Originally published March 23, 2024 — Updated April 2025
by Denise Barnes
Building intuition isn’t just about getting hits or psychic downloads. It’s a practice — one that grows more accurate (and more fun) when you tend to it regularly, like a garden.
Our logical minds are powerful and important. But the emotional brain — the part that works through a felt sense, symbols, sensations, and memories — has its own deep intelligence. It’s often quieter, subtler, and less linear. That’s why tuning in can feel like switching to a different channel entirely.
LPC therapist and hypnotherapy expert Courtney Armstrong explains this beautifully in Rethinking Trauma Treatment. She notes that the emotional brain needs information to feel real, which is why change often comes through experience, not just thought (or talk therapy alone). That’s a huge reason affirmations and mindset shifts don’t always stick — they may not reach the emotional circuitry underneath.
So how do we start accessing, or honing, that intuitive, emotional intelligence?
Start by letting yourself be surprised.
Let Yourself Be Surprised
One of the most helpful teachings I’ve received came from a Sufi meditation practice I learned through Mark Silver’s Heart of Business training. The invitation in that practice is simple but radical: Notice what is, and let yourself be surprised. You don’t have to change how you’re feeling or thinking, just notice that and move on to more.
That’s become one of my core mantras when doing intuitive work — with clients, for myself, even when pulling cards or journaling. I ask: What else is going on here? How does this appear or show itself, if I get past my logical thinking?
Surprise is often where truth lives. It cuts through the mental chatter and opens up space for new insight. Even slight shifts and a bigger perspective can help you hold more of this truth and less of the chatter. That chatter can shut down reception of the more subtle knowing.
It’s a Practice — Not a Magic Trick
Like any other skill, intuition gets stronger with use. One time in a peer reading, I kept seeing prairie dogs under a clear blue sky. It made no sense to me… but I said it anyway.
My colleague blinked, laughed, and said, “We were just out in the fields taking prairie dog pictures.”
Okay then. Message received, and accurate. Not life changing, that glimpse. But I saw that my relaxed approach and willingness to share without worrying about it, was helpful that day. Doubts come up, but with experience, trust grows.
But here’s the thing: trusting your inner knowing doesn’t mean you’ll always be right. Intuition is about sensing possibilities, not predicting certainties. Sometimes it offers a clue for the next step — not the whole map. Those clues can shift your stance, into less of a freeze frame and more of a dance.
Two Practices That Strengthen Intuition
In my therapy work with clients, I describe three levels of healing; this can apply also to the healing and growth path of growing intuition.
- Level One: Wellness Support – practices that ground the nervous system and support physical health at the same time. Practiced regularly, these keep our thoughts and emotions moving along, properly ventilated.
- Level Two: Active Coping Tools – practices that build emotional intelligence and self-trust, and help you face stress in a more neutral versus fear-based way.
- Level Three: Deep Work – deep transformation work of ancestral healing, trauma resolution, grief and loss. Upleveling purpose and career alignment, and handling tough communication issues can come into play here.
The two practices below support levels one and two — and they’re the foundation of my new Trust Your Inner Knowing Toolkit.
1. Body-Mind-Heart Meditation
This is an adapted version of the Remembrance meditation — a simple, grounding daily check-in with the body, mind and emotions, and then inviting in your inner wisdom. It’s excellent for level one work: stabilizing your system, checking on your internal “weather”, and invoking bigger wisdom about a question or situation from multiple angles.
2. The RAIN Practice
RAIN (Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture) is a powerful tool for working with emotional triggers and inner patterns. It slows things down and helps you hear what your emotional brain is actually trying to say. This is more level two or even level three work — and a fantastic entry point for people wanting to build trust in their inner knowing. Emotions are life force energy and tuning in here is an awesome guidance system when you gain mastery with this language.
Ready to Practice?
If you’re curious to explore these more, I invite you to try the free Trust Your Inner Knowing Toolkit. It includes both of these practices, plus articles, FAQs, journal prompts, videos and audios to support your journey.
If I had to name what helped me strengthen my intuition over the years, it would be that regular self awareness practice, daily though short, to tune into the shifting inner weather. And then a tool like RAIN, to go deeper when crosscurrent arise. Often these very crosscurrents hold the next healing hurdle fosters your next big leaps.
👉 [Link to get the Starter Kit] (coming)
Whether you use one tool or try them all, the invitation is the same:
Slow down.
Get quiet.
Let yourself be surprised.
You already have the wisdom inside you. This is just how we make the time to listen and honor that inner knowing.
P.S. Curious how I was thinking about this a year ago? Here’s the original version of this post.
I’d love to hear what helps you connect with your intuition — reply or comment below to share your favorite practices.