Is It Intuition or Overthinking? 5 Ways to Tell the Difference

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How do you know if you're making a decision from intuition, or if you're making a decision from overthinking

This is a common question I hear and one of the most important things to address on a spiritual path.

Intuition is that quiet, calm voice inside you. It’s consistent and feels right, guiding you towards decisions that really resonate with who you are. Overthinking, on the other hand, is noisy, chaotic, and leaves you feeling anxious. It’s that mental chatter that makes it hard to trust yourself. When you’re caught up in overthinking, your mind is spinning with doubts and fears, making it tough to hear your intuition.

Yoga and meditation are game-changers for quieting your mind and tuning into your intuition. Practices like asana (yoga poses), pranayama (breath control), and dharana (focused concentration) are super effective for calming your mind and bringing you back to your center. With regular practice, you’ll start to notice the difference between those anxious thoughts and the calm, steady voice of your intuition.

In yoga, we talk about cultivating sattva—the quality of purity and balance. Living a sattvic life means eating clean, spending time in nature, and doing things that bring you mental and emotional clarity. By cutting back on things that create inertia (tamasic energy) or agitation (rajasic energy), you make room for your intuition to come through more clearly.

Staying grounded is key to keeping your energy stable and your intuition strong. Simple practices like walking barefoot on the earth or sitting quietly on the ground can make a huge difference. When you’re grounded, you’re more present and less likely to get lost in your thoughts. Grounded decisions are slow, steady, and feel solid—just like the roots of a tree.

We live in a world that’s always noisy, so carving out time for silence and stillness is crucial. Whether it’s through meditation or just sitting in nature, these quiet moments help your mind settle so your intuition can rise to the surface. Some of my best ideas and insights have come from simply sitting in silence by the ocean or in a quiet space.

Hear more on this episode.

0:00 Introduction to Quiet Mind Astrology podcast and free birth chart offer

0:00:25 Topic: Intuition versus overthinking

0:01:00 Announcement: Upcoming yoga teacher training on 9/9/24

0:02:00 Discussion on resetting energy after giving a reading

0:07:01 Returning to intuition by eliminating distractions

0:07:47 Reference to the Bhagavad Gita and mind as one’s best friend or enemy

0:18:06 Realization about overthinking and addressing it

0:30:19 Using breathwork to move from overthinking to conscious awareness

0:34:24 Explanation of dharana (concentration) and moving towards flow state

0:39:03 Mention of the movie Inside Out 2 as an analogy for emotional understanding

0:42:05 How to differentiate intuition from overthinking through the quieting of the mind

0:46:11 Five ways to tell the difference between intuition and overthinking:

0:46:11 Self-study

0:47:05 Emotional awareness

0:49:02 Cultivating sattva (purity)

0:52:49 Grounding practices

0:56:07 Times in silence and stillness

0:59:11 Recap of intuition vs overthinking and connection to the eight limbs of yoga

1:01:12 Transition to discussing astrological transits from August 16th to 21st

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