Unleashing Intuition into Critical Thinking: aligning all of our awareness, it’s time.

Keeping it simple, we will be looking at what is intuition, why it is an important level of our awareness process, and ways to unleash it into our critical thinking.   

Critical thinking and intuition offer a continuum for the full potential of our awareness. However the scope of either is limited. This encourages the utility of developing ways to refresh and align both. In effect, it is clearing and expanding the lens through which we perceive, understand and then act.

Unleashing our full awareness potential for seeing the playing field and ourselves more clearly is essential for understanding and responding to the rapid changes.

Historically our ancestors lived deep in nature. There weren’t libraries, or the internet’s resources, to guide them. They needed to figure out life on the spot. So they needed to employ all of their intelligences, including the complimentary nature of intuition with critical thinking.

For several decades, living in our culture has highlighted  critical thinking. However since the 1980’s, an increasing number of awareness pioneers have been helping us rediscover mindfulness. This process creates the conditions for improving our capacity for intuition as well as critical thinking. 

In brief, mindfulness involves slowing our mental activity to enable greater awareness of what we are perceiving and experiencing in the present moment.

This enables us to more clearly perceive and compare key data points during critical thinking.

It also creates the conditions for slowing our inner pace so we can experience the felt sense when our intuition is communicating with us. This is a subtle process. Even though it is always happening, it can be easy to overlook. 

Let’s take a closer look at intuition and ways for unleashing it into our day to day

Simply said, intuition is a level of awareness. It is through a felt sense that we become aware of it and can understand the information it offers.

The New Oxford American Dictionary describes it as “the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning”. (I reread that a few times myself.)

Like breathing, intuition is always flowing though us. However it’s not usually on our list of what to notice during our day. So it helps to realize some of its process and functions.

The awareness and experience of intuition is usually subtle. It requires a bit of inner quiet and stillness. I find it useful to create the conditions for this by having a few moments throughout my day when I slow down. So I schedule time for it. I’ll illustrate this in a moment.

My experience with accessing intuition is though a felt sense. It can be subtle and experienced as a body sensation or feeling about something. When I notice it, I find the feeling to be distinct as if it is speaking with me. 

So I sense or feel my intuition. I think my critical thinking. And there are ways I look to bring them together. First a bit more about my learning to experience intuition.

My early wilderness training demonstrates ways I learned to experience a number of things, including intuition. During a training series, I was paired with another participant in a thickly forested area. We took turns walking ahead and hiding in the brush. When it was my turn to follow, I would approach the area where he was hiding and have a felt sense where he was located. The first few times I looked directly in the area he was hiding but then indicated he was 90 or 180 degrees in another direction. When I eventually realized what I was doing, it helped me notice the felt sense upon realizing where he was, and then my early tendency to overthink it by rationalizing the other areas I thought he would more likely be.

Let’s reflect now on some of the ways you may be experiencing intuition without realizing it.

You may walk into a room where people are smiling but you sense a heaviness and your breathing feels restricted. Later you discover they had just been in an intense argument.

Or someone asks to do something routine and you agree, but reluctantly. You sense it’s not a good idea but don’t know why. Then later you find out why it was not a good idea.

Or similarly, someone suggests you both go to the ’Steakhouse Restaurant' for lunch. You agree while sensing you’d rather go to the ‘Fishhouse Restaurant’. Then during your steak lunch you wish you had gone to the other restaurant.

Let’s illustrate a few ways I create the conditions for slowing down for a bit of stillness and quiet. This positions me for sensing any current intuitions.

I’ve an active personal ~ work life. I’m thinking you can relate to this, yes? So I find it necessary to actually schedule times when I briefly step out of an activity.

To set the tone for the day, I begin with 30+ minutes of mindfulness, and end with 5 or 10 minutes or more at bedtime. Further, before every meal, as well as before every appointment, I practice 30 seconds of mindfulness. Doing this consistently makes a significant difference in maintaining clear critical thinking along with flowing intuitiveness. I find that 30 seconds is a doable process because starting with a few minutes can seem too big a step when I am busy. If I then ease into an intuition, I may flow with it for a few more minutes as time allows.

Regardless of schedule, I’ll go for 2 or 3 short or longer walks every day. I do this flowing mindfully with my walking and breathing, w/o agenda. I find my intuition often communicates with me simply and clearly. It’s actually easy and I’ve been doing this for years. But I need to schedule the space and opportunity for it or the pull of my activity may prevent the moments of quiet reflection that could be useful. 

There are other ways I’ll invite intuition to make itself known. When I’m working on the development of something, personal or work, I’ll create a few moments of quiet to engage my intuition.

For example, I'll mindfully ASK MYSELF questions addressed to the intelligence of the intuition ~ of myself, of others, and or of the situation. This creates an inner dialogue with intuition. 

These questions are creative ways of asking: how can this be true/or not true, or how could this help the situation/or hinder it?

I’ll make brief notes and over time evaluate the usefulness of my intuitive insights.

NOTE: I’ve discovered that when I have a strong desire for something, it then becomes necessary to more fully prepare myself mindfully, along with quietly and patiently focusing on the felt sense of the experience. Otherwise I may get stuck in the tunnel vision of focusing on what I think would help create what I am wanting. While the experience of intuition is subjective, it best experienced w/o preference or judgment. 

For me, the process of aligning my critical thinking and intuition is a simple process. I'll often make mental or written notes about each of the 2 perspectives. Where do they align or differ? What are the check points that call for further evaluation? At times I’ll step away from it to allow space for the information to percolate. When the flow and clarity seem slow, I may go for a walk while focusing on just enjoying the walk. This can enable insights to simply emerge. 

I’ve discovered that mindfully doing these processes instinctively aligns my critical thinking and intuition. It just happens during the alignment process mentioned above. It also just happens when I am focused in the moment doing something. 

Here’s a personal illustration. Recently I decided to receive 2 dental implants. I’ve been putting this off but it was time. The dentist, whom I trust, suggested doing them both during one visit. I agreed but with hesitation. I then experienced a lingering sense that it would be best to have some time for recovery between the appointments. So I called her and rescheduled the second implant for 1 week later. 

But the felt sense that I needed more time between the appointments continued to linger. This was then supported by the data points from my reactions to the first implant which did not begin to settle for several days. So I postponed the second implant for another 2 weeks. In effect this was a wise decision because my physical reactions did not settle until just a few days before the second implant. 

This is a natural process improved with practice. It is not a one-moment learning experience. While simple, it requires discipline and follow thorough.

Unleashing our intuition into our critical thinking enables our full awareness potential for expanding our perceptions, improving our understanding, and enlivening our creativity for responding to the rapid changes.

I hope this article offers inspiration and insights that you will utilize in ways to make a difference in your personal ~ work life.

Reflections for aligning your intuition and critical thinking.

1) Note 2 or 3 insights that spoke with you.

2) How can they make a difference as you progressively incorporate them into your day?

3) Do something now as a way of taking the first step, such as schedule it in your calendar.

If these insights speak with you, then be encouraged to reach out for a complimentary Talk Time with Otan. 

otan@otanpatrickford.com 1.973.229.7174 https://www.otanpatrickford.com

SUBSCRIBE to my new series of weekly articles on Substack. otanpatrickford.substack.com.

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