As I listened to an interview with Amber Tamblyn about her new book, Listening in the Dark; Women Reclaiming the Power of Intuition, my brain began finding connections between women, motherhood, and parenting.
Intuition is an innate quality that all women have. Of course, men have it too, but I’m talking about women here.
We all get a sixth sense just before the baby is about to cry.
We all look at our kids a split second before danger occurs to prevent it or be there to comfort and clean up the aftermath.
We honor our mothering Spidey sense.
And then we tuck our intuitive sense back under the covers and move on.
Most women let their intuitive sense emerge when it’s for their kids, but not for themselves—which causes a unique form of stress.
What is intuition?
Google says intuition is “The ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning.”
Your intuition is meant to partner with all of you in this life journey, not just your kids.
Your intuition is there to assist you, alert you to what you need to know, and send you information about yourself to support you as you go forward in life, and intuition can cause stress.
Intuition and Stress
Accepting a gut feeling about your child is natural for moms.
You use your Spidey sense to feel a forehead and aren’t surprised when you find a fever.
You glance away from talking to a friend just in time to see your child about to fall off a swing.
You walk into the room just before an argument is about to erupt.
You honor the fact that your guts sent you that message, and stop there. Most tuck their intuition away, assuming it did its job by alerting you to the approaching danger.
Yes, your intuition did that, but that’s not the only thing that your intuitive Spidey sense does.
It’s there to help support you too.
And when you don’t listen, you feel stressed. You feel separated from yourself. You feel dehumanized. You feel like you’re walking around on auto-pilot, and the stress is unbearable.
Many believe that most of the stress they’re feeling is coming from parenting or work only. Of course, mothering/work is stressful and challenging, but feeling separated from yourself is far more brutal.
If you only listen to your intuition when it relates to your child, you’re missing out on an abundance of intuitive truths trying to surface to help you manage this journey called life.
I know you have a ton on your plate, work, kids, and the house; stress is coming at you 24/7. The question is, do you access your intuitive self to support you?
Are you even on the list? Are you nurturing yourself so you can provide what your child emotionally needs?
Women are multi-faceted. When you or circumstances cause you to ignore your intuitive side as it applies to you, you feel stressed, disappointed, agitated, and resentful and look outward for the reason why.
Glancing outward, hoping to find others responsible for your stress, i.e., kids, life, and business, while true, it’s not the whole truth; it’s not the reactive source.
All of us see our stressors through the lens of the words, triggers, and wounds, i.e., the emotional damage we have experienced in life. So, using your intuitive sense to support you as you re-sensitize yourself is a wise choice.
Next time you’re stressed, take a beat, get quiet, and listen to what thoughts and feelings emerge. Paying attention to the messages your intuition is trying to share with you is what activates your intuitive intelligence.
Trust me, I know that’s not all there is to stress. However, thinking that your stress is 100% caused by others is part of what separates you from yourself, and no one wants that.
Heavy stuff, I know, but the topic fascinates me, drives me, and pairs beautifully with my passion in life which is to make sure that we stop passing the wounds from our childhood down the chain to our kids.
Now, go hug your kids.
Sharon