Should You Follow Your Gut Instinct? How to Do it?
So, you often feel confused about whether you should trust your gut feelings or not. A gut feeling, also known as the sixth sense or instinct, is very much real. It is an intuitive feeling or deep knowing that is hard to explain. Still confused? Well, let us explain the whole thing to you now.
Gut Feelings – How Do They Actually Feel?
How exactly do instinctive feelings feel like? Suppose you have just met a person and you don’t know anything about him or her. But the moment you meet him, you feel suspicious about him or her. You don’t have any explanation exactly why you feel this way. But you just know something is wrong with this person. Yes, this is what gut feeling is. It’s your inner voice that tells you something about a person or certain situations.
Gut feelings may feel like these – goosebumps, sweaty feet or palms, nausea or stomach butterflies, uneasiness, feelings of safety and happiness, stomach sensation etc. Probably, you cannot explain them logically. But they can be too strong to be ignored.
Why Should You Follow Your Gut Instinct – Know the Reasons
· They Are Linked to Your Brain
As per research, intuitive feelings are very much associated with the brain. Whether it is about collecting sensory data or processing them, your brain plays a vital role in decoding your emotions. Since intuition is linked to the brain, it could be more reliable than someone’s advice. Your intuitive feeling makes a strong connection with your body, mind and spirit. These feelings may make you excited and optimistic about new experiences and challenges. Also, you may feel nervous and scared while trying new things.
·They Are Based on Your Experiences and Memories
Your intuition can be what you predict, based on your experience. Also, it can be your prediction based on your lost memories. Feeling confused? Well, let us explain it to you along with an example. Let’s say: You meet someone online. When the person asks you for out, you don’t feel like meeting him or her. You don’t know why you find something off about that person. You don’t feel safe enough to go out with him or her.
But when you go through the previous chats, you find something offensive. And then you realize why you feel this way about the person. Here the memory that you fail to recall properly guides you. Yes, intuition often works this way. This is why; they are powerful.
·They Connect You with Your Nerve Cells
Before making any big decision, you may feel butterflies in your stomach. So, what exactly are they? Why do you feel this way? Well, they are the signals sent by your brain to the nerves in the tummy. So, you might have realized how important these feelings are. After all they are the signals from your brain. Now, what you need to do is to listen to it properly without making any mistakes. What could guide you in a better way than your intuition?
Listening to Your Intuition – How to Do It?
The problem occurs when someone considers physical sensations like anxiety, stress to be his or her gut feelings. It is necessary to cultivate your intuition properly. The following steps can help you in listening to your gut accurately:
Step 1: Keep Your Mind Silent
It is difficult to keep your monkey mind silent. But once you learn the technique to stop it, many problems will be fixed. First, try to slow down and keep your monkey mind silent. Remember, a person who is calm is capable of making better decisions. Why so? Because, he or she finds it easy to analyze the situations in a better way. Your silent mind helps you process the information you have already received and analyze it. To cultivate your gut feelings, declutter your mind and try to listen to them properly.
Step 2: Try to Understand Your Body Sensations
It is important to understand what’s going on within your body. Focus on your feelings and the thought process. Feelings and sensations are two powerful tools of your intuition. So, just take them seriously. Try to figure out how your body responds to certain emotions when you become angry, stressed, sad or happy. Focus on your sensations. This is a powerful way to feel your intuition.
Step 3: Analyze Your Feelings and Take Actions
Once you know about your body sensations, it’s time to ask yourself questions. Several questions such as “Why I am feeling this particular way?”, “How to work on the intuitive gut feelings?” etc., help you analyze your feelings. Once you analyze them, it’s time for you to make decisions and take the necessary actions.
You can follow your gut instinct more accurately with time and more practice. So, just give yourself some time, practice listening to your gut instinct and learn to follow it.
Understanding your gut instincts will help you evaluate the safety of your environment. Based on what you have experienced in your past along side your body’s natural flight or fight response your body can warn you if things are not good.
We typically ignore these feelings when we try to be brave for other people or encourages by our peers to ignore these feelings. When it comes to being safe, It is better to have avoided a potential problem than it is to have to survive catastrophe.
True precaution is better than cue, thanks for your comments
Hi there, this is a very thought provoking post on following your gut instinct. Following your gut instinct is usually the absolute right way to go, but then, doubt sometimes creeps in, and you start wondering is it the right thing, or not?
I do find that if I start overthinking things, and allow my mind to take over, that the gut instinct recedes. But I have learnt that if there is doubt in my mind, then take a step back and let the gut instinct guide you.
Your instincts can guide you in the right direction, thank you for sharing your comments.
Very good article on why we follow our gut instincts or we don’t. I always thought it was a conscious decision, but you have shed new light on it. Thank you.