When do you hear your intuition the best?

Here are the top ten things that I have found help me to hear my inner intuitive voice. Some people may think of it as inspiration, god, intuition, gut instinct. Whatever you call it, and whatever background or faith you are from, I believe all of these will help you to connect and hear it. They create a space in which to hear the voice or to allow the voice to make itself known. These are just the things that I've found work for me, I'd love to hear yours.

1. Do the washing up by hand – I know this is an odd one but you have no idea how many things come to me when I do the washing up. You go in to a bit of a trance-like state (provided you're on your own and not nattering away to a friend or the kids). I know I'm not the only one this happens to and this suggestion is dedicated to my lovely friend Christina for reminding me of it.
2. Meditation – A time to switch off the conscious part of your mind, meditation isn't as hard as you might think. With regular practice you will find that it not only refreshes your mind but you will get inspired with new ideas and thoughts as a result.

3. Yoga – I suppose this is similar to meditation in many ways but I think it also reinforces our energetic and mind/body/spirit connection not just within ourself but with others and the universe as a whole.

4. Brisk walk or a run out in nature - especially when you get in to the zone (although it takes time and a level of fitness) where your body just goes and you're conscious mind switches off. Again it creates a trance-like state that allows you to access the intuitive side of yourself.

5. Find your creativity – whatever it might be,writing, poetry, acting, dance, crafts, knitting, painting, drawing or any variation along this theme. I believe everyone has something creative that they can do and somehow tapping in to the creative part of your mind helps you to find inspiration and intuition too.

6. Don't over-indulge – If you eat too much at mealtimes or feel uncomfortable in your body, the focus of your mind can become very much your physical self. When I am neither hungry or full, and feel hydrated and healthy, that is when I can be more intuitive.

7. Drive in silence – I do a lot of driving and I usually listen to local radio, music or personal development CDs. Sometimes this and the constant road noise just gets too much for me so I turn off the radio/CD player and drive in silence. It's weird at first but then you start to have ideas, or thoughts and find that solutions pop in to your head etc. You don't need to try, just be silent or a while.

8. Healing or energy work. If you know how, give yourself healing. If not, get some healing or energy work done by someone else. This is an amazing way to connect with your inner voice.

9. Get an early night – and not just one, if you're sleeping well you will find that you hear your inner voice better generally. But also I find that I'm more likely to have an intiutive flash as I go to sleep or as I'm waking up, or I'll wake up with fabulous ideas in the middle of the night. (Keep a pen and paper by your bed otherwise you won't remember in the morning.

10. Talk it through – If you have someone who you can talk to about spiritual thoughts and philosophy, do it. It's amazing how you can start chatting about something and have no real concept of what your personal thoughts are on the subject, and after a while of discussion, you are having amazing moments of inspired thought and formulating great ideas and beliefs. (Christina and Diane thank you for all the moments just like this.)

I hope these have inspired you and that you will go on to re-connect with your inner-knowledge in whatever way you discover works for you,

bright blessings

Helen

Hello intuition, I've missed you!

Don't worry, it's still there, honest!

If you haven't been listening, or things have been too busy, or too noisy, or emotions have been running high, you would be forgiven for thinking that your intuition has deserted you. It hasn't. You don't always hear your heart do you? But it's still beating. I believe that intuition is just as much of an integral part of you as your heart is. The irony is that when we need our intuition most, that's when we quite often block it out, often due to panic in some form or another.

So how do we reconnect?

Here's a quick exercise to get you thinking. (You will probably want to read through before trying it so you know what to look for).

Find somewhere quiet to sit uninterrupted for 5 to 10 minutes. Take a deep breath and close your eyes.

Now think of something that you love to do, or that you've always wanted to do, something that is positive and a bit exciting. Imagine your friend has just said, that this weekend everything has been sorted, diary cleared, family looked after, and you are going to go and do that 'thing'. Allow yourself to be happy, pleased, excited, to look forward to the positive experience. What do you feel, see or hear when you experience this? Whatever you experience is right for you.

• How does that feel? Where in your body do you feel what you feel. Is it warm or cold, heavy or light? Does it have a colour, a movement, a shape?
  
• What do you see in your mind's eye? Where do you see it? Is it a shape, colour, does it move around?
  
• If you hear sounds associated with it, what type of sounds are they, where do they come from? Are they loud or quiet? Flowing or jarring?
  

Make a mental note of what you get. Then, when you are ready, open your eyes. You may want to make some notes.

Now close your eyes again and take a deep breath. Think of something that you don't enjoy, or don't want to do or dislike. It might be something to do with work, or a task that you dread doing, a place or person that you don't enjoy visiting. Imagine that your friend has told you that your weekend plans are cancelled and you must go and do this thing. What do you feel, see or hear when you experience this? When you're ready open you eyes and make some notes.

If you struggle to think of a scenario that you like or dislike, then do this exercise by repeating the words 'Yes' for the positive experience, and 'No' for the negative experience in your mind and make notes on how each word makes you feel, what you see, or what you hear.

My positive response is light, large and clear, I feel it around my solar plexus and it has a lot of movement. Not dissimilar to 'butterflies'. My negative response if heavier, sits down in my lower abdomen and is darker, more dense with no movement.

Now that I have calibrated my positive and negative responses, when I have a choice to make and need to listen to my intuition I can analyse the feelings and sensations in my body and can judge whether I should go with it, or not depending on that response.

Like an old friend, no grudges are held, just welcome intiution back in to your life, sit and have a cuppa together, you'll soon remember how good it feels. It will be like you were never apart, because, actually, you weren't.

Bright Blessings.