1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,560 Speaker 1: Hello everybody, Welcome back to the show. Welcome back to 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: the podcast, new listeners, old listeners. Wherever you are in 3 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:09,639 Speaker 1: the world, it is so great to have you here. 4 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:13,080 Speaker 1: Back for another episode as we, of course break down 5 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: the psychology of our twenties. How many times have you 6 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 1: heard the phrase just trust your gut, go with your instinct, 7 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:25,000 Speaker 1: or when you know you just know. When we hear 8 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:29,440 Speaker 1: those phrases in response to a situation where we really 9 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:33,920 Speaker 1: just need advice, we're feeling uncertain, it can make the 10 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:37,760 Speaker 1: situation feel even more confusing, especially if you are someone 11 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 1: who's naturally anxious, because feelings of anxiety and a gut 12 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 1: instinct often feel completely similar and are incredibly hard to differentiate. 13 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:55,040 Speaker 1: Self doubt, intuition, generalized anxiety, even excitement. They all feel 14 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:59,040 Speaker 1: the same, They all operate on the same axis. So 15 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:02,000 Speaker 1: how can we sure that we are making the right choices, 16 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:05,479 Speaker 1: that we are choosing the right path, questioning the right 17 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:09,319 Speaker 1: things when we can't always tell what to focus on 18 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:13,440 Speaker 1: and what to ignore. Well, today that is exactly what 19 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:15,680 Speaker 1: we are talking about. We are going to talk about 20 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 1: how to distinguish between intuition and anxiety. And let me 21 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:23,120 Speaker 1: tell you, I think it is so important to have 22 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:26,560 Speaker 1: this conversation in our twenties because there are so many 23 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:30,920 Speaker 1: big life decisions to be made during this decade, and 24 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:34,319 Speaker 1: so much insecurity and doubt in general. And if we 25 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 1: let ourselves be led by fear, thinking that an emotion 26 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:42,639 Speaker 1: that powerful must be a sign, fear must be a sign, 27 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:45,600 Speaker 1: I don't think that we give ourselves the lives that 28 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 1: we want, and fear in these situations or anxiety cannot 29 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:53,080 Speaker 1: be the master of our fate or the master of 30 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:56,440 Speaker 1: our destiny, or whatever you want to call it. Knowing 31 00:01:56,480 --> 00:02:00,160 Speaker 1: the difference between my gut instinct and my fear, it 32 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: has been a process of trial and error for me. 33 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: I used to be such a back and forth kind 34 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:12,120 Speaker 1: of person. I would constantly need other people's input. I 35 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:14,880 Speaker 1: would take a leap of faith, and then I would 36 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: back down because I began to doubt my own instincts. 37 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: But around three years ago, I think I experienced just 38 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:26,360 Speaker 1: this huge mental shift in general across all areas of 39 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:29,520 Speaker 1: my life. And around that time I basically decided that 40 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: for three months I was just going to go with 41 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:36,640 Speaker 1: whatever thing I had decided to do first, so whether 42 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:40,000 Speaker 1: it was what restaurant to pick, what movie to watch, 43 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:43,320 Speaker 1: what person to date. I had to be decisive, and 44 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:45,679 Speaker 1: I had to base it on my first thought and 45 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:49,560 Speaker 1: my first decision, and I definitely got things wrong during 46 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 1: that period, but I think I came out of it 47 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:55,240 Speaker 1: with such a strong inner voice. And there have been 48 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:59,400 Speaker 1: so many times where I have really not trusted my 49 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:03,920 Speaker 1: inner voice and been disappointed, And every single time I 50 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:08,240 Speaker 1: have been, it's almost been reaffirming to me when like 51 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:11,919 Speaker 1: what that sounds like when it's an instinct, When it's 52 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:15,080 Speaker 1: my intuition and it's so loudly calling me and I 53 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 1: ignore it, it feels terrible, but it also just helps me 54 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 1: again reinforce what that voice means to me and when 55 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:25,880 Speaker 1: to listen to it. Now. Don't get me wrong, I 56 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:29,440 Speaker 1: still experience anxiety when it comes to my decisions, but 57 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:31,840 Speaker 1: I think I can now really sit back and appreciate 58 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:35,520 Speaker 1: it and have a conversation with my anxiety almost rather 59 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:39,400 Speaker 1: than allowing it to dictate what I do in life. 60 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 1: When we confuse intuition and anxiety, I think a lot 61 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 1: of things can happen. We can become very obsessive over 62 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:51,600 Speaker 1: particular thoughts that are unhelpful because we think they mean 63 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: more than they do, when really they are just thoughts. 64 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: We can make decisions because we're panicked that actually end 65 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: up being one that we regret. We leave someone we shouldn't, 66 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:05,920 Speaker 1: we turn away from an opportunity we shouldn't, we quit 67 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:10,000 Speaker 1: when we shouldn't, or we don't make decisions that we 68 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: need to make because we think how anxiety is trying 69 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:16,720 Speaker 1: to tell us something, when really, if you think about it, 70 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:20,920 Speaker 1: it's just trying to keep us small, and it's also 71 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 1: trying to keep us safe in a way. These are 72 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:25,960 Speaker 1: the mistakes that I want us to make less of. 73 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:29,039 Speaker 1: And the thing I'm most excited for in this episode 74 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:33,839 Speaker 1: is this questionnaire slash checklist that I have that I 75 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: use for myself for judging whether a thought I'm having 76 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:40,760 Speaker 1: is an anxious thought or an intuitive guide or an 77 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:45,080 Speaker 1: intuitive signal. And it's literally one that you could take. 78 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:48,320 Speaker 1: You can bring any question, any thought you're having, and 79 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:50,320 Speaker 1: you could apply it and put it through this framework 80 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 1: and you would have your answer. Is this a thought 81 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:54,479 Speaker 1: I should listen to? Is it coming from an anxious 82 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:58,040 Speaker 1: place or an intuitive place? I also want to talk 83 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: about how intuition and anxiety feel in our bodies and 84 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 1: in our minds, why they're similar, how they're different, when 85 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 1: to know the difference, and more most importantly, I think, 86 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:12,919 Speaker 1: how to truly strengthen our intuition, how to make sure 87 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:15,720 Speaker 1: that it is a voice that we hear over the 88 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:18,680 Speaker 1: voices of our fear, but also over the voices of 89 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:21,719 Speaker 1: a lot of other people who have opinions about our lives, 90 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:24,719 Speaker 1: as they always will. So there was definitely a time 91 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:28,599 Speaker 1: that I needed this episode myself. Maybe I still need it, 92 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:30,839 Speaker 1: but now I get the chance to make it for 93 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:33,840 Speaker 1: you all. So I hope you learn something. I hope 94 00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:36,520 Speaker 1: it makes you recognize something about yourself. I hope it 95 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:40,599 Speaker 1: quells some of your anxiety. So, without further ado, let's 96 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:44,360 Speaker 1: talk about the distinction between intuition and anxiety and how 97 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:52,599 Speaker 1: to tell the difference. So let's begin by breaking down 98 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:57,560 Speaker 1: how each of these feelings sensations, how they each work. 99 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:00,119 Speaker 1: What is anxiety based in and what is into wi 100 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:02,960 Speaker 1: based in. We're going to start with the louder and 101 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,440 Speaker 1: more persistent or arrogant of the two. We're gonna start 102 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:11,280 Speaker 1: with anxiety. Anxiety put simply, is our means to survive. 103 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:14,839 Speaker 1: It is the alarm system that is meant to protect 104 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:18,960 Speaker 1: us against danger by triggering our fight or flight system. Nowadays, 105 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:23,560 Speaker 1: this has also been adapted to include fawn and freeze. Basically, 106 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:28,480 Speaker 1: anxiety is the first responder, and they see the incoming 107 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:30,919 Speaker 1: danger and they call back to the rest of the 108 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:33,159 Speaker 1: body and say, are we going to run? Are we 109 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:35,479 Speaker 1: going to fight? Are we gonna stay still? Are we 110 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:39,280 Speaker 1: going to make friends? Sometimes I think we often villainize 111 00:06:39,279 --> 00:06:43,400 Speaker 1: anxiety because you know, it is pretty terrible for it 112 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:46,839 Speaker 1: to be this constant voice in our head, But it 113 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:50,479 Speaker 1: actually is really essential and it does allow us to 114 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: see our surroundings properly. It does allow us to be safe. 115 00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: It is an essential part of who we are. When 116 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:02,680 Speaker 1: it becomes a proper though, is when it starts getting 117 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:08,479 Speaker 1: fanatical and making up stranger and stranger scenarios that aren't 118 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:12,880 Speaker 1: actually happening, but convincing us that either they will happen 119 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:17,400 Speaker 1: or they are happening. So this is known as a 120 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:21,480 Speaker 1: disordered anxiety response. Now, there is a way we should 121 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:26,520 Speaker 1: experience anxiety. Anxiety can be situation or event based. It 122 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: can be limited both in terms of intensity and frequency. 123 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:33,520 Speaker 1: It is important for our protection. And then there is 124 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:38,600 Speaker 1: a way that becomes unsustainable and mentally harmful, and that 125 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:43,080 Speaker 1: is when anxiety becomes constant. We are unable to switch off, 126 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:46,920 Speaker 1: and it emerges even when nothing is wrong. So if 127 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:50,440 Speaker 1: you've ever been sitting on the couch and you're sitting 128 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:53,640 Speaker 1: there and your whole life genuinely feels perfect in that moment, 129 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:57,920 Speaker 1: there is nothing scary happening around you, and yet you're 130 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:02,600 Speaker 1: sitting there almost being like something's wrong. Something's wrong. I 131 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 1: can feel it, I know it. You feel uncertain, you 132 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:10,160 Speaker 1: feel scared, and you cannot release that feeling. That is 133 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:14,960 Speaker 1: disordered anxiety, and it basically turns us into a bunch 134 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:19,480 Speaker 1: of conspiracy theorists. We may, you know, look at a 135 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:22,320 Speaker 1: relationship that seems perfectly normal and think, oh my god, 136 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:24,640 Speaker 1: they're gonna break up with me, even though there are 137 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 1: no signs of that. Or we think that person is 138 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:30,080 Speaker 1: so mad at me, or I'm going to lose my job, 139 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:33,080 Speaker 1: some big disaster is about to happen, the worst case 140 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:37,000 Speaker 1: scenario is about to happen. Even when we have no 141 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:42,440 Speaker 1: single piece of evidence for those thoughts or scenarios, we 142 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:46,160 Speaker 1: end up spiraling, We end up feeling very panicked. There 143 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:49,480 Speaker 1: is this desire to do something, this desire to act 144 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:53,440 Speaker 1: the sense of uneasiness. We also start to think that 145 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:58,800 Speaker 1: this feeling, because it is so significant, it must mean something. 146 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:01,440 Speaker 1: Because it is so so loud, it is so hard 147 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:04,839 Speaker 1: to dismiss. And the thing is is that your anxiety 148 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:07,439 Speaker 1: is meant to be loud. Anxiety is not meant to 149 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:12,600 Speaker 1: be quiet. Our it was basically made. It was evolved 150 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:16,080 Speaker 1: so that it was hard to ignore because we needed 151 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:18,880 Speaker 1: to listen to it for it to be useful, because 152 00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:22,120 Speaker 1: it was meant to tell us something important. But because 153 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:26,200 Speaker 1: it is so intense, it feels like everything that it 154 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:30,960 Speaker 1: is telling us must be coming true, and it will 155 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: come true, and we need to be prepared, and we 156 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:37,120 Speaker 1: better be listening to every single tiny piece of thing 157 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:40,840 Speaker 1: it tells us, even when it's a lie. Now here's 158 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:43,080 Speaker 1: the thing about anxiety that I was talking to a 159 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:46,040 Speaker 1: friend about this the other day, which is that even 160 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: the saying goes that even a wrong clock is right 161 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:53,680 Speaker 1: twice a day. So your anxiety is ninety nine percent 162 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:56,320 Speaker 1: of the time going to be wrong about a situation 163 00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:59,320 Speaker 1: or a scenario you're in, and then almost by accident, 164 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:02,400 Speaker 1: sometimes it will be right. And those are the moments 165 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:04,600 Speaker 1: we need to watch out for, because we begin to 166 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:07,680 Speaker 1: take it as evidence, even though they are so so rare. 167 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:10,319 Speaker 1: We take it as evidence that these feelings we have, 168 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:15,520 Speaker 1: which is just simply an overreactive olympic system and our 169 00:10:15,559 --> 00:10:19,600 Speaker 1: brain trying to interpret the environment, we take it as 170 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:23,840 Speaker 1: a sign. And then other times our anxiety actually creates 171 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 1: a self fulfilling prophecy, which is one of the reasons 172 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:29,920 Speaker 1: we confuse it with intuition. So I'm going to use 173 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:32,600 Speaker 1: the example again of you think that a friend is 174 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:36,040 Speaker 1: mad at you. You think that's your intuition. It's actually 175 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:38,640 Speaker 1: just your anxiety. But because you believe that they are 176 00:10:38,679 --> 00:10:41,320 Speaker 1: mad at you, it begins to inform your behavior. So 177 00:10:41,400 --> 00:10:44,679 Speaker 1: you become distant, you become cold, you begin to ignore 178 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:47,600 Speaker 1: them as a protective mechanism, and suddenly there is a 179 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:50,880 Speaker 1: problem and you're sitting there going I told you so, Look, 180 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:54,840 Speaker 1: my anxiety was right, It was actually intuition, when really 181 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:59,720 Speaker 1: what was happening was this irrational feeling has created this 182 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:04,520 Speaker 1: behave you subconsciously. So about thirty percent of us are 183 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:08,840 Speaker 1: going to experience an anxiety disorder in our lives. And 184 00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:13,239 Speaker 1: like the example I just gave, it does shape our behaviors, 185 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:18,320 Speaker 1: our actions, and our thoughts. It is such a good liar. 186 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:21,600 Speaker 1: Our anxiety is such a good liar. But it's also 187 00:11:21,640 --> 00:11:24,920 Speaker 1: the part of us that is so vulnerable and genuinely afraid. 188 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:28,920 Speaker 1: I always think about anxiety as like a parent who 189 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:32,559 Speaker 1: tries to shelter their child from the world and tells 190 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:35,559 Speaker 1: their child lies, like you know, the sun is poisonous, 191 00:11:35,679 --> 00:11:38,520 Speaker 1: or other people are evil, or these people are the 192 00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:40,920 Speaker 1: embodiment of satan, like you know when you watch those 193 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:45,560 Speaker 1: weird cult documentaries and the parent carry for example, like 194 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:50,000 Speaker 1: the parent has told them something about themselves, not because 195 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:52,439 Speaker 1: they hate them, but to protect them because of their 196 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:55,920 Speaker 1: own trauma. That's literally how I think about anxiety. This 197 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:59,000 Speaker 1: actually brings up an important point, which is the relationship 198 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:03,400 Speaker 1: between anxiety and trauma, because we cannot talk about anxiety 199 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:09,559 Speaker 1: and the confusion between anxiety and intuition without talking about trauma. 200 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:13,840 Speaker 1: So in meta analysis from twenty twenty four, it looked 201 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:17,280 Speaker 1: at over a thousand studies and papers written on this topic. 202 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:22,600 Speaker 1: Within these papers, there were almost twenty five thousand combined participants, 203 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:27,480 Speaker 1: and it found that PTSD makes us more anxiety sensitive. 204 00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 1: Our anxiety response is deeply informed by our past and 205 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:35,360 Speaker 1: the things that have caused us extreme pain and hurt 206 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:40,000 Speaker 1: and trauma is just going to scramble the parts of 207 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:44,520 Speaker 1: our brain that can think rationally about something. Because if 208 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:48,240 Speaker 1: you've been through something really terrible, give be it relationship trauma, 209 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:52,480 Speaker 1: family trauma, childhood trauma, even like a natural disaster, anything 210 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:58,320 Speaker 1: like that, Basically that has almost rewired how your brain 211 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:02,480 Speaker 1: sees threats and how it sees information. Because you survived that, 212 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:06,600 Speaker 1: your brain is now almost locked in on those memories 213 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:11,360 Speaker 1: and believes that those memories are useful. So the things 214 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:14,720 Speaker 1: that you saw right before I don't know, the boat 215 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:18,839 Speaker 1: sunk or right before the relationship exploded, your brain has 216 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:21,240 Speaker 1: still got those in storage and is going to bring 217 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:24,800 Speaker 1: them out and use them as almost like a tester 218 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:29,120 Speaker 1: for what you know that experience would look like in 219 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:32,360 Speaker 1: the future, how do we avoid it? Essentially, I feel 220 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:34,800 Speaker 1: like that just I just rambled there and that maybe 221 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:37,160 Speaker 1: didn't make any sense. I just like to give the 222 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:40,079 Speaker 1: example of being afraid of flying right and having experienced 223 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:42,720 Speaker 1: or traumatic flying a bit that has happened to me. 224 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:45,960 Speaker 1: I had a really traumatic flight once. It was just 225 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:47,600 Speaker 1: I'm not even going to go into details, but it 226 00:13:47,679 --> 00:13:51,080 Speaker 1: was just so awful. It was so awful. People were crying, 227 00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:54,440 Speaker 1: people were screaming. It was genuinely traumatic. It may have 228 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:56,440 Speaker 1: not led to PTSD, but what it did lead to 229 00:13:56,559 --> 00:14:01,240 Speaker 1: was a heightened anxiety response in relation to flying. And 230 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:03,840 Speaker 1: because I went through that, my brain is now so 231 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:07,680 Speaker 1: hyper aware of how scary that felt that anytime I 232 00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:10,760 Speaker 1: get on a plane, I'm thinking, oh my god, this 233 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:13,880 Speaker 1: twinge in my stomach, that's a sign, because I felt 234 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:16,760 Speaker 1: anxious when I thought the plane was crashing, And so 235 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:19,720 Speaker 1: this new feeling must be This same feeling that is 236 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:22,560 Speaker 1: actually just a natural response to an unknown must be 237 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:27,000 Speaker 1: telling me something. This is all to say, Obviously, anxiety 238 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:29,960 Speaker 1: is going to feel a lot like a sign sometimes 239 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:32,760 Speaker 1: because it is loud, because it is sometimes linked to 240 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:37,360 Speaker 1: very emotional, heightened situations, and because it's fear based and 241 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:42,280 Speaker 1: we are naturally prone to listen to fear. Okay, now 242 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:45,880 Speaker 1: we really need to discuss intuition. If you want to 243 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:49,360 Speaker 1: hear like a full debrief on anxiety, you can listen 244 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:52,200 Speaker 1: to I think it's episode thirty one on the Anxious Mind. 245 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:56,400 Speaker 1: But now it's important to distinguish between anxiety and intuition. Here. 246 00:14:56,680 --> 00:14:59,280 Speaker 1: Intuition is something that is is sometimes lumped in with 247 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:06,040 Speaker 1: a bunch of other concepts, our paranoia, cognitive biases, emotional thinking, anxiety, 248 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:09,680 Speaker 1: of course, a got instinct out in a voice, whatever 249 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:13,000 Speaker 1: you want to call it, whatever people confuse it as. Basically, 250 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:17,040 Speaker 1: intuition describes the way that we can just sense that 251 00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:21,480 Speaker 1: something is not quite right without needing rational proof in 252 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:25,640 Speaker 1: that moment. It is this strange ability to pick up 253 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:29,000 Speaker 1: on cues from another person or our environment, or from 254 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 1: our senses that is telling us something that might not 255 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:35,960 Speaker 1: be something we can admit to ourselves or we can 256 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:39,800 Speaker 1: say out loud, but we can feel it. So I 257 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:42,680 Speaker 1: found this really amazing article that kind of brought broke 258 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:47,640 Speaker 1: down the four types of intuition. So there's clairvoyance, which 259 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:51,320 Speaker 1: is kind of almost having visions or seeing images of 260 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:54,880 Speaker 1: something that's about to happen, honestly, quite spiritual, very rare. 261 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:58,800 Speaker 1: There's clear sentience, which is like a gut reaction that 262 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:03,680 Speaker 1: could include feeling really intense bodily sensations or feelings. There's 263 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:07,400 Speaker 1: clear cognisance, which is when you're kind of sitting there 264 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:10,600 Speaker 1: and you just feel this piece of knowledge drop into 265 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:13,600 Speaker 1: your head. One example I give is people who say 266 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:16,920 Speaker 1: they knew the queen was gonna die the day before 267 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:19,960 Speaker 1: she did, and it felt like this weird intuitive, oh 268 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:24,080 Speaker 1: my god, like mystical thing. And then there is clear audience, 269 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:28,160 Speaker 1: which is hearing short phrases, voices, sounds that feel like 270 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:32,600 Speaker 1: some kind of direct message. Obviously, there's a lot of 271 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:37,400 Speaker 1: overlap with that last one with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Essentially, 272 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:41,520 Speaker 1: it's just how you hear your intuition when your intuition 273 00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:45,560 Speaker 1: is at a normal, balanced level. Now some people are 274 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:49,200 Speaker 1: going to define intuition as a very spiritual or magical phenomenon. 275 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:53,160 Speaker 1: And until about twenty years ago, the scientific community would 276 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:54,920 Speaker 1: have probably agreed, and it would have told you that 277 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:58,480 Speaker 1: it was garbage and it was just mystical thinking. But 278 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:00,760 Speaker 1: more and more evidence is coming out the points to 279 00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:04,800 Speaker 1: the fact that our gut instinct and our intuition has 280 00:17:04,840 --> 00:17:09,560 Speaker 1: a very strong scientific basis, and it does occur on 281 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:14,280 Speaker 1: almost a cellular level, on a social level, a physical level, 282 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:17,719 Speaker 1: and a collective level as well. I personally have a 283 00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:20,680 Speaker 1: deep belief in intuition. If that is not obvious, I'm 284 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:23,760 Speaker 1: going to tell you about this crazy story that actually 285 00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:27,680 Speaker 1: happened to me that felt like intuition at work, and 286 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:32,200 Speaker 1: probably even saved my life. So around five years ago, 287 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:36,320 Speaker 1: I was living in Canberra and it was around eleven 288 00:17:36,359 --> 00:17:39,600 Speaker 1: pm at night, almost twelve, and me and my boyfriend 289 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:42,720 Speaker 1: at the time decided to go and get McDonald's, like 290 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:46,160 Speaker 1: a drive through McDonald's. I don't know why. I think 291 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:47,879 Speaker 1: we just were like we'd watched a movie. We were 292 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:50,840 Speaker 1: still awake. We really felt like, I'm honestly, that's just 293 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:53,000 Speaker 1: a silly detail. You don't need to know that. We 294 00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:55,960 Speaker 1: go through this drive through, we pull out, and we 295 00:17:56,040 --> 00:18:00,560 Speaker 1: pull into this like four way intersection with two going 296 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:02,960 Speaker 1: either way. We pull up to the light, there are 297 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:07,080 Speaker 1: no other cars around. We're listening to music, and the 298 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:11,280 Speaker 1: light for me to turn right at this intersection goes green, 299 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:14,919 Speaker 1: and I'm sitting there and I just don't go forward, 300 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:18,080 Speaker 1: and my boyfriend at the time looks at me and goes, 301 00:18:18,119 --> 00:18:22,679 Speaker 1: what are you doing, Like why aren't you moving? And 302 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:25,119 Speaker 1: I kind of just looked at him and was like, oh, 303 00:18:25,359 --> 00:18:29,040 Speaker 1: I don't know. Right at that point, I turned back 304 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:32,120 Speaker 1: to the road and I went to go forward, and 305 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:36,679 Speaker 1: at that very moment, this car, going probably around one 306 00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:40,160 Speaker 1: hundred kilometers an hour, ran the red light and would 307 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:43,240 Speaker 1: have completely hit us. It would have hit us and 308 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:46,680 Speaker 1: it probably would have killed us. And right behind it 309 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:49,720 Speaker 1: these three to four cop cars pull onto the road 310 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:54,439 Speaker 1: and chasing it, and we are just sitting in the 311 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:58,280 Speaker 1: car and I'm just like, holy crap. If I had 312 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 1: pulled out onto that road, we would have died. We 313 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:06,040 Speaker 1: would have died. This car would have hit us directly 314 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:10,119 Speaker 1: where him and I were sitting, and it would have 315 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:13,800 Speaker 1: just been the end. And that's like we literally pulled 316 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:16,919 Speaker 1: over and were just like in shock, Like I cannot 317 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:21,880 Speaker 1: even explain that feeling of just being like wow. And 318 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:24,600 Speaker 1: later that then we called our friend. I don't even 319 00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:26,200 Speaker 1: know what happened. I think we like texted our friends 320 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:28,480 Speaker 1: and we're like, you're not gonna believe what just happened. 321 00:19:29,359 --> 00:19:31,920 Speaker 1: And they go on the news and they go into 322 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:35,239 Speaker 1: like our local news page and Canberra and there's a 323 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:37,680 Speaker 1: car that has been like in pursuit by the police, 324 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:41,800 Speaker 1: and an hour later like it's been basically it's a 325 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:46,320 Speaker 1: high speed chase. And I don't know what it was 326 00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:48,680 Speaker 1: in that moment when you know, I'm in the car 327 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:51,199 Speaker 1: listening to music and the light turns green and I 328 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:54,080 Speaker 1: see it turn green and I did not go and 329 00:19:54,359 --> 00:19:57,919 Speaker 1: some part of me says that was just intuition. The 330 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:02,080 Speaker 1: thing is, I'm quite a scientific person. I love the science, 331 00:20:02,119 --> 00:20:05,080 Speaker 1: I love the evidence, and for a while I was 332 00:20:05,119 --> 00:20:07,919 Speaker 1: really trying to find an answer, because how do we 333 00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:11,000 Speaker 1: explain moments like that. We've all had a moment like that. 334 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:15,600 Speaker 1: There are a few theories as to what causes this 335 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:19,040 Speaker 1: intuition that stops us or tells us to go over 336 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:22,120 Speaker 1: as like a calling. The first explanation is obviously one 337 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:28,000 Speaker 1: of fate and destiny and mysticism and higher power controlling everything. 338 00:20:28,119 --> 00:20:32,280 Speaker 1: Call it God, the universe hollah, some power is moving 339 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:35,439 Speaker 1: all these parts. Now, this one's hard to prove, obviously, 340 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:39,000 Speaker 1: because it's hard to prove the existence of something you 341 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:41,959 Speaker 1: can't see and that doesn't have a scientific measure to it. 342 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:46,520 Speaker 1: But that's one take on it. The psychology, though, says 343 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:52,600 Speaker 1: two things. Intuition is this emotionally charged, rapid unconscious process 344 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:56,840 Speaker 1: whereby our brain is basically using information that we've never 345 00:20:56,880 --> 00:21:02,439 Speaker 1: acknowledged or seen before to influence our actions. So basically, 346 00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:05,320 Speaker 1: when we look at the world, our brain is really 347 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:08,399 Speaker 1: good at just selecting what is important to us. Because 348 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:12,200 Speaker 1: we do have finite cognitive resources, it cannot process every 349 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:16,000 Speaker 1: single little thing in our environment at once and give 350 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:19,680 Speaker 1: all that information to us to consciously process all that 351 00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:24,879 Speaker 1: information though it still exists and it's still being processed. 352 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:29,960 Speaker 1: You may not consciously have noticed the car speeding down 353 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:32,880 Speaker 1: towards you, but part of your brain did and told 354 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:36,240 Speaker 1: you to stop. You may not have consciously seen the 355 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:39,520 Speaker 1: suspicious shadow in the alleyway, some part of your brain 356 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:42,840 Speaker 1: did and it kind of cut over all the noise 357 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:45,840 Speaker 1: and said, don't go down there, don't go forward, don't 358 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:49,679 Speaker 1: do that thing. That's the first explanation. Basically, your unconscious 359 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:54,280 Speaker 1: mind noticing things quicker than you, faster than you, silently. 360 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:57,520 Speaker 1: The second explanation is based on learning and how our 361 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:03,360 Speaker 1: brain really predicts things based on experience and yeah, basically 362 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:06,240 Speaker 1: it learns from what we've been through before. So this 363 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:08,919 Speaker 1: is the theory that was put forward by the neuroscientist 364 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:13,480 Speaker 1: Joel Pearson. He runs a lab on neuroscience and intuition 365 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:18,120 Speaker 1: called Future Mind Labs at UNSW here in Sydney. And 366 00:22:18,359 --> 00:22:20,680 Speaker 1: I'm going to explain this explanation the way he does, 367 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:23,959 Speaker 1: which is using your coffee shop. So you run a 368 00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:27,960 Speaker 1: new coffee shop. You're let's say you're walking around London, 369 00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:31,040 Speaker 1: you're walking around Brazil, you're walking around Tokyo, some city 370 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:33,720 Speaker 1: you've never been before, and you want to get a coffee, 371 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:35,760 Speaker 1: you want to get some lunch. Now, you've been to 372 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:39,680 Speaker 1: heaps of cafes before, and when you were in those environments, 373 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:43,640 Speaker 1: your brain processed all of these pieces of information, the temperature, 374 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:47,080 Speaker 1: the music, the coffee machine, how clean the floor was, 375 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:50,440 Speaker 1: the decor, how warm it was, And you've just basically 376 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:54,199 Speaker 1: learned what parts of an atmosphere or an environment are 377 00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:57,320 Speaker 1: going to predict the kind of food and experience and 378 00:22:57,359 --> 00:23:01,360 Speaker 1: coffee that you want based on all these learnings. So 379 00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:03,959 Speaker 1: as you're looking for a cafe you're standing in the entrance, 380 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:08,040 Speaker 1: your intuition is applying those learnings to all this conscious 381 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:11,919 Speaker 1: information that's happening right now to help you make a 382 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:15,679 Speaker 1: decision based on a gut feeling. This is why you 383 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:19,159 Speaker 1: might have a gut instinct about a bad friend or 384 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:22,880 Speaker 1: that someone is lying to you. It's because you've probably 385 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:26,080 Speaker 1: encountered a situation before, and although you may not have 386 00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:29,520 Speaker 1: picked up on some of the information that came with 387 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:32,640 Speaker 1: this situation, part of your brain did, and now it's 388 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:35,400 Speaker 1: pulling that information out of storage to help you make 389 00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:39,800 Speaker 1: the best decision in this moment. Now, there is another 390 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:43,000 Speaker 1: component of intuition, and it's talked about a lot less, 391 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:47,120 Speaker 1: and it's this kind of ancient kind of knowledge, knowledge 392 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:51,080 Speaker 1: passed down through generations that feels like it's in our DNA, 393 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:55,199 Speaker 1: even in ourselves, Like you may not have encountered a 394 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:58,480 Speaker 1: situation before, but there is some human part of you 395 00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:01,679 Speaker 1: that feels very familiar with it and knows how to 396 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:06,040 Speaker 1: act and some kind of deja vous. I honestly think 397 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:09,040 Speaker 1: it's because there's some ancestor some experience from your past 398 00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:12,560 Speaker 1: that it's in your blood, it's in your bones, it's 399 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:15,440 Speaker 1: been passed down through you. You can call it spirit, you 400 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:17,560 Speaker 1: can call it whatever. I know this sounds very woo woo. 401 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:22,880 Speaker 1: It's an ancient human knowledge that informs how you see 402 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:26,320 Speaker 1: the world and informs your intuition and you're gut instinct. 403 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:28,840 Speaker 1: I want to tell another story, this time about my mum. 404 00:24:29,359 --> 00:24:32,280 Speaker 1: When she was my age, she was traveling around the 405 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:36,719 Speaker 1: world doing fun, fabulous things, and she was in Indonesia. 406 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:40,359 Speaker 1: She was on a mountain that she knew was an 407 00:24:40,359 --> 00:24:44,440 Speaker 1: active volcano and it hadn't exploded for a while. I 408 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:47,440 Speaker 1: think it was semi dormant. She's walking up this volcano, 409 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:52,000 Speaker 1: doing this hike, and she just gets this sense that 410 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:55,720 Speaker 1: this is going to erupt. Something's not right, and she 411 00:24:56,480 --> 00:25:00,920 Speaker 1: runs down the mountain. She sprints down the mountain and 412 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:04,680 Speaker 1: it erupts like I don't know if it was the 413 00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:07,639 Speaker 1: day later, it was after she got down the mountain, 414 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:11,760 Speaker 1: but within a very short period of time, the volcano 415 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:16,800 Speaker 1: had erupted. And from what I can remember of this story, 416 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:19,480 Speaker 1: no one was there with her, no one had told her. 417 00:25:20,359 --> 00:25:23,760 Speaker 1: She just had this very human sense, and it was 418 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:27,639 Speaker 1: almost like some ancest to, some human person in her 419 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:31,600 Speaker 1: past had encountered this, and there was a knowledge there 420 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:34,840 Speaker 1: that was passed on. And I remember her telling me 421 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:39,000 Speaker 1: she felt like she needed to move and she needed 422 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:43,919 Speaker 1: to hustle, but she didn't feel anxious about the thought. 423 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:47,000 Speaker 1: She didn't feel like there was anything to do other 424 00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:50,720 Speaker 1: than to act. She was very certain, And I think 425 00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:54,760 Speaker 1: this is what intuition feels like. It feels very calm 426 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:59,280 Speaker 1: and self assured. There is no doubt, there is not 427 00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:03,320 Speaker 1: a thousand possible outcomes or explanations running through your head 428 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:05,639 Speaker 1: the way that that you know. That's sometimes what happens 429 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:09,680 Speaker 1: with anxiety. You're sitting there, Oh, like this could happen, 430 00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:12,159 Speaker 1: or this could happen, or this could happen. It's serving 431 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:16,720 Speaker 1: you up a thousand different possibilities with intuition. That's that's 432 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:20,520 Speaker 1: not the case. There's one explanation, one prediction. You feel 433 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:23,040 Speaker 1: it in your body. It is stable, it is certain, 434 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:26,960 Speaker 1: it is confident. Most people will also obviously say you 435 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:30,679 Speaker 1: can feel it in your stomach. That's the term gut instinct. 436 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:33,720 Speaker 1: That's where it comes from. Now, the science behind this 437 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:38,400 Speaker 1: sensation is very, very cool. Scientists don't call the stomach 438 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:41,800 Speaker 1: the second brain for no reason. There's very good reason, 439 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:45,320 Speaker 1: because there is a vast neural network of over one 440 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:50,120 Speaker 1: hundred million neurons lining your entire digestive system. And every 441 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:52,840 Speaker 1: single year, more and more evidence emerges that there is 442 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:58,000 Speaker 1: this bi directional communication pathway between the brain and the gut. 443 00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:03,280 Speaker 1: In other words, you might feel your emotions or certain 444 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:08,160 Speaker 1: sensations in your stomach before you consciously process them. They're 445 00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:11,399 Speaker 1: known by another name. They're called gut signals, and a 446 00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:16,040 Speaker 1: twenty twenty paper looked at whether they could be trusted, 447 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:20,439 Speaker 1: and it did find that emotional stress and cues have 448 00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:23,160 Speaker 1: an immediate impact on the gut in a way that 449 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:26,880 Speaker 1: we may be quicker to recognize than a passing thought 450 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:30,679 Speaker 1: or than any other kind of sensory information. That's what 451 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:33,520 Speaker 1: the gut instinct is. As to whether we can trust 452 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:35,920 Speaker 1: our intuition, I can't go into all the studies because 453 00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:41,040 Speaker 1: there are so so many, and the answer is it 454 00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:45,280 Speaker 1: really depends. It really depends. But by and large we 455 00:27:45,359 --> 00:27:50,480 Speaker 1: do need this part of ourselves, this unconscious intelligence. A 456 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:52,760 Speaker 1: two thousand and six study that I read that looked 457 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:57,040 Speaker 1: at this found that people were better able to make 458 00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:02,680 Speaker 1: a decision under like chaotis circumstances when they went with 459 00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:06,239 Speaker 1: what they initially thought rather than those situations where they 460 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:08,960 Speaker 1: had time to really think about it, especially when we 461 00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:12,080 Speaker 1: have more options. So, if we're thinking about intuition and 462 00:28:12,119 --> 00:28:15,760 Speaker 1: a big life choice, especially one in our twenties, if 463 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:20,120 Speaker 1: you just applied reason and rationality to however many choices 464 00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:22,640 Speaker 1: you have, you would not make a good decision because 465 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:25,439 Speaker 1: you would get too caught up in the data. There 466 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:28,399 Speaker 1: are certain moments like that one where you have to 467 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:32,040 Speaker 1: just trust what is being fed to you, what information 468 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:34,800 Speaker 1: that you may not be able to label is being 469 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:38,760 Speaker 1: told to you. That is helping you make a choice. 470 00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:41,840 Speaker 1: I also think you know human emotion, and to some extent, 471 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:47,760 Speaker 1: human relationships aren't always properly represented in rational thought. There 472 00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:51,160 Speaker 1: are things about human relationships that cannot be presented in 473 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:55,120 Speaker 1: facts or figures or pro cons lists. And so listening 474 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:58,880 Speaker 1: out for that emotional directive that you are being given 475 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:03,040 Speaker 1: and whatever direction you're being called to is really really important. 476 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:07,600 Speaker 1: Otherwise you end up confused, robotic, almost mathematical at times. 477 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:11,080 Speaker 1: The question now is how do we tap into that 478 00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:14,680 Speaker 1: inner voice when sometimes it does just feel like anxiety. 479 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:16,800 Speaker 1: We spend a lot of time talking about both of 480 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:25,959 Speaker 1: those things. Let's put it together after this very short break. So, 481 00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:29,200 Speaker 1: knowing what we know, now, why do we confuse intuition 482 00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:32,720 Speaker 1: and anxiety. Well, we often confuse them because they feel 483 00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:36,440 Speaker 1: the same and they elicit very similar thoughts and sensations. 484 00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:39,480 Speaker 1: In particular, if you are someone who was already anxious, 485 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:43,200 Speaker 1: you are going to be hypervigilant to even the smallest 486 00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:46,760 Speaker 1: cues or signs of danger or signs that you should 487 00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:50,240 Speaker 1: or shouldn't be doing something, And so your brain is 488 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:53,240 Speaker 1: going to naturally apply a deeper meaning to things that 489 00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:58,480 Speaker 1: sometimes is just fear. Sometimes it's just catastrophic thinking. Sometimes 490 00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:01,959 Speaker 1: it's just worry and we confuse those sensations for an 491 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:04,760 Speaker 1: intuitive thought. Here are some of the other reasons that 492 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:08,200 Speaker 1: we tend to get them confused. I think to start 493 00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:14,120 Speaker 1: off with, they both often occur in response to uncertain situations, 494 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:18,479 Speaker 1: and so with both intuition and anxiety, they often are 495 00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:21,280 Speaker 1: going to come up when there is some kind of 496 00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:25,400 Speaker 1: unknown and that's something we never enjoy as humans, And 497 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:28,960 Speaker 1: because in that situation we're already stressed, it can be 498 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:32,400 Speaker 1: hard to tell the difference. They can both often feel 499 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:34,880 Speaker 1: a little bit irrational, like I don't know why I 500 00:30:34,880 --> 00:30:37,960 Speaker 1: feel this way, I just do. In terms of anxiety, 501 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:39,800 Speaker 1: the reason you just feel this way is because your 502 00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:42,719 Speaker 1: mind is, I don't know, just on high alert and 503 00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:47,200 Speaker 1: dysregulated in terms of how you're processing fear. In terms 504 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:50,640 Speaker 1: of intuition, sometimes it's because you're just seeing something that 505 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:55,240 Speaker 1: your brain isn't consciously knowing is there. They also both 506 00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:59,240 Speaker 1: originate from within us, even if it's different corners of 507 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:03,960 Speaker 1: the mind. If anxiety was all situation based or was 508 00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:06,240 Speaker 1: just what someone else had to say, it would be 509 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:10,240 Speaker 1: very easy to discredit it. But because both of them 510 00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:14,280 Speaker 1: intuition and anxiety are coming through some of the same channels, 511 00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:17,680 Speaker 1: they can get kind of confused. They also, like I said, 512 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:20,840 Speaker 1: a listit some of the same physical sensations, specifically that 513 00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:25,480 Speaker 1: gut signal or sensation for anxiety that can feel like nausea. 514 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:29,520 Speaker 1: Sometimes that feels the same as a gut instinct, so 515 00:31:29,560 --> 00:31:34,080 Speaker 1: it's easily confused. They both also feel important to listen to. 516 00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:38,240 Speaker 1: So as much as we kind of hate an anxious feeling, 517 00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:42,320 Speaker 1: it is an important feeling and it's very hard for 518 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:45,720 Speaker 1: our brain to ignore it. The same with intuition. It's there, 519 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:49,840 Speaker 1: they're loud, and often they are directed towards something that 520 00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:52,800 Speaker 1: feels emotionally salient to us. We're not going to feel 521 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:55,920 Speaker 1: intuitive or anxious about what bag to take to the 522 00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:58,760 Speaker 1: gym or what pen to use. We're gonna feel anxious 523 00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:03,360 Speaker 1: and intuitive about very profound big things like finances, relationships, 524 00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:09,520 Speaker 1: life choices. So they sit in the same ecosystem, and finally, 525 00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:11,840 Speaker 1: they're both trying to guide us to make a certain decision. 526 00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:16,320 Speaker 1: Intuition wants us to make a good decision. Anxiety wants 527 00:32:16,360 --> 00:32:19,480 Speaker 1: us to make the decision that keeps us safe. Either way, 528 00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:23,800 Speaker 1: they're both working on our brain to kind of give 529 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:25,920 Speaker 1: it the best argument as to what path to take. 530 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:29,280 Speaker 1: We've talked about how they're similar, how do they differ. 531 00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:32,240 Speaker 1: This is the real thing we want to know well. 532 00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:36,720 Speaker 1: Where anxiety is urgent and rushed, and it will always 533 00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:38,800 Speaker 1: make you feel like you need to do something immediately, 534 00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:42,320 Speaker 1: like a bad boss with a bad way of time management. 535 00:32:43,040 --> 00:32:46,160 Speaker 1: Intuition is going to let you take your time. Intuition 536 00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:49,640 Speaker 1: will not push you. It will not rush you towards 537 00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:54,160 Speaker 1: a decision, even if it's an important choice. Intuition I've 538 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:59,720 Speaker 1: found also feels remarkably calm. It's like this steady feeling 539 00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:04,360 Speaker 1: in your whole body, this like real sense of like, yeah, 540 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:08,600 Speaker 1: this is what I need to do. And sometimes you're 541 00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:11,680 Speaker 1: gonn just like I can't explain it. I just know 542 00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:16,320 Speaker 1: and it's not scary, it's just knowledge. On the other hand, 543 00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:20,520 Speaker 1: anxiety tends to be very uncomfortable. There's a lot of restlessness, 544 00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:25,200 Speaker 1: there's a lot of jitteriness, its movement, it's chaos, its energy. 545 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:27,920 Speaker 1: Like we said before, this is also no important and 546 00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:33,520 Speaker 1: important distinction. Intuition is singular, anxiety is plural. Intuition will 547 00:33:33,520 --> 00:33:38,000 Speaker 1: often give you one answer, one scenario, one hypothetical, whereas 548 00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:42,840 Speaker 1: anxiety will give you several Intuition is also present focused, 549 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:46,200 Speaker 1: it's based on what is happening now, whilst anxiety is 550 00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:49,560 Speaker 1: focused on the future, and it's very obsessive and it's 551 00:33:49,600 --> 00:33:54,520 Speaker 1: based in fear, whereas intuition is based in freedom. I 552 00:33:54,520 --> 00:33:58,200 Speaker 1: think the best way I can describe the difference is 553 00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:03,120 Speaker 1: that we often confuse use anxiety as intuition all the time, 554 00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:06,800 Speaker 1: but very rarely the other way around. We never think 555 00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:12,040 Speaker 1: that intuition is just anxiety because intuition is so absolutely 556 00:34:12,640 --> 00:34:16,560 Speaker 1: sure of itself and there's often no fear. I know 557 00:34:16,640 --> 00:34:19,480 Speaker 1: this feels rather abstract, so I thought i'd give you 558 00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:22,080 Speaker 1: a bit of a checklist. Say you are listening to 559 00:34:22,160 --> 00:34:26,200 Speaker 1: this episode for a specific situation to you, one I 560 00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:30,319 Speaker 1: probably don't know there's something coming up, though, some part 561 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:32,520 Speaker 1: of you is scared, some part of you wants the 562 00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:36,560 Speaker 1: right answer. Some part of you doesn't know which feeling 563 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:39,520 Speaker 1: you're having right now to trust and which one to ignore. 564 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:43,040 Speaker 1: So I want to give you a checklist for whether 565 00:34:43,239 --> 00:34:46,880 Speaker 1: the thought you're having is an intuitive thought or an 566 00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:50,359 Speaker 1: anxious thought. To begin with, does the thought you're having 567 00:34:50,440 --> 00:34:54,279 Speaker 1: start with? What if? If it does, it's an anxious thought, 568 00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:59,240 Speaker 1: what if this happens? There's no what IF's with intuition. Secondly, 569 00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:03,200 Speaker 1: how long have you been thinking about this hypothetical? If 570 00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:07,840 Speaker 1: it's persistent and subtle, that's intuition. If it's just showed 571 00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:11,239 Speaker 1: up today and it's coming in waves of fear and overthinking, 572 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:17,920 Speaker 1: that's anxiety. Does this thought limit or expand you? If 573 00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:22,920 Speaker 1: it traps you, it's anxiety because anxiety really likes to 574 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:26,800 Speaker 1: keep things safe by keeping them the same. If it's intuition, 575 00:35:26,880 --> 00:35:29,680 Speaker 1: it's going to expand you and guide you, even if 576 00:35:29,719 --> 00:35:32,839 Speaker 1: it feels uncomfortable. And that's why we cannot rely on 577 00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:38,760 Speaker 1: discomfort alone to tell whether a thought is intuitive or anxious. Now, 578 00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:43,560 Speaker 1: does this thought push you more towards self trust or 579 00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:48,360 Speaker 1: does it make you doubt yourself? More? Self trust? Intuition, 580 00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:53,160 Speaker 1: self doubt, anxiety. Do you feel confident in this decision 581 00:35:53,239 --> 00:35:58,040 Speaker 1: deep down? Or are you seeking constant reassurance? So? Are 582 00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:02,240 Speaker 1: you going to friends, family, Reddit pages trying to tell 583 00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:04,560 Speaker 1: is this the right decision? If is it not the 584 00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:07,840 Speaker 1: right decision? If you feel confident deep down, its intuition. 585 00:36:08,360 --> 00:36:13,600 Speaker 1: If you're needing reassurance, it's anxiety. If you sit quietly 586 00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:18,360 Speaker 1: and you breathe, and you're all alone and you feel 587 00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:21,920 Speaker 1: like you're trying to bring yourself peace. Does the thought 588 00:36:22,080 --> 00:36:25,640 Speaker 1: go away? Does it fade when you relax. If that's 589 00:36:25,680 --> 00:36:28,800 Speaker 1: the case, it's anxiety. If it's still there and it's steady, 590 00:36:29,239 --> 00:36:34,239 Speaker 1: it's not causing you any harm. It's intuition. This is 591 00:36:34,880 --> 00:36:38,880 Speaker 1: my checklist, and I want you to write these down. 592 00:36:39,719 --> 00:36:42,520 Speaker 1: Remember that this episode is here for the next time 593 00:36:42,520 --> 00:36:44,840 Speaker 1: you have a thought that you think is anxious, that 594 00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:49,480 Speaker 1: you think is misleading, test it against this framework. I 595 00:36:49,520 --> 00:36:53,359 Speaker 1: think if you're still struggling to delineate between these two emotions, 596 00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:57,600 Speaker 1: the final way to really tell is that intuition is 597 00:36:57,640 --> 00:37:01,560 Speaker 1: going to respond positively to action. An anxious thought will 598 00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:06,800 Speaker 1: respond positively to slowing down. So if the thought gets 599 00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:11,879 Speaker 1: louder the less you do, you have confused intuition with anxiety. 600 00:37:12,680 --> 00:37:15,200 Speaker 1: If the thought gets louder, the more you try and 601 00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:20,600 Speaker 1: change and escape, you've confused anxiety with intuition. That's really 602 00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:22,520 Speaker 1: I know I've given you a lot of ways of 603 00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:27,040 Speaker 1: telling this, but this is really the one. With all 604 00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:29,520 Speaker 1: that in mind, how do we improve our ability to 605 00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:32,960 Speaker 1: hear our inner voice and our inner diirective and what 606 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:36,080 Speaker 1: it wants from us. Matter of fact, how do we 607 00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:39,360 Speaker 1: also improve our ability to tune out our anxiety and 608 00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:43,920 Speaker 1: to stop it cutting over the intuitive frequency. The first 609 00:37:44,200 --> 00:37:46,960 Speaker 1: thing I do when I really want to tap into 610 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:49,920 Speaker 1: what I truly want and I am thinking, is that 611 00:37:50,080 --> 00:37:53,759 Speaker 1: I spend time in solitude. I take a step back 612 00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:57,840 Speaker 1: from everything. I spend time by myself, particularly in nature. 613 00:37:58,480 --> 00:38:02,319 Speaker 1: I find that firstly that my anxiety. I always say this, 614 00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:05,319 Speaker 1: the best way to regulate your nervous system is to 615 00:38:05,400 --> 00:38:07,840 Speaker 1: put it back into the environment. It was made to 616 00:38:07,960 --> 00:38:11,759 Speaker 1: work in your nervous system, your stress response. It was 617 00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:15,239 Speaker 1: made for the wild, it was made for this so 618 00:38:15,400 --> 00:38:18,360 Speaker 1: called natural habitat. That's where it's going to be regulated best. 619 00:38:18,880 --> 00:38:22,319 Speaker 1: So being outdoors helps with that. It also makes me 620 00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:25,560 Speaker 1: more focused on what I truly want, so that solitude 621 00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:29,160 Speaker 1: part is really really essential. I also think if you're 622 00:38:29,160 --> 00:38:32,720 Speaker 1: trying to tap into your intuition spending more time alone, 623 00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:36,080 Speaker 1: it's not just that it's a cure for anxiety in 624 00:38:36,120 --> 00:38:39,239 Speaker 1: some way. It's also that it stops you from approval 625 00:38:39,239 --> 00:38:42,839 Speaker 1: and opinion seeking. So that is often a symptom of 626 00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:46,480 Speaker 1: someone who is quite anxious and quite obsessive in their thoughts. 627 00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:51,400 Speaker 1: You're often asking people for their opinion constantly because you 628 00:38:51,480 --> 00:38:56,440 Speaker 1: can't trust yourself. Being away from that temptation is really helpful. 629 00:38:56,960 --> 00:38:59,200 Speaker 1: And I think when we are constantly looking for other 630 00:38:59,239 --> 00:39:02,799 Speaker 1: people's validation of our decisions and what they think, we 631 00:39:02,920 --> 00:39:06,040 Speaker 1: do cut ourself off from our self knowledge because our 632 00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:09,799 Speaker 1: own thoughts, we start to question them in favor of 633 00:39:09,840 --> 00:39:12,759 Speaker 1: what someone else thinks. And really, what do they know, Like, 634 00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:16,040 Speaker 1: what do they know about what you feel? Probably not much. 635 00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:20,439 Speaker 1: They're applying their own intuition about their life to your 636 00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:24,919 Speaker 1: circumstances when your circumstances are probably entirely different. And there's 637 00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:28,719 Speaker 1: this incredible study from twenty twenty three actually conducted in 638 00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:32,759 Speaker 1: Australia that found those of us who spend more time alone, 639 00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:35,920 Speaker 1: we are more self aware and we are more satisfied 640 00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:39,680 Speaker 1: in terms of autonomy. Autonomy being our ability to make 641 00:39:39,760 --> 00:39:43,799 Speaker 1: decisions for ourself and believe they are good decisions. Now, 642 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:47,759 Speaker 1: I will say small caveat here, you can't spend more 643 00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:50,680 Speaker 1: than seventy five percent of your time alone. Another study 644 00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:53,640 Speaker 1: kind of gave us that figure. Also another study from 645 00:39:53,640 --> 00:39:57,520 Speaker 1: twenty twenty three, So finding that balance between being able 646 00:39:57,560 --> 00:40:01,440 Speaker 1: to appreciate solitude and I in a sense, but also 647 00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:05,759 Speaker 1: not tip too far over the edge really important. The 648 00:40:05,840 --> 00:40:08,360 Speaker 1: other way to strengthen your intuition is to be patient, 649 00:40:09,480 --> 00:40:14,440 Speaker 1: don't always look for a sign, don't rush it. Rushing 650 00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:18,080 Speaker 1: is an anxious game. That is anxiety's favorite game to play, 651 00:40:18,840 --> 00:40:21,839 Speaker 1: and it will have you looking for signs where there 652 00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:25,560 Speaker 1: aren't any, leading you to read too much into small things, 653 00:40:26,440 --> 00:40:29,640 Speaker 1: leading you to make the wrong decisions. Basically, what I'm 654 00:40:29,680 --> 00:40:33,080 Speaker 1: trying to say is don't feel like you need to 655 00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:39,879 Speaker 1: change everything at once, and that every discomfort is a problem. 656 00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:45,479 Speaker 1: Sometimes discomfort it is growth. It is okay to sit 657 00:40:45,640 --> 00:40:48,880 Speaker 1: in a period that feels strange and odd for a 658 00:40:48,880 --> 00:40:53,399 Speaker 1: little while without feeling like it's indicating a problem. Let 659 00:40:53,400 --> 00:40:56,160 Speaker 1: me give some examples of this. When you are in 660 00:40:56,200 --> 00:40:58,920 Speaker 1: a new relationship, especially if you're in a new relationship 661 00:40:59,239 --> 00:41:03,399 Speaker 1: where you've previous in an unhealthy one. Sometimes that's going 662 00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:06,840 Speaker 1: to feel a little bit painful. There are these growing 663 00:41:06,920 --> 00:41:10,480 Speaker 1: pains in a relationship. It doesn't mean that you should 664 00:41:10,480 --> 00:41:14,840 Speaker 1: trust that discomfort solely. Another example is in a new job. 665 00:41:15,040 --> 00:41:17,080 Speaker 1: You know I always say the first three months of 666 00:41:17,080 --> 00:41:19,799 Speaker 1: a new job are really really hard. Doesn't mean it's 667 00:41:19,800 --> 00:41:23,200 Speaker 1: the wrong decision. What about like moving to a new city. 668 00:41:23,480 --> 00:41:27,799 Speaker 1: That's another one. You're going to feel uncomfortable when you 669 00:41:27,880 --> 00:41:31,439 Speaker 1: move to a new city. That discomfort does not mean 670 00:41:31,560 --> 00:41:36,120 Speaker 1: that you necessarily have made the wrong decision. My rule 671 00:41:36,239 --> 00:41:38,920 Speaker 1: is always the six month rule. If it's three months 672 00:41:38,920 --> 00:41:41,400 Speaker 1: for a job, it's six months for a new city. 673 00:41:41,719 --> 00:41:44,000 Speaker 1: If you still hate it, it's six months. Then you 674 00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:46,800 Speaker 1: can say, oh, maybe I didn't trust my gut instinct. 675 00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:50,800 Speaker 1: But yeah, I just think that be patient with choices 676 00:41:50,800 --> 00:41:52,960 Speaker 1: that you make just because they aren't working out right 677 00:41:53,000 --> 00:41:56,399 Speaker 1: now doesn't mean that you were wrong. I would also say, 678 00:41:56,600 --> 00:42:00,120 Speaker 1: in the opposite direction, notice patterns in past decisions, and 679 00:42:00,280 --> 00:42:04,920 Speaker 1: so reflect on times when you made the wrong decision. 680 00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:08,240 Speaker 1: You can arguably say, tang, I really made a wrong decision. 681 00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:12,440 Speaker 1: Right before you made that decision, in the weeks, days, 682 00:42:13,040 --> 00:42:16,120 Speaker 1: minutes before you made that decision, was there another decision 683 00:42:16,160 --> 00:42:20,360 Speaker 1: calling you that you ignored. That was probably your gut instinct, 684 00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:25,880 Speaker 1: That was probably your intuition. Remember that feeling, Remember it 685 00:42:25,920 --> 00:42:29,160 Speaker 1: and apply it to the situations you're in now. Do 686 00:42:29,200 --> 00:42:33,239 Speaker 1: you feel something similar at the moment, and try some 687 00:42:33,280 --> 00:42:37,160 Speaker 1: trial and error. You know, sometimes the best way to 688 00:42:37,280 --> 00:42:40,200 Speaker 1: get more in touch with your intuition is to make 689 00:42:40,640 --> 00:42:45,080 Speaker 1: mistakes that prove to you what your intuition is not. 690 00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:49,920 Speaker 1: Trial and error sucks, but sometimes if you feel strongly 691 00:42:49,960 --> 00:42:53,200 Speaker 1: about something, you have to follow through with it, see 692 00:42:53,200 --> 00:42:55,759 Speaker 1: what happens. And that's going to be the easiest way 693 00:42:55,800 --> 00:42:58,759 Speaker 1: for you to tell what anxiety feels like for you 694 00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:02,040 Speaker 1: versus what intuition and feels like for you. And if 695 00:43:02,040 --> 00:43:04,600 Speaker 1: that feels very big and scary, you can start with 696 00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:09,440 Speaker 1: very small, low stakes risks just to build confidence in 697 00:43:09,480 --> 00:43:14,000 Speaker 1: your intuition by making minor intuitive decisions. So trying a 698 00:43:14,040 --> 00:43:17,200 Speaker 1: new activity, if you feel called to talk to someone 699 00:43:17,680 --> 00:43:20,480 Speaker 1: on the street, if you feel called to I don't know, 700 00:43:20,880 --> 00:43:24,160 Speaker 1: have a connection with someone, do it. It's so low stakes, 701 00:43:24,200 --> 00:43:27,120 Speaker 1: I feel like it's gonna be fine. Those kinds of 702 00:43:27,160 --> 00:43:30,120 Speaker 1: things are a really great practice routine. They're really good 703 00:43:30,160 --> 00:43:34,200 Speaker 1: training wheels. Now for managing your anxiety. This's a whole 704 00:43:34,360 --> 00:43:38,600 Speaker 1: another ballgame, a whole nother pit of snakes. Like I said, 705 00:43:38,640 --> 00:43:40,719 Speaker 1: we have an episode on this, I'm gonna leave it 706 00:43:41,160 --> 00:43:44,040 Speaker 1: in the description. It's actually probably a really good episode 707 00:43:44,040 --> 00:43:48,240 Speaker 1: to listen to right after this one. But rapid fire, 708 00:43:48,440 --> 00:43:51,399 Speaker 1: how I address my anxiety when I feel like it's 709 00:43:51,440 --> 00:43:55,160 Speaker 1: taking over. I create a fear versus reality list. What 710 00:43:55,440 --> 00:43:58,560 Speaker 1: is a fear thought? What is a reality thought? I 711 00:43:58,600 --> 00:44:01,800 Speaker 1: put them on separate sides. I repeat them to myself 712 00:44:02,120 --> 00:44:04,080 Speaker 1: so that I can just reaffirm what I do know 713 00:44:04,120 --> 00:44:07,920 Speaker 1: to be true. Challenge the what if thinking. Ask yourself, 714 00:44:08,560 --> 00:44:11,760 Speaker 1: what if the best case scenario happened? What's the chances 715 00:44:11,800 --> 00:44:14,360 Speaker 1: of that happening? No more, no less than the worst case. 716 00:44:14,680 --> 00:44:17,520 Speaker 1: Talk to other people about the feelings that you're having. 717 00:44:17,800 --> 00:44:20,879 Speaker 1: I would also say stop drinking. If you're going through 718 00:44:20,880 --> 00:44:25,040 Speaker 1: a real anxious period and it's interrupting your ability to 719 00:44:25,239 --> 00:44:30,600 Speaker 1: hear from your intuition, please stop drinking. We know that 720 00:44:30,680 --> 00:44:36,160 Speaker 1: alcohol spikes anxiety by initially causing a very calming effect 721 00:44:36,200 --> 00:44:38,880 Speaker 1: through gabber activity in the brain, but then as it 722 00:44:38,920 --> 00:44:43,640 Speaker 1: wears off, the brain tries to rebalance those neurotransmitters with glutamate, 723 00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:48,480 Speaker 1: which is a very anxious neurotransmitter slash hormone, causing us 724 00:44:48,480 --> 00:44:52,520 Speaker 1: to feel my anxious Please stop drinking. Engage in some 725 00:44:52,600 --> 00:44:55,560 Speaker 1: kind of movement. If I'm anxious and I'm like, okay, 726 00:44:56,000 --> 00:44:58,719 Speaker 1: why does my intuition slash anxiety tell me this friend 727 00:44:58,760 --> 00:45:01,120 Speaker 1: hates me. Why why do I suddenly believe I'm going 728 00:45:01,160 --> 00:45:04,319 Speaker 1: to get evicted? Why do I believe this that I 729 00:45:04,320 --> 00:45:08,080 Speaker 1: immediately dance, I shake, I sing, I do some kind 730 00:45:08,120 --> 00:45:12,400 Speaker 1: of movement to dispel what is a physical reaction for me. 731 00:45:13,080 --> 00:45:17,920 Speaker 1: And also get therapy. Get therapy. People talk about it 732 00:45:17,960 --> 00:45:21,640 Speaker 1: a lot because it actually works, surprise, surprise. It's amazing. 733 00:45:22,160 --> 00:45:24,440 Speaker 1: And so if you really want to tap into your intuition, 734 00:45:25,000 --> 00:45:27,160 Speaker 1: sometimes you do have to clean out some of the garbage. 735 00:45:27,680 --> 00:45:30,160 Speaker 1: Sometimes you do have to clean out some of the 736 00:45:30,480 --> 00:45:34,520 Speaker 1: thought patterns that you have developed over time to protect 737 00:45:34,560 --> 00:45:38,520 Speaker 1: yourself that actually are hurting you. All right, we're going 738 00:45:38,600 --> 00:45:41,399 Speaker 1: to take a short break, but when we return, we've 739 00:45:41,440 --> 00:45:46,120 Speaker 1: got some listener dilemmas to do with anxiety and intuition. 740 00:45:46,719 --> 00:45:54,680 Speaker 1: Stay with us. So, my lovely listeners, if you are 741 00:45:54,760 --> 00:45:57,399 Speaker 1: a loyal listener of the show, you have been here 742 00:45:57,400 --> 00:45:59,560 Speaker 1: for a while, you will know that this is a 743 00:45:59,600 --> 00:46:03,640 Speaker 1: relative new segment of the podcast. I'm just trialing it 744 00:46:03,680 --> 00:46:06,520 Speaker 1: out for the next couple of episodes. I'm always down 745 00:46:06,560 --> 00:46:09,000 Speaker 1: for your feedback. But so many of you would have 746 00:46:09,160 --> 00:46:13,479 Speaker 1: questions after the episode had gone up, and I wish 747 00:46:13,520 --> 00:46:16,640 Speaker 1: that I could have answered those questions in the actual episodes. 748 00:46:16,640 --> 00:46:19,520 Speaker 1: So now I am giving you all the opportunity to 749 00:46:19,640 --> 00:46:22,400 Speaker 1: ask me those specific questions dilemmas that you are having 750 00:46:22,800 --> 00:46:25,799 Speaker 1: before the episode is so I can answer them for you. 751 00:46:26,400 --> 00:46:29,360 Speaker 1: If you want to submit a question for an upcoming topic, 752 00:46:29,840 --> 00:46:32,760 Speaker 1: just make sure you're following me at that Psychology podcast. 753 00:46:33,000 --> 00:46:36,640 Speaker 1: We've got some really cool episodes coming up around confidence, 754 00:46:36,760 --> 00:46:41,120 Speaker 1: around being a late bloomer, around parasocial relationships. I will 755 00:46:41,160 --> 00:46:43,920 Speaker 1: be asking for your questions and your dilemmas. If you 756 00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:46,759 Speaker 1: hate this segment, please actually let me know. I really 757 00:46:46,800 --> 00:46:49,120 Speaker 1: want to hear it, because if you guys don't like it, 758 00:46:49,120 --> 00:46:52,239 Speaker 1: it's going, it's going. It's going. It's gone. But I 759 00:46:52,320 --> 00:46:54,560 Speaker 1: want to answer some of the questions that a lot 760 00:46:54,600 --> 00:46:57,000 Speaker 1: of you kindly submit it today. Let's talk about this 761 00:46:57,000 --> 00:47:01,160 Speaker 1: first question. Is there any such thing or any time 762 00:47:01,719 --> 00:47:05,879 Speaker 1: when being led by anxiety is a good thing? The 763 00:47:05,960 --> 00:47:11,840 Speaker 1: answer is yes. So anxiety causes distress and use stress 764 00:47:12,520 --> 00:47:17,480 Speaker 1: U stress. It's spelled eu stres. It's also known as 765 00:47:17,560 --> 00:47:20,680 Speaker 1: good stress, and it helps boost a lot of really 766 00:47:20,680 --> 00:47:26,000 Speaker 1: great things, specifically our motivation and our focus. So there's 767 00:47:26,080 --> 00:47:29,880 Speaker 1: this law called the yerx Dodson law and Basically, it 768 00:47:29,920 --> 00:47:34,280 Speaker 1: says that anxiety up to a point actually helps improve 769 00:47:34,320 --> 00:47:40,680 Speaker 1: our performance. Moderate levels of anxiety, of course, will help 770 00:47:40,719 --> 00:47:45,960 Speaker 1: you better with studying, they help people with deadlines, but 771 00:47:46,320 --> 00:47:48,200 Speaker 1: it's when we get to an excessive point that it 772 00:47:48,280 --> 00:47:53,839 Speaker 1: really starts to kind of hurt us. So essentially, it's 773 00:47:53,880 --> 00:47:58,839 Speaker 1: an important balance to have. Anxiety also helps indicate when 774 00:47:58,920 --> 00:48:02,160 Speaker 1: something requires attention. I know there are a lot of 775 00:48:02,200 --> 00:48:05,200 Speaker 1: like posts on TikTok and Instagram being like how I 776 00:48:05,200 --> 00:48:08,920 Speaker 1: got rid of my anxiety. I cured my anxiety with exercise. 777 00:48:09,360 --> 00:48:12,000 Speaker 1: I no longer feel anxious. That's probably not a good thing. 778 00:48:12,120 --> 00:48:16,080 Speaker 1: You do need anxiety sometimes. Otherwise you would be just 779 00:48:16,120 --> 00:48:21,520 Speaker 1: in a constant state of complete calm and normalcy, and 780 00:48:21,600 --> 00:48:25,319 Speaker 1: even when stressful things happened, you wouldn't respond to them. 781 00:48:25,640 --> 00:48:28,799 Speaker 1: It's important to feel that way, Like think about your 782 00:48:28,840 --> 00:48:31,560 Speaker 1: wedding day, or like some really important event where you 783 00:48:31,640 --> 00:48:35,360 Speaker 1: feel a deep emotional sensation in response to it. You 784 00:48:35,400 --> 00:48:38,840 Speaker 1: feel nervous, you feel scared, you feel excited. All of 785 00:48:38,840 --> 00:48:41,840 Speaker 1: that is possible because of anxiety. So yes, there is 786 00:48:41,880 --> 00:48:47,160 Speaker 1: some level that is important. Question number two. My gut 787 00:48:47,320 --> 00:48:51,080 Speaker 1: says to leave my boyfriend, but my anxious self wonders 788 00:48:51,120 --> 00:48:56,400 Speaker 1: if it's just self sabotage. This is just one person's question, 789 00:48:56,880 --> 00:49:00,000 Speaker 1: but the amount of times I got something very similar 790 00:49:00,760 --> 00:49:05,080 Speaker 1: in my DMS was incredible. It's something that a lot 791 00:49:05,080 --> 00:49:08,640 Speaker 1: of you are obviously quite worried about, and I get it. 792 00:49:09,000 --> 00:49:11,680 Speaker 1: I really get it, because you might be dating someone really, 793 00:49:11,760 --> 00:49:15,160 Speaker 1: really nice and wonderful, but you're still so young, and 794 00:49:15,600 --> 00:49:18,880 Speaker 1: you worry is this really what's right for me? You 795 00:49:18,920 --> 00:49:21,280 Speaker 1: can't tell whether you're going to regret it, or whether 796 00:49:22,040 --> 00:49:25,680 Speaker 1: this is really a sign that you need to move 797 00:49:25,719 --> 00:49:28,879 Speaker 1: on you don't want to waste their time. What I'm 798 00:49:28,880 --> 00:49:34,120 Speaker 1: basically describing right here is relationship anxiety or relationship OCD. 799 00:49:34,920 --> 00:49:37,160 Speaker 1: Don't let the term fool you. It has nothing to 800 00:49:37,200 --> 00:49:41,560 Speaker 1: do with how we typically see OCD. Essentially, it's this 801 00:49:41,760 --> 00:49:47,600 Speaker 1: real sense of hypervigilance towards your relationship, whereby you're constantly 802 00:49:47,640 --> 00:49:50,439 Speaker 1: looking for things that could go wrong, not because they're 803 00:49:50,440 --> 00:49:53,279 Speaker 1: a bad person, but because you're worried about making the 804 00:49:53,320 --> 00:49:57,200 Speaker 1: wrong choice. It sounds like that's something that you may 805 00:49:57,200 --> 00:50:00,759 Speaker 1: be battling with. On the other hand, it may be 806 00:50:01,640 --> 00:50:04,719 Speaker 1: a deeper sign you've noticed something about who you two 807 00:50:04,800 --> 00:50:07,879 Speaker 1: are as a couple. Maybe not consciously yet, but you're 808 00:50:07,920 --> 00:50:11,160 Speaker 1: feeling it first in your gut. Here's what I would 809 00:50:11,320 --> 00:50:14,000 Speaker 1: say to you. If you're thinking about what it would 810 00:50:14,040 --> 00:50:16,560 Speaker 1: look like to leave him more than you are thinking 811 00:50:16,640 --> 00:50:20,319 Speaker 1: about your future with him, it's probably not the right relationship. 812 00:50:21,320 --> 00:50:23,960 Speaker 1: The other question I would ask you is if you 813 00:50:24,040 --> 00:50:27,319 Speaker 1: knew you would find love again soon, if you knew 814 00:50:27,320 --> 00:50:29,160 Speaker 1: that there was someone else out there who would love 815 00:50:29,200 --> 00:50:32,360 Speaker 1: you as much as this person loves you, now, would 816 00:50:32,360 --> 00:50:36,960 Speaker 1: you leave? Is this just a safe place to land? 817 00:50:37,719 --> 00:50:42,080 Speaker 1: Is this just an in the meantime relationship? I think 818 00:50:42,200 --> 00:50:46,400 Speaker 1: be really, really honest with yourself. Also acknowledge, and some 819 00:50:46,880 --> 00:50:48,680 Speaker 1: people might not be happy with me for saying this, 820 00:50:48,800 --> 00:50:51,360 Speaker 1: but you don't need to make a decision right now. 821 00:50:52,080 --> 00:50:55,759 Speaker 1: Like I said, intuition gives you time. Anxiety wants you 822 00:50:55,800 --> 00:50:59,279 Speaker 1: to make a decision right now. Relationships naturally go through 823 00:50:59,320 --> 00:51:03,560 Speaker 1: ebbs and flows and hard points and great points. It 824 00:51:03,640 --> 00:51:04,960 Speaker 1: might just be that you're in a bit of a 825 00:51:05,040 --> 00:51:07,400 Speaker 1: rat right now. I wouldn't want you to give up 826 00:51:07,440 --> 00:51:11,040 Speaker 1: a really amazing relationship because you've been sold this idea 827 00:51:11,120 --> 00:51:14,600 Speaker 1: that couples can never have low points. So that's my 828 00:51:14,680 --> 00:51:18,920 Speaker 1: advice on that one question. Number three asked over on Instagram. 829 00:51:19,640 --> 00:51:21,480 Speaker 1: When do you know if you should push through a 830 00:51:21,520 --> 00:51:25,960 Speaker 1: comfort zone or if it's actually just unsafe? Good question. 831 00:51:26,960 --> 00:51:32,640 Speaker 1: It's hard to tell. My natural desire is to always 832 00:51:32,800 --> 00:51:36,880 Speaker 1: push through. I think that discomfort is something that we 833 00:51:36,920 --> 00:51:39,759 Speaker 1: as humans are not good at managing, especially in a 834 00:51:39,800 --> 00:51:42,960 Speaker 1: world where we don't have to be that uncomfortable if 835 00:51:42,960 --> 00:51:45,880 Speaker 1: we don't want to be, you know, we truly don't. 836 00:51:45,960 --> 00:51:48,920 Speaker 1: We can be warm at all times, most of us, 837 00:51:48,920 --> 00:51:52,000 Speaker 1: thank gosh, can have food in our belly at all times. 838 00:51:52,040 --> 00:51:56,560 Speaker 1: We don't experience extreme discomfort anymore. Sometimes a little bit 839 00:51:56,600 --> 00:52:00,880 Speaker 1: of discomfort is a good thing in this situation, unless 840 00:52:01,239 --> 00:52:04,200 Speaker 1: you can point to evidence that this is actually going 841 00:52:04,239 --> 00:52:08,480 Speaker 1: to be an unsafe thing. So can you see examples 842 00:52:08,520 --> 00:52:10,920 Speaker 1: of it? I think about this with traveling. Are there 843 00:52:10,960 --> 00:52:14,239 Speaker 1: stories of people being kidnapped in the country you're going to? 844 00:52:14,880 --> 00:52:17,760 Speaker 1: Are there stories of or I don't know, Google reviews 845 00:52:17,760 --> 00:52:21,800 Speaker 1: that the zipline you're gonna do is a little bit dangerous. 846 00:52:21,840 --> 00:52:25,440 Speaker 1: It's important not to be arrogant. Just because we are 847 00:52:25,480 --> 00:52:29,439 Speaker 1: trusting our intuition doesn't mean that we ignore anxiety at 848 00:52:29,480 --> 00:52:33,759 Speaker 1: all points. It is still an important resource. So when 849 00:52:33,800 --> 00:52:37,320 Speaker 1: you're feeling like, there is something that's holding you back, 850 00:52:37,400 --> 00:52:41,600 Speaker 1: and you think that it's because it's unsafe. Investigate the 851 00:52:41,640 --> 00:52:45,000 Speaker 1: evidence for that thing. Take a couple of minutes to 852 00:52:45,640 --> 00:52:49,200 Speaker 1: walk yourself back from the situation and see it more clearly. 853 00:52:49,960 --> 00:52:53,359 Speaker 1: I also would say, do things to make whatever you're 854 00:52:53,400 --> 00:52:58,040 Speaker 1: going through feel more safe, but still keep going. So 855 00:52:58,520 --> 00:52:59,920 Speaker 1: I'm trying to think of like what you might be 856 00:53:00,120 --> 00:53:04,200 Speaker 1: talking about. Say it's your career, it feels uncomfortable, you 857 00:53:04,239 --> 00:53:07,080 Speaker 1: think that that's a sign that you're doing the wrong thing. 858 00:53:07,960 --> 00:53:11,319 Speaker 1: Try and make ways to make your career the way 859 00:53:11,360 --> 00:53:14,319 Speaker 1: that you're pushing it more comfortable. So try and find 860 00:53:14,320 --> 00:53:17,839 Speaker 1: different income streams to keep yourself financially stable. Maybe that's 861 00:53:17,840 --> 00:53:21,880 Speaker 1: the source of the discomfort whilst still pushing forward. I 862 00:53:21,920 --> 00:53:25,360 Speaker 1: think that's like a really great way to say it. Like, 863 00:53:25,760 --> 00:53:29,680 Speaker 1: you know, people didn't stop building skyscrapers because it was 864 00:53:30,520 --> 00:53:33,479 Speaker 1: unsafe or uncomfortable. They kept building them, and they built 865 00:53:33,520 --> 00:53:35,120 Speaker 1: them with safety measures. I think you can do the 866 00:53:35,160 --> 00:53:37,239 Speaker 1: same in your life. I don't know why I just 867 00:53:37,280 --> 00:53:40,319 Speaker 1: suddenly used a construction metaphor. I think that's the first 868 00:53:40,320 --> 00:53:43,439 Speaker 1: time that's ever happened during this podcast. So whoever's question 869 00:53:43,520 --> 00:53:47,040 Speaker 1: that is you should feel very privileged. All right. Final question, 870 00:53:47,600 --> 00:53:50,560 Speaker 1: I get visceral morning scaries when I wake up. Is 871 00:53:50,600 --> 00:53:54,279 Speaker 1: it my body trying to tell me something? This is 872 00:53:54,320 --> 00:53:59,200 Speaker 1: a great question. It's a great question because I get 873 00:53:59,239 --> 00:54:02,399 Speaker 1: this a lot. I guess morning scaries probably like five 874 00:54:02,480 --> 00:54:04,840 Speaker 1: days a week. In terms of whether it's trying to 875 00:54:04,880 --> 00:54:08,200 Speaker 1: tell you something like about your future or about your 876 00:54:08,239 --> 00:54:12,319 Speaker 1: life in a mystical way, I don't think so. I 877 00:54:12,360 --> 00:54:16,640 Speaker 1: think what you're probably experiencing is an elevated cordisol awakening response. 878 00:54:16,800 --> 00:54:22,080 Speaker 1: So that's morning anxiety. Basically, when you wake up. Sometimes 879 00:54:22,080 --> 00:54:26,000 Speaker 1: we can have this huge surge in our stress hormone cortisol. 880 00:54:26,400 --> 00:54:29,160 Speaker 1: It's meant to help us just be alive and awake 881 00:54:29,200 --> 00:54:32,080 Speaker 1: to the world. When that's just regulated, it can actually 882 00:54:32,680 --> 00:54:35,719 Speaker 1: go too far the other way and make us quite anxious. 883 00:54:36,920 --> 00:54:40,800 Speaker 1: It's important not to read too much into it. Sometimes 884 00:54:40,800 --> 00:54:43,840 Speaker 1: I think we can have those, again, very visceral emotional 885 00:54:43,840 --> 00:54:48,000 Speaker 1: responses and say that's a sign something's wrong. I have cancer, 886 00:54:48,160 --> 00:54:51,600 Speaker 1: someone's gonna die. No. I think that there's often the 887 00:54:51,680 --> 00:54:55,960 Speaker 1: simplest response is the best one. Focus on your sleep hygiene, 888 00:54:56,480 --> 00:54:59,560 Speaker 1: focus on trying to bring down your cortisol levels. And 889 00:54:59,600 --> 00:55:03,400 Speaker 1: your stress response before before going to bed and after 890 00:55:03,440 --> 00:55:06,920 Speaker 1: waking up. So no phone in your bedroom. You have 891 00:55:07,040 --> 00:55:11,000 Speaker 1: no idea what a bright blue light in your face 892 00:55:11,120 --> 00:55:12,960 Speaker 1: before you go to bed and right after you wake 893 00:55:13,040 --> 00:55:17,280 Speaker 1: up does to your stress response and your circadian rhythm, 894 00:55:17,360 --> 00:55:19,799 Speaker 1: So try and control that. Try not to have any 895 00:55:19,800 --> 00:55:24,000 Speaker 1: bright lights in the bedroom, and also review your alarm schedule, 896 00:55:24,080 --> 00:55:27,080 Speaker 1: so it's actually best to wake up naturally at the 897 00:55:27,200 --> 00:55:31,040 Speaker 1: end of a full sleep cycle. If your alarm is 898 00:55:31,080 --> 00:55:33,600 Speaker 1: like waking you up at like six hours and fifty 899 00:55:33,600 --> 00:55:36,239 Speaker 1: five minutes, maybe do it for like seven and a 900 00:55:36,280 --> 00:55:39,200 Speaker 1: half hours and try and go to bed earlier or 901 00:55:39,239 --> 00:55:41,880 Speaker 1: get that sleep in. Because if you're waking up in 902 00:55:41,880 --> 00:55:43,880 Speaker 1: the middle of a sleep schedule, you're waking up in 903 00:55:43,920 --> 00:55:45,920 Speaker 1: the middle of a dream, you're waking up in the 904 00:55:45,960 --> 00:55:49,520 Speaker 1: middle of rem sleep, you are going to be more anxious. 905 00:55:49,719 --> 00:55:52,920 Speaker 1: So again, simplest solution is probably the best one. I 906 00:55:52,960 --> 00:55:56,640 Speaker 1: don't think that this is a sign of anything. You're 907 00:55:56,640 --> 00:55:59,560 Speaker 1: trying to tell you something other than that your sleep 908 00:55:59,560 --> 00:56:02,600 Speaker 1: patterns maybe just a little bit off. And if it 909 00:56:02,680 --> 00:56:05,480 Speaker 1: keeps happening, go and see a doctor. They have these 910 00:56:05,480 --> 00:56:10,080 Speaker 1: really cool sleep studies right now and see feeling it 911 00:56:10,160 --> 00:56:12,840 Speaker 1: in other areas of your life. If you're not feeling 912 00:56:12,880 --> 00:56:15,520 Speaker 1: it in other areas of your life, I do think 913 00:56:15,560 --> 00:56:19,040 Speaker 1: it's just linked back to what this is. I think 914 00:56:19,080 --> 00:56:21,200 Speaker 1: that is all the questions that I have for today. 915 00:56:21,200 --> 00:56:24,120 Speaker 1: I'm just reviewing my notes and it looks like that 916 00:56:24,280 --> 00:56:27,279 Speaker 1: is the case. A long episode. If you have made 917 00:56:27,320 --> 00:56:31,080 Speaker 1: it this far, you know the deal. A special emoji 918 00:56:31,200 --> 00:56:34,240 Speaker 1: coming your way. I want you to leave an emoji 919 00:56:34,239 --> 00:56:37,880 Speaker 1: that best represents to you what intuition feels like. What 920 00:56:37,920 --> 00:56:39,840 Speaker 1: does it feel like in your body? What does it 921 00:56:39,880 --> 00:56:42,120 Speaker 1: feel like in your soul, in your limbs, in your brain. 922 00:56:42,520 --> 00:56:44,759 Speaker 1: If you've made it that far, this far, I mean, 923 00:56:45,920 --> 00:56:49,359 Speaker 1: let me know in the comments, using that little sneaky sign. 924 00:56:49,840 --> 00:56:52,160 Speaker 1: As always, I want to thank you for listening. I 925 00:56:52,200 --> 00:56:55,440 Speaker 1: really loved this episode. Sometimes you just make an episode 926 00:56:55,480 --> 00:56:59,280 Speaker 1: and you think fuck. Sorry to swear, but like fuck, 927 00:56:59,480 --> 00:57:02,880 Speaker 1: I really like this episode. I really like this episode, 928 00:57:02,960 --> 00:57:06,120 Speaker 1: So appreciate you listening this far. Make sure that you 929 00:57:06,120 --> 00:57:10,520 Speaker 1: are following me on Instagram. At that Psychology podcast, we 930 00:57:10,560 --> 00:57:13,319 Speaker 1: are doing more like listener questions, So if you want 931 00:57:13,320 --> 00:57:16,080 Speaker 1: to get involved in some upcoming episodes, that's a great 932 00:57:16,120 --> 00:57:18,720 Speaker 1: way to do it. Also, If you feel like there 933 00:57:18,800 --> 00:57:20,760 Speaker 1: is a friend of yours who could really benefit from 934 00:57:20,800 --> 00:57:23,560 Speaker 1: this episode, make sure to share it with them. I 935 00:57:23,560 --> 00:57:25,280 Speaker 1: would love to hear from you. I would love to 936 00:57:25,320 --> 00:57:28,760 Speaker 1: see more people listening, more people following, more people giving 937 00:57:28,840 --> 00:57:31,080 Speaker 1: us a five star review if you feel cold to 938 00:57:31,160 --> 00:57:34,160 Speaker 1: do so, but thanks again, thanks for coming along with 939 00:57:34,200 --> 00:57:37,600 Speaker 1: me on this really fun episode ride. Until next time, 940 00:57:37,880 --> 00:57:41,480 Speaker 1: stay safe, be kind, be gentle with yourself, and we 941 00:57:41,520 --> 00:57:42,880 Speaker 1: will talk very very soon.