How To Develop Your Intuition
- Megan Phoenix
- 2 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Simple Daily Practices That Work
If you’ve been wondering how to develop your intuition, you’re not alone. Many people feel their inner voice is trying to speak, but they aren’t sure how to hear it clearly or trust what it’s saying.
Or they question if it’s really their intuition or maybe their anxiety at work.
The truth is intuition isn’t a rare psychic gift reserved only for a few people. It’s a skill. And like any skill, it becomes stronger the more you practice it.
The more you consciously work with your intuition, the clearer, faster and more reliable it becomes. And the more you trust that it’s your intuition speaking and not anything else.
You may also notice subtle shifts as your intuition strengthens.
Let’s look at what intuition really is and how to strengthen it.
What Is Intuition?
Before you develop a skill, it’s important to have a solid understanding of what it is. So what exactly is intuition?
Intuition is your inner knowing. It’s the quiet signal beneath logic, fear and overthinking.
Some people experience it as:
A gut feeling
A sudden thought
A body sensation
A calm sense of certainty
A subtle “yes” or “no”
Intuition isn’t loud or dramatic. It’s usually calm, neutral and direct.
The challenge isn’t that you don’t have intuition. The challenge is that you may not recognize it! Because it isn’t something loud, it’s easy to overlook.
Can You Actually Strengthen Your Intuition?
Yes! Absolutely.
Your brain is adaptable. Just like any skill you want to learn, the more you practice, the better you become!
In turn, the more you pay attention to intuitive signals, the stronger those neural pathways become. This is part of how habit formation and pattern recognition work.
When you begin listening to your intuition consistently, you teach your mind and body that those signals matter.
Over time:
You recognize intuitive nudges faster.
You second-guess yourself less.
You trust yourself more.
Developing intuition is less about becoming psychic and more about becoming present. It’s seeing the signs, recognizing them for what they are and trusting the process.
9 Simple Ways to Develop Your Intuition
So how can you develop your intuition? Well, honestly, through some pretty simple ways.
Here are practical, daily ways to strengthen your inner guidance.
1. Practice Daily Stillness
Intuition thrives in quiet spaces. If your mind feels cluttered and you are running a million miles an hour, it’s hard to recognize when intuition is speaking.
Even 5 minutes of silence each day, without your phone, music or distractions, can help you notice subtle internal signals.
You cannot hear your inner voice if your outer world is constantly loud.
2. Start with Small Decisions
Don’t begin with life-changing choices. Start small.
Practice intuition on simple things such as:
Which book to read
What route to take
What to eat
Whether to send that text now or later
Small wins build trust. Don’t second guess yourself. Sometimes the first thought that pops into your head is your intuition speaking. When you start questioning it, that is your conscious mind at work.
3. Journal Your Intuitive Hits
Write more. Listen to that inner voice. Try to remember moments when you had a gut feeling. Then track what happened. Did you listen to it or ignore it? What happened?
You’ll likely discover your intuition has been right more often than you realized.
This builds confidence and pattern awareness.
4. Notice Body Sensations
For many people, intuition shows up physically.
Pay attention to:
Tightness in the stomach
Lightness in the chest
A relaxed exhale
Sudden tension
Your body often knows before your mind does. Sometimes people confuse intuition with anxiety, especially if they start second-guessing something.
For me, intuition is an immediate thought or feeling. For example, if I usually take a certain way somewhere, but feel like I should take a different route. I listen. If I think about it too long, I’ll start questioning why. That is my anxiety at work.
5. Stop Over-Explaining Your First Answer
When you ask yourself a question, notice the first response. That first response is often intuitive.
The long explanation that follows? That’s usually fear, conditioning or anxiety. If you are an overthinker like me, listen to the first answer.
If it feels off, write about it. Why does it feel off? Is it different? We are oftentimes creatures of habit, so if something is different, we feel it’s wrong. But that isn’t always the case.
Practice honoring the first whisper.
6. Work With Tarot or Oracle Cards
Tools like tarot can strengthen intuitive interpretation skills.
The goal isn’t memorizing meanings. But rather, it’s noticing what stands out to you in the moment.
Look at a card and ask:
What feels important?
What emotion arises?
What detail catches my attention?
This strengthens intuitive trust. Even if what you feel goes against the written meaning of the card, trust your intuition.
Take your time to find a deck you feel connected to. I’ve read tarot cards for more than 30 years. I have dozens of tarot and oracle decks, but I have one that resonates with me the most.
7. Meditate Regularly
Meditation sharpens awareness.
Even short, consistent sessions train you to observe thoughts without being controlled by them.
The more you observe your mind, the easier it becomes to separate intuition from anxiety. Don’t worry about not having a long time to meditate. Even a few moments can sharpen your intuition.
8. Spend Time in Nature
Nature quiets mental noise.
When you step away from screens and external input, your nervous system regulates. A regulated nervous system makes intuitive signals easier to detect.
Even a 10-minute walk helps. Nature helps you to be more present and see the world for what it is.
9. Stop Asking Everyone Else First
Constantly polling friends, social media or family weakens self-trust.
Before asking someone else, ask yourself: “What do I already know?”
Pause. Listen. Then decide.
Think for yourself and trust what you believe.
How Long Does It Take to Develop Your Intuition?
There isn’t a fixed timeline.
Some people notice shifts within weeks. Others take months to build consistent trust.
The key factor is repetition.
If you practice daily, even brief moments throughout the day, you will strengthen your intuitive awareness.
Consistency matters more than intensity.
Signs Your Intuition Is Getting Stronger
As you develop your intuition, you may notice:
You make decisions faster.
You feel less anxious about choices.
You trust your first response more often.
You sense when things aren’t right sooner.
You need less external validation.
Intuition feels calm and grounded, not urgent or panicked. If something feels frantic or fear-driven, that’s likely anxiety, not intuition.
Can Everyone Develop Intuition?
Yes. Intuition is a natural human ability.
Some people are more attuned because they were encouraged to trust themselves growing up. Others were taught to override their instincts.
But no one is excluded from rebuilding that trust. It just takes time and consistency.
What Blocks Intuition?
There are many different factors that can block intuition. For some people, intuition may have been open at one time, but we let it close when daily life and the necessity to live and sometimes, just survive, took over. The good thing is, our intuition is never completely lost.
Like a muscle, we can always strengthen it.
Common blocks include:
Chronic stress
Fear of being wrong
Overthinking
Trauma
Seeking constant external approval
The more regulated and self-aware you become, the clearer your intuition will feel.
Final Thoughts On Developing Your Intuition
Learning how to develop your intuition is really about learning how to trust yourself. And building your self-confidence.
You don’t need to become someone new. You need to return to the part of you that already knows.
Start small. Stay consistent. Notice patterns. And start believing in yourself.
Your intuition strengthens when you treat it like something worth listening to.
And the more you listen, the clearer it becomes.
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