Reclaiming Your Intuition – # 4: Inner Credibility

 

Inner credibility is the trust you place in your own perceptions, decisions, and wisdom. It’s the belief that your perspective matters and that you can rely on it, even in the face of doubt or disagreement from others. Without inner credibility, intuition often gets dismissed before it has a chance to be heard.

What Inner Credibility Looks Like

When you have inner credibility, you can take in outside opinions without feeling pressured to abandon your own knowing. You might consider feedback and even change your mind when it feels right, but you do so from a grounded place rather than from fear of being wrong.

For example, imagine you are buying a home and your intuition tells you that a certain property is the right one. A friend might point out its flaws or suggest another option. If you have inner credibility, you can weigh their input without immediately discarding your own sense of what feels aligned.

How We Lose It

Inner credibility can erode over time for many reasons. Growing up in environments where your voice was dismissed or your choices were constantly second-guessed can make it harder to believe yourself. Toxic workplaces or relationships where your perspective was minimized can have the same effect. The more often you override your inner knowing to please others, the less you trust yourself.

Over time, this can lead to chronic indecision, dependence on others for validation, and a disconnect from your intuition.

Rebuilding Inner Credibility

The good news is that inner credibility can be rebuilt with practice and intentionality. Here are a few ways to start:

1. Acknowledge past dismissals – Recognize where and when your voice was undermined. Awareness is the first step to reclaiming it.
2. Start with small decisions – Practice trusting yourself on low-stakes choices. This builds confidence over time.
3. Separate input from authority – Accept that other people’s opinions can be useful, but they are not the final word on your life.
4. Keep a self-trust journal – Record moments when you listened to yourself and it worked out. Revisit these entries when doubt creeps in.

The Link to Intuition

Without inner credibility, intuition gets drowned out by the louder voices of fear, habit, and external influence. Building credibility with yourself ensures that when your intuition speaks, you hear it and give it weight.

I once worked with a client who had spent years deferring to her partner on every major decision. When she began practicing small acts of self-trust—choosing how to spend her free time, voicing her preferences in conversations—she noticed her intuitive sense becoming stronger and easier to access.

Why It Matters

Inner credibility is the foundation of intuitive living. Without it, even the clearest inner signal can be ignored. With it, you can navigate uncertainty with confidence, knowing that your own voice has value.

**Journal Prompts:**

- Where in my life have I doubted my own perspective?
- How did I learn to question myself?
- What’s one small choice I can make today purely based on my own sense of what’s right?

Reclaiming Your Intuition – # 3: Unlearning Fear

 

Fear is a skilled impersonator of intuition. It knows how to mimic the urgency of a gut feeling, and it often convinces us to shrink back from opportunities or people who could actually be safe and supportive.

When you’ve been hurt, your body learns to associate certain sensations, expressions, or environments with danger. This is protective, but it’s also limiting. To reclaim your intuition, you have to unlearn some of that fear.

The Difference Between Caution and Constriction
Healthy caution comes from a grounded awareness of reality. Fear-based constriction is rooted in the past. The challenge is that both can feel intense. One closes you down to keep you safe in a real threat. The other keeps you closed long after the threat is gone.

Asking the Right Questions
Unlearning fear starts with curiosity:
- Is there actual evidence of danger here, or am I feeling this because of what happened before?
- If someone else described my situation, would I see danger or possibility?
- What does my body feel like when I am truly safe?

Tools for Separating Fear from Intuition
Grounding practices can help separate fear from intuition. Breathing deeply, placing your feet firmly on the floor, or scanning your environment for signs of safety can help your body recognize when it’s okay to stand down. Journaling can also reveal patterns, you might see that certain “warnings” always happen in similar, non-threatening contexts.

A Real Example
I once accepted a collaboration even though something felt “off” about it. Weeks later, I realized the “off” feeling was triggered by the person’s confident communication style, something I associated with a confidence in them but was lacking in me. My unexamined fear of not being able to make it on my own made me jump at the chance.  Later I would learn that they had a “fake it ‘til you make it” philosophy, hoping to ride my hard work and credibility, so I respectfully stepped away. I learned to see myself in a better light and they learned to do their own work.

Why This Matters
The goal isn’t to eliminate fear, fear is natural and sometimes helpful. The goal is to stop letting fear be the only voice you listen to. When fear quiets, intuition has space to speak.

Reclaiming your intuition means allowing both safety and possibility to coexist. It’s not about forcing yourself into unsafe situations. It’s about knowing when your inner “no” comes from wisdom, and when it comes from a wound.

**Journal Prompts:**
- What fears show up most often when I try to trust myself?
- What helps me tell the difference between fear and intuition?
- How can I soothe my body so I can hear my intuition more clearly?

Reclaiming Your Intuition – # 2: What Intuition Feels Like

 

Intuition is a quiet, steady voice that often gets drowned out by the noise of daily life. Many people confuse it with gut reactions, fear, or wishful thinking, but intuition has its own distinct feel. The more familiar you become with it, the easier it is to recognize and trust.

The Subtle Nature of Intuition

Intuition rarely shouts. It arrives as a whisper, a gentle nudge, or a clear knowing that doesn’t seem to come from logical reasoning. You might feel it as a sudden clarity about a decision or as a quiet but persistent pull toward or away from something. Unlike fear, which often feels urgent and overwhelming, intuition is calm and steady, even when it is warning you about something important.

For example, you might meet someone new and feel an immediate sense of ease, as if you have known them for years. There may be no obvious reason for this, yet your body and mind register it as safe. Alternatively, you might walk into a situation that looks fine on the surface but feel a subtle discomfort, like your energy is pulling back. These sensations are worth paying attention to.

How It Shows Up in the Body

Your body often registers intuitive messages before your conscious mind does. This can look like a relaxed openness when something is right, or a tightening in your chest and shoulders when something is off. Some people feel intuition in their stomach, experiencing either a light, expansive feeling or a heavy, sinking sensation. Over time, noticing these patterns can help you tell intuition apart from emotional reactions.

One key distinction: fear often creates tension and a scattered feeling, while intuition brings clarity, even when it is guiding you toward something that scares you.

Differentiating Intuition from Wishful Thinking

Wishful thinking is fueled by desire, it’s the voice that wants things to turn out a certain way and looks for evidence to support that hope. Intuition is different. It offers information without attachment to the outcome. You might want something to be right, but if your intuition says otherwise, you will feel that subtle but persistent dissonance.

For instance, you might want a new job opportunity to be perfect. Your friends might encourage it, and the salary might be ideal, but each time you think about accepting, there’s a faint but consistent heaviness in your chest. That’s intuition speaking, even if your mind doesn’t like what it hears.

Building Sensitivity to Your Intuition

Recognizing your intuition takes practice. Here are a few steps you can try:

1. Create quiet moments – Spend time without distractions to notice subtle impressions.
2. Check your body’s response – Before making a choice, pause and see what your body feels like when you imagine each option.
3. Record your impressions – Keep a journal of intuitive hits and their outcomes. Over time, you will see patterns that confirm your inner knowing.
4. Test on low-stakes decisions – Practice with simple choices, like what route to take home, and see how it feels when you follow that inner pull.

The more you practice, the more your intuition becomes a trusted companion rather than a fleeting impression.

Why This Matters

Learning what intuition feels like gives you a powerful tool for navigating life. It allows you to make decisions that align with your deeper truth, rather than reacting out of fear or outside pressure. Over time, this leads to choices that feel right not just in the moment, but in the long run.

**Journal Prompts**:

- How do I typically feel when I know something is right?
- Where in my body do I tend to feel warning signs?
- What’s one small way I can practice listening to my intuition this week?

Reclaiming Your Intuition – # 1: Your Gut Feeling Might Be Your Trauma Talking

 

Let’s be honest: not every “gut feeling” is divine intuition. Sometimes it’s your trauma wearing a spiritual mask, speaking in a voice that sounds like truth but is really fear dressed up as guidance. And to be frank, every time I see a meme on social media proclaiming “If it doesn’t feel right, it’s not. That’s your intuition.” No, very often, it’s not. So I am sharing this series on the difference between intuition or “gut feeling” and knee-jerk reaction that comes from several sources: fear, trauma, and unfamiliarity. In some cases, it heralds a need to heal, and in others, to learn. To broaden one’s horizons and use common sense.

That can be a difficult thing to admit, especially if you’ve been told to “always trust your gut.” But if you’ve lived through betrayal, chaos, abuse, or even subtle emotional neglect, your body becomes a finely tuned danger detector. You learn to read micro-expressions, feel tension in the air, and sense shifts in tone or energy before anyone else notices. It’s an incredible survival skill , but survival skills and pure intuition are not always the same thing.

When It’s Not Intuition , It’s Memory
What feels like a warning might actually be a flashback. Your body remembers what hurt before and braces to protect you, even if the present moment is perfectly safe. That sensation can be sharp and immediate: a sudden drop in your stomach, a tightening in your chest, or an overwhelming urge to leave.

The tricky part? Intuition can create those sensations too. The difference is in the quality of the signal. True intuition feels steady, clear, and quietly confident. Trauma feels urgent, loud, and demanding. Intuition gives you time to breathe; trauma insists you act now.

The Pause That Saves You
One of the most powerful tools for sorting this out is the pause. When a gut feeling hits, don’t move right away. Take a few deep breaths. Feel your feet on the floor. Ask yourself:
- Is this my knowing, or is this my past?
- Am I responding to what’s here, or to a pattern I’ve seen before?
- Does this feel like clarity, or does it feel like panic?

The pause doesn’t mean you’re ignoring your instincts , it means you’re giving your nervous system time to settle so you can hear the truth underneath the static.

A Real-Life Example
I once met someone who immediately made me feel uneasy. The old me would have labeled that intuition and cut them off. But when I checked in, I realized they reminded me , in voice, posture, and even hairstyle , of someone from my past who had deeply hurt me. It wasn’t them that was unsafe; it was my memory talking.

By noticing that, I could choose consciously: stay open but cautious, rather than shutting the door completely. The relationship turned out to be positive , and I gained trust in my ability to discern.

Rebuilding Trust With Yourself
If you’ve been in survival mode for years, it’s normal to doubt your intuition. You might even feel like it’s broken. It’s not. It’s just buried under the noise of your body’s defense system.

By practicing the pause, by separating fear from fact, you slowly clear the channel. You learn that you can protect yourself and stay open to connection.

Why This Matters
If you confuse trauma with intuition, you risk closing yourself off from safe opportunities, meaningful relationships, and growth. But when you learn to tell the difference, you make choices based on reality, not reflex.

That’s how you reclaim your inner authority. That’s how you step into the kind of self-trust that changes everything.

**Journal Prompts:**  Find a quiet moment, sit with these questions and journal your thoughts. Start with your initial reaction. Don’t overthink it. Just write it down. Give it a day, come back and read what you wrote. This will give you insights into your patterns and help you identify where to work toward healing.

- When have I mistaken fear for intuition?
- What does real inner knowing feel like in my body?
- What situations trigger a “false alarm” in my system?

Spiritual Discernment # 7- Spiritual Discernment Is Self-Trust in Action

 

Spiritual discernment isn’t just a concept, it’s a practice. A muscle. A daily commitment to honoring what feels true, even when it’s hard.

It’s not about having perfect clarity all the time. It’s about learning to trust yourself more than the noise around you. It’s the quiet art of checking in, listening deeply, and saying: “I choose what feels aligned.”

In a world full of spiritual noise, slick branding, and endless teachings, discernment is your anchor. And at its core, discernment is just this: Self-trust in action.

Why Discernment Matters

There’s a lot of noise in the spiritual world. Teachers. Healers. Coaches. Podcasts. Books. Apps. Everyone claiming to have the answer. And some of those answers might genuinely serve you. Others won’t.

Without discernment, it’s easy to get swept away by someone else’s voice and lose touch with your own.

Discernment protects your energy. It helps you choose truth over trend. It reminds you that you don’t have to follow what’s popular to be on the right path.

You are the expert on your own soul.

What Self-Trust Actually Looks Like

It’s not about always knowing what to do. It’s about trusting yourself to figure it out.

Self-trust sounds like:
- “I don’t need to rush this decision. I’ll know when it’s time.”
- “This doesn’t make logical sense yet, but it feels right.”
- “I don’t have to justify this choice to anyone.”
- “My intuition is valid, even if others don’t understand.”

It means allowing your “yes” and your “no” to come from within—not from fear, pressure, or external approval.

How to Cultivate Discernment

Discernment sharpens with practice. You build it by paying attention to how your body responds to people, spaces, and teachings.

Ask yourself:
- Does this feel expansive or contracted?
- Do I feel calm and clear—or anxious and confused?
- Do I feel seen—or subtly shamed?

These questions aren’t superficial. They’re spiritual.

The more you practice, the more your body becomes your compass. Your nervous system becomes your guide. Your emotions become your data.

You Don’t Need to Outsource Your Knowing

You can still learn from others. You can still seek guidance. But you don’t need to hand over your power to anyone.

Spiritual discernment means you can take what resonates and leave the rest.

It means you can:
- Respect a teacher without idolizing them.
- Join a group without losing your individuality.
- Receive feedback without abandoning your instincts.

That’s not rebellion. That’s maturity.

Self-Trust Is the Foundation of All Spiritual Work

Every time you listen to your inner voice, it gets stronger. Every time you honor your gut feeling, your discernment sharpens.

You start making decisions not out of fear, but from alignment. You stop chasing approval and start choosing peace.

This is the quiet magic of self-trust:
- You stop asking everyone else what to do.
- You stop second-guessing every choice.
- You start creating a spiritual life that’s rooted in truth—not trends.

Journal Prompts to Ground Your Practice

- What’s one recent decision I made that honored my knowing?
- Where am I still outsourcing my clarity?
- What does alignment feel like in my body?
- How can I make space to hear my intuition more clearly?

In Closing

There’s no formula for perfect discernment. No checklist that guarantees you’ll always get it right.

But you don’t need perfection. You need practice. You need presence. You need to come back to your own center again and again.

Spiritual discernment is the quiet, courageous act of saying: “I trust myself.”

And every time you do, your path becomes a little clearer. Your voice gets a little louder. Your choices feel a little freer.

So let that be your guide—not what’s trending, not what’s popular, not what’s polished.

You already know what’s true for you. Keep listening.

Spiritual Discernment # 6 - You’re Allowed to Say 'No Thanks'

 

To keep it simple: You are allowed to say “No.” You don’t need a dramatic reason. You don’t owe anyone an explanation. You don’t have to stay somewhere that no longer feels right, even if you already invested time, energy, or money.

That’s not flakiness. That’s sovereignty.

In spiritual spaces, we’re often taught to stick things out. To “trust the process,” to “work through the resistance,” or to “complete the container.” But what if your gut is telling you to get out? What if the energy feels off, and your body is screaming for you to leave?

That’s not resistance. That’s wisdom.

When “No” Is the Most Spiritual Answer

You can leave the retreat early.
You can unfollow the teacher.
You can ask for a refund.
You can walk out of the circle.

Even if others are having breakthroughs.
Even if you “should” feel grateful.
Even if someone says you’re being difficult.

Because here’s the truth: if something doesn’t feel aligned, it’s not aligned. Period. No approach exists that is one-size-fits-all.

You don’t have to override your body to be spiritual. You don’t have to abandon your own needs to be a good student, client, or participant.

Why Saying No Can Feel Hard

Let’s name the things that make it hard to walk away:
- **Guilt** – You don’t want to seem ungrateful or selfish.
- **Sunk cost** – You’ve already invested so much.
- **Fear of judgment** – What will they say if you leave?
- **Hope** – Maybe it will get better if you just wait it out.

These are real feelings. And they deserve compassion. But they don’t have to make your decisions for you.

You don’t have to earn your exit. You just have to trust your inner “no.”

You Don’t Owe Your Loyalty

One of the most liberating truths in spiritual discernment is this: You don’t owe anyone your loyalty, especially not at the cost of your wellbeing.

Not the guru.
Not the group.
Not the healing program.
Not the community that helped you once but now makes you shrink.

Staying in spaces that no longer feel safe or expansive doesn’t serve your growth. It stunts it.

Discernment gives you permission to leave before things get toxic. To exit when you’re uncomfortable, not just when you’re traumatized.

Permission to Exit Without Apology

You don’t need to burn bridges.
You don’t need to write a manifesto.
You don’t need to justify your choices.

You are allowed to leave quietly. Or loudly. Or somewhere in between. The point is: Your No is sacred. And no one gets to vote on your boundaries.

Here’s what empowered exit might look like:
- “Thank you for the experience. I’m choosing to step away.”
- “This isn’t feeling right for me anymore.”
- “I’m honoring my needs and making space for something else.”

That’s not rejection. That’s self-respect.

Journal Prompts for Reflection

- Where have I stayed too long out of guilt or obligation?
- What do I fear will happen if I walk away?
- When have I ignored my “no” in order to be accepted?
- What would trusting myself look like in this situation?

Final Thoughts

Saying no isn’t a failure. It’s not a betrayal. It’s not a sign that you’re ungrateful or broken.

It’s a declaration: “I trust myself more than I trust someone else’s idea of what’s best for me.” That is progress.

That’s what discernment is. Not perfection. Not rigid rules. But the quiet courage to say, “This isn’t for me” and walk away.

You are not here to be agreeable. You’re here to be aligned.

So if it doesn’t feel right? Say no thanks.

And keep walking.

Spiritual Discernment # 5 - Integrity Is the Real Vibe

 

Let’s be honest, we’ve made a religion out of aesthetics. In the world of online spirituality, the person with the most followers, the prettiest quotes, and the calmest voice often gets treated like a guru. But here’s the truth most people won’t say out loud:

**Aesthetic doesn’t equal authenticity. And charisma doesn’t equal character.**

If you want to know who’s truly walking a spiritual path, don’t look at how aligned their branding is. Look at how aligned their behavior is. Look at how they treat people. Look at what they do when no one’s watching.

That’s where you find integrity. And that’s the vibe that actually matters.

What Integrity Looks Like

Integrity means someone is the same behind the scenes as they are in front of a crowd. They:
- Admit mistakes without deflecting.
- Respect boundaries consistently.
- Prioritize truth over image, even when it costs them likes or approval.

They don’t just say they’re about healing. They actually embody it.

You’ll know someone has integrity because you feel safe around them—not just impressed.

Integrity Is Quiet. It’s Powerful

We live in a world obsessed with performance. But integrity isn’t about being impressive. It’s about being trustworthy. It’s about consistency over charisma.

Real integrity doesn’t shout. It doesn’t need to sell you on anything. It simply shows up, again and again, as the same grounded presence.

You’ll see it in how someone:
- Handles conflict.
- Responds to feedback.
- Treats people who can’t give them anything in return.

This isn’t glamorous. But it’s solid. And that’s the kind of energy that allows you to relax and be yourself.

Red Flags to Watch For

If someone’s public persona is all love and light, but they shame people behind the scenes—there’s a gap.

If someone talks about trauma healing but tramples your boundaries when you speak up—there’s a gap.

If someone markets themselves as a leader but can’t take responsibility for their actions—there’s a gap.

These gaps between words and actions are where manipulation, harm, and spiritual confusion thrive. Discernment is about noticing those gaps and honoring what you see.

Charisma Isn’t the Same as Credibility

Just because someone is captivating doesn’t mean they’re living in integrity.

We’ve been trained to trust people who speak well, dress the part, and command a room. But plenty of dangerous people have mastered those skills.

Charisma can be a mask. It can draw you in and keep you from noticing the warning signs.

So if someone feels magnetic, great, but dig deeper. Do their values line up with their actions? Do they treat people with respect even when it’s inconvenient? Do they take accountability?

If not, walk away.

Choose Accountability Over Aesthetics

Your spiritual well-being is more important than being part of the “in” crowd. It’s more important than staying connected to someone who looks the part but lacks the heart.

Let your discernment guide you toward:
- Consistency over coolness.
- Accountability over applause.
- Depth over display.

Integrity isn’t always exciting—but it’s healing. It’s what creates safety. And in spiritual spaces, safety should be non-negotiable.

Journal Prompts to Deepen Your Clarity

- Who in my life models integrity and how do I feel around them?
- When have I prioritized image over truth?
- What does energetic safety feel like in my body?
- Where have I ignored red flags because someone seemed “aligned”?

Final Thoughts

You can’t fake integrity.

You can copy someone’s aesthetic. You can memorize spiritual language. You can curate a perfect online persona. But if your actions don’t match your words, it will show. Eventually.

Discernment is what helps you spot the real from the performative. It reminds you that you’re not looking for perfection, you’re looking for congruence.

So the next time you’re drawn to someone’s vibe, pause. Ask yourself:
- Do they live what they teach?
- Do I feel safe in their presence?
- Does their energy match their message?

If the answer is yes, you’ve found something real. If not, trust yourself enough to walk away.

Because in the end, **Integrity is the only vibe that actually matters.**