Intuition and the Present Moment
- palmerrae
- Jun 22
- 5 min read
If there’s one thing I could make sure everyone understands when working with one’s intuition its that intuition resides in the present moment. While we may receive intuitive information about the past or the future, the moment of opening to receive information is in the now. When you embark on an intuitive journey, the most important thing you can do is to practice being in the present moment.
When you rest in the present moment, you relax your body and mind which naturally allows you to be more receptive. When you relax your body, the tensions you are holding are released, allowing you to feel what is really happening in your body. Sometimes we force ourselves to push through pain, hunger, thirst, sickness, or exhaustion just because we feel like we can’t or aren’t allowed to take a moment to care for our body. If we do, our world might collapse! The kids won’t get to school on time then they’ll get kicked out, our boss will yell at us if we don’t attend that meeting then I’ll get fired. This form of catastrophizing keeps us in panic and prevents us from listening to our body’s natural cues and rhythms. When you take a minute to check in with your body, you can help to make yourself comfortable. Once comfortable, your body can relax.
Relaxing the Body
If our body isn’t relaxed, it is very difficult for our mind to relax. Relaxing the body only takes a few moments, and can have long lasting positive effects if done regularly.
Here’s a simple exercise for relaxing the body:
Sit comfortably on a chair or on the floor. (Laying down may cause you to fall asleep so it is best to sit.)
Take three deep breaths however feels right for you.
Next, starting at the top of your head, on the exhale feel the muscles in your head and face relax. It's fine to breathe normally.
On the following exhale, relax your shoulders.
On the next exhale, relax your arms and hands.
Next, relax your chest and heart.
At this point, check back in with everywhere you’ve already relaxed & feel into if there’s any lingering tension.
Continue on, by relaxing your stomach and belly.
Next, relax your groin and bottom. Feel the chair beneath you and relax into it.
With the next exhale relax your legs and feet.
Again, check back in with the parts you just relaxed to make sure you have released any tension you can feel.
Lastly, feel your entire body relaxed. Feel your breath easily coming into your body and releasing any tension on the exhale.
From here, you can check in with your body. How are you feeling? Are you hungry or thirsty? Do you have to go to the bathroom? Sometimes when we relax our body, feelings are allowed to arise. Just notice anything without any judgment. Feel your body on the chair or floor, feel your body inside the room, feel your body in relation to everything around you. Feel your body in this present moment.
Relaxing the Mind
Relaxing the mind works differently, but is still similar. This is called meditation. However, this is not the type of meditation where we close our eyes and go somewhere else, or visualize anything. This type of meditation (shamatha) allows us to be fully present.
First relax your body, like above. Once your body is relaxed and calm, breathe normally.
Sit up straight with your feet on the floor. Rest your hands on your thighs.
Keep your eyes open and gaze down at the floor a few feet in front of you.
Feel the breath going into your lungs and leaving on the exhale. This feeling of the breath is going to be our home base for the mediation session.
Whenever you notice your mind wandering or fixating, return to home base by just feeling the breath.
Over the next few minutes, notice what comes up for you and just let it go by gently shifting your attention back to the breath.
If you are confused by what it means to “shift your attention”, try this. Think about what you had for breakfast this morning. Take a moment to think about what it looked like and how it tasted. Next look at something in the room and describe the colors, textures, patterns to yourself. Are you still thinking about breakfast or were you able to shift your attention to something in the room? Next let go of that thought and feel your breath in your lungs. It's that simple.
If you find yourself judging your experience - like thinking you are doing it wrong - just treat that like a random thought and shift your attention back to your breath.
Notice the thoughts that arise without following the thought. If it is important, the thought will return after your meditation. Gently let the thought go and relax into the breath.
Notice anything that is happening in your surroundings without engaging. Sounds from the other room, a notification on your phone, the sunlight shifting in the room… All of these things can be noticed, but don’t need to be changed or engaged with.
After a period of time, you may notice that your thoughts start to slow down. As your thoughts slow down, you can start to feel more space between the thoughts. This is how your mind relaxes.
Relaxing in the Present Moment
When your mind and body are relaxed, you naturally begin to engage with your world exactly how it is, rather than how we want it to be. When we let go of trying to control our bodies, mind, and environment, we can start to rest in the present moment.
As we rest in the spaciousness of the present moment, our intuition will naturally become clearer and more available to us. Moments of inspiration can also arise! I do recommend doing this practice for 10-30 minutes daily for long-term benefits - especially if you are working on honing your intuition. I also understand life is complicated, so do what is realistic for you.
I encourage you to play with this exercise. If you are a tarot/oracle reader or an intuitive, sit to connect with the present moment for 10 minutes before your next reading. See if the reading feels different for you. You can also try sitting for 10 minutes before an important meeting or conversation. See if you notice anything new or different with the other person or yourself. Play with this and see how you might be able to use this in your present life.
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