This is a question that’s asked often in our FaceBook group and online: how to increase intuition. Intuition is something everyone is born with. It’s one of our primal instincts (in my opinion), but because of modern society’s skeptic views we often forget how to use it. We tune that inner voice out. I’ll tell you this – whenever my intuition is loud and clear about something and I DIDN’T listen…I always end up regretting it. So here’s 7 simple ways to increase your ability to listen to your intuition.

First, What is Intuition? Where Does it Come From?

Intuition isn’t some divine voice outside of you. No heavenly light will shine down on you and no angels will emerge from the clouds. That’s because your intuition comes from inside of you. It is often a soft, gentle voice that tries to nudge you in the right direction. And because of this, it’s also easy to ignore. The Oxford Dictionary defines intuition as “the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning.” It’s an inner knowing.

Everyone experiences intuition in their own unique way. You might experience intuition with a random image in your mind. Typically intuition is the FIRST initial thought that pops into your head during a situation. You might hear a voice. Or feel some kind of sensation. Truly the first step is to understand how your intuition speaks to you. I say that intuition is often soft and gentle, but in times of danger it can be incredibly loud.

How to Increase Intuition in 7 SIMPLE Ways

When learning how to increase intuition, try one or more of these exercises. If one seems to work better than the others, incorporate it into your daily routine. But remember! Intuition speaks when you need it to. It’s not something that you’ll experience every single day of your life…nor do you need it to. Intuition is there for when you need it: to prevent you from danger, to guide you in the right direction.

1. Think Back!

Think back to a time when you heard that inner voice loud and clear. Maybe you were going to get into a car, your inner voice told you not to, then that car had an accident. Maybe you almost took a job that would have laid you off a month later. Every one has at least one story where they listened to their intuition and realized later it was the right choice! Now think about how your intuition warned you or guided you: did you see an image in your mind? Hear a word spoken in your ear? Felt a strange sensation? This will help you understand how your intuition talks to you so in the future you’ll recognize it.

2. Chakra Alignment

Sometimes our intuition is blocked by our own making. The daily ins and outs of life “muddy up the waters”, so to speak. If you haven’t done any meditation lately, now’s the time to. Try a chakra alignment meditation on YouTube. It doesn’t have to be an hour long. Even fifteen minutes a week will help increase intuition. When our chakras are blocked or out of alignment, our intuition will also be blocked. Which leads me to the next way to increase intuition.

3. Spend Time With Mother Earth

You’d think this would be a given. But we forget the most important way to attune to our intuition and therefore ourselves is to spend time in nature. Unfortunately, modern society is driven by money, success, and we get lost in the shuffle of the daily routine. We get lost in social media and keeping up with the Joneses. Our ancestors were more in-tune because they spent more time outside. So get outside, even if only for fifteen minutes a day. And if the weather is bad? Open a window slightly and listen to the rain or storm. If it’s too cold, make a bonfire and gaze into the flames. Our primal instincts, including intuition, only get keener when we are in sync with the earth.

4. Intuitive Exercises With a Friend

Do you have a spiritual friend with whom you could try intuitive exercises? If so, have your friend on a phone call and have them think of an image in their mind. Then you tell them what it is based on the FIRST inclination you get. As I said before, this could be an image in YOUR mind, a sound, a smell, etc. Don’t second guess yourself, just say it! And if you’re way off, ask for a broad hint. Keep practicing this and I promise your intuition will increase over time.

5. Divination to Increase Intuition

Divination is another great practice to take up if you want to increase your intuition exponentially. Some say this tunes into the “clairs” or psychic abilities, I say intuition is another factor at play. I often feel like intuition and claircognizance are intertwined. Choose a form of divination you feel comfortable with and practice it daily. Or as often as you can. Some examples: oracle or tarot cards, runes, pendulum dowsing, mirror scrying, cloud or fire scrying. Practicing divination is like flexing your intuitive muscles. Even better if you can practice doing readings for other people and ask them if and how your reading resonated (0r not).

6. Eat Healthy, Natural Foods

I know it’s hard. Trust me. I love a juicy cheeseburger as much as the next person. But here’s the thing – when learning how to increase intuition, you have to learn how to control your physical urges too. Processed junk foods are further from nature than healthy natural foods like vegetables and fruits. If you’re in the habit of eating processed foods (that includes store-bought breads and pastas!) daily, consider changing your eating habits. When we eat naturally, we more attuned to nature and our primal intuitive selves. I’m telling you – it makes a HUGE difference.

7. Trust Yourself

Whenever I haven’t listened to my intuition, I’ve regretted it…majorly. I’m a nurse and once while working, I was ordered to give a patient a medication that my intuition screamed “don’t give it to her! Her body can’t handle it!” Well, my logical analytical mind took over and said the doctors surely know what they’re doing and she seems to really need the medication. So I gave it to her. I went on my thirty minute lunch break and when I came back, guess what? She had gone down-hill quickly and my charge nurse had to intervene. I should have trusted myself, trusted my intuition. Intuition is like a muscle – the more you use it, the better it becomes. If you don’t use it, you lose it. So trust it. When it talks to you, listen!

8. Meditation

Meditation helps us to clear our mind and focus on one specific goal. Even if you’re unable to visualize, meditation can still help you tap into your intuition. Try guided meditations on YouTube, Spotify, etc. Also consider trying different kinds of relaxing music, crystal singing bowls, drumming, etc. to see how you are able to tune in. The more tapped into the Universe and yourself that you are, the more intuitive you will be.