What is the Gut Instinct?

Your gut instinct is the physical reaction you have to the world around and inside of you.

When you experience an overwhelming “gut feeling,” your body is carrying out a primal response to subconscious information. The ultimate purpose of your gut instinct is to protect you. As your gut instinct is the most ancient and primal “sixth sense” you have, it is the one you can rely upon the most.

One example of your gut instinct in action would be deciding to spontaneously avoid walking down a road at night because something “feels off.” That feeling is your gut instinct warning you that danger is afoot. You may then glimpse an intimidating gang of men down the street as you hurry by – your gut instinct has just saved you from potentially being robbed, beaten up, raped, or worse.

What’s the Difference Between Gut Instinct and Intuition?

Gut instinct and intuition are often used synonymously. And, yes, they are interconnected. But they aren’t quite the same. 

So what’s the difference?

Put simply, gut instinct is your primal wisdom. Intuition is your spiritual wisdom. We need both if we are to walk our spiritual paths with courage and intelligence.

Intuition is very cerebral – it is a calm and clear sense of “knowing.” On the other hand, gut instinct is very visceral and physical – you feel it in your body.

Intuition can be expressed through the body, and the gut instinct can be expressed through intuitive knowing. But generally, both are clearly discernable and strikingly different in their experience.

Signs You’ve Experienced a Gut Instinct

Pay attention to these signs:

1. A sudden feeling of dread or fear (that is out of context)
2. A strong urge to do something (feels like an inner nudge or pull)
3. Full-body chills, goosebumps or “tingles” up the spine
4. Nausea or physical uneasiness
5. Sudden hyper-vigilance (or being on “high alert”)
6. A clear and firm voice within you instructing you to do/not do something

You might experience all of these signs at once or only one or two of them.

Is it Fear? Or is it Your Gut Instinct?

Don’t get them confused!

But also, don’t worry if you have already. Chances are you were never taught about the difference between superficial mental fears and true gut instinct.

The mind can easily fool us, particularly when it comes to gut instinct. After all, we feel our emotions within our body. When you’re scared, you most likely get clammy hands, butterflies, and an increase in heart rate, right? 

In a similar fashion, when we experience a gut instinct, we also receive physical sensations.

So how on earth can we distinguish between the two?

My response is to pay attention to your mind. What is the quality of your thoughts? Is your mind racing, frantic, or chaotic? If so, you are experiencing fear.

On the other hand, if your mind is relatively neutral, but your body is experiencing strong reactions (like a sense of impending doom for instance), you are experiencing a gut instinct.

In other words, when you need to distinguish between the voice of fear and your gut instincts, always turn your attention to your mind.

Why? 

Gut instincts are spontaneous – they arise out of the blue. They don’t have time to build-up in the brain, therefore, the brain is relatively still and neutral. There is no “hmm, should I? Shouldn’t I?” going on. There is just an immediate DO THIS/DON’T DO THIS.

Fears, on the other hand, build-up. They are typically more vague, nagging, unclear, and tumultuous. If your mind is spinning, if your thoughts are everywhere, you are experiencing fear, not gut instinct.

Trust Your Gut

So long as you’re able to distinguish between the voice of fear and the spontaneous feelings of your gut instinct, it is safe to trust your gut.

Trusting your instincts is an invaluable life skill and one that will tremendously benefit you on the spiritual path. After all, this instinct is built into our very DNA, so why not make the most use out of it?

As a final recommendation, I suggest practicing mindfulness exercises like meditation if you struggle to trust your gut. Mindfulness meditation will help you to become aware of your thoughts and body sensations. The more awareness you can develop, the easier it will be to make the distinction – it will become second-nature to you.

Source: Lonerwolf.com