Let’s help you develop and understanding about you intuition vs. fear.
Welcome to 2025, a Number 9 year
This is a number 9 year since 2 + 0 + 2 + 5 = 9. This number in numerology represents a time for transformation, wrapping things up, focusing on personal growth, and helping others. This year is also a Hermit year in the tarot, the ninth card of the major arcana in the deck. This card is about personal reflection, going inward, and healing things that need time and space to resolve. So here at the embodiment blog, we will focus on inner work and building your inner temple of knowing this year. Next week on the 8th, I will be offering an online workshop about connecting with your spiritual team and protective figure. Please join me!
Learning about Intuition
In today’s issue, we will explore the difference between building intuition and fear. I am a highly intuitive person, and for many years, I didn’t trust my intuition, leading to unfortunate events. Now that I listen more, it feels like I am in the flow of life. I would say I heed it 98% of the time now, and it is usually accurate about 95% of the time. What harm would it do if, instead of listening to the loud voice of fear (essentially the same as our inner critic), we listened to the kind, loving voice trying to help us break free from our patterns?
“Intuition is the most natural part of us- listening gives us energy and inner power. What you feel, not what you think: that’s what it’s all about. I live by goosebumps. I get them every time something really touches me- music, movies, poetry, an emotion. Then I know I’ve got the right take. Nothing to talk about unless I get the goosebumps!” – Quincy Jones
Fear vs. Intuition
Fear tells you you must act now. Intuition tells you gently with kindness. And if you don’t listen, it will persistently tell you, like it is training you to go another way. Intuition is all about giving you information for thriving and not surviving. Fear is an ingrained response, constantly scanning the room for signs of danger. Intuition is a gut feeling, goosebumps, a sense that comes over you, and full-body sensations. Many of our intuitions are influenced by multi-generational experiences and the wisdom of distilling your fear into a calm and centered voice, a gut feeling, or an inner knowing.
Neuroscience of Fear
Fear acts like an alarm system for the brain, activating in the presence of both real and perceived threats. This activation elicits a response in our bodies regardless of the reality of the threat. Various brain regions are involved in processing fear. The process starts with the amygdala. It is the emotional center associated with our stress response. The hippocampus stores implicit memories. The hypothalamus manages functions like body temperature, hunger, attachment behaviors, thirst, fatigue, sleep, and circadian rhythms. Furthermore, the periaqueductal gray (PAG) is crucial for regulating defensive behaviors. It helps manage responses such as fight or flight, submission, and freezing. This regulation directs us towards the most suitable response in dangerous scenarios. This demonstrates that fear is not merely a weakness; it is a complex state involving the entire nervous system. We often find ourselves in the dorsal state. This state is marked by submission and dissociation. Alternatively, we find ourselves in the sympathetic nervous state. Here, feelings of anger, restlessness, and the impulse to act arise.
“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” – Joseph Campbell
Neuroscience of Intuition
According to current research, the brain region most associated with creating intuition is the amygdala. It helps by processing emotional stimuli quickly. The brain’s right hemisphere is also responsible for intuition. This is where our brain is most creative. The insula integrates bold sensations from environmental cues, helping shape insights and decisions. The prefrontal cortex helps us respond to emotions in a measured way. These areas integrate emotional cues with internal bodily sensations, generating intuitive responses often experienced as “gut feelings.”
The pineal gland is thought to produce melatonin, which helps alleviate stress, promotes heart health, and regulates the sleep-wake cycle. It is considered the center of the third eye. Enhancing your connection to the pineal gland may lead to a greater alignment with your intuition. This idea lacks scientific support. However, it is a common belief in many spiritual traditions and in the realm of energy medicine. And personally, I believe this theory.
“Intuition intelligently informs patience. It’ll convey when to have it and if something is worth working on or waiting for.”
— Judith Orloff
Bodily Sensations of Fear
The body’s response to fear includes:
- Heart palpitations,
- Thoughts moving quickly
- Tension in the body
- Feeling that one needs to move around a lot or flee the situation.
- Increasing one’s breathing rate ( hyperventilation) or holding one’s breath.
- Feeling butterflies in one’s stomach, nauseous.
- Trembling
- Freezing up
“Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay.”
— Thich Nhat Hanh
Bodily Sensations of Intuition:
- Your hair stands on end.
- You sense a gut feeling
- When you can tell if someone has your best interests at heart.
- Full-body chills arise.
- A sense of calm or ease emerges.
- Anticipating what people will say.
- Tingling or warmth settles in the chest.
Learning to make friends with your fear to develop your intuition
I urge you to confront your fears instead of running from them. Addressing your fears is crucial for healing. It helps you gain new experiences. It also breaks the patterns you continually encounter in your life. Often, clients want to change. However, they cannot change because they lack awareness of their patterns. We will discuss these patterns next week. This leads them to avoid unpleasant or frightening emotions.
When we run from our fears, we only prolong our suffering. I understand this behavior because I am guilty of it, too. But every time I face my fears, I experience freedom after the discomfort and pain I endure.
So lets dive in shall we?
Here are four questions to transform fear:
- What are my top five fears?
- Where do my fears come from (are they even mine, or was I taught them)?
- What sets off my fears (triggers them)?
- What change can I make to be more free?
Adapted from Judith Orloff
If you confront your fears, you can identify them when they surface. Acknowledge their presence and listen. You don’t always have to accept them as truth. This can help you take back control of your life!
Questions to connect with your Intuition:
- When do I feel the most connected to my intuition?
- How can I trust myself and my intuition more?
- How has my intuition helped me?
- What has happened when I have not listened to my intuition?
- What am I willing to do to increase my intuition?
I hope that this article was helpful. Let me know if I can help you develop your intuition and spiritual tools. You can also reach out for an individual session.
January Offerings
I have two virtual workshops coming up in the next month. If you want to build a greater relationship with your guides, join me for my next workshop. It is on the 8th, where we will explore connections with higher self or spiritual allies. If you want to learn to redefine your energetic, emotional, and spiritual boundaries, join me on the 22nd of January!
Connecting with a Protective Figure
May you have a blessed new year!
Until next time!
With love and compassion,
Celine
Celine believes in empowering clients to understand their own nervous systems. This helps them reduce symptoms. It also allows them to learn to embrace themselves in whatever state they are in. Celine is an LMFT, Art Therapist, EMDR trained, Certified Hypnotist, Reiki Master, Certified Havening Practitioner, and EFT Master Practitioner.
Resources
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