Intuitive Solutions
by Karen Grace Kassy, MS
Bring me all the computer facts you want, but if the gut doesn’t feel right I won’t go for the deal.” —Conrad Hilton
Gut. Instinct. Hunch. Intuition. Vibe. Psychic feeling. We’ve all heard the words, but what is intuition, really? And, how can you learn it and use it?
I’m interested in applying intuition to life and to work. Intuition is a simple skill that, with practice, can give information useful to making decisions, supporting health, and helping loved ones, work, and our world. It sounds like a tall order, but it’s really very simple and practical.
So, what is intuition? Certainly, there are scientific definitions available, as intuition has been studied, and proven, at institutions of higher learning such as Oxford, Stanford, Princeton, Duke, and others. Instead, I like a definition that’s easily understood by anyone, of any age:
Intuition is knowing something without knowing how you know it.
The phone rings, and before you answer it, you know who it is. You have a dream about someone you haven’t seen or thought of in years, and the next day you see them. You have a feeling “turn to the right” and there’s that great parking place. Or, “Don’t date that person,” but maybe you don’t listen and wish you had. These are all examples of everyday intuition.
Roger Sperry won a Nobel Price in the 1980s by showing that each side of the brain has a different function. The left side is more analytical, while the right side is the seat of creative and intuitive functions. Knowing this, doesn’t it make sense to use our whole brain to work smarter and not harder? That’s one of the best reasons to learn intuition. Life is busy, fast, and sometimes confusing. But, by using intuition, we can save ourselves time and trouble, and make the right choices more easily.
I work as an intuitive. For the past several years, I have specialized in the area of health. My skills have been physician-verified at between 80-90% average accuracy at discerning someone’s physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. I do this long-distance, over the phone, focusing on only two pieces of information: a person’s name and age.
This may seem amazing to you—it is to me, mostly because I grew up in a very conservative area (the second-most Republican county in America!) and never had any inklings about anyone’s health and wellness. How did I get to this point of great accuracy? Was I born with super health-intuitive powers? No. I started practicing intuitive skills in my 30s, and the more I practiced, the better I got. I believe intuition is a skill. Like learning to play the piano: practice, practice, practice.
So, how can you start honing your skills? Earlier I mentioned some everyday ways to use intuition. From now on, practice whenever you get the chance. Stanford found that the impressions that are usually most accurate are: first, subtle, or multi-sensory. For example you “see” it and “hear” it; or “feel” it and “know” it. I’ve also found that impressions that come and I push them away, but they keep coming back, are important. And I know that the weird, out-of-the blue impressions are often accurate. So, when you’re at the grocery store, waiting for the total, ask your inner-guidance, “How much will my groceries be?” Perhaps you’ll see, hear or feel a number. If you’re right, great. Remember that feeling, the flavor of an intuitive “hit.” And, if you’re wrong, great—you’ve just gotten some good feedback and can keep trying. Use open-ended questions. Like a good journalist, learn to ask Who, What, When, Where, Why, or How. Open-ended questions lead to more elaborative answers than yes/no questions. Other easy practice ideas: “How much will my gas cost?” (Alright, “Too much.” But, try for a number.) “What time will ___ be arriving home [or to work]?” “What time will the clock in my car display when I get home?” You get the idea. Have fun, and keep track of your intuitive hits and misses for the week. Jot them down, tell a friend, and see if you start to improve.
You can take these basics and build on them. For example, as you start to learn the flavor of your hits, maybe you’ll want to apply this skill in business, for your personal health, your clients, or that of your loved ones and pets. I have used intuition in all of these areas, and so have many of my colleagues and students. When you’re ready to go a little deeper with your intuition, I like to stick with the KISS approach (Keep It Simple Sweetheart). Here’s the three-step process I use. Not only have I had success with it, and taught it to many people in workshops, I’ve seen it work in as quickly as 20 minutes at busy bookstores where I’m teaching a quickie class on intuition during book signings.
Step 1: Meditate Don’t get caught up in labels. Quieting the mind, contemplating, focusing your attention, concentrating on the breath—all are ways to meditate. Intuition, especially in the beginning, competes poorly with other stimulation, so relaxation and focus are important. Get in the habit of relaxing yourself quickly, perhaps focus on five cycles of breath (in and out). Make sure your feet are firmly planted on the ground as you breathe—you want to feel “grounded” instead of “flakey” or ungrounded in your intuition. Some days, you may feel the need to breathe/meditate longer. Do what you need to do.
Step 2: Invocate The following is a copy of the invocation I use to focus my intuition. You can use mine or make up one of your own:
______(divine source) please give me the information on ___ (name and age or other identification of person or situation). The truth so that they can hear it and it can help them. Please let this information come through with compassion, clarity, and if appropriate, completeness, through my heart center. Please do not let anything of mine (filters, biases assumptions, etc.) interfere with this message. I ask that none of my vital energy be used in obtaining this information. Thank you.
Step 3: Tune in The final step in this process is to tune in. Some of my students close their eyes for this step, others keep them open. Write down your impressions (just like you’d write down a dream), so you’ll remember them. For example, if you were intuiting about your own body, you might start at the bottom and go the top. You’d focus on “feet,” then pause and write down any impressions you received.
When I am finished intuiting in this deeper way, I always shake off my hands, or go wash them, to have a transition point back to the regular world. This way, I don’t stay in a super-sensitive state, which can be too overwhelming to function in regular tasks, like doing my laundry or driving the car. I want to be balanced.
Have fun playing (and working) with intuition. I think intuition is a way to save ourselves time in our very busy world. Intuition is fast, but not stupid. With these simple ideas, you can integrate your whole brain, both intuition and intellect, to hopefully make your life a little simpler and a little more fun, and to perhaps help others, and our world, by making decisions based on the whole picture.
Karen Grace Kassy, MS, with degrees in Business Administration and Intuition and Energy Medicine, uses her intuition to help people with their life, work and health. She has researched and developed a diverse training program that shares the skill of health intuition® with audiences worldwide, and is the author of the book, Health Intuition (foreword by Caroline Myss, PhD). Copyright© 2002 by Karen Grace Kassy. Karen lives in Bend, Oregon.