Intuition, the Sixth Sense
-- A tool for healing --
by Carol Ritberger, Ph.D.
I am often asked to explain what
intuition is. People are curious about what it feels like, and they want to know
how it expresses itself. They also want to know when they are using it. And,
most important, they want to know how they can develop the trust in it that is
necessary to follow its direction. I find that describing intuition is easier
than trying to put it into definitive terms, because it expresses itself
differently in each person.
We are so conditioned to using our five physical
senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell), that we expect intuition to be
something equally tangible. We expect it to be black and white, and it is not.
Intuition is the sensory process that reveals its information through the
pictures it paints in our minds and the quiet inner voice that we hear
throughout our body. The five physical senses are easy to understand and relate
to. Intuition, the "sixth sense," requires us to trust, not to know.
Are You An Intuitive?
Every single one of us is an
intuitive being. A person does not have to be psychic to be intuitive or to use
their intuition for the purpose of diagnostic analysis of the body. Intuition is
one of our natural instincts and is a critical part of our mental processing. In
fact, it is so integral that most of the time we take it for granted or are not
even aware that we are utilizing it. Intuitive mental processing is usually
associated with right-brain functioning. However, it is really whole-brain
thinking. We utilize our intuition as a means of providing a different way to
look at situations, as a means of getting a well-rounded perspective on what is
happening.
Intuition is a like a weather
gauge. It tells us what the current conditions are and alerts us when change is
in the air. It is the vehicle through which our spirit expresses itself to our
external world. It sees the situations and challenges that life throws our way
from a holistic point of view. It is the conceptual part of our thinking and is
what allows the mind to create ideas. Its spark kindles the flame and fuels the
fires that drive us to manifest our dreams. Its energy provides the inspiration
needed to encourage us to follow our visions. The use of intuition encourages us
to look at possibilities and explore the unknown.
Intuition can often provide the
answers to problems when the conscious mind cannot. It does not express itself
through the five senses or the left part of our brain, but rather through the
pictures, dreams, memories, feelings, and impressions that are stored in the
right brain. Intuitive information reveals itself to the conscious mind in the
form of emotions, which are then chemically communicated to the physical body
through reactions such as hunches, gut feelings, sudden bursts of insight, or
flashes of awareness out of the blue. For example, have you ever known someone
was going to call even before they do? Or got an idea and just knew that it was
a sure-fire winner? Or struggled with a problem only to find the solution in a
dream? That was intuition in action.
How to Develop Intuitive Skills
Another question that people ask
me is what can they do to develop or hone their intuitive skills. The first and
most obvious answer is to create an awareness around it. Pay attention to how it
expresses itself. Then practice integrating it into your daily life so that you
will become comfortable with it. The more you use it, the more you will trust
it, as well as the information it provides. Another important element in the
development of your intuitive skills is not to work hard at being intuitive.
Intuition is not something that can be accessed when your mind is active or
outwardly focused. It requires a relaxed mind and a relaxed body. Your focus
must be internal and introspective. The information it can provide must be
allowed to flow freely. It requires time and lack of expectations so it can look
at the situation or problem from all perspectives.
The integration of intuition
into your daily life heightens your sensory awareness. It empowers you, and it
expands your consciousness. It opens up a whole new way of looking at life and
prepares you to cope with change. It reduces the amount of anxiety and fear in
your life. They are two of our most powerful emotions and capable of creating
stress in the physical body and imbalance in the energy body. They are
precursors to the creation of illness.
Become Your Own Diagnostician
The energy system is very
effective in communicating its state of health. With a little practice, you can
perform your own diagnostic checkup. How? The fastest way is by learning to let
your hands read your energy field. The hands, and particularly the fingertips,
are very sensitive instruments that can scan the physical body to feel where
imbalances are occurring. If the energy system is strong and vital, then you
will feel an overall warmth over the areas being examined. However, if there is
congestion or energy depletion, then you will feel cold spots or there will be
areas where you can barely feel any heat at all. If there is chemical
overstimulation of an endocrine gland or an energetic protrusion, then the
affected area will feel very warm or hot.
Let me share an example to help
you understand how the energy system and the physical body affect each other.
Let's say you are in a conversation where you are trying to express your
thoughts on a particular topic. The problem is that the person you are talking
to cannot seem to understand what you are trying to say or cannot appreciate the
importance of the point you're trying to make. The more you try to get your
point across, the more frustrated you become. As your frustration increases, so
does your stress level. This emotional reaction causes the energy system to
sound the alarm and warn the body that the reaction is in fact having a negative
impact on the physical body.
Now, let's say your frustration
turns to anger. The more angry you become, the greater the severity of chemical
imbalance in your body. The physical result is that your throat tightens up. The
minute this happens, you begin to have difficulty swallowing -- perhaps you
cough or choke or your voice breaks. These physical reactions are the energy
system's way of trying to tell the body to shut down what is creating the
imbalance. If you were to scan the throat area at the time this was happening,
you would feel a large hot spot (protrusion) of energy in this area. Then, as
the emotional reaction subsided, the energy in this area would return to normal
and you would just feel a warmth around the throat.
I believe that each of us can
become an intuitive diagnostician to some extent. All that is required is that
we evolve our intuition to the point where it allows us to read the energy
system for the purpose of gathering information and perceiving any malfunctions
in the body. With some practice and patience, any person can hone their
intuitive skills in such a way that they can accurately read where energy
imbalances are occurring in the body. However, there is one important element
that you must adhere to if you are to become an accurate diagnostician, and that
is the ability to emotionally detach from the person you are reading -- not an
easy thing to do, especially if the person you are trying to read is yourself.
Yet, without the ability to emotionally detach, you contaminate the quality of
the information your intuition provides. You will distort the information so it
feels safe, or negate what it is telling you as not being valid.
The best way to start the
process of becoming your own diagnostician is to learn how to read your own
energy and body. Start by paying attention to how your intuition communicates
with you. Does it reveal itself through your instinctive feelings? Perhaps it is
a gut feeling or a sudden flash of insight, or maybe even those goose bumps you
get when you "just know that you know". Pay attention to the
impressions that your intuition sends you. Listen to how it tells you that
something is out of sync. When you get those feelings, ask your intuition where
in the body you are out of sync and what is causing it. If you pay attention, it
will even tell you what is needed in order to restore balance.
When you are
using your intuition to read your body, it is always important to trust your
first impressions. They will tell you precisely what is happening within the
body. Do not dismiss any impression even if it is disturbing. The impressions
you receive first provide a clear picture of what is really occurring, as they
have not yet been distorted by your emotions. If you get the message that
something is wrong, then act on that information. Your first impressions will
always serve you well, and nine times out of ten, they will be right.
You do not have to literally see
the human energy system as I do in order to be an energetic diagnostician. You
can develop a skill called symbolic sight. In fact, many gifted healers and
intuitive diagnosticians work from symbolic sight. Symbolic sight is where you
look for the symbolism of what is happening in your life and connect that
symbolism to what is happening within your physical body. For example, when a
person feels that life is beating them up, then their body responds by feeling
beat up and tired. When craving sweets, then maybe they are craving sweets in
other parts of their life such as self-esteem, financial abundance, love, and
relationships. Breathing problems symbolize the feeling of being stifled. Being
financially strapped shows up in the lower back. Inability to face life shows up
through mental illness. Never being good enough manifests as autoimmune diseases
and anemia.
Diagnostic Keys
Learn to listen to your
emotions. Spend time with them. Do not rush to hide them or make them go away.
Emotions provide direction. They are indicators that send very clear messages of
how you are feeling both energetically and physically. If you are feeling
positive and optimistic, then your energy level increases and your whole body
responds by feeling good. If you are feeling depressed, then your energy level
decreases; your body becomes tired and lethargic. Confusion causes a chemical
imbalance in the brain, and your thinking becomes cloudy. The feeling of being
out of control causes an energy loss throughout your entire body. Resentment
drains energy from your stomach area. The feeling of being taken advantage of
causes a loss of energy in your heart. Anger toward others drains the lower
extremities of energy. Your emotions can even tell you if you're holding on to
old emotional hurts and if you are using those hurts to manipulate others to get
what you want or to feel sorry for you.
Begin to pay attention to how
you interact with the people in your life: family, friends, and co-workers. Do
you surround yourself with people who energize you or drain you? How do you
react emotionally to these types of people? Do the people in your life support
you, or do they want you to be dependent on them? Do they enable you to stay
emotionally wounded, or do they encourage growth and change? Always listen to
your intuition when it comes to dealing with others. It will provide a clear
picture of what is really happening. Learn to read your behavioral patterns when
around others. If your behavior is submissive, then you will attract people who
will try to control you. If you send out the message that you are emotionally
vulnerable, then people will sense that and take advantage of you. Is your
behavior telling people you are a victim? If so, that might help explain why you
keep attracting individuals who are domineering and aggressive.
Body Scanning
Take a daily pulse check of your
energy body by doing a body scan. The body-scanning process allows your
intuition to participate in your energetic evaluation. It also hones your skill
to become sensitive to energetic imbalances. Through the scanning process, you
will receive impressions that can tell you where you are both energetically and
physically. I find that my morning meditation is the best time for me. Start at
your head or crown and work your way down all the way to your toes. Spend time
in each section of the body. Run your hands over each part to locate any energy
protrusion or depletion. The body is very effective in communicating where there
are any imbalances. It will usually convey these imbalances physically through
our aches and pains, and areas where we feel discomfort. If a blockage is
occurring, then there will usually be some kind of inflammation or heat buildup
in that particular part of your body.
The technique of body scanning
also fully utilizes your intuitive awareness by bringing attention to the
impressions it sends. When you get an impression that alerts you that there is
something out of balance, spend time with that impression. Determine where in
the body you are sensing it. For example, if you are scanning the body
intuitively and get an impression that your stomach is on fire, spend time
exploring why it is occurring in this area. Ask yourself some questions. Could
the imbalance be caused by something you ate? Have you been under a lot of
stress lately, and is this where you are carrying your stress issues? Have you
been suffering from frequent indigestion for a prolonged period of time? Is the
severity of the discomfort enough to cause your mind to become alarmed? If so,
then it is probably time to have it checked out by a physician or a holistic
practitioner, depending on your belief system. Remember, the body will tell you
what it needs; you just have to take the time to listen.
You can also keep an energy
journal. This will help track your energy cycles. Each of us has them. Some of
us are morning people, while others are night owls. Some people get their day
started energetically at three o'clock in the afternoon, while others are ready
for a nap. Know when you feel energized and when you are energetically low.
Begin paying attention to what or who drains your energy, and if at all
possible, stay away from those things or people when you are in a low cycle.
Avoid tasks that require large amounts of energy to be expended in your down
times. Stay away from having to deal with emotional issues when you are feeling
low. It is too draining, and the results will be less than desired. Also, never
deal with emotional issues before you go to sleep, or you will wake up the next
day energetically drained and physically tired. Try to deal with emotional
issues when you are in your high-energy cycle.
When you first start the process
of being your own diagnostician, it may take a bit of getting used to. If you
give yourself time, it will become second nature to you. You will find the
rewards to be many. There is one thing, though, that I must warn you about: once
you allow your intuition to become an active part of your life, you will change.
But change is what life is about anyway, isn't it?
This article was excerpted from:
 Your
Personality, Your Health: Connecting Personality With the Human Energy System, Chakras and Wellness
by Carol Ritberger, Ph.D.
Excerpted with permission from the publisher. Published by Hay House Inc., Carlsbad,
California, USA. www.hayhouse.com.
Info/Order this book.
More books by this author.
About The
Author
Carol
Ritberger, Ph.D., is a medical
intuitive, bioenergetic diagnostician, and nationally renowned lecturer
who holds a doctorate in theology. She helps people understand how
emotional, psychological, and spiritual energy can lie at the root cause
of illness, disease, and life crises. Carol can literally
"see" the human energy system to identify where there are
blockages that affect the wellness of the physical body. She may be
contacted by email at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
and through her website at www.ritberger.com.
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