Is this my Intuition or just my Emotions talking? #228

Is this my intuition speaking… or am I just caught up in my emotions? Maybe you’ve had a gut feeling about something, but doubt creeps in—What if I’m just overreacting? What if this is fear talking? Maybe I'm just anxious?

The dance between intuition and emotions can feel confusing, especially when you’re deeply tuned in to your inner world. Intuition and emotions aren’t the same thing, and there are ways to tell them apart.

In this episode, we’re diving into:

•  key differences between intuition and emotional reactions
•  Why intuition feels clear while emotions can feel loud
• How fear and anxiety can mimic intuitive hits
•  Simple ways to check in with yourself so you can trust your inner guidance with confidence

If you’ve ever second-guessed your instincts or struggled to tell if something is divine guidance or just an emotional response like fear and anxiety, this episode will help you develop stronger discernment. 

Christina Wooten helps you access the wisdom and support of the Spirit World to elevate your life.
She is a Certified Psychic Medium and Reiki Master Teacher.  Christina is the owner of Sedona Medium and co-host of Modern Life and Spirit podcast.

She offers Psychic Medium Readings, Soul Readings, Past Life Regressions, and teaches how you can start communicating and receiving messages from your Spirit Guides - through her program.
Learn more about her offerings here

Transcript

Unknown: 1:38

Robert, welcome to the Modern Life and Spirit Podcast where we explore spiritual topics relevant to today's world. Your hosts, certified psychic medium Christina Wooten and Reiki master teacher Robert Wooten, break down how to work with spirit to create more positive growth in your life, consider this podcast your go to spiritual resource for navigating the modern world.

Christina Wooten: 2:06

Hey there, kindred spirits. Welcome to Modern Life and Spirit podcast. It's Christina Wooten, certified psychic medium at SedonaMedium.com Welcome to our show today. Over the last week, we finally got some precipitation. We got snow here in the desert, and it was so beautiful to see these big fat like the fattest snowflakes I have ever seen on the red rocks. It was really beautiful. But more importantly, I'm just glad that we got some rain. I'm glad we got some precipitation to go into our ground and help nourish the soil and nourish our reservoirs. It's been such a dry season, but a really, really dry year, so it was nice to see that. It was also just nice to have the quiet that comes with a snowy day. So today I wanted to talk about intuitive nudges versus emotional reactions. How do we know which is which? What is it that's the motor that's really driving it? Is it the ego personality, which the emotions are coming from? Is it the soul self that's really guiding us to the higher path? You know, true intuition is always asking us to grow, to expand, to leave the nest and to fly. And sometimes, you know, an impactful message comes into our awareness that could have big consequences for ourselves and for the people that are around you, and the more we kind of feel the weight of that consequence, the more we really pause and sometimes get very mired down in self doubt and confusion while we try and figure out, Is this me, is this wishful thinking? Is this anxiety or stress, or is this really something that I should act on in this moment? Because the consequences can feel big. Maybe you've had that experience in your life where you received a message that was the best way I can describe it, that firm whisper that said, hey, you need to leave this relationship or this job is over, and you've had this strong message, right? But you may have noticed that it didn't come with an exact play by play, or a road map or a brochure about what you're supposed to do with that information, what's, what's the first step, and you know what? Well, once I do that and put this in motion, well then what happens? Right? It's sort of this clarity of this is what we need to focus on, and we don't get all the extra accouterments with it right? But today, I wanted us to dive more into how do you discern between what's a true message and just a strong emotional reaction or a strong impulse? And the more that you develop that discernment in the long run and begin to act in more alignment with your True intuition, the more it's going to strengthen your trust in the guidance that you do receive, and allow you to live more in harmony with your spirit self, with your soul self, and in those moments when you have the oh my gosh, this has big implications when you know that it comes from Your intuition, you can trust that the results of that are taking you to a good place. The journey might be interesting, but the result of it is is going to benefit you in your higher self, in some profound way. And that gives us so much of a sense of reassurance to do the hard stuff, to do the work when it's scary, to put the next foot in front of the other, and to take that action, take that next step, but it first starts with being able to trust the source of the message. So we're going to dive into a little bit more of that today by talking about these intuitive nudges by talking about the emotional impulses. And you know what defines those so that you can more easily tell the difference in these moments. So let's start with what is the difference. Let's talk about intuitive nudges first. So I used that example earlier, of the firm, whisper, intuitive nudges feel somewhat subtle, but neutral and calm, even when the message is really big, like it's time to leave that relationship, or it's time to leave this job situation that this this is over, the pathway is complete. For you, even when it has a lot of implications and heaviness that we would attach to the message itself, the message doesn't feel heavy. It feels more clear, calm, factual, okay, that's a really defining feature of our intuition, because our intuition doesn't have that same attachment that the personality, our personality has two things, okay, so you'll find that a hallmark of your emotional impulses is going to be more of this attachment type of energy, whereas intuitive messages are just very clear, they're usually very concise and direct. So it's focused in one major area. So it's not saying you need to leave this relationship, and then you need to move, and then you have to do X, Y and C, and then you're gonna have to find a new dog center for your dog, or maybe you have to figure out doggy daycare. And then after that, that's our mind. Our mind is going to be like, okay, then you have to do this, and this is but it's taking us on this journey, but the core of the intuitive message is always going to be very easy and very clear. This is over, and then we have to decide what to do with that information. What is the next step? What feels like the right application of wisdom in that moment. Intuition comes from a place of awareness, not of emotion. So it has this calmness to it, a simplicity, a very neutral feel to it. There was a shaman here in Sedona one time, and one of the things that struck me about the experience we were in is someone was answering a question. He'd say, Well, what do you feel about XYZ? And this person began to respond with, you know, several sentences, kind of explaining themselves, going a little bit deeper with what they meant. And he said, No, no, that's fluff. What do you feel about this that your truth should be able to be summarized in only a few words, and the simplicity of that was very strong. And I find that to be very true about our intuition is that the focus is very clear. The message itself is very clear. So in intuitive nudges, the factual information itself, the core of the message doesn't really change. It's not particularly flowery, it's not lots of sentences of information. It's usually one core message that's trying to get your attention. And then that information itself doesn't really change. Whenever you tune back into it, it's still the same message. So every time you kind of get quiet and go to that place beyond your mind and beyond personality, that message still remains the same. You may get a little bit of additional information here or there, but the core is always the same. And again, very simple, very clearly stated, this is the message that's coming across. So our souls message is always going to be expansive and guiding us to a higher path or higher opportunity, even if it's a bit scary. And when I say expansive, it's not you need this better job so that you can have more income or have more influence in an area, blah, blah, the soul could care less, but expansive in the sense that it's requiring us to grow outside of ourselves, to expand our consciousness, to expand our awareness, to do Something different, to continue our growth journey and our wisdom journey, even if it's scary. So we may have the sense that this is what I need for my next stage of growth. I don't know how I'm going to do it. I don't know how this is going to work out. This is really asking a lot of me. This is going to take a lot of trust, but I can feel that it's my next step. And you'll also find the pervasiveness of the message itself, and that we can't really get away from it when something is true, when something is true, it's always there, and we can try and manipulate it and flex it, or figure it out or make it more palatable to ourselves, but when we break it down, it is what it is, right? And finally, with intuitive nudges, you'll usually find that it is connected with some long term soul growth that we're doing so it can represent this growth where you have to step up and step out of your comfort zone, and that isn't always easy to do. It's really asking us to take a leap of faith and to try something different, to really put our money where our mouth is kind of thing, right? So really. Stepping into growth by stepping out of our comfort zone. But what I find interesting about stepping out of the comfort zone with our intuitive direction that we receive, is that if you step out of the personality, and step out of the emotions, if you really come to that quiet, centered place within there's that knowing that everything is okay, that everything is okay, that no matter the big change you're going to have to make, and the risk that that may involve for you, that everything is always and truly is okay, and it sits on that foundation always, and that's a really beautiful thing that we can trust in. It can be our cornerstone that we build on is knowing that everything is truly Okay. All right, let's talk about emotional impulses. There's certain things that can help us see the red flags for what they are, that perhaps this isn't coming from our higher self, or isn't coming from our guides, that this is coming from past trauma responses or unconscious patterns and subconscious urges that we have. So the first big red flag if you see this one, this one is a really strong indicator of this being an emotional redirection is that when you feel like the message feels urgent, feels very emotionally charged or feels reactive, and it can come with some really strong emotions, like fear or pervasive anxiety or panic or a sense of like, desperation. You just really feel it on all levels, this stress resistant, anxiety, feeling that's happening inside the body, like, Oh, you have to do this right now. See, intuition comes from our soul connection, our eternal nature and awareness. There isn't really a rush to it, right? When you have this eternal nature and this just expansive awareness, we sort of see the multiple opportunities that we have that you know well, if you don't do it now, you'll do it eventually, right? So with intuition, there may be an awareness that, hey, this is your chance, and you won't have another one for a while. What do you want to do? So you may get that with a true, intuitive message, but it's not going to feel forced, as if you aren't the one that's making the actual decision. See, spirit really helps us to be empowered. We know that we make the decisions, and we also have the responsibility for those decisions, okay, the energetic responsibility of that. So if you're feeling like you're just completely out of control, overwhelmed with stress, or like you don't have another option, that's going to be a big red flag, because with intuition, you'll always know that there's another option, even if you don't like it or don't feel like it's the right direction for you, you'll know that ultimately, you have the power of choice in how you're implementing, how you're responding, how you're reacting to things. That is a huge hallmark is in spiritual development, is our own personal responsibility of things. So when you feel like, oh, everything is out of control and and this is happening, and you start to feel panic and desperation and overwhelmed, and the message is very tainted with that kind of energy that's coming from another place, because our soul is not in fear. Our spirit is not afraid of what's coming forward. It knows that we're okay. It is probably, in many cases, orchestrated what we're experiencing. So there's a deep peace within ourselves around that situation when we're really connected and really tuning in. Now emotional impulses also feel like they demand, and I want to underline the word demand immediate action, so you may get the message, and it's so strong, you may get this feeling of it's time for me to quit my job. I just hate this. I feel so miserable and exhausted and tired and just not making a difference. I'm not happy. And what it is that I'm doing, I'm done. I'm gonna march right in there right now and turn in my notice, and everything in my body says that's the right thing for me to do. So I'm gonna just walk right in there and here's my notice right now. So it's a very like impulsive sort of action, and a true message is always true, whether you decide to listen to it in that moment or not. You know, if you sit on it or if you wait on it, it is something that will still be true the next day and the next day and the next day that Yep. It's time for you to do this. Yep, when you're ready, it's gonna be time for you to do this. Yep, your next step is XYZ. It'll be the same every single time that you tune in, but you'll feel this like I gotta respond to it immediately, this urgency feeling within yourself, and a lot of times you'll even feel it in your body, because your body is so connected to that emotional state and the unconscious realms. So you're going to really feel that pull to respond immediately. And so that's going to be another big red flag for you, is, wait a minute. Is this going to be true tomorrow? Is it going to be true the next day? Because if so, then I can just wait, let this wave of emotion pass through, and then see how I feel on the other side of the wave of emotion. And if I'm still feeling this wave of emotion, I'm probably not in clarity yet. Okay, so all that big emotional go, do, do, do, do it right now. Turning your notice this moment that demand for immediate action is a big clue that it's coming probably from other places. And so you may ask, Well, where does this stuff come from that feels so strong and so directive, and this is the thing to do. It can stem from past wounds, from external influences, from unconscious patterns that you have. And this can be where you're being guided from your past history, your body, your mind, your subconscious is trying to protect yourself. And so when we are listening on that level, and the level of the personality, we're not really able to discern what the higher direction is, what the big opportunity for us, the expansive opportunity for us happens to be. You know, we're just listening to that. If you do this, you'll be safe. If you do this, you'll be safe, which, of course, all of that is an illusion anyway, right? It's the story, the story of this equals safety, but there's no guarantees with that. There's no guarantees with that security, which is why it's so important to recognize that we have a lot of stories tied into what security really means, and when we unravel those, we can be a lot freer and to hear what the truth really is, what the truth for us is in that moment. So let's say you are in the moment. Maybe you are thinking about something that you've been feeling is brewing. You've been thinking is, maybe this is a message. Maybe it's not, I don't know. How do you tell the difference in the moment? How can you determine which we're talking about, whether it's a true message, or whether it really is coming from a more emotional place? So think about the word demand. Okay, check into the energy that you're sensing around what's coming up. So does it sound like a whisper, some direction, or does it sound like a yell, a roar? This must happen, right? Because intuition rarely demands. I can't think of a single example in my personal life where it's been a full demand. So that would be a really strong indicator if you're getting that yelling energy around it that you're probably hearing from past wounds, from inner child, from external influences, from unconscious patterns, and that that is what's truly speaking to you. Another thing you can do is move into that quiet space. So really allow yourself to get quiet, tuned in, get a little bit more connected, try and release any emotional energy that's coming up. And then ask yourself, when you connect with this energy, does it feel open hearted, or does it feel in your body like contracted, close together, confined, restricted. What does it feel like? Does your energy open up, or does it contract itself? So listen to your body with that also listen to your auric field and your energy field. What is your energy field telling you? How is your chakras responding. So when you hold that message in your mind and in your spirit and imagine that playing out in your life, what comes forward, just the pure feeling of it, that can be a really nice direction for us. And then, if you're still really confused, just ask your guides for some more confirmation. So let them know. Listen, I'm in my head. I'm confused about this. I'm a little bit uncertain about whether I'm having an emotional response to the Oh my gosh. Well, that means I have to change this and do this. And my mind has gotten. In the way, or whether I really am in emotional impulse rather than the true message, right? So let them know where you are what's happening. Just be straightforward. Be honest with them, like you're talking to me or talking to someone else. Okay, just share what's truly on your heart, and then ask for a clear sign from them say, I need more support in discerning between whether this is an emotional direction or whether this is a true message for me to follow. And then just listen. You know, spirit is patient, so it may not come immediately the next day. It may not be the billboard. If you say, well, I need it to say, Beth on a billboard, you know, as I'm driving the highway, whatever. Instead, allow them time to bring that information to you in the best way, so that you can integrate what you need to integrate, to receive what is trying to come forward for you, so you can be more in your sense of discernment. So then you have to detach the rules, detach your requirements, and really trust what comes forward for you as being guidance. So okay, maybe you have a dream that helps you play out some of this, and it gives you some direction, or helps you to understand how this might all work out for you, or maybe it shows you a different possibility than you've ever even considered before, but your guides know just the way to help us. Now, I do want to be clear about your guides aren't always going to, you know, wave a magic wand and then suddenly there's you have no fear about change that you're making in your life. Okay? There's a difference between fear that we perceive within the message itself and fear that we have in reaction to the message. And so you need to really discern that also is what we're talking about today. Is the energy of the message itself. Does the energy of the message itself feel calm and peaceful, simple, clear? That's intuition. If the energy of the message itself feels charged, urgent, demanding, panic, anxiety, overwhelm has lots and lots of layers to it. That's a big red flag for this is probably coming from another place, but it's okay if you have a clear message that says, hey, it's time to make this change. And you recognize that as being some direction from your spirit guides, or direction from your higher self. And then in reaction to that fear comes up for you, and you go, Oh my gosh. Like, what does that mean? And then you get into the mind map of, well, now, do I have to change doggy daycare? And do I have to do this? And like, well, what then, how this is going to work? Those are two separate things, okay, managing our emotional reaction to the message itself is a whole different episode, okay, but the most important thing is to be able to discern the energy of the message itself, so that you can put more faith in it. Put more trust in it. You can make those changes when it's time to make those changes, rather than dragging it out, dragging out the inevitable, which is what your next step happens to be, and the truth is sometimes an intuitive nudge, just it doesn't feel good at first. It does feel stressful, it feels overwhelming, and we might have been burying that truth within us for a while because it doesn't feel good to recognize we have to make that change. The End Time, as you build that trust muscle with your intuition, with your spirit guides, it will give you the courage and the strength to move forward with those harder decisions, with more peace in your heart, with more clarity, with more of a sense of you know what, this is going to be okay. I'll get through this too. This is going to be fine. I know this is going to work out for me. I know that if I respond now, rather than waiting three years until I have a list of factual reasons why this is the right thing to do, if I do it now that I'm in the best position to be able to do it. We want that trust muscle to be strong, but we have to start somewhere. We don't always start with that huge trust muscle within us. So if you have a weaker trust muscle right now, or you're being asked to act in some faith, and you're just not sure you're there in the moment, there's no judgment. I understand. It's okay. We're all in different places at different times. Here's one of the things that you can do to work on that trust muscle. Look at some of the moments in your life where you knew intuition came up. You know, now looking back without a shadow of a doubt, you know that you had. It intuitive direction or some intuitive message. Now, whether you followed that or not really doesn't matter, but I want you to pay attention to that, to those moments where you can be sure and let that help guide you. Think about those past moments when your intuition was right and you followed through with it. How did it feel? How did it come through to you? What was the tone of the voice that you received, the message that you had? What was the kind of tone? What was the hallmark of it? How can you identify it? Pay attention to that, and even if you didn't follow through with it in that moment. You know, think about how was I reacting when I knew I wasn't following through? You know, are there some signs, like maybe I was growing more and more uncomfortable, maybe I felt more and more restless? There were some indicators that I wasn't on the right track. I want you to explore that just with openness. Think about those times, because that's going to help you inform you for the future. It's important research that you need to have that's going to help you so that you're not starting always from square one with every intuitive message you're you have information in the past about how this has worked out for you. Now, when you have a big message, a big direction, you might think, well, what if I make a mistake? What if I completely read this wrong, and I do the wrong thing, and now I've impacted myself in a really big way. I've impacted other people. I've turned people's lives upside down. Whatever story you have in your mind right now that's kind of causing that nervousness inside. If you have that anxiety, that's kind of keeping you frozen, keeping you from not responding when you do have the discernment, when you've discovered from our episode today that, yes, this is definitely an intuitive nudge that I'm receiving. This isn't my emotional response, but I'm still really anxious. I'm still really stressed about what if I get it wrong. I don't know what to do, and you're just sitting on your hands, right? I want you to remember that if you are earnestly trying, spirit will always show up for you. I want you to hear that for so many things in your life right now. If you are earnestly trying, spirit will always show up for you. They will always help you. They will help us work through anything that we have to work through. They will guide you along the way. But we do have to be sincere and be genuine in our hearts, and that's that's the thing that we can control, that's the thing that we can focus on, is making sure that we are genuine and sincere in our efforts to do our very best, to be intentional, to have discernment. We may not always get it right, but our intention to get it right is what's so important. As we fill in the blanks, as we get the experience and as we grow in our wisdom, spirit will always reach down and help us, even if you make a mistake and you follow a big emotional impulse and not a true intuitive push, you will learn. You'll have more data, your intuition will be stronger, because now you'll be like, Okay, well now I recognize in hindsight, my wisdom of hindsight, that that was emotional and wasn't coming from the highest source. So you'll have that data, you'll learn the difference, you'll have more understanding for that trust muscle to keep getting stronger, to help you learn to trust your true intuition. So in the end, it's going to be okay. And the good news is that you'll still grow from it in the process, whichever direction you go. So don't let it paralyze you. And more than anything, just becoming more clear and more aware of the difference between your emotional impulses and actual messages will make a big difference in your intuitive growth, paying more attention about where things are coming from and using that discernment on a regular basis for the Little intuitive nudges that you get to the big intuitive nudges, because practicing it in small arenas makes you ready to practice it loudly, boldly in bigger places in your life. Okay, so don't underestimate where you can use this direction wisdom and knowledge. So here's what I want you to do now, is I want you to just pause, take some breaths and recall a recent decision. So something that you feel like you were at a crossroads with. You needed to make a decision you. You felt like you got some direction or a nudge or a push. You're not sure which one I want you to just review that. Review that decision, in the energy around that decision. Was it a impulse, an emotional response, or was it a real intuitive nudge. Just thinking about that in the context of what we talked about today, and also how your body reacts when I even say that, ought to let you know whether or not it was coming from the emotional realms or more from the intuitive realms. The good news is that even when we resist a message, when something's coming through and it's inconvenient and we don't want to listen to it, and we kind of push it back down, is our intuition is steady. It's not going to scream at you, but it is always going to keep pointing us consistently in the right direction. So just trust in that steady direction that you feel within our emotional realm, or just clouds. They're moving it. It moves so fast. I just was doing a meditation with someone, and they were leading it and talking about our emotions is like a parade where you're just becoming the witness and sitting there watching the parade of thoughts and the parade of emotions sort of pass you by. That's how quickly, how changeable our emotional realm is. But real truth is very steady. It has a steady voice within us. And know that the more that you tune into that, the more that you feel connected with, that witness energy within that steady side of yourself, that place of trust and openness and expansion. And the more you trust in that you're building your trust muscle, the more that you are expressing your highest path in the world. And when you do that, it comes with such a wonderful sense of peace, such a sense of knowing that we're on the right track, that we're moving in the right direction. It's not about results. It's not about prestige, materialism, commercialism, there is just a feeling inside that is the ultimate reward, to be really in alignment and to be expressing our medicine, our love out into the world. That is a true blessing and the best kind of reward we can possibly have. All right, I hope that this helps you in your journey of discernment between those emotional impulses and intuitive nudges. I'd love to hear any of your stories about this, or if you have things that you're you know still working through, feel free and reach out at Sedona medium on Instagram, or you can send us a message here at our podcast. Thank you so much. Sending you lots of love, many blessings. The

Robert Wooten: 34:53

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