Practical Intuition
Living in Flow, Making Decisions More Easily

By Laureen Rama
June, 1999

As a shamanic healer and teacher and a creativity consultant, I teach people techniques for accessing their inner knowing. The techniques I teach range from creative thinking techniques (eg. brainstorming), guided visualization, using intuitive tools (eg. tarot cards,pendulums), to shamanic journeying--deliberately going into a waking dream state.

I have found though, that a general approach to life that honours the ongoing voice of our intuition is more effective in tapping intuition than using techniques once in a while to seek answers. The techniques are very helpful when confused or unsure, and for validation of important decisions. Using techniques also hones one's intuitive sense so tapping in during everyday life becomes easier. The more experienced I become in my shamanic and creative work, the less often I use these techniques for myself, because I don't feel the need.

My understanding is that our intuition is truly a sixth sense that's operating all the time. We just need to be able to notice what it is sensing. For example, if we compare intuition with hearing, another sense, it is like most of us are very hard of hearing and just pick up little hints of sensation. We need to learn to pay attention to those hints and how we experience them, so we can understand the messages we are picking up from our intuition.

I know when something intuitively feels right to me when I hear a sound like the rushing ocean in my ears, when my body perks up, or when I start physically moving towards something without having thought about it first. I know when something feels wrong when I have no sensation in my body or my body tenses in on itself. Sometimes my intuition also signals me through fleeting thoughts or even words in my head. I have my intuition students pay attention to how they experience their intuition when I say certain phrases. Some of them hear inner responses, some see visual cues (such as a red light or a green light), some just know what's right, others feel things in their body like me. Knowing how you sense your intuition can help you tune in better.

When we can hear well, we focus on what we want to hear and tune out the rest; we have an intention and focus that allows us to pay attention to what's important to us, so that we're not overwhelmed with stimuli. Ask anyone with a hearing aid how confusing it is when you can't tune out most sound! And yet, parents will notice the sounds of their children in distress, even in the midst of much other noise. We can also learn to focus our intention and our attention to help us tap our intuitive sense.

Setting an intention for what you want, or asking a specific question, is key to tapping intuition. When you set an intention, it should be framed positively; the unconscious mind does not recognize negatives. One night long ago when I was driving home through a blizzard, I kept saying "I don't want to crash." A friend of mine more experienced in this field said "Next time say 'I want to get home safely.' Your unconscious doesn't recognize the 'not' and was getting the message that you wanted to crash!"

Make your intention specific enough that you would recognize a positive response to your intention, but not so specific that you don't allow for better ways than you can think of for your intention to be answered. For example, if you're heading into a meeting, set an intention for the meeting to have a positive result that will be in everyone's highest interest, rather than specifying a certain result you want. It is helpful to set this intention long before the meeting and to be putting out the energy of that intention. It seems that you and others will pick up that energy, which helps manifest the intention. One of my students did this at work around some contentious labour issues and reported that the meetings had been much less tense, more enjoyable, and more productive.

If you're asking a question, keep it simple, specific, and unambiguous. For example, "Would it be in my best interest to buy my Grandmother's house?"

Once you've set an intention or asked a question, it's best to not focus directly on it, but to pay attention to the cues your intuition will give you. Just as you would hear the sound of your child in distress, setting your intention allows you to notice the signals your intuition gives you when something is relevant to your intention.

Nancy Rosanoff's* four principles of intuition help you know how to pay attention. The first principle is that intuition is the art of the impossible--it is non- analytical--we know WHAT to do before we know WHY. This is leap before you look. I have found this helpful in learning to follow my intuitive hunches. When I ask myself why should I do that? about my intuitive hunches, I rarely get an answer. If I dismiss my hunch then, I've found I often miss valuable opportunities. Even though it is sometimes challenging to shut off my analytical mind, I'm learning to do so, when I'm clearly getting a strong intuitive hunch.

For example, a year and half ago, I had an intuitive sense that I should move to Edmonton to purchase my Grandmother's house. This came to me after a phone call about some possible contract work in Edmonton. Within twenty minutes I tentatively decided to move. This move made very little logical sense--it would mean uprooting my business and my life in Calgary and increasing my expenses. I had already rationally decided not to buy the house, but my intuition was so strong I felt I should follow it--I heard the phrase in my head "I should buy my Grandmother's house and move to Edmonton" and then I heard the ocean roar in my ears, and I could not sit still my body felt so supercharged.

Over the next months, I used every intuitive technique I knew to verify my sense that I should move and they all came up positive. When I asked my intuition why I should make the move, the only answer I got was "it's your destiny." How can you argue or respond to that? The contract work that triggered my intuitive hunch has not come to pass, but now I am very happy in this house and in Edmonton. After the move I realized that it could have been in response to my asking for years for a place to live that would combine living in the country with living near a city. This house is in a huge park in the middle of the city so it combines the best of both in a unique way I had not considered.

Nancy Rosanoff's second principle for paying attention to intuition is to look for effortless ease. Robert Fritz calls this following the path of least resistance-the title of his book on creativity. Rosanoff suggests that if you imagine the progress of your life as going down a mountain (vs. climbing a mountain), you would take the easiest route. Your intuition flows with the underlying energy that links everything. If you go where your energy most easily flows, you will be following your intuition. This also means that if roadblocks appear, you go around them, take another route, or just wait--there may be a good reason for a delay or a block. This is rather than putting effort into removing the block.

When I was purchasing my Grandmother's house, I called some mortgage brokers to help me. The one who answered the call right away and said that he could arrange it for me was the one who got me the deal. It seemed almost too easy. When the bank lost the papers for two weeks and then there were more delays it was nerve-wracking but I could do nothing to push the process, so I told myself this had to be working out for the best, and it did!! Mortgage rates plummeted as we waited and the Calgary market heated up, so I got a much better mortgage rate and price for my Calgary house.

Robert Fritz also mentions that when you seem to be getting in your own way of following the path of least resistance, you may need to examine your core beliefs about what's possible for you. You may have a deep-seated belief (eg. I'll never amount to anything, I don't deserve love, women should not earn more income than their spouse) that is holding you back. I have found rituals of burning and releasing things that represent that core belief to be the best way to transform them. I've found using deep intuitive techniques, such as guided visualization or shamanic journeying, is the best way to identify these beliefs.

Rosanoff's third intuitive principle is that everything is subjective. Follow what attracts you and has meaning for you and move away from that which repels you. I love the house I bought from my Grandmother. It is in a beautiful park and it has so many happy memories for me. I feel good here. In other situations, such as gatherings, I scan a room and notice how my body responds to the people--I'll go talk to those who attract me, even if I don't know them. I've made so many wonderful connections this way, or learned valuable things, or sometimes heard the message I needed to hear to answer the question I'd asked.

Rosanoff's fourth principle of paying attention to intuition is that everything is connected. So pay attention to everything--the answer to your question could be in the phrase your two year old repeats or in the song on the radio. I teach people how to connect with their power animals--intuitive guides we all seem to have who represent our personal power. Sometimes in workshops people are not sure what their power animals are. I suggest they pay attention in the few days after the workshop. People have seen the actual animals, or representations on t-shirts, or the animal has been in the name of a restaurant (the Dragon Pearl).

I've found learning to set positive intentions, ask questions, and then pay attention to what my intuition focuses on is an adventurous and delightful way to make decisions and live my life. I can make decisions more quickly and easily. I also seem to enjoy myself more as I do what I'm drawn to do, when the time feels right, and I associate with people I'm drawn to. This is rather than doing what I rationally think I should be doing.

Try it! It's simple and it works!

*I learned Nancy Rosanoff's 4 principles in her workshop I was intuitively drawn to when I was putting together a course in Practical Intuition. She has written "Intuition Workout".

Laureen Rama is available to lead retreats and workshops for private groups. She also teaches advanced shamanic healing techniques and offers shamanic healings in person or by distance.

Laureen can be reached at info@soulrestore.com or 1-403-851-1198.