Finding Your Intuitive “Yes” and “No”
Simply put, intuition is your inner knowing.
It's that wise voice or nudge we each have inside of ourselves that guides us along our path in life. From being able to “tune in” to your inner knowing at will to just having a feeling about something, most of us are connected to our intuition on some level.
Do you ever have a gut feeling, bad feeling, or notice when something just feels “off”? That’s your intuition.
Have you ever felt like you’ve just known something? That's your intuition.
Do you ever "get a feeling” that you should deviate from the usual path you take to go somewhere or leave a few minutes earlier or later than you planned? Yes, that’s likely your intuition.
Been told you have great instincts or are awesome at reading people? Thank your intuition.
But you may be wondering if you can tap into your intuition beyond these moments when it comes to you. The answer is, “yes!”
We each make millions of decisions in our lifetime.
Occasionally, we have those big life-altering decisions to make, but usually many of our decisions are small like those about what we’re doing throughout the day. And most of our decisions are actually tiny like those that are so small we don’t even realize they’re a decision.
Let’s pause for a second and do a quick “tiny decision” check-in together.
Are you currently sitting, standing, leaning, kneeling, lying down, or in some other body position?
When you feel into your body, do you notice any sensations? Are you comfortable or uncomfortable? Does your back hurt or is your foot asleep? Have you been choosing to focus on what you’re doing and ignoring a physical need like you’re thirsty or your nose is dripping?
Let’s quickly notice the environment around you. Is there anything you’re ignoring (the dog’s ball is stuck under the couch again, your kids are arguing, your coworker is talking loudly on a phone call)?
As you use these questions to check-in with yourself, notice the dozens of tiny decisions you’ve made and are continuing to make. The position of your body is the result of a series of choices, as are the sensations you’re feeling in your body. Your reaction or lack of reaction to your environment is a choice. Ultimately, in any given moment, we are each making dozens of tiny choices that impact the more noticeable smaller choices we make each day.
So, what does this have to do with intuition?
Two things: first, you may notice an intuitive feeling, nudge, or knowing connected to any of these decisions, and second, you have a lot of opportunities each day to work on strengthening your intuition.
I’ve worked with clients to provide intuitive guidance and support in their lives and businesses for over 7 years. Clients often come to me for guidance on the big things in life—starting or closing a business, entering a new relationship, moving to a new town or state, getting married, having a baby, expanding their business, or ending a relationship.
Though I will always share whatever guidance I receive for them, my other focus in my client work is supporting each client in cultivating their own intuitive knowing.
When you are connected to your own intuitive knowing and your connection is strong enough that you can tune into it whenever you’d like, you are able to move through your life with more clarity and confidence.
How do you strengthen your intuition?
Though some people describe the first time they consciously connect to their intuition as a light switch flipping on, the practice of strengthening your connection to your intuition is more like strengthening a muscle. It requires consistent effort on a regular basis, so I recommend starting with smaller, low-stakes situations that will slowly strengthen the clarity of your intuition and your ability to easily connect to it as you want or need.
So, to support you in this work, I have a go-to exercise that I personally use to strengthen my own intuition and that I take my clients through to strengthen their intuitive connection. It is a starting point to help you begin using your intuitive muscle.
We also have a resource called Cultivating Your Inner Knowing where n2gether Founder Nancy Rush takes you through the six steps of what she calls the Intuition Matrix. That is a good complement to the exercises I’m sharing here.
Without further ado, let's dig into my go-to exercise that I call “Yes or No.”
This exercise is simply establishing an intuitive baseline—your intuitive knowing of “yes” and “no.” It is so helpful to have this baseline as you work with your intuition, but it can also be a foundational piece of additional intuitive and spiritual work.
Personally, I've been guided through versions of this exercise in intermediate and advanced mediumship training and mentorship. It’s a powerful tool to add to your own toolbox.
In Yes or No, your goal is to identify what an intuitive “yes” feels like in your body and what an intuitive “no” feels like in your body. These feelings are different for everyone, so it is important that you allow your unique feelings to emerge and just use any examples I provide as simply guidance to help you identify your own feelings.
The sensations you experience will be as unique as you are! Noticing your intuitive sensations takes time, so a few possible sensations to begin focusing your mind and body on notice include tingling, tickling, fluttering, warmth/heat, cool/cold, aching, pulling, and buzzing. You may feel these sensations physically in your body, but you may also feel them energetically or even intuitively (we will get into this more in a future post).
You also may notice sensations on one side of your body for a “yes” and the other side of your body for “no.” This distinction is one that really helped clarify my own intuitive answers, so during my intuitive development, I specifically asked my inner knowing and Spirit Guides to help me cultivate responses that correspond to each side of my body.
Here’s how to move through this exercise:
Find a place and time when you have 5-10 minutes where you are uninterrupted, and your environment is quiet enough you can tune in to your inner world.
Find somewhere comfortable to sit or stand and a position where your body feels comfortable for 5-10 minutes.
Once you are in your place and position, take a deep breath. Your breathing should remain gentle, yet deep. Allow yourself to bring each breath more deeply into your body and then to more fully empty each breath on your exhale.
Through your deep breaths, allow your body to begin relaxing. Physically, begin allowing your muscles to unclench, untighten, release, and ultimately relax. Again, take your time with this and allow each breath to bring you more release and relaxation.
As your body moves into relaxation, encourage your mind and your heart to also release anything they’re carrying or holding.
If you are feeling particularly stressed, anxious, worried, or just having a hard time relaxing, visualize a jar, bag, or other type of container where you can place all of your feelings, thoughts, and the things that you’re carrying for the duration of this exercise.
You will put everything in the container and then set the container down outside of your mind and heart as you move through this exercise. Reminding yourself that whatever is meant for you will be there for you when you’re done.
Sit in this space of relaxation and deep breath for a minute or two before moving into the next steps. When you’re ready, move forward.
Now that you are relaxed, you are going to ask yourself to connect to the wisest part of yourself, your intuitive knowing. Ask this part of yourself to help you understand how it communicates with you in mind and body.
Take two more deep, full breaths in and out slowly.
Once you feel ready, we are going to begin asking very simple, easy questions to this wisest part of yourself and your intuitive knowing. Each question is a simple “yes” or “no” question. Our goal is to begin noticing how the “yes” and the “no” feel in your body.
Begin by asking questions you already know the answer to and questions that don’t feel emotionally charged or complicated. Some questions might be:
Is it raining outside?
Is today Monday?
Do I live with a dog?
Do I enjoy cupcakes (or whatever dessert you love!)?
Have I been to the Moon?
Is my car blue?
With time, your questions can grow more nuanced, and you will eventually work up to asking yes/no questions that you don’t already know the answer to, but for now start with these easy, gentle, low stakes questions just so you can begin feeling the “yes” and “no” of your intuition.
With each question, notice any sensations or feelings. You don’t need to understand them or even need to be able to clearly explain them to someone else. You are simply coming to understand a feeling/sensation that is as unique as you are and will become the shorthand you have with your own inner knowing.
Ask and feel the “yes” or “no” answer to as many questions as you feel comfortable with in this moment.
When you’re ready to complete this exercise for today, thank your intuition and inner self for working with you and invite them to use these “yes” and “no” sensations as you move throughout your day.
Begin focusing your deep breathing again.
Continuing your deep breaths as you begin bringing your awareness back into your physical body. Slowly begin noticing how your body is positioned. Wiggle your toes. Breathe into your belly and notice how it feels. With each breath, bring more awareness into your body and ultimately back into the room.
When you are ready, open your eyes and take two more deep breaths to fully return to this present time and space.
You have now added another tool to your toolbox for connecting with your intuition.
Throughout your day, you can return to what you experienced in this exercise as you are presented with yes/no decisions. Turn low-stakes scenarios into yes/no questions to continue working with this.
Do I want to eat lunch? Yes or no.
Do I want to go outside? Yes or no.
Should I stand and stretch right now? Yes or no.
Each time you return to this exercise, you will strengthen your intuitive connection and gain even more clarity around how “yes” and “no” feel for you. With time, you can work with more complicated or emotionally charged questions.
Want More?
Do you feel called to step onto your path as an entrepreneur but aren’t sure where to start? Is your business not flourishing or growing the way you’d like? Do you feel like you’re struggling to find new clients, onboard the clients you have, or actually run the day-to-day of your business? Then consider working with Chynna.
She offers Personal Entrepreneur Session, along with Technology Assessments and Business Assessments all designed to support you at every stage of your entrepreneurial journey and each milestone of your business growth.
