Author: Jessica Pryce-Jones, Coach and Author of Intuition at Work

Intuition is everywhere. So why focus on the workplace? It’s useful because we have so many occasions and opportunities to try it out when we’re at work. In the October 2023 Speaker Series session on Intuition at Work, we discussed this important topic in detail: watch the video replay, here.

How do we recognize it?

Here’s how different people have described how their intuition shows up:

• My chest expands or contracts
• My throat gets soft or goes tight
• I get a surge of positive energy or feel totally depleted
• I feel my skin prickling or tingling
• My hands get hot or cold
• My heart lurches tight or relaxes
• My stomach knots or relaxes
• My feet want to stay or run away
• I get a piercing pain in my head when something or someone is wrong
• I experience tension throughout my body
• I notice my body feeling aligned or misaligned
• I ‘see’ positive or negative images in my mind’s eye
• I notice important clues in my environment around me
• It feels like a voice sitting on my shoulder

From this list you can see just how individual intuition is. Of course, it’s not confined to one of these; you might experience several of them simultaneously, or experience an indicator that is not on this list. The more you notice, the more accurate your intuition is likely to be.

How do I tell fear from intuition?

In our taster session, we touched on the difference between fear and intuition. As we’re hard wired for hard times, it’s an easy loop to get stuck in. But it can be hard to unpack because it’s so contextual and individual.

For a quick self-coaching check-list, see how many of the following might apply to you because fear often turns up when you find yourself:

• Stuck between choices unable to land on one of them
• Noticing lots of negative self-talk or doubt pinging through your mind
• Coming from a speedy, agitated or mind-centered place
• Feeling highly emotional, ungrounded or uncentered in yourself
• Aware that things aren’t flowing easily

The temptation at that point is to get and seek counsel and you may become even more confused. If that happens, get back to your body as it won’t lie to you. You can start by intentionally making the time for intuition and by just being in nature when you feel at your freshest. Switch your phone off if you can!

Then use your curiosity and all the different ways that intuition shows up in the checklist above to see what you notice given your particular situation. And above all be kind to yourself. Intuition isn’t shouty, it’s just a calm and quiet feeling of knowing.