intuition
honoring the still small (sometimes big & loud) voice
Welcome to Following Spirit! I’m so glad you’re here. I’m Caroline Vogel, the author of this Substack and the book As Yourself: The Sacred Work of Embodying Grace and the children’s book God Spark and soon to release Meet My Friend Spirit. Following Spirit is a place to ponder, practice and participate in following Spirit- the great guide, comforter, and challenger that has been with creation and humanity throughout all of time. Welcome! 🕊️
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Intuition is one of those things that can be hard to grasp, and yet… you know it when you know it. Over the years, I have come to think of intuition as the still small voice within, the gentle nudges of the Spirit, and sometimes major whack me over the head of the Challenger Guide. I heard myself say to Andy once again this morning, “You know the only times I get in trouble in life are when I don’t listen to my intuition.”
So, why don’t we listen to this gift from the beyond? Why don’t we honor that it’s a message that is meant to be received, appreciated, and listened to/honored? Some get bogged down in a legitimate stress response, and their emotional brain overrides the intuition. The body’s survival response will always win out over everything else. So, if for whatever reason it doesn’t feel safe to follow or act on the intuition, we won’t. So, freezing, or fleeing, or fawning can disrupt the organic ability to go with the intuition, to follow it.
Some of us have been indoctrinated to value what other people need over what we need or intuit is right or best for ourselves. So, some of us struggle to follow intuition because we believe that we’re not worthy of following it or we’d be wrong to place what we need/ what our intuition says over what someone else wants/needs.
It’s taken me a long time and a lot of inner work and healing to come to the place where I can both hear the intuition, honor it, and FOLLOW IT. I now honor intuition as one of the greatest gifts life and the Spirit offer. I don’t take it lightly, and I offer thanks for it daily.
Spirit of the living God, thank you for the still small voice you whisper within me.
Offer me space and inner gentleness to be still and listen for you.
Give me confidence to trust what I hear.
Offer me clarity to know what you’re saying and how to carry it out in my life.
And, gift me courage to follow the wisdom you’re giving me.
Amen.