Sixth Chakra – The Gateway to Your Intuition

When I moved to Valrico, Florida in 1998, I had to learn my way around from total scratch. Being from California I knew as much about Florida roadways as I did about the geography of the moon! At the time, I was doing dolphin research, writing my PhD dissertation, and just beginning to actively develop my intuition. Driving across the state after recording dolphin vocalizations at Marineland, I just wanted to get home quickly.

The route I knew overshot my town by several miles and I was sure there had to be a shorter way. With no map handy, I decided to follow my intuition. I decided to focus on how I felt in my body as I drove. As I neared an exit well before my town, I felt a pull to my right. I took the exit but had no idea where to go next – I was in a town I’d never even heard of! I reminded myself of my intention to trust my intuition. As I calmed down, I passed several streets and then felt another pull at another intersection.

The final outcome was that I drove myself straight to my doorstep. I was home, safe and sound… and pretty happy! This was an important milestone for me to have concrete evidence that I could follow and trust my intuitive guidance. I had come home to my house and I had also come home to my natural intuitive abilities.

Finding my way home that day, I was using my sixth chakra – the energy center at the third eye. Each chakra in our bodies (there are seven) energetically oversees functioning of that part of the body on all of the five levels of organization: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and energetic.

The seven chakras interwoven with our physical bodies govern our physical and financial wellbeing, relationships and creativity, personal power and boundaries, self-expression and effectiveness, intuition and mental abilities, and our connection to the divine.

The sixth chakra specifically governs intuition, intelligence, vision, insight, archetypes, symbols and reasoning ability. It also manages the physical functioning of our eyes, ears, brain and spinal cord.

Without knowing it, that afternoon in Florida I had taken the first step to increasing my intuitive abilities: following my hunches. According to Caroline Myss, medical intuitive, author, and chakra teacher par excellence, you can increase your intuitive ability by enhancing your sixth chakra energy center. Her recipe to do this is to take emotional risks, open your mind to possibilities, and follow your hunches.

Sonia Choquette, another gifted psychic and author of “True Balance,” advocates meditation, dream analysis, and creating “Silver Linings” – seeing the opportunities and blessing in everything that happens in your life.

In addition to following my freeway hunches, there are three main ways that I have increased my intuitive abilities and helped my students develop their own intuition.

The first is meditation. Meditation is like clearing your internal blackboard so you can see what your inner guide wants to write to you on it. (Read more about how meditation boosts intuition in my blog here.)

The second way is to track your intuitive insights. This allows you to be more consciously aware of them and test them in the real world. Did they pan out or not? By keeping a journal, you can amass evidence confirming your intuitive abilities.

The final way to develop intuition is by managing your energy field. There are simple energy tools (which I teach in my Opening to Intuition and Amplify Your Intuition classes) that help you clear your energy field and manage your energy to maximize your intuition. I shared the first energy tool, grounding cords, in a blog here. (And information about my intuitive development classes can be found here.)

Whether you take a class or develop your intuition on your own, I invite you to take the leap to connect more deeply with yourself and your soul. Take a risk, try something new and listen to your inner guidance. As my friend Evan says, “Trust your gut – it knows better than you!”