{"id":108553,"date":"2018-10-09T17:47:44","date_gmt":"2018-10-09T21:47:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/?p=108553\/"},"modified":"2018-10-09T17:55:21","modified_gmt":"2018-10-09T21:55:21","slug":"4-ways-tell-difference-fear-intuition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/it\/journal\/4-ways-tell-difference-fear-intuition\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Ways to Tell the Difference Between Fear and Intuition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emily Fletcher<\/a>\u00a0is just one of the luminaries you can learn from at Wellspring this October.\u00a0<\/em>For tickets and more information,\u00a0click here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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Many of us practice yoga in order to tune into ourselves and better understand our sincere desires. Yoga and meditation offer the opportunity to find silence, which allows us to better understand our thoughts and make decisions from a place of awareness. That being said, even the most dedicated of yogis have moments when we don\u2019t know WTF we want. <\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve likely heard of \u201cintuition.\u201d Intuition, especially for women, can be an incredibly powerful tool for understanding when something feels right or when something needs to change. That being said, there\u2019s also a little thing we like to call \u201cthe inner critic\u201d, or fear. Like intuition, this is a powerful (but way more annoying) voice that alerts us when something feels dangerous or unsafe. The two are very different and yet it can often feel impossible to distinguish what they have to say.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just a quick google search and you\u2019ll find you\u2019re not the only ones to ask this question. It can be a paralyzing thought when have to make a tough decision. <\/span>\u201cAm I afraid to move further in this relationship, or is my gut telling me to leave?\u201d \u201cAm I crazy to quit my high-paying job in favor of this new business venture?\u201d <\/span><\/i>\u00a0It feels impossible to make a decision because, even though we\u2019re attempting to tune into our body and innermost desires, we\u2019re not sure what it is that we actually desire. We\u2019re doing the work, without the answer.<\/span><\/p>\n

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One of the first steps to understanding the difference between the two is looking at them are their own unique entities. Intuition is not pseudoscience: Many argue that intuition is not without cognitive elements, and uses past knowledge, experiences, and present details in order to make informed decisions. Psychology Today<\/a> defines intuition is being \u201cthe process that gives us the ability to know something directly without analytic reasoning, bridging the gap between the conscious and unconscious parts of our mind, and also between instinct and reason.\u201d In other words, there is some reasoning behind our intuition, we just don\u2019t always understand why. <\/span><\/p>\n

The inner critic and fear are not so different. These voices shout (critics are rude) things like \u201cyou\u2019re not good enough\u201d and \u201cthis project will fail\u201d or \u201cyou will never find love again.\u201d The critic lives in a world of absolutes with no room for gray area. Rather than create space for growth and discovery, the critic constricts, creating the attitude of \u201cwhy even bother?\u201d After listening to the critic, you likely feel discouraged and deflated, whereas listening to your intuition, you feel uplifted and hopeful. <\/span><\/p>\n

According to Emily Fletcher, meditation instructor and founder of Ziva Meditation<\/a>, one characteristic of the intuitive voice is that it leads us toward the creative. It\u2019s calmer and quieter, which can be a problem when paired alongside the pesky critic. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIntuition whispers,\u201d Emily says. \u201c\u2018\u2019Write that book, call that guy, start that company.\u2019 It\u2019s very hard to hear that little tiny whisper of intuition if you\u2019ve got the fear voice screaming in your head.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n