Raele Altano argues that over-rationalization, especially from past abuse or gaslighting, mutes intuition. She offers two practices: pause for 30 seconds when discomfort arises, then say "I don't need to act on this now, but I see it for what it is" to acknowledge what you sense without forcing action.
You don't have an intuition problem, you have an over-rationalization problem. Every time you feel something in your gut, in your soul, you talk yourself out of it, and that is what is muting your intuition and that inner sixth sense that we all have. You have the thing, you're just not letting yourself feel it. When someone is lying to you, you feel it. When someone is hiding something, you feel it. When someone is saying something they don't mean, you feel it. When someone's masking an insult as a joke, you feel it. But you're not letting yourself internalize it or sit with the potential discomfort that might come with those feelings. So you sweep it under the rug, you over-rationalize the hell out of it, you give the other person the benefit of the doubt repeatedly, you gaslight yourself, and before you know it, your whole intuition is skewed and you're numb. I get it, especially if you have a history of being emotionally abused or have been raised by narcissists, manipulators, gaslighters. You end up doing all of that to yourself. But don't let anyone tell you you don't have intuition or discernment, because you do. You just have to let it rise to the surface. And how do we do that? When we feel that little discomfort of a lie, of being unsafe, of an insult masked as a joke, we have to let ourselves sit with it. Sit with that feeling, let it simmer, slow your mind down. Don't rush to think about all the other possibilities and how you're seeing something wrong, or you're not giving enough benefit of the doubt, or it's not how it seems. Just sit with your feelings for 30 seconds or so and let yourself feel. And then from there, tell yourself this one statement: I don't need to act on this now, but I see it for what it is. This takes the pressure off of having to react, which can already be hard for someone in this situation. Now, of course, if you're in some sort of physical danger and you do need to act now, by all means, act immediately. But for the times when you are safe technically and you don't have to have an immediate reaction, take the pressure off of yourself and say, I don't need to act on this now, but I see it for what it is. And just work on being in touch with yourself and feeling your emotions, positive or negative. But that is how intuition and discernment gets stronger, and it is your greatest gift.
