I want to teach you how to trust your intuition, because once you do, everything gets easier. Decisions become easier and life starts to move with you instead of against you. In this episode of Dear Guides, I sat down with psychic medium Rebecca Rosen to talk about what intuition actually is, how to feel it in your body, and how to tell it apart from fear.
What Intuition Really Is
Rebecca describes intuition as a link to your higher self and your higher guidance. She calls it an internal GPS system, one that helps you move through life with more grace, ease, and flow when you actually listen to it.
Most of us were born connected to it, but as kids we tend to disconnect somewhere between the ages of five and seven, usually because the adults around us didn’t nurture it or believe in it. However you can learn to develop your intuition later in life, and when you do, it doesn’t feel like learning something new. It feels like coming home.
Rebecca works as a psychic medium, so people often ask her whether developing psychic intuition takes some special gift. It doesn’t. The same practices that sharpen her readings, presence and a willingness to trust the first hit, are available to anyone.
“Intuition speaks through our heart, not our head.” — Rebecca Rosen
The Difference Between Intuition and Fear
This is the question I hear most often, and it’s the one Rebecca and I dug into first. The two can feel similar in the moment, but they show up in your body in very different ways.
Fear tends to feel like:
- A sense of urgency, almost manic
- Loud, contracted, and tight in the body
- Wrapped in a story or a narrative you keep repeating to yourself
Intuition tends to feel like:
- Simple, direct, and clear
- Loving, kind, and peaceful
- Neutral, without a story attached
Rebecca put it simply: fear tells a whole story, and intuition just tells you. Once you notice that difference in your own body, you start catching yourself in real time. You feel yourself contract, or you feel yourself stay open, and that alone tells you which one you’re dealing with.
“Doubt creates static in your body, in your mind, in your energy field — and that blocks intuition.” — Rebecca Rosen
The Difference Between Intuition and Inspiration
This distinction came through in the episode almost by surprise, and it’s one of my favorite moments in the conversation. Rebecca broke down the word inspiration into “in spirit.” Inspiration is something bigger than you moving through you, a download from a divine source.
Intuition is different. It’s your own divine knowing, an inner truth that was already inside you. Inspiration is receiving. Intuition is remembering what your soul already knows.
How Intuition Feels in Your Body
Intuition whispers. It doesn’t shout, which is exactly why it’s so easy to second-guess or talk yourself out of. Rebecca was clear that doubt is what interferes here. The moment you start doubting, you create static in your body, your mind, and your energy field, and that static blocks the signal.
When you can suspend that doubt, even briefly, you make room for the guidance to come through. And when you’re connected to that frequency, things tend to click into place with less effort. Clarity drops in instead of getting forced.
How Your Spirit Guides Communicate With You
Spirit is always available, the real question is whether we’re listening. When you’re not tuned in, your guides find other ways to get your attention. A few of the most common ones Rebecca named are:
- An out-of-the-blue thought or an “aha” moment
- A whole-body chill that stops you in your tracks
- A song lyric or word that pops into your head
- A sudden vision or memory resurfacing
They meet you where you are. The part that matters most is what happens next: whether you receive it, or whether you talk yourself out of it. Rebecca made the point that honoring the guidance is what keeps it coming. Your guides, and your loved ones on the other side, keep showing up when they see you actually doing something with what they send.
The Trifecta Check: Head, Heart, and Gut
Rebecca shared a practice her guides gave her called the trifecta check. It’s built around the idea that there are three centers of intelligence in the body: the head, the heart, and the gut. When she’s facing a big decision, she runs it through all three.
Head: What’s the very first thought that comes up, before you’ve had time to build a story around it? That first hit is often the clearest one.
Heart: Feel into the question. Does it feel expansive, peaceful, and light? Or does it feel contracted, tense, and small? Expansive is a yes. Contracted is a no.
Gut: Drop into your core. What do you know to be true in your bones? The body doesn’t lie.
Why the Body Knows First
Rebecca’s phrase for this stuck with me: feelings are the language of the soul. The body often knows before the mind is ready to accept it or catch up. That’s why so many people get stuck in analysis paralysis, overthinking a decision their gut settled a while ago.
What Blocks Your Intuition
The top blockers, in order:
- Doubt. It drops you into a low frequency and pulls you back into your head.
- Trying to control or figure things out. Overthinking replaces feeling with mental noise.
- Staying in a fear-based frequency, including the low-vibe pull of constant news and social media.
Not being present ties all three together. Rebecca made the point that when she’s doing a reading, she has to be fully here, now. If she’s caught up in the past or the future, she misses what’s coming through.
How to Get Into a Neutral State to Hear Your Intuition
Since intuition is a neutral frequency, the fastest way to hear it is to get yourself into neutral first. Rebecca shared a few of her own tools:
- A few deep breaths in and out to regulate your nervous system
- Humming or toning, which stimulates the vagus nerve
- Sound, like crystal singing bowls or chanting
- A hand on the heart, or a hand on the heart and belly together
- A walk, a bath, or any repeated ritual that becomes a cue for your body
- You can also use this free Magnetic Energy meditation
Rebecca also talked about discernment versus judgment. Discernment is simply asking, is this good for me, is this aligned with my soul or not. Judgment sorts things into good, bad, right, or wrong, which keeps you in a more ego-driven frequency. Aim for discernment, and aim to stay neutral or above it.
This applies directly to how you take in the news and social media too. Rebecca is intentional about it: she’ll watch the news for thirty minutes, stay objective, and then turn it off rather than absorb it. Being informed and staying spiritually grounded aren’t opposites. It’s about choosing your intake consciously instead of getting swept into it.
Intuition and Manifestation
One of my favorite exchanges in this episode was about how intuition connects to manifestation. Rebecca’s guides gave her a line she still laughs about, because it rhymed and she says that’s never her style: be you, do you, and the universe will bring it to you.
Her point is that you don’t manifest what you want. You manifest who you are and the frequency you’re holding. Manifesting isn’t about effort or forcing an outcome. It’s about alignment. When you’re authentically you, in tune with your intuition, you magnetize what’s meant for you instead of chasing it.
Can Intuition Ever Be Wrong?
I asked Rebecca this directly, because it’s a fair question. Her answer: true intuition is never wrong. What can happen is that we misinterpret it, seeing it through a lens of fear, attachment, or expectation about the outcome.
Before Rebecca does a reading, she gets neutral and clears her own opinions out of the way so she’s not coloring what comes through. You can use the same approach. If you’re not sure whether you’re hearing clear guidance or your own fear talking, you can simply ask your guides directly: help me see this through the lens of love, faith, and trust. Then take a breath, get present, and look at it again.
“True intuition is never wrong. We can only misinterpret it.” — Rebecca Rosen
A Meditation to Connect With Your Intuition
At the end of the episode, Rebecca led us through a short meditation built around the trifecta check. Watch the episode here, or follow the instructions below:
Start with a few deep breaths, calling your energy back into the present moment. Imagine a gold and white light pouring in through the crown of your head, settling the mind chatter and any limiting beliefs. Let that light drop down into your heart, and place a hand there if it helps.
Bring a question or decision to mind. Notice the very first thought that comes up, before any story forms around it. Then drop into your heart and feel into that same question: does it feel expansive and light, or contracted and heavy? Finally, drop into your gut and notice what you know to be true in your body.
Close by saying, quietly or out loud: I trust my knowing. I trust my intuition. I trust the divine guidance within me and around me.
Resources
Free 8/8 Live Manifesting Ritual
I recommend Rebecca’s books Spirited and What Is Your Heaven?
You can learn more about Rebecca’s work here.
Want to go deeper? Join me for my Trust the Universe Challenge. A guided 21-day journey to help you strengthen your intuition and deepen your connection to your Spirit Guides. Join here.
FAQ
What is the difference between intuition and fear? Fear feels urgent, loud, and contracted, and it comes with a story attached. Intuition is simple, direct, and peaceful. It doesn’t need to convince you of anything.
What is the difference between intuition and inspiration? Inspiration is “in spirit,” a download from something bigger than you. Intuition is inner knowing, a direct connection to your own soul’s truth.
What does intuition feel like in the body? It’s subtle. It can show up as a whole-body chill, an out-of-the-blue thought, a lyric stuck in your head, or a sudden vision or memory.
Can intuition ever be wrong? True intuition is never wrong, but it can be misinterpreted through fear, attachment, or expectation. Getting neutral first helps you read it more clearly.
What blocks your intuition? Doubt, trying to control or overanalyze a situation, and staying in a fear-based frequency. Not being present connects all three.
What is the trifecta check? A practice that checks a decision against three centers of intelligence: the first thought in your head, the expansion or contraction you feel in your heart, and the instinct in your gut.
How do you get into a neutral state to hear your intuition? Deep breathing, humming or toning, a hand on the heart, sound, or a walk all work. The goal is a calm, neutral nervous system, since intuition is clearest from that state.
About Gabby: Gabrielle Bernstein is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and host of Dear Gabby. Her books, including The Universe Has Your Back, explore how to transform fear into faith and live in alignment with your intuition and higher guidance. New episodes release every Monday.