Why and How to Help Your Kids Strengthen Their Intuition

Have you ever felt angry at yourself for not listening to your intuition? Maybe it was a gut feeling you had about a person but talked yourself out of. Or maybe it was the shortcut that you had a bad feeling about but took anyway.

There are also those things we’ve done on a hunch that ended up leading to amazing synchronicities and opportunities. The more we learn to tune into our intuition and trust it, the more of those magical experiences we have. 

Learning how to follow our intuition also helps us manage cognitive overload. When we learn how to trust our gut, we are able to break free from the over-analysis paralysis that we find ourselves in. We research everything, but still feel confused about what to do. That confusion can create a cascade of stress, anxiety, overwhelm, and even depression. Using our intuition to filter through all of that information helps us not feel so overwhelmed and go with what feels right for us. 

Being able to trust our intuition helps us make decisions faster. When we trust our gut, we can act quickly and decisively. Indecision not only causes delay, it might also cause us to lose out on opportunities. When we trust our intuition we're able to move more swiftly and decisively towards our goals.  

Developing intuition will help us in our careers, relationships, parenting, health, and finances. I really can’t think of any aspect of life that intuition can’t help improve. Knowing how to trust your intuition is such an important life skill that it's something I’ve tried to help my kids develop. 

Here are some of the ways that I’ve come up with to help my kids learn to listen to their intuition: 

1. 1. Encourage your children to share their dreams with you in the morning. As soon as possible after waking up, ask them what they dreamed about, listen carefully, and write or type it. After they tell you about their dream, tell them what you dreamed about (if you remember and it's age appropriate). Recalling our dreams helps us tune into the dream state which is the same state from which our intuition often arises. 

   2. After you go somewhere new or meet someone new, share impressions about the place or person. How did the place or person make them feel?  What did they notice? Share what you noticed. This teaches you and your child to tune into subtle impressions and share them. 

   3. Before you go somewhere new, ask them what they think it will be like. Ask them what they might experience, how things might look, sound, or smell. Share your thoughts. Later compare how close your predictions were. The more we practice this, the more accurate we get.

   4. Read and listen to audio books instead of TV and video games. Reading and listening makes us use our visualization skills which are linked to intuition and clairvoyance.

   5. Encourage imaginative play, drawing, painting, sculpting, making music, etc. Any and all creative expression enhances our ability to connect with the unseen and our spirit. These activities also help enter a “flow state” in which we are creative and relaxed. It is in this relaxed yet energized state that we often get intuitive insights.

   6. Listen and validate your child’s opinions and feelings. You don't have to agree with them, but letting them know that their feelings and opinions matter to you and you want to hear about them, helps kids feel comfortable getting in touch with and expressing their feelings. Sharing your feelings and opinions helps you get in touch with your internal world, and modeling this for your kid helps them see this as a safe and normal thing to do

   7. Spend time together “doing nothing.” You might try looking out the window, watching clouds, watching animals, sitting by a stream or a beach. Just sitting together in silence helps calm the nervous system and gets us away from mental chatter that drowns out our intuition.

   8. Notice your senses: sights, smells, impressions, feelings, tactile sensations. If you are sitting somewhere together, maybe waiting in a doctor's office or airport,  ask them to describe every detail they are aware of through all their senses. Keep asking, “What else do you notice?” This is the opposite of focusing. Notice everything instead. 

   9. Get “magic eye” posters and books. These help us learn how to relax our gaze and enhance our ability to see beyond what is obvious.

   10. Observe people and animals in a public place or out the window as you’re driving. Share inferences about what they might be feeling, thinking, doing, hoping, wishing, wanting. These inferences don’t have to be based in reality. It can be silly like, “I think she’s waiting for a space ship,” for example. This game gets everybody noticing and tuning into subtleties, facial expressions, body language, etc.

   Doing these activities regularly will help you strengthen your kids and as well as your own intuition. Taking the time to do these activities together demonstrates to your kids the importance of tuning into the intuitive part of their mind every day. Doing these activities will also cue you to listen to connect with your senses and intuition more often. 

   These activities not only help kids build their intuition, but they are also fun ways to spend time with your kids. Having your kids’ talk about their impressions will also help their language development. More importantly, these activities will show your children that you care about their impressions and their perspective which is the foundation for a strong relationship with your children. 

   Do you have any other ideas to help strengthen intuition? 

   What has helped you tune in and trust your intuition more often?