In order to fulfill your spiritual purpose in this life, you’ve got to walk the path less traveled.
And to walk the path less traveled, you have to embrace your inner wolf.
It is your inner lone wolf that will guard, guide, and protect you with courage, integrity, and intelligence.
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But here’s the thing: in order to embrace your inner wolf, you’ve got to listen to your gut instinct.
The problem is that our gut instincts are often polluted by fears, prejudice, and mental clutter.
In this article, I want to share with you the seven gut instincts you should never ignore. You’ll also learn how to differentiate the voice of fear from the voice of primal wisdom.
Table of contents
What is the Gut Instinct?
Your gut instinct is the physical reaction you have to the world around and inside of you.
When you experience an overwhelming “gut feeling,” your body is carrying out a primal response to subconscious information. The ultimate purpose of your gut instinct is to protect you. As your gut instinct is the most ancient and primal “sixth sense” you have, it is the one you can rely upon the most.
One example of your gut instinct in action would be deciding to spontaneously avoid walking down a road at night because something “feels off.” That feeling is your gut instinct warning you that danger is afoot. You may then glimpse an intimidating gang of men down the street as you hurry by – your gut instinct has just saved you from potentially being robbed, beaten up, raped, or worse.
How Does Gut Instinct Work? (and Why You’re an Animal)
Put simply, your body is like the television screen on which your subconscious (the radio waves) transmits its information. When you can learn to read your body, you can learn to accurately tune in to your gut instinct.
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We human beings like to believe ourselves to be separate from animals. Yes, we might be more sophisticated. But at our core, we are still animals – human animals. Our primal impulses and evolutionary origins don’t just disappear because we sit and read the newspaper each morning or wipe our asses with lavender-scented toilet paper.
As noted by anthropologist Clifford Geertz:
… man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun.
Rather than get hoity-toity about the fact that we’re only really advanced animals, why not embrace it? By honoring the wisdom of the subconscious mind and its impact on the body to produce ‘gut instinct’ we can save ourselves from a lot of suffering. (This has been proven by the way.)
What’s the Difference Between Gut Instinct and Intuition?
Gut instinct and intuition are often used synonymously. And, yes, they are interconnected. But they aren’t quite the same.
So what’s the difference?
Put simply, gut instinct is your primal wisdom. Intuition is your spiritual wisdom. We need both if we are to walk our spiritual paths with courage and intelligence.
Intuition is very cerebral – it is a calm and clear sense of “knowing.” On the other hand, gut instinct is very visceral and physical – you feel it in your body.
Intuition can be expressed through the body, and the gut instinct can be expressed through intuitive knowing. But generally, both are clearly discernable and strikingly different in their experience.
Also, gut instinct is much more emotional and reactive (as it is wired in the primal brain), whereas intuition is more neutral and calm.
Examples of Gut Instinct
Some call it a “hunch,” others an “inkling,” but in this article, we’ll refer to it as the gut instinct. Here are some examples that are taken from the animal kingdom and human (animal) behavior of gut instinct:
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- A herd of zebra sense danger while grazing. They cannot see the lions lurking in the surrounding savannah, but something is distinctly “off.” One zebra whinnies and the herd begins galloping away vigorously.
- A herd of elephants meander through the deserts in search of water. Instinctively they know what direction to move in to find their sustenance.
- A cat sits on the edge of a three-story house and wants to find a way down. She slinks over to the edge and stares at the ground apparently about to jump – but then changes her mind. She climbs down to the first story roof and then makes the jump, apparently aware on an instinctual level that jumping from any higher distance would injure her.
- A person approaches you at a bar wanting to flirt with you. You start reciprocating, but something feels wrong. You sense a predatory quality about this person. You don’t trust them. You excuse yourself and leave.
- Two hikers get lost on a trail within the mountains. Without a compass or any way to determine a direction back to camp, they sit silently and tune into the surrounding trees. Suddenly one of them points to the west, “I have a feeling that is the way back!” An hour later they have made it back to home base.
- You’re driving down a highway at night. Suddenly, the impulse overtakes you to change lanes immediately. You obey the impulse, and a couple of seconds later miss a large spike of glass that could have punctured your tire and rendered you stranded on the side of the road.
- A young woman is sitting in class at college. Out of the blue, she feels the strange impulse to return home. She ditches the class and catches a taxi, a pit of dread looming in her stomach. When she arrives home, she finds her mother on the floor having a heart attack. If she had ignored her gut instinct, her mother would have most likely died alone.
- A man has two job offers. One of them pays less, and the other pays more. Logically he would choose the job that pays more, but he can’t shake the knot of dread that forms in his stomach every time he considers accepting the higher paying offer. He decides to choose the job that pays less. Two months later, he is relieved that he chose the right offer as the higher paying company went out of business due to a high profile lawsuit.
I hope you now have a good idea of how the gut instinct operates!
Signs You’ve Experienced a Gut Instinct
Pay attention to these signs:
- A sudden feeling of dread or fear (that is out of context)
- A strong urge to do something (feels like an inner nudge or pull)
- Full-body chills, goosebumps or “tingles” up the spine
- Nausea or physical uneasiness
- Sudden hypervigilance (or being on “high alert”)
- A clear and firm voice within you instructing you to do/not do something
You might experience all of these signs at once or only one or two of them.
Is it Fear? Or is it Your Gut Instinct?
Don’t get them confused!
But also, don’t worry if you have already. Chances are you were never taught about the difference between superficial mental fears and true gut instinct.
The mind can easily fool us, particularly when it comes to gut instinct. After all, we feel our emotions within our body. When you’re scared, you most likely get clammy hands, butterflies, and an increase in heart rate, right?
In a similar fashion, when we experience a gut instinct, we also receive physical sensations.
So how on earth can we distinguish between the two?
My response is to pay attention to your mind. What is the quality of your thoughts? Is your mind racing, frantic, or chaotic? If so, you are experiencing fear.
On the other hand, if your mind is relatively neutral, but your body is experiencing strong reactions (like a sense of impending doom for instance), you are experiencing a gut instinct.
In other words, when you need to distinguish between the voice of fear and your gut instincts, always turn your attention to your mind.
Why?
Gut instincts are spontaneous – they arise out of the blue. They don’t have time to build-up in the brain, therefore, the brain is relatively still and neutral. There is no “hmm, should I? Shouldn’t I?” going on. There is just an immediate DO THIS/DON’T DO THIS.
Fears, on the other hand, build-up. They are typically more vague, nagging, unclear, and tumultuous. If your mind is spinning, if your thoughts are everywhere, you are experiencing fear, not gut instinct.
7 Gut Instincts You Should NEVER Ignore
Obviously, you must be the judge. But there are some situations in life where your gut instincts shine the most.
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While it’s easy to brush off most nagging sensations, please never ignore the following ones:
1. “I’m in danger”
Remember that your gut instincts reflect what your subconscious mind already knows. Although you may not be able to pinpoint what exactly the danger is, please listen to this inner warning. It could be the difference between life and death.
2. “They’re in danger”
Yes, you might sound like a lunatic. Yes, you might feel embarrassed or perplexed. But if you genuinely feel that someone is in danger, tell them. You have nothing to lose. You might just prevent the person from making a big mistake or endangering themselves.
3. “This isn’t the right choice”
If you get a strong and clear feeling that what you’re doing isn’t right, pay attention. Even if there is no moral or logical reason why you should be feeling that way, take heed.
4. “I need help”
Your gut instinct doesn’t only warn you of danger, it also helps to preserve your emotional wellbeing. If you receive a strong sensation that you need help (whether physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually), seek it out. Don’t linger.
5. “I need to help them”
At some point in our lives, the overwhelming desire to help someone will arise. There may not be any rational reason why. The other person may appear to be perfectly fine on the surface. But don’t let appearances deceive you. Have a conversation with the person. Ask them how they are. This might make you feel vulnerable or uncomfortable, but you will at the very least make the person feel special, and at the most potentially save their lives.
6. “Something feels off in my body”
Unless you’re a hypochondriac (which is unlikely), your gut instincts rarely lie about the state of your health. If a sudden strong and clear desire arises to see a medical professional, do it. Get a full health assessment, and even if nothing comes up, feel proud of yourself for practicing self-care.
7. “This is it!”
Often when the perfect life calling, spiritual path, job, house, decision, option, etc. comes along, your gut instinct will immediately notify you. If you receive a strong and clear feeling that practically screams “YES” don’t ignore it! This is one of the most important reasons why it’s essential to listen to your gut instinct. It could be the difference between making a life-fulfilling choice and a soul-starving decision.
Trust Your Gut
So long as you’re able to distinguish between the voice of fear and the spontaneous feelings of your gut instinct, it is safe to trust your gut.
Trusting your instincts is an invaluable life skill and one that will tremendously benefit you on the spiritual path. After all, this instinct is built into our very DNA, so why not make the most use out of it?
As a final recommendation, I suggest practicing mindfulness exercises like meditation if you struggle to trust your gut. Mindfulness meditation will help you to become aware of your thoughts and body sensations. The more awareness you can develop, the easier it will be to make the distinction – it will become second-nature to you.
Can you think of any situations where you were helped (or even saved) by your gut instinct? I’d love to hear your story below!
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Another great article, thank you. I seem to have the opposite experience though, unfortunately. When I have that overwhelming, strong, clear instinct to do something (YES!), it’s more often than not the wrong thing to do. Every major life decision I’ve made based on that criteria, following my gut, has turned out terrible and it takes years to rectify/fix the fallout. I think my gut is broken, and the best thing for me is to do the opposite of what it says. I could go into detail about the specific decisions and the fallout from them but it’s probably TMI.
I wonder, do you have any advice about this please? Have you met anyone else with a broken/opposite gut? Would you recommend that I do the opposite of what it says in the future, based on past experiences? Thanks so much, your wisdom helps me all the time!
Dear Megan,
I don’t think your gut is broken, I think most people who struggle with this often confuse their gut for their minds. It demands a great understanding of how the mind works, the different psychological biases and logical fallacies that our minds are constantly throwing at us. I’ve learned that only through cultivation of greater body awareness, through meditation, yoga, etc, does one develop enough ability to listen to the body more carefully and be aware of the minds tricks.
Thank you for the thoughtful response, Mateo. I agree that I need to do more work to decipher between actual gut instincts and mind tricks. It’s certainly not easy! I would like to be able to do this and really hear my gut if it isn’t truly broken. Even if my gut is wrong, I’d like to be able to know it’s my gut telling me something and not my tricky mind.
I’m having trouble with identifying an experience I had a few days ago. Long story short, my father, who I’ve cut all contact with two years ago, has attempted to contact my mother. The second she told me she had gotten a “friend” request, my mind went blank, and i got this terrible feeling, like my body was empty and a weight had fallen to the very bottom. The thing is, I’m not sure if it’s my gut instinct or a trigger. I started wondering why right after, though I felt I knew it was very bad news. Then again, with what he has done in the past, the chances of him being ill-intentioned were greater. I’ve ruled out my anxiety because it has never felt that way, but I’m still really confused…
This is amazing Sol, you always get me with these articles. I have read it through and through and realized that I can not really differentiate when i have fear or a gut feeling and it has messed me up in most of my decision making. Mostly because I do not have a sense of self or it is mostly about that enmeshment thing you once talked about.
My question is, how do I improve to having clarity in the voices I hear in my head, or the impulses to my thoughts?
You see, I am a 24 year old young woman who used to have these vivid dreams a while ago and clearly see visions of what is going to come, whether it was a minute before or years and I trusted my intuition then and then all of a sudden, things stopped going this way. Nowadays I don,t dream as such and how I used to listen to my inner voice and trust my gut I am mostly driven by fear and this has failed me so much.
How do I get better at this?
Thank you.
Rukia,
Kenya.
Rukia, I hear you. I had a lot of visions when I was younger and they always proved to be true. But then as I got older, I started having panic attacks. It lasted for 2 years and my intuition and gut feelings were destroyed in the process. It took me a long time to start making a difference between fear and intuition. My vivid dreams also vanished. But I am still working on it and it gets better, believe me. Just be gentle with yourself and take time. For me, it also disappeared when I was 24, 25 years old. Now I am 37 and it’s coming back, bit by bit.
Thank you Rukia for sharing your experience. I feel like there’s no direct way of achieving such clarity, it comes as the by product of all of your inner work. As you say, fears are used by the mind to trick us into believing certain decisions are the right ones. So for that, we need to explore our fears which can be related to our shadows, our conditioning as children etc.
Then there’s training body awareness to listen to our bodies, this can be done through yoga, meditation and other bodily practices. All this alongside practicing mindful discernment (which is one of our core pricinples), that is, understanding how our minds work in order to spot any b.s that we tell ourselves, through confirmation biases or logical fallacies that we oversee when making decisions. We must face the problem from many different angles.
My relationship with my sons father over the last few years as he struggled with his addictions. I always helped him no matter what and even if I knew the out come would lead to me hurt. He still asks me, why’d you do it. Why were you always there. He’s a year n half sober. And I honestly don’t know why other than I had to. I knew I could handle whatever he did. I knew if I didn’t he’d end up dead. A few times he came close and he’s always show up at my place the next day needing me. Well recently he’s been a bit more friendly and needy, we aren’t together anymore but I know he’s just using me, he needs something from me. I had that sense of deja vu the other day. Actually twice recently. It instantly brought him to my mind and I got so sick, both times. Like overwhelming sick and distressed. I’ve quit engaging in the conversations he tries to have with me. He broke my heart recently and I know I can’t handle that kind of emotional distress again. I shouldn’t have to anymore. I follow my gut and my intuition very closely. And it’s never lead me wrong yet.
Hope that makes sense. I’ve been wanting to talk about it but I don’t think anyone would actually understand it if I tried lol. I read this and it brought me comfort in knowing I’m ok and doing the right thing.
You’ll be fine jordanna
its too sad you tell just 1/2 the story, post pictures and videos of yourself looking… begging for attention… just hey… Livingston cover of Hold Me While You Wait – Livingston… just keep wishing you could get someone that has someone else.. put down the phone and be a mother and stop crying in your posts. your a god damn adult
So what about people who have clincical anxiety we literally have hundreds of gut instincts telling us the wrong thing that . From misperceptions, mistaken beliefs , low self esteem you name it ! My gut instincts have helped me in some situations but they also screwed me over big time .
I get that gut feeling when stepping into a social situation . YET nothing is wrong with the situation it’s only my brain and gut tricking me into thinking something is about to happen to me
Anxiety is not a gut instinct, it’s our minds freaking out and putting our bodies in high alert. With gut instincts the body instinct comes first, not as the result of the mental fear.
Many years ago when my son was an infant buckled into his car seat, I approached and stopped at a 4-way stop sign. It was my “turn” to proceed, but something (gut instinct) stopped me and I did not proceed. Two seconds later an elderly driver ran right throughout the intersection without even slowing down. Had I not hesitated, I would have been hit broad-side on the driver side of my vehicle. Whew!!!
Wow, that’s an amazing story and beautiful example of this!
Thanks for your post. I can totally relate to it. We overvalue ourselfs so often in relation to animals but we are animals, too. We just learned to ignore our primal instincts. Especially since I began to awaken last year my intuition and also my gut instinct increased a lot. Sometimes I did ask myself if it was fear but I think mostly it was correct to listen to my inner voice. Like not leaving my room when my new flat mate was drunk (though he hadn’t been aggressive towards me). But also moving in with him. I have had so many situations where I don’t know what would have happened but I listened to my gut and never got harmed.
Next time I will also pay attention to my mind to differ between fear and gut instinct.
Distinguishing between the mind and the gut is one of the hardest things I’ve found to practice, especially when you’re mind is very lucid at explaining itself away.
Thanks Mateo for this article. Great that this was meant to happen at this time. I’ve been experiencing some of these sensations lately. I’m very certain that it was a choice I made a while back. I decided to study mathematics at university. At the time, it seemed like a great idea, but now I feel like I regret it a lot. I know I want a career to do something with maths and I’m good with numbers. I’ve stumbled across numerology and wondered if that might be something I would like to do instead. I’ve came across articles, audio recordings, and books on it. I’ve always been interested in spirituality and think (and feel) this could be something I could do. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
Numerology is definitely a fascinating path to follow, as is Astrology. They both involve maths and are powerful spiritual paths to specialize in if you have the passion to really master them (they’re both lifetime learning fields).
Your idea of paying attention to the cognitive brain is good advice. So is paying attention to the location of that little voice
Your articles are the absolute best. They are insightful and full of wisdom. I look forward to reading all you and Luna have to share in 2019
Thank you Laura, I’m so happy to hear that :)