Information is all around us. By merely turning on the radio, tuning in to a television channel, or clicking onto the Internet, we can have instant access to an incomprehensible amount of data. The key to sending and receiving this information is the intricate network of transmitters and receivers around the globe. We would be astounded if we could see all the sound waves, laser beams, impulses, and signals that cross back and forth beyond our levels of perception.

Our bodies are also powerful transmitters and receivers. We transmit through our voice and inflection, choices of words, facial expressions, actions, and body language. Likewise, our physical senses -- hearing, sight, taste, smell, and touch -- are powerful receptors, able to retrieve immense amounts of information every second. They send signals through the nervous system to the brain, which then processes and responds to that information with messages and impulses.

A simple way to become aware of these processes is to think about the information we receive upon stepping outdoors. Our senses instantly perceive and relay to the brain signals regarding the change in temperature, the moisture content in the air, the intensity of the sun, the flight of a bird, or the whine of a nearby lawnmower. We might smell the pungent odor of grease and oil or the unmistakable aroma of a backyard barbecue. All of these elements provide us with instant information about this new environment.

On the mental level, we transmit information through every thought we think and each emotion we express. These go out from us in the form of energy which can be perceived by others. Though we may often be unaware of the source of the signal, we still may pick up on the finer vibrations of thought and emotion, just as we do the physical sensations. We transmit and receive this information in a similar pattern, even though the energies are difficult to measure.

Mirka Knaster, author of Discovering the Body's Wisdom, suggests that the body's internal network of sensory receptors provides us with proprioception (awareness of the precise position of our body) and kinesthesia (the awareness of direction of movement) which, combined, function as a sixth sense, allowing us to know where we are in space and time. According to Knaster, it is these proprioceptors which pick up energy emanating from other people and other creatures around us.

On yet another energy level -- the spiritual -- we become aware of influences and information through intuition. When we lay the groundwork for a spiritual connection to one another and to God, we sharpen these higher senses of receptivity. Intuition is our greatest link to our higher selves (our spiritual selves) and thus to God.

. . . Seek not from without, but to those consciousnesses, those voices, those feelings, those vibrations as may arise from within. For know, as has been indicated, there He, the Giver of all good and perfect gifts, makes to grow those seeds which ye have sown. 
                 -- 1991-1 Edgar Cayce readings

The regular practice of meditation allows us to tune in to our higher senses and clear our sensory systems of the static of other influences. We become cognizant of the impulses that arise from within with which we truly resonate. Everything we do to become more spiritually attuned improves our ability to understand, interpret, and follow through on the guidance we receive.

One way to understand how this process works is to imagine a playground full of excited children, with a parent sitting on a sideline. That parent is so well attuned, so familiar with his or her own child's voice, that he or she can, at any given moment, instantly pick out that voice from all the others on the playground. So it is with intuition. As we become more spiritually attuned, we can better pinpoint the "sound" of our higher self, or of God, and learn to recognize it.

How People Actually Experience Intuition

The intuitive impressions we receive come to us in a variety of different ways. As you read the following descriptions and examples, we hope that you catch a glimpse of the intriguing and often unanticipated ways that intuitive impressions can be experienced. Perhaps you will recognize your own talents below and realize that you are psychic after all!

Clairvoyance (clear seeing or clear vision) is experienced when an individual discerns objects, people, or situations, not with the physical eyes, but with an internal sense sometimes referred to as the "third eye". Such "visions" concern something beyond one's physical view, e.g., in the next room, down the street, or a thousand miles away.

Clairaudience (clear hearing) is the ability to receive thoughts or information about a person or situation through an auditory sense instead of a visual one. This information is actually inaudible to the normal hearing range. It can be experienced as delicate sounds such as music, bells, or singing. It might also manifest as a knocking, siren, or other attention-getting sound. Most often, it comes as a voice that is literally heard either directly in the brain or through the auditory sense, as if it comes from beside or behind the person.

This voice can have many aspects, at times sounding like the person's own, and at others taking on a change of tone, volume, or pitch and sounding like someone else. It can take on an authoritarian tone or that of warning, gentle prodding, or encouragement. It can also be very objective and matter-of-fact.

Clairsentience (clear sensing) is probably the most frequent way intuition manifests in our lives, through hunches, gut feelings, or a sense of knowing without knowing how one knows. This "sensing" is often accompanied by a physical sensation -- for some people in the solar plexus, for others in the heart area. Some feel a prickling of their skin. The physical sensation can vary with each person.

This information comes to us in a variety of ways. At times, it comes as a thought that walks across the mind in a natural, subtle manner. When intuition comes to us in this way, it is so much like the regular musings of our mind that we can easily miss it, dismiss it, or mistake it for our own ruminations.

Continued on the next page:
Intuition Through the Other Senses;
The Perception of Vibration;
Intuition Through Time;
Recognizing Intuitive Insights;
Intuitive Development: Purpose and Intent.

Read and/or leave comments about this article

Another article by these authors.