7 Meditation Tips to Increase Intuition

Meditation classes, gurus, books and more have inundated the scene as a cure-all recipe for mindfulness and self-control. There must be something to it, right? It can seem a bit overwhelming to just jump right in when there appear to be so many different versions of how to do it the "right way." Something I found on my own inner journey is that the right way is what makes you feel most relaxed, uninhibited, comfortable and ready for the spectacular adventure that awaits when you're set to surrender. Once you start the path, you'll find more flow in your daily life as well as that voice in the back of your head that guides you intuitivetly along the way. It will grow louder and you'll be able to more easily identify what feels right for you as you act to fulfill your dreams and desires.
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Your intuition will come bubbling forth like a babbling brook if you put some time into the practice evey day. Just like anything, practice makes perfect so commit to getting to know yourself in a deeper way and you'll be seeing signs everywhere before you know it. The following are a few tips on how to sharpen those skills and a bit of anecdotal seasoning to show you what's possible.
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1. Start Small

At the beginning of any new pratice, you can't go in expecting to be an automatic expert. Meditation is like learning any new skill. If you keep your approach simple and realistic from the beginning, you're more likely to stick to it. As you keep showing up to practice, you'll start noticing how much you've improved. Your natural state of mind will become more peaceful, your inner journeys will become more insightful and you will enjoy meditating for longer periods of time.

The first time I meditated, my time limit was five minutes. That may almost not seem like it was worth it, but you wouldn't believe how slowly those minutes passed. I could barely sit still for five minutes in waking life, let alone carve out a corner to spend them in immobile silence. The entire first week, I kept the time limit to five minutes. By the end, I could say that during five consecutive days, I had managed to keep up the practice. The next week, a full 10-minute period of meditative silence was the goal. I confess, I stayed there for a couple of months before jumping up to the 15-minute mark. It's a process afterall, getting used to tuning everything out, merging with the stillness. As any skill, regular practice is needed to maintain the proficieny. In busier moments, sometimes I don't manage to set aside the time to meditate, but once I come back, I often need to revert to a prior developmental stage until I am again able to practice with ease. The point is, set a small goal first and work your way up to stick with it long enough to see the benefits everyone raves about.

Bonus tip: Start with guided meditations to get used to relaxing into a state of stillness. A quick search for guided meditations will give you tons of options. Pick the one that resonates with you and don't be afraid to try a few until you find a guide and a vibe that make you comfortable. 
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2. Set Your Intentions

Meditation is a way to access an entire universe within. There is boundless knowledge you can tap into to guide you along your path. You can ask any question and you will receive an answer, but you must ask the question. While you can leave the experience open-ended, it becomes more difficult to apply what you've learned if you can't nail down what specifically the information is referring to. It can be a broad question, but you'll get the best results if you have some parameter for the experience, or intention. Your intention can be anything you want to manifest, understand more clearly, areas where you would like to grow, the universe is the limit. Write it down before you meditate to crystallize the intention, leaving it there while you clear your mind during the meditative practice.

Aside from an intention, I usually write a line of gratitude as well. Any action involving the soul will be amplified when it's done with gratitude. An attitude of gratitude is also the quickest way to manifest more of that for which one is thankful. 
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​3. Get Comfortable

Still to this day, the seated position, especially anything resembling a lotus, is not my go-to place of comfort when I'm trying to connect with the world within. It's important to be completely comfortable so that your attention isn't drawn to all of those little things that nag you. Discomfort is distracting! I usually meditate lying down so that my body can completely relax, almost entering a state of abandon. In the beginning, every little detail bothered me: the temperature of the room, stray hairs, bra straps, everything. Now I take a few minutes to double-check myself and the setting for an optimal chance to make that connection.
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4. Eliminate distractions

The fastest way to get pulled out of that calm stillness is by an external distraction, at least at first. The more you meditate, you'll find you can eventually close out the world temporarily even while you're still aware of the surroundings. Find a space you can have completely to yourself. It sounds difficult, but it can be done. At the beginning, I would practice in the closet because I could turn the light out and close (and lock) the door so no little children, dogs or husbands could disturb me. As the very real benefits became evident, my family was more than happy to turn that time completely over to me and pipe down on the other side of the house as to not interrupt my practice. On days when shit hits the fan and I'm a tad more explosive than usual, my husband will even ask, "Did you meditate today?" A remark like that would normally add fuel to the fire, but most of the time he's right. Turn off your text notifications temporarily, put your phone on silent, close the door, close the windows, do what you need to do to limit outside interference.
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​5. Observe Without Judging

Our brain is so busy bombarding us with thoughts and then judgements of the thoughts and then judgments of the judgments of the thoughts that we barely notice the sequence of mental activity in the first place. The idea with meditation is that your mind be in complete repose but in order for that to happen, you must be aware of all of those images flashing across your mind's eye. Imagine you're a spectator in a theater and your thoughts are flashing across the screen. As you witness their appearance, do not pursue the thought any further. Acknowledge their existence without clinging and let them go. Listen to the voice that tries to jump in and judge the thought, that's bad, that's good, that's gross, I'd love to do that, never gonna happen... and quiet that voice. Let the images come and go freely without judgement. When you become detached from your mind while maintaining awareness, you start opening the intuitive eye where the images will be different and feel different. The more you progress and the deeper you go into the great beyond, you can come across all different kinds of situations and characters that may even defy your internalized belief system. If you are detached, you will be able to capture the message and apply that knowledge. 
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6. Record Your Experiences

The best way to keep track of your progress is by recording it. I record my daily meditations in a journal. The page is dated and includes my expression of gratitude as well as my intention. After every meditation, I either write or do a quick sketch of what I've experienced. Many times, what I saw during the meditation won't make a lot of sense to me at the moment. I am careful to record the scene as I remember it, where things were placed, the color of everything, how I felt, all the details that feel relevant. Usually a few months down the road, something will happen in my life that directly mirrors what I saw in my meditation. I will have visited one aspect of the experience through the meditation, and if I was dilligent, I am prepared and have heeded the advice presented to me. It takes a lot of practice, but anyone can do it if they're dedicated. Looking back a few months after starting to meditate, I noticed the images were more vivid, there was more detail and a greater level of interaction between the elements and myself. Now it's fun to look back on those books from years ago to see what my intentions were and see how they have all been answered. The progress is real.
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​7. Be ConsisTent

Make meditation a routine. Make it part of your life. Make it time about you for you. You deserve it. You deserve to be more connected to yourself, the world and the divine. If you do anything long enough, it becomes a habit so what could be a greater consciously chosen habit than to know your divine self?

Are you a fan of meditating? I would love to hear some of your own knacks for dropping down into the abyss! Comment below to share your experience. 

​Enjoy your own mystic revolution!
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