Gut feelings VS anxiety
 

Hi all,
This is a question which bothers me a lot lately - I often will find I have a 'gut' feeling/reaction to any given situation (example: booked accommodation online for one night when I was abroad, not knowing the place - when I got there I just felt an impending doom feeling and could not go in so had to walk away)

How do you know when to trust these instincts when you suffer with an anxiety disorder though? I often feel anxious about things, have done for years and was diagnosed as having general anxiety disorder as a late teen.


So I never know when to trust my intuition or put it down to my anxiety which can often get in the way and make life difficult. Is there any sure way of knowing which is coming into play?

That's a tough one. I suffered from anxiety for years so I understand the question. Apart from medically dealing with and healing the anxiety, I suppose my next comment would be: What is so bad or scary about beautiful life and this amazing world, that one would ever feel impending doom? That's a healing question for the broken soul to consider and contemplate.

Past that, one can look at specific life situations and see it may be possible to get a sense of when intuitive feelings are real, and when they are a result of anxiety issues.

There are very real situations in life that one intuitively senses they should stop to examine and consider, to make sure it's right for them. For example, whether or not to marry someone you're having second thoughts about (the answer is definitely NO! :). Or renting an apartment, or buying a car. There is a very real intuitive and contemplative element here, because the decision will have a very real affect on one's future.

Feelings of impending doom about a hotel room, are not the same thing. That to me qualifies as a baseless, arbitrary, in-the-moment fear-projection. There is no real life basis or history regarding the specific situation that would rationally explain why one would and should stop to reconsider.

Spend time 'getting to know' your feelings, because anxiety and intuition are very different. Try not to 'colour' them in any way but simply observe - envision your feelings as things that have a life of their own if that helps, but be the observer of your feelings and not the one that has them. Detach from them, that is the key - you don't have your feelings, you are above them. Also try and trace them from the source because that will help you to distinguish which is which.


If you're an energy person you can tell the frequencies of either one. To me intuition is more of a 'solid' energy and quite calm, while anxiety is similar to nervous energy, it feels 'harsh' and 'jagged'. Intuition is 'just there' as though it's appeared out of nowhere and has always been there, while anxiety is generated by the mind/emotions. To you though they might feel very different, so you have to make your own discovery. Don't try and subdue your anxiety because that doesn't help, nor does it always work. Work with your anxiety and use it as a friend, not an enemy. Once you understand nervous/anxious energy you can put it to good use instead of using energy to fight energy that can help you.

Hi,

May I suggest asking your self that question when it is not obvious to you which energy has surfaced. If you keep practicing this method, over time you will know.

John

How often does it happen. I have been told in my case it was about karma and I found, my past.

I would say that there is a difference and by paying attention to your feelings, you will be able to discern, in time.
A worthy thing to discover.

Life can be scary, no question. Bad things can and do happen. Nevertheless I said that to make a specific point, which is this:

Once one connects with the truth regarding the eternal soul and reincarnation (and to a lesser degree, karma), one comes to see that there truly is nothing to fear. Death is just one half of the birth cycle. One can't be born again until they die first! It's like going to sleep every night, do we fear sleep? One loses all fear of death when this understanding becomes their truth.

It is fear of death that causes fear in life. For most people, fear of death hangs over them like a cloud as they walk through life. But once that fear of death is gone completely, one is able to fearlessly step into their true life: their freed-soul life. After that, nothing one experiences can cause that cloud of soul-fear to ever return. Even one's failures in life are now seen and understood as learning experiences. And if we "failed" in this lifetime, we will get another chance next lifetime, if the soul so chooses, and if it is that karmically important to the soul and its evolution.

I have strong intuition and anxiety. I've had a few huge forboding feelings about life path decisions but in general, for me, my warning intuition feels similar to anxiety so the way I trust it is by whether my intuition is in sync with my anxiety or counter to it. If my intuition tells me things will be ok I may still feel anxiety but have a sense of calm underneath. If the calm isn't there I try to avoid the situation. better to be safe than sorry. I've often ignored my intuition to my detriment because I just brushed it off as anxiety. But it's tricky. Like the other poster stated, just try to get to know your feelings as best you can.

Sit with things longer to clear out the anxiety. Spontaneous intuition will work out well, but its only as good as you are clear. So right now your showing you can be in both so it would turn out as you showed. Sometimes anxiety away from a situation opens intuition, but the closer you move to that space could very well open patterns of old anxiety, because you entering into the experience.

As an example. I booked online a place to stay over seas. I trusted and got there and it turned out to be perfect in everyway. People were shocked that I could find something like I did through an intuitive connection. I have done it a lot for others too, seeking things they believe they would never find.

The other thing that comes to mind is that because your still learning to trust your intuition, the process or pattern could be experience to trust deeper. Meaning everything was right for you as it turned out because you needed to go to another level in yourself without worry it was a conflict of gut versus anxiety. You may have called this type of experience to learn how to keep on trusting. Anxiety is a huge deficit to bridging deeper trust, so you may be doing it this way.

Thank you all for your insight. In the example I gave, I felt certain danger was awaiting me, but I guess I did feel quite panicky and erratic in the moment.

Greenslade mentions energy - I usually am able to pick up the energy of people, can instinctively tell if someone is 'good' or 'bad' very quickly - and I've been proven right with this time and again. I don't think I've ever felt negative energy from a place/location before though. Yet something just didn't feel right - maybe rather than something bad was about to happen to me - it was more of a ''something bad has happened here'' - I didn't consider I could have been picking up on that before and maybe getting mixed signals about my own safety!
It was probably anxiety but some food for thought for me for sure!