There are a zillion and one ways to open up and access your own intuitive powers and you can develop your own unique way of doing so. Here’s a couple of ideas to get you started:

Tarot cards

I began using Tarot cards at the end of 2016 while going through a decision making process about moving. I turned onto the Tarot to get more clarity around about the situation. The tarot cards help you to learn more about the energy around and issue and can help give you new insights into anything and everything you are dealing with.

[image: tarot card image with caption + link to those tarot cards]

Strength Card from the Shadowscape Tarot Deck

I’ve started using Tarot cards for all kinds of decisions, and have even begun implementing everywhere from business planning to brainstorming ideas for writing projects and to discover new themes to explore in my paintings.

Learn more about Tarot

The Shadowscape Tarot deck (pictured above) created by the artist, Stephanie Pui-Mun Law are the cards I’ve been using and they are absolutely beautiful!
Biddy Tarot is my favorite go to to learn all about Tarot.

Pay attention to your dreams

Dreams can be another way that our intuition is trying to send us messages. Dreams speak to us in metaphor and through symbols. For me, this is one of the most challenging ways to access my intuition because my dreams feel so weird and random sometimes. A teacher once told me that everyone that appears in your dreams is an aspect of you and it’s a part of you that is asking to be noticed and acknowledged. I find writing down my dreams as soon as I wake is the best way to start to unpack everything that comes up in a dream and sometimes triggers me to remember parts of the dream I’ve forgotten.

Learn more about gaining insights from your dreams

Check out this article by The Little Sage on working with your dreams

Intuitive Art making

Making art is a fantastic way to open up the channel to your inner voice because intuition can be so visual and symbolic. Ask your intuition what is trying to come through and then let the question go. Get out your paints or drawing tools and some paper, put some tunes on and set a timer for 20 minutes. Start drawing or painting without a preconceived idea of what you are going to create. Begin making marks, playing with color and breathing. Play for the whole 20 minutes and every time you feel your self-judgement creeping in, reminding yourself that this is not meant to be a masterpiece, simply an exercise to access your inner wisdom.

[image: upclose of art piece ]

Afterwards, take some time to contemplate your piece. Does anything in particular jump out at you? What does it mean to you? Try turning the page upside down. Does anything come up for you from that new perspective? Make note of everything and anything that comes up.

Learn more about intuitive art making

Artist Flora Bowley wrote a beautiful book, Brave Intuitive Painting that illustrates her process of utilizing intuition in art making

Journaling

This is my favorite way of accessing my intuition. It takes a little practice to get into the mind space to transcribe what your intuition is telling you, but finding a regular quiet time and space for this practice is really helpful. It gets easier with practice. My practice of journaling as a tool to access intuition starts when I address it as if I were writing a letter to my inner voice. I ask it questions and my inner voice responds.

To try this, set a timer for 10 minutes and begin on a blank page of your journal. At the top write, Dear Inner Voice, (or however you want to address your intuition) What do you have to say to me today? (or any other pressing question you might have). If an answer arises immediately, write it down. If it doesn’t, just begin writing and see what appears on the page as your write. I have found this to be one of the most powerful ways to hear my inner voice speaking to me.

Learn more about accessing your inner voice through journaling

Writing Down Your Soul: How to Activate and Listen to the Extraordinary Voice Within is a fantastic resource for learning more about this process.

Yoga for Intuition

Yoga is a wonderful way to quiet the mind and move into the inner knowing of the physical body. The movement can assist in releasing the doubt and worry of everyday life so that your intuition can flow more easily.

Here’s a few yoga sequences that can help you awaken your intuition

Yoga flow for awakening your inner voice
Third Eye Chakra Yoga by the Journey Junkie

Meditate

It’s pretty much impossible to hear your spirit trying to communicate with you when there’s a lot of chatter going on up in the old mind space. (There is usually a lot in mine!) So, take a breather. Set a timer for 10 minutes and let your mind get quiet. Let your thoughts settle and let your awareness move inward.

Need a little more guidance on getting started with a meditation practice? Try these tools:

Align your rhythms

The natural world is innately intuitive. Plants, trees, and animals live in harmony within the rhythms of the world around them. I started wondering what I might learn from becoming more that way myself, if I too could come more into alignment with the natural environment. There are so many ways to do this and simply spending time in nature can instantly make you feel more grounded and connected to the natural world and your own innate sensibilities like intuition. I’ve dabbled in Ayurveda and the practice of aligning more fluidly with the seasons by noticing what’s going on with them and nourishing myself based on what I discover.

Another practice I’ve found helpful is to work with the cycles of the moon by simply noticing where in the moon cycle we are and noting how I am feeling during that phase. The idea is that this information will help me attune to what I’m really in need of during the different phases of the moon cycle.

Learn more aligning your personal rhythms with the rhythms of nature

Align through Ayurveda
Align through the cycles of the moon with the help of Ezzie Spencer’s Lunar Abundance

Aromatherapy to Awaken Intuition

Scents can transport, uplift and energize us. It can be powerfully transformative to utilize our sense of smell to access our intuition. Combine this technique with some of the others, journaling, yoga, meditating and art making in particular, for deepen your experience and connection to your intuition.

Here’s a couple of wonderful smelling ways to play with awakening your intuition with aromatherapy:

Essential Oils (some good ones to use for intuition are Peppermint, Sandalwood and my favorite, a Young Living blend called Transformation)
Smudging with Sage or Palo Santo can open up the sacred space around you and allow intuition to flow more easily

Have fun getting your Intuition on!