What’s your gut telling you?

Intuition is not magic and it’s not hocus pocus. It’s the lifetime of memories, experiences, and learnings that sit somewhere in all of us, just outside of our awareness. Gut feelings and heart whispers all come from tapping into this pool of hidden wisdom.

Scientists in Switzerland have found the physical basis of ‘gut feelings’. The innate fear response, or the feeling that something isn’t right, is heavily influenced by messages sent along the vagus nerve that travels bi-directionally from the stomach to the brain.

The vagus nerve is the longest of twelve pairs of nerves that leave the brain. It sends messages from the belly to the brain (and back the other way), touching the heart along the way.

Great, now we know why it happens but the hard part – and the part that can take a lot of courage – is acting on gut feelings or intuition and doing what feels right, regardless of the noise that tells us to do otherwise.

It’s important to take notice of when something feels right or wrong for you. Sometimes this means giving yourself permission to let go of needing to justify or explain the reason you feel the way you do.

Next time you’re struggling with a decision or feeling uneasy about something, be still and quiet and notice what your heart tells you. Notice if you have a feeling about what you should do.  Sometimes those feelings come from the part of you that knows what’s best. Taking notice of them can be really valuable.