Let your inner voice be your guide

Intuition is an innate skill that helps you choose what is right for your life and will, ultimately, make you happier. The experts share how to tap into and believe in your gut instinct to flourish

One of the most common blocks to listening to your intuition is a preoccupation with the opinions and judgments of others, believes psychotherapist Lizandra Leigertwood. ‘Fear of letting people down by not living up to societal, cultural or parental expectations is a common block.’

This can be particularly true if you come from a background where there were rigid expectations about what success should look like. ‘In those cases, people don’t allow themselves to dream because they’re fulfilling the dreams of their parents instead of their own. A person will come to see me and, although things might look great on paper – maybe they have an amazing career and family – they feel unhappy and burned out because they’ve been on a journey of people pleasing for so long. They’ve shrunk their authentic self because they’ve been so busy listening to others instead of their own inner wisdom.’

Another common block is focusing too much on logic. ‘In the West, we grow up in a school system where the focus is on the rational, and academic success is measured by listening to and repeating the opinions of others,’ says Amisha Ghadiali, author of Intuition: Access Your Inner Wisdom, Trust Your Instincts, Find Your Path (Dorling Kindersley, £14.99). ‘If something can’t be explained by data and evidence then it’s not to be trusted; add to that the history of the patriarchy, which has historically sought to outlaw our connection with intuition.’

“In the West, the history of the patriarchy has historically sought to outlaw our connection with intuition