Nothing is Happening: Navigating Intuitive Blocks Part 2

For many people “blocks” are largely about changing expectations and developing confidence (see Part 1). But there are also more literal blocks to intuitive perception. Three common causes of intuitive block have to do with our mental-emotional states when trying to access intuition, the condition of our energetic boundaries, and our degree of energetic clarity and authenticity. These can all be factors in the experience of intuitive block, though they are not automatically causative. Some people are still intuitively open despite the presence of conditions to the contrary as there can be other factors in play. But when these types of blocks are present, addressing these causes will make a difference in intuitive clarity and flow.

Mental-Emotional States

The more balanced we are psychoemotionally the clearer our intuition. When we are in charged emotional states and mental spin-out it is harder to get clear intuitive input. A balanced and neutral state of being, and this can be even a moment of putting thoughts and emotions aside, creates a quieter backdrop through which the intuitive voice can be discerned more clearly.

If I can’t access the still, neutral part of myself in the moment – if the emotions and mental spin-out are too prominent – I wait until the psychoemotional dust has settled before trying to engage my intuition. If the matter I am seeking clarity on is an on-going charged topic and I have strong attachments to the outcome, I may seek an outside source of guidance for more objective reflections and feedback.

Tools:

One way to calm mental spin-out is to spend time outside. Engaging the world outside and getting out of the house can help us get out of our heads.

Whenever I want to engage my intuition more intentionally I drop my awareness, which is usually centered around my head, to my lower abdomen. This helps to avert my focus from the mental thought parade and de-energize it (energy follows awareness). Thoughts will still be present but this enables me to not get caught up in them.

I will also center my consciousness in the central channel (known as the sushumna in some yogic traditions). This is a place of inner stability, stillness, and neutrality. My thoughts and emotions are still present but my awareness is anchored in my center rather than being blown about by the changing winds of emotion and thought. I keep a part of my awareness in this place while I engage my intuition and clair-senses, and re-center as needed when I find myself getting caught up in the winds.

The practice can be just what I described above. And more formal meditation practices can be learned and practiced to this end as well. There are two free online courses on foundational meditation practices from the Tibetan Bön tradition offered through Ligmincha Learning. I have found these practices to be very useful and accessible.

Energy Boundaries: Too Little

Not having sufficient energetic boundaries can lead to less clarity of intuitive perception. In this case your intuitive radio is picking up many stations at once rather than tuning into one station of choice. When there are multiple inputs present it can be difficult to discern between them. Think of trying to pick out the voice of a quiet introvert from across the room at a large and loud party.

Multiple sources of input can include information from our ancestral fields, non-corporeal beings, psychic connection and energetic enmeshment with other people, significant transpersonal collective trends, and soul history influences.

Insufficient boundaries can create a state of being over-merged with and undifferentiated from non-self input. Whatever is happening in our personal space we tend to identify with ourselves. This is at least partly because self and non-self input can register in similar ways. My anxiety and anxiety in my field from another source can feel the same – as an experience of anxiety. My thoughts and thoughts in my field from another source can occur in the same way – as the detection of thoughts. It can be difficult to distinguish sources of input without additional means of discernment.

In general non-self input can be distinguished by unusual intensity, unusual content, and lack of reasonable present-day context. Anything that registers as “weird” likely merits some attention. If I find myself unable to explain an experience or doing mental gymnastics to find a reasonable source, I see these as indicators of the possible presence of non-self energy.

Tools:

When multiple signals are present the aim is to sort them out. External signals can be reduced by the development of energetic boundaries. Boundaries can take time to strengthen and become effective so it is important to reinforce your boundary intentions daily. A good resource for developing energetic boundaries is The Lover Within by Julie Henderson. I also share free content about boundaries and boundary-setting practices through my private (free) online platform.

Reduce unnecessary external sources of input like media. It is often helpful to take a full (or as full as possible) media break. The intuitive voice tends to be a quieter aspect of ourselves; turning down the volume on the external “party” will help amplify its presence.

Signals that are more internal to our systems can take time to transform/transmute or clear. Some practices are oriented toward this type of purification, like yogic prana exercises. Healing work and energy body clearing address that which needs to be worked with more consciously and not just released from the external field.

Energy Boundaries: Too Much

On the other side of the spectrum, energetic armoring can also impede intuitive flow. Sometimes a suit of armor is exactly what is needed for protection purposes; but it can also block certain types of input and experiences. When there isn’t a need for armoring, boundaries are ideally semi-permeable. Like cell membranes, our boundaries can have a gating function that allows some kinds of input and not others.

Energetic armoring can be softened and eventually dismantled through healing processes and replacement with semi-permeable boundaries and protection. This is often a gradual process. I recommend never pushing or trying to force this kind of armoring away. Sometimes “blocks” are protective and part of the wisdom of our energy bodies.

Tools:

Establish, and cultivate, relationships with wise and compassionate spirit protectors (see spirit vetting protocol in this post). These can include your wise and well ancestors, protector animal or plant spirits, angels, deities, enlightened beings. Make a point of regularly asking them to help fortify and maintain your boundaries. To this end it is useful to define what your boundaries are, and where they are, for clarity.

The help of spirit protectors does not mean we never have any issues and are 100% clear all of the time. There are more conditions in play than can be mitigated or controlled in this way. But invoking the help of spirit protectors can make a big difference over time. In many ritual traditions the support of tutelary and protective spirits is considered an essential element for practical success.

Energetic Clarity and Authenticity

Places that could use some healing attention are often places of literal energetic blocks, where flow and therefore intuition is potentially impeded. As we get our energy systems sorted out – strengthening what is authentic, resolving what is not – they become clearer and better functioning.

My journey from being an intuition novice to using my intuitive faculty professionally included – a lot – of personal development. This involved many years of personal healing work as well as the transformational elements of all of my trainings. It looked something like this: During my first year of training we met once a week for nine months and engaged practices like drum journeys and readings that exercised our intuitive faculties. The next two years of training took these practices into developing spirit-mediated healing skills. This work included participation in several ceremonies and intensive retreats each year. During this time, and for several years after foundational training, I met with my teacher about once a month for private mentoring. I have attended many transformational trainings, retreats, and rituals over the years. I have engaged my own healing work which has included: soul retrieval, counseling, acupuncture, herbal medicine, craniosacral therapy, biofield tuning, structural integration, readings of various sorts, curse unravelling, ancestral lineage healing, and the resolution of overshadowing influences. Over this time my intuitive faculty has become clearer and stronger.

Not everyone will walk a similar path to mine but I am sharing this to help illustrate this point as well as to further debunk the Special Person Trap (see Part 1). Intuition is already there and it is also a faculty that develops as we grow and do the work of self-realization.

Tools:

Anything that supports the sorting out of self/not-self and Self/not-Self will be useful. This includes meditation and yogic practices, other forms of spiritual initiation and practice, and personal healing work.

For related content see:

Am I Doing this Right? Unpacking Intuitive Perception

Nothing is Happening: Navigating Intuitive Blocks Part 1

Safe and Sovereign: Interfacing with the Spirit World

Reframing Mediumship: Connection and Communication through Conscious Resonance