Do You Listen to Your Gut Feelings?
Test How Intuitive You Really Are!
by John Holland • New Hampshire

To find out how you’re doing at trusting your intuition, take this quiz:

1. When meeting someone for the first time and you feel uneasy, do you:
(a) Ignore it completely.
(b) Acknowledge it and ask yourself: "Why do I feel uneasy?"
(c) Explain it away - thinking it’s your just nerves.

2. When you get a gut feeling NOT to drive down a particular road, do you:
(a) Stop and think of the time it will take to drive the alternative route.
(b) Quickly decide to trust it and take the alternative route.
(c) Stick with the normal route, as it’s never been a problem before.

3. You’re thinking of changing jobs, and you get a strong feeling
about one company over another, would you:
(a) Still consider all the opportunities.
(b) Think long and hard to see if you’re getting a clearer answer.
(c) Ask your friends for advice.

4. When you walk into a room with a lot of strangers, do you:
(a) Wander around looking at everyone being polite.
(b) Gravitate towards a part of the room or group of people that feels right.
(c) Stand on your own and wait for someone to come up and talk to you.

5. When faced with making an important decision do you:
(a) Ask as many people as you can for their advice and weigh up the odds.
(b) Take time to think about it and see if you get a stronger feeling one way or another.
(c) Make a conscious decision and trust it was the right one.

6. You had an interesting dream and feel that it was trying to tell you something. Do you:
(a) Keep it in the back of your mind and decide to buy a book on dreams at some point.
(b) Write out the dream and look for the symbols to see if it pertains to anything that is happening in your life right now.
(c) Dismiss it and decide that dreams are just your imagination playing out in your sleep.

7. When more prosperity is needed in your life, do you:
(a) Believe that there is only so much prosperity to go around and accept that.
(b) Make a list of all the different ways to bring more prosperity in your life.
(c) Know that hard work and lots of hours brings in the money.

8. You keep thinking of a family member that you haven’t seen in awhile, so do you decide to:
(a) Let it go because that person has not contacted you in a long time.
(b) Write a letter or call the person and discover they were also thinking of you.
(c) Call someone else and ask if they’ve heard from that family member.

9. You enter a room or location that you have never been to before, and you feel uncomfortable. Do you:
(a) Decide to leave immediately.
(b) Quickly ask yourself why you feel that way.
(c) Explain it away as your imagination.

10. You come up with a new idea that would make a great invention, so do you:
(a) Think someone else must have come up with this idea and just let it go.
(b) Investigate the market to see if there’s a similar product, and then pursue the idea.
(c) Decide that it would be too much work and give the idea to someone else.

Results:
If you have chosen mostly (b’s) then you are clearly acting on and trusting your intuition. Intuition is the language of the soul. We’re all born aware with a profound sense of inner-knowing. It’s one of the greatest gifts we possess, which keeps us connected to our higher selves, the universe and our divine spirit. At one time or another, we all experience flashes of intuition. We so often ignore or try to wave off those hunches or gentle nudges as being simply our imagination, only to find out later that they were correct. Everyone develops their intuition in their own way, in their own time. Do not rush. Take all the time you need. It took you many years to pull away from your natural intuitive abilities, so finding your way back will not happen overnight.

Are you ready to begin? Start with finding a room that you can set aside just for you– a room for meditation or to get in to a quiet space. Intuition often comes in a whisper and it is best to be in a place that is quiet, where you can devote some time to working with your intuitive abilities. If you don’t have enough space for a room of your own, then perhaps you can choose a certain corner of a room, or a place that can be just yours during your quiet time. It is also helpful to record what you are receiving in a journal. Shut off the computer. The email will wait. Unplug the phone if you want total peace.

We’re all equipped with a complex and highly tuned inner-guidance system, which we can access and use anytime we wish. Receiving intuitive information is all about energy. People, places and objects are all comprised of it, and since you, too, are energy, you can receive and read information via your intuitive senses. So trust… and give yourself permission to explore, play and develop your intuitive ability so that you can see yourself– and the world– in a way you never thought possible!

Sometimes answers aren’t found on the outside, but can be discovered within. Intuitive guidance can be yours when you learn to still the mind, but how do you silence that mind chatter? Meditation. Try different meditation techniques. Practice for at least 15 minutes a day, for one week. You’ll quickly notice your conscious thoughts becoming quieter, and intuitive guidance will start to flow. Also, by meditating regularly, you’ll find that all areas of your life will benefit. Enjoy the stillness.

You already possess the most fundamental piece of intuitive equipment. You need look no further than your own physical body for answers. The next time you’re making a decision, just pause for a moment, breathe deeply and focus on your body. Begin to notice how it’s trying to talk to you. It could be a gut response, a tingle up your spine, a hunch or an emotion. Embrace what you’re feeling as your body works in partnership with your intuition.

Dreams are an excellent way for our intuitive mind to speak to us, so creating a Dream Journal is a good way to start this process. Before you go to sleep tonight, ask your intuition a specific question that you need answered. As soon as you awaken and before your feet touch the floor, write down what stood out in the dream– the people, places, and more importantly, the emotions in the dream. Try to interpret what your dream is telling you, looking for intuitive symbols and answers to your question.

John Holland is a psychic medium and the author of best selling Born Knowing, Psychic Navigator and most recently released 101 Ways to Jump-Start Your Intuition. In addition, John writes a monthly column for The MetaArts and hosts his own weekly radio show, Spirit Connections. For more info, visit his website at www.johnholland.com