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We have all had that moment, that image, that sound that pops into our head and we wonder… “Did I make that up?” “Was that my imagination or intuition?”

If you can relate, here’s the good and the bad news of learning to tell the difference between your imagination and intuition:

  • Bad News – It can take time to recognize the subtle differences between the two.
  • Good News – You’re not alone! This is SUPER common.
  • Great News – With a little time and effort you will learn how to differentiate between them. It will become easier.
  • The Best News – Once you recognize the difference, you can use your intuition with more confidence!

I love that there’s more good news than bad news!

Now, how do you move forward with this process?
What steps can you take to tell the difference between your imagination and your intuition?

Imagination or Intuition – The Similar Sensory Twins

Imagination and intuition feel the same because they flow through your mind in very similar patterns. Both are generated from the same creative center in your brain. They both use the same sensory imprints, thoughts and memories to express themselves. Thus, the experiences we get from imagination and intuition are strikingly similar.

The creative center in your mind is filled with a library of images, sounds, memories and words.

  • When you use your imagination – you yourself create a story or picture from those items in your creative center.
  • When you use your intuition – the universe, your guides or your higher-self build a story or picture from those items in your creative center and present it to you.

Here’s the kicker. The creation of the story or picture happens in a split second. So by the time we experience it, it has already been put together. The key to finding out if something you experienced was either your imagination or your intuition is to pay close attention to that split second. To focus on “how”, in that moment, it was created.

Start With This Simple Tool – Revisit, Erase and Wait

This popular tool has helped many of my students over the years. A simple practice of acknowledging the information that came through, “erasing it” or “wiping it away” and then waiting.

Follow these three steps:

  • Step 1 – When something pops into your head and you are unsure if it was your imagination or intuition, bring it back to the forefront of your mind by recreating it and spend 10 seconds intently focusing on it.
  • Step 2 – After 10 seconds “wipe it away” or “erase it” from your mind like you are using an eraser on a chalkboard.
  • Step 3 – Now, spend the next 10 seconds focusing your effort on NOT recreating it in your mind. Focus only on holding your mind still.

Results:

If you were able to easily recreate it in Step 1 and it would not come back to you after you erased it in Step 3, then it was your imagination.

If you struggled to recreate it in Step 1 and it came back to you after you erased it in Step 3, then it was your intuition.

In this practice you are slowing down that split second of creation and paying closer attention. You are standing there saying “Okay, let’s replay this and see if this time it’s easier to recreate it (imagination) or witness it (intuition).”

This quick practice, when done again and again will produce a few results:

  • You will start to feel what “creating” something with your imagination feels like
  • It will become easier to feel the “witnessing” action of intuition
  • You will be able to delineate more and more between the two feelings
  • In the future, when something pops into your head, you’ll finally know if it was intuition or imagination

Instead of sitting in frustration of not knowing if you made something up or not, start to see your imagination as a process of creating and see your intuition as a process of witnessing. Once you do, you will be able to rely more and more on your intuition and feel more confident that you didn’t make something up!

Want another amazing free tools to learn to differentiate between imagination and intuition?