Expert shares 4 ways to trust your intuition
There’s a lot of talk about the gut right now – gut health, gut balance, gut brains. And it seems we’re only at the start of a long scientific journey into the importance of our gut, both to our physical and mental health. Corinna Stoeffl, a counselor and life coach, believes we don’t necessarily need to completely understand our gut to use it to our advantage and lead a happier life.
But, what if you’re one of those people whose job requires them to think a lot? Some of us are wired to operate from a cerebral capacity at all times.
As a former mathematics teacher, Corinna understands this all too well, having found it difficult to get out of her head and shift from a linear black and white way of thinking, to truly trusting her instincts. “If you’ve never listened to your intuition before, it will take a little practice, but once you get it, you’ll wonder why you spent so much time overthinking and overanalyzing everything.”
“Time and time again I’ve seen this with my clients and students, and even in my own life. When people start thinking with their gut instead of their head, life just seems to feel easier and less complicated,” Corinna explains. “When you don’t feel the need to intellectualize all your decisions and can trust your intuition, you’ll feel like life is simpler and happier.”
Here are Corinna’s tips for learning to trust and use your gut and intuition are:
1. Get out into nature
Away from crowds of people who are judging themselves and judging others, it’s much easier to feel at ease. You won’t be distracted by worrying about what others think if the only things around you are trees – and the odd critter. In that kind of environment, you can actually listen to what your gut is telling you without the disturbance of other people.
2. Start small
It’s hard for many people to trust their intuition immediately, especially if they’ve never done it before so start small. Don’t trust your gut on something life changing if it just makes you more anxious. Start with smaller decisions. For example, where to go out for dinner or what to wear today. Once you can see the results of trusting your gut on the small stuff, you’ll gain confidence that you can rely on your instincts for bigger decisions.
3. Don’t hesitate, just make a choice.
Make note of how you feel after you’ve made a decision. Does it feel light or heavy? If you feel lighter and more at ease, you’ll know it was the right decision for you. If it feels heavy, just make a new decision. It’s ok for you to do that. You’re allowed to change your mind.
4.Practice having no expectations
Be okay with your gut instinct surprising you with an unexpected outcome. If you have no expectations to hear one or the other, you’re able to really start listening to your instinct, just like animals do. Let go of the need to control the outcome and see what comes up.
About Corinna Stoeffl
Corinna Stoeffl was born and raised in Germany and working as a Middle School mathematics and physics teacher, before moving to the US in 1980 with her family. Since then, Corinna has dabbled in a host of different careers, accumulating decades of invaluable experience, including; earning a master’s degree in Counselling, working as a life coach for several years, pursuing photography and writing two books. As a Being You facilitator and mother of two, Corinna’s whirlwind and diverse career path has equipped her with a unique skill set, incredible sense of self-awareness and wisdom, which she in turn shares with her clients. Corinna’s own journey to self-acceptance led her to help others to find themselves, appreciate their unique qualities, and to use them to their advantage in their life and career. Corinna recently contributed a chapter to the collaborative book Voices of the 21st Century, due to be released this October. Follow Corinna. Learn more at https://beinginawareness.com/ andhttps://stoefflphotography.com/.