Most people want to listen to their inner voice, so why don’t they?  

As a spiritual teacher and medical intuitive, Caroline Myss says that your spirit is the part of you that seeks meaning and purpose. Each day, we have a choice as to whether we enhance that spirit or drain it — a choice that presents itself in the form of our intuition.

Ignoring our intuition leads us away from our life’s purpose and can cause damage to our psyche – in fact, it’s the reason so many people suffer. Intuition is the voice people hear when they betray themselves.

“We have an intuitive voice in us. We are born intuitive,” Myss says. “We are so intuitive that it’s actually for most people the source of their greatest suffering.”

This betrayal happens when you ignore your intuition which often causes a nagging voice in your head to question your choice — whether you’ve said something you shouldn’t or whether you’re sticking around a dead-end relationship. “This is the voice of your conscience. It’s the voice of your consciousness, your gut instinct,” Myss explains. “It’s the voice you don’t want to hear, that never turns off.”

We turn suffering into wisdom and joy when we follow our intuition; following that inner voice, listening to your intuition, allows you to evolve and push further toward your life’s purpose.

“[Intuition is] the part that keeps us moving and turning the wheel of our life,” Myss says. “It will guide you.”

Here are 6 ways that interfere with your inner guidance, intuition or Soul’s voice..  If you understand these blocks, you can move past them, and have an authentic relationship with your Spirit again.

1.Not trusting yourself.

This is the main one, the root cause of all the other ‘blocks’ below.

For so long we’ve been taught to listen to anyone else but ourselves.  Right from birth, most of us are domesticated to ‘please’ others, to seek their approval.  We seek the approval of our parents, our teachers, our community, our governments – nothing matters more than ‘being good’ or ‘being obedient’.  Perhaps we rebel for a short time, but we ultimately bow to the voice of authority, whether its medical, governmental, financial or otherwise….

For so long we have ignored our inner voice, that it often takes a major crisis or ‘limit situation’ – e.g. a personal health challenge in the form of an accident or illness, a relationship breakdown, or a heavy personal loss of some kind – to shake the very foundations of who we think we are.

There is a crack in the ‘egg’ of perception.  Light enters – the light of our Spirit.

But we don’t have to wait for a crisis. We can start to listen again today, if we choose.

Listen to the small voice in everyday situations – what to eat/not eat, when to sleep, when to ‘switch off’ and have downtime, when to say ‘no’ and when to say ‘yes’…

Your friends go out and get hammered with alcohol to ‘have fun’ but you say ‘no’… it makes you unpopular but you win because you feel good about taking care of your physical and mental health.

Slowly but consistently, you can start to listen and act on the inner wisdom that is stored within you.  It may not be easy at first but it gets easier with time…

2. You let fear guide your decisions, instead of love (because you don’t trust yourself).

Fear is often something as basic as ‘what will other people say?’  So often we don’t act on our inner voice because of our unconscious need to ‘fit in’.

For example, you want to be an painter, dancer or musician, but your parents want you to get a ‘serious job’.  They want you to be an accountant or doctor because it’s ‘safer’, it ‘pays the bills’ and it makes mummy and daddy happy.

Remember, intuition is insistent but the tone of voice is always playful: ‘wouldn’t it be nice if…?’

It never says ‘you must do this’ or ‘you should do that’.  If that is the voice talking to you, it’s your Inner Judge/Critic, the voice of your ego, which is aligned with fear.

3. Self Doubt

Again, because you don’t trust yourself, you doubt your self.

Notice whenever someone offers you something which you know only benefits them. It’s not a win-win.  Your intuition will know, but will you say something?

For example, a close, long-time friend insists you go to the movies with them.  They say it’s to cheer you up, but you know that you need downtime and your friend does too.  It would be better for you to relax at home.  Do you say ‘no’ or do you go to the movies to please them?

Another example could be your doctor saying you need to take a particular drug, but you know you the diagnosis is really off this time.  Do you meekly take the prescription, pay for the drug (fuelling the big pharma machine), and ignore your gut?

Remember, the moment you stand up for yourself, you change your “power” in relationship to others.

4. Ignoring the Nocturnal Panic.

You are in bed.  You’re  sleeping but you suddenly open your eyes and have what feels like an anxiety attack. You feel off, and you may even hear a strong “no!” in the back of your mind!

The next day you are signing a mortgage contract or getting married. You were so excited all the time but for all the wrong reasons! You didn’t attention to the small signs whispering to you that this step isn’t in your best interests.

What happens if you agree to take the voice seriously?  What then…?

5. Constantly seeking approval from others.

“You cannot open up to your intuitive state, if you need to run to others for permission to hear it. It may be that you do not want to hear and live with consequences of listening to your intuition. You only want to hear the goodies that will cover your back side. The irony is you need to have the courage first to find out that you can survive the Unknown. You cannot have the unknown filled by anyone but yourself.” Caroline Myss

Searching for approval outside of yourself is a recipe for disaster.  So many people have their opinions – and their opinions are based on their inner guidance.

The best anyone can do is lead you back to your own truth – but be careful as to the counsel you keep.

What is motivating others to say what they say to you? 

6. Physical obstacles

Going to be too late, getting a lack of sleep, drinking alcohol, smoking toxic cigarettes, eating junk food, and taking pharma drugs are just a few of the physical obstacles that will derail your intuition.  

Learning to follow your intuition means taking care of your body.  The body houses the spirit.

If your ‘energy system’ is clogged up with physical and mental toxins, you will struggle to hear your intuition.  Typically, it will be some other voice, some other part of your psyche.  There are ‘many mansions in my father’s house,’ Jesus said.

You must take are of your body, and heal your emotional reactions if you are to hear the small, still voice of the Spirit within.

How to ‘Get Back on Track’

Doing one or more of the following on a regular basis will help you get back on track…

Meditating, doing yoga, taking a reiki class, spending quality time in nature, pursuing creative activities that tap into your ‘right brain’ like painting, sculpting, or playing a musical instrument, swimming in the sea, diving or snorkelling, doing certain martial arts like Tai Ch’i and Qi Gong.