How great it is to have crystal-clear intuition. A regular practice of meditation helps strengthen your intuitive abilities (or does it?).
Does meditation increase intuition?
Research has shown that regular meditation practice can increase activity in the prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain that is associated with higher cognitive functions such as decision-making, problem-solving, and intuition.
Studies have also found that long-term meditators have a greater ability to make accurate intuitive decisions compared to non-meditators.
See: my article on the Science of Intuition
In this article, I cover practicing meditation to improve intuition and what’s considered the best meditation for intuition. This is key to opening the channels. I write about other techniques in my article on developing your intuition.
Traditional schooling is about advancing logical thinking. This has rewards, but logic only takes us so far. Even in the development of artificial intelligence, logic only goes so far. But, how do we develop our ‘just knowing’ from meditation?
This Is ‘Just Knowing’
You may have experienced it. It’s when you have awareness about Self or something without any explainable logical means of knowing such.
The meditation teacher and author, Giovanni Dienstmann, explains:
Meditation helps us to give the thinking mind a break and tune in to something more powerful. Giovanni Dienstmann, Practical Meditation
A quietened mind resonates at a frequency conducive to the flow of intuition and meditation is a way to still the mind to reach this resonating level.
How Meditation Improves Intuition
Many successful people practice meditation daily. Meditation has numerous benefits, e.g., for mental health, deep sleep, and pain relief. Increased intuition is one of them.
Meditation helps to calm and pause our analytical mind (to quieten that left-brain dominance, that voice in our head) and let the subconscious mind be. It helps calm and free the mind from the chaos of the day.
Meditation allows us to tune into our intuition, which is powerful in guiding us when making difficult decisions and in ‘just knowing’ what’s right or not in relationships, work, and life in general.
How Meditation Works To Strengthen This ‘Just Knowing’
Meditation allows you to enter a quiet space in your mind. Here, wisdom and insight can permeate as the filter (noise) has been switched off. Your body is relaxed.
The more time in practice quietening the ‘noise’, the more you will be in tune with seeking and receiving higher guidance or the #justknowing.
Meditation is an essential activity among your intuition-building exercises.
In meditation, you reach Alpha mind state. This is when your brain resonates at the alpha wavelength rather than in beta (where most of us operate).
While in this alpha state of mind, ask for direction on what you need to know. Expect to receive the answer, but it may not come immediately. When it does it will be one of those ah-ha moments.
It’s just that simple. Believe me, it works. Put your trust in intuitively knowing the answer and you will have the basis for success. The trick is to operate in alpha.
Best Meditation For Developing Intuition
This is one of the most frequently asked questions about meditation. The answer is that any form of meditation helps with intuition. However, the author of Practical Meditation and teacher, Giovanni Dienstmann, recommends Trāṭaka as a powerful meditation for intuition.
The Third Eye meditations are also said to take you to ‘superconsciousness’.
Trataka Meditation
What is Trataka meditation?
Trataka is Sanskrit for ‘to look’ or ‘to gaze’ and is a traditional yoga type. It involves staring at a single luminous object (It could be the moon or a flame in a fireplace).
Moon gazing qualifies for this.
It is a recommended best technique for developing intuition.
The technique involves gazing at a single point, such as a lit candle flame. But, any symbol, dot, or another small object, placed at eye level about two to three feet away will suffice.
This approach is similar to meditations centered on the Third Eye — the eye of insight or the ajna (brow)chakra, which coincidently aligns with the position of the pineal gland.
It plays a pivotal role in our well-being –– intuitive healing.
The Trataka Steps
A good way to start this meditation is to close your eyes and take three deep breaths to relax your body. Once relaxed open your eyes and rest your gaze on the flame.
Let the flame be your entire focus. You can close your eyes after a few minutes and keep your mind’s eye on the image of that flame that remains.
After a while, this will fade and you can open your eyes again and lazily gaze at the flame for a few minutes before closing them. You can continue this inward and outward gazing.
The final part is to cup your hands over your closed eyes, look down, and then gently open them to look at the void for a few minutes before concluding the session.
Third Eye Meditations
A yoga meditation tradition is to focus the attention on the Third Eye for benefits that include the awakening of intuition. The approach is seemingly powerful whether or not your views place the Third Eye as spiritual or symbolic in nature.
Giovanni, in Practical Meditation, lists four techniques for Third Eye meditations: feeling and gazing, visualization, mantra, and breathing.
Always start in a comfortable position. A supportive cushion helps when meditating.
| Meditation | Method | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Feeling & Gazing | Raise shut eyes to your 3rd eye Focus on that area | Several mins |
| Visualization | Imagine a tiny star in front of your 3rd eye | 5-10 min |
| Mantra | Imagine a small pulsation in the 3rd eye – mentally repeat “om” | as long as you can |
| Breathing | Breath in – focus on 3rd eye. Hold breath. Breathe out sense breath leaving 3rd eye. | Repeat several times |
Start With These Three Steps
In each of the Third Eye techniques, start with the following three steps:
- Once comfortably seated, close your eyes and take three deep breaths to relax
- Wet your finger (you can lick it) and place it firmly between the two eyebrows to sensitize that area
- Focus your mind on that spot and for a few minutes, just feel that area as if that’s all there is to you
Feeling And Gazing – Third Eye Meditation
In this technique, you keep your eyes shut and raise them as if you are looking at that Third Eye. Do this for several minutes or longer. This is the “most subtle but also the most challenging” says Giovanni.
Visualization – Third Eye Meditation
This technique involves visualizing a tiny star in front of your center brow area and meditation on that image in your mind’s eye.
Mantra – Third Eye Meditation
The mantra technique requires you to imagine feeling a small pulsating in that center brow area while mentally repeating the mantra “om” in sync with the pulsing.
Breathing – Third Eye Meditation
This is a breathing technique where you focus on the air moving in and out of your nostrils. As the air comes in, you feel your awareness going up to your Third Eye. You hold that breath for a moment and then as you breathe out, you sense your awareness traveling out from your Third Eye.
The above practical advice on meditation is taken from Giovanni Dienstmann’s Practical Guide to meditation.
Things To Know
Don’t get caught up in trying to be perfect when it comes to stilling the mind in meditation. Just acknowledge any intrusion of thought and return your focus to your breath or look R a distant object.
The above practical advice on meditation is taken from Giovanni Dienstmann’s Practical Guide to meditation.
Giovanni Dienstmann, author of Practical Guide to Meditation
Get More Practical Meditation Steps
Giovanni Dienstmann is a meditation teacher and author of Practical Mediation: A Simple Step-by-Step Guide, available at Amazon, where you can check out the book reviews — See details (affiliate link).
Final Thoughts
Meditation is a way to connect with your intuitive spirit or higher self, which is all-knowing because… according to both Yogic law and quantum physics we are part of a greater whole.
The best way to commit to meditation is to start with advice from a long-term practitioner.
Develop Your Connection And Grow In Wisdom
If you want to explore deeper meanings in life, with the support of a teacher, a community of other conscious individuals, and the right tools, I invite you to join The Limitless Life Program— See details (affiliate link).
In this article, I cover how practicing meditation can improve intuition and what’s considered the best meditation for intuition. This is key to opening the channels. I write about other techniques in my article on developing your intuition.
