
There are a few things that get in the way of intuition. They are overthinking, ‘shoulds,’ bias, approval seeking, when you really want something, and even trauma. To get through those obstacles, become self-aware, scan your body, and examine your beliefs. Getting out of your own head can actually lead to more intuitive thinking. The benefits are that you find yourself, you make the right choice, you take chances, and you take action where others will not.
Intuition can come from pattern-matching, seeing correlation in patterns from experience to present moment. The brain processes patterns of information through explicit and tacit knowledge. Explicit knowledge is when you are consciously aware of what you know. Tacit knowledge is unconscious. According to Situational Awareness Matters, tacit knowledge is “knowledge that resides outside of everyday awareness.” Intuition can be deemed ‘tacit hunches.’ It pulls from that unconscious knowledge and patterns we pick up. The insights we get from intuition enter the conscious awareness of what we know or think we know.
Exploring Your Mind says brain areas involved with intuition may be the precuneus, ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the caudate nucleus, and “it’s hard to chalk all these processes up to accidents or a product of our imagination. Not only is there a neurological foundation to intuition, but it also involves your past experiences, your personality, and your subconscious, or the place that contains the essence of who you are.”