word, color, image, body sensation)
- What intuitive guidance do I receive for today?
- Intention: Today I'll pay special attention to... (e.g., body signals, first impulses, synchronicities)
Evening:
- When did I sense intuition today? What did it tell me?
- Did I listen to it? What happened?
- When did I act against my gut feeling? What was the result?
- What body sensations did I have during important moments today?
- Were there synchronicities, "coincidences," or special signs?
Weekly (Sundays):
- Review: In which situations was my intuition accurate?
- Where did I misunderstand or ignore it?
- What patterns do I recognize in my intuitive signals?
- How has my access to intuition changed this week?
- What do I want to deepen next week?
Monthly (Day 30):
- Compare: How was my intuition on day 1 vs. now?
- Which exercises had the most impact?
- What are my personal intuitive "markers"? (e.g., goosebumps = yes, pressure on chest = no)
- Which blockages have I resolved?
- What are my next steps?
Important tips:
- Write by hand, not digitally – this activates different brain areas
- Be honest, not perfect – the journal is only for you
- Also note "mistakes" – false interpretations are learning opportunities
- Celebrate successes! Every time your intuition was right, mark it
After 30 days, you'll be surprised how much clearer your inner voice has become – and how much evidence you've collected that it's real and reliable.
The Path Back to Yourself
Developing intuition isn't esoteric luxury but a fundamental life skill. In a world full of noise, opinions, and external authority, your inner voice is your compass back to yourself – to what is true, right, and aligned for YOU.
The good news: Intuition isn't something you need to learn from scratch. It's already there, it always was. You just need to clear away the debris – the conditioning, fears, the noise – and learn to listen again.
It's a path of small steps: A moment of silence here, a conscious decision there, a "Yes, this feels right" after long doubting. Every time you listen to your intuition and notice it guided you correctly, trust grows. And with trust grows the ability to listen even more finely.
Your inner voice is waiting to be heard again. It has so much to tell you – about your path, your truth, your next steps. All you have to do is: become still and listen.
The dialogue with yourself is the most important dialogue of your life. It's time to revive it.
