Daily Times

Often, the soundless guiding force urges us to change a course of action. Some call it a gut feeling and others, intuition or our conscious. This inner voice is hard to verbalise. Derived from the Latin word, “Intueri,” which means “to contemplate.”

Intuition is a brain function. Linked to creativity, imagination and the emotional side of the brain, which is located on the right hemisphere, intuition is a most-misread dimension. It is the most powerful voice of wisdom and can be developed to infinite levels. Sagas call it “the flower that blooms in silence.”

Within ourselves, we have trust problems. Mindless and paranoid thoughts sway us like a pendulum. When intuition guides, we need to listen without judgment. Karen Young wrote, “The human brain has two ‘operating systems.’ The first is quick, instinctual and effortless. This is where our intuition lies. Intuition works by drawing on patterns collected by our experience and when we have to make a quick decision about whether something is real, fake, feels good, feels bad, right or wrong, we draw on these patterns. It all happens ‘offline,’ outside our conscious awareness. The second operating system is slower to respond. It’s more analytical and deliberate and it’s conscious.” But how to detach yourself from the tangible world and become more self-aware? Mindfulness, meditation and introspection all assist in developing self-awareness. Tony Robbins said, “When you pay close attention and listen to your nonverbal, almost preverbal cues – you’ll notice a predominance of energy moving in one direction or the other. If you feel anything close to expansive, joyful, or excited, that’s intuition signalling to move ahead and say yes. Contraction, or any sense of dread, means it’s a no-go.” Professor Hodgkinson, at Leeds University Business School, is particularly interested in the impact of intuition within the business. He called it “instantaneous evaluation.”

In eastern traditions, intuition is housed in the third eye; said to be the eye of wisdom capable of bridging the missing link between mind, body and spirit

Several studies show a positive correlation between executives capable of intuitive decisions and the success of the companies they run. Those at senior management levels make greater use of intuition with success.

Ivan Rocha’s research on this particular subject is interesting. She stated, “As one climbs up in the organisational hierarchy, decisions are made with higher uncertainty, like the one about the introducing a technological innovation or the opportunity to launch a new product on the market. Many professionals consider it natural to climb to positions with greater managerial responsibility, as they acquire experience in technical positions. However, one has to consider that managerial decisions can be very different from technical ones.”

Ivon promoted improvisation with planning for better and smarter managers.

Science has traditionally scoffed at the concept of hunches. One of the behavioural theories on intuition considers predictions or judgments made with high confidence are more likely to be correct than predictions or judgments made with low confidence. In 1993, a study was conducted in which 198 physicians participated. The experiment required the physicians to estimate three separate indexes of heart functioning, before inserting a right-heart catheter. The research suggested that even expert decision-makers, such as physicians, could lack a strong relationship between confidence and accuracy. After each catheter was inserted and “read,” the researchers could assess the relationship between the accuracy of each physician’s estimate and his or her confidence in that estimate. “Like intelligence analysts, these physicians were bright, dedicated, and conscientious. They were confronted with a relatively high-stakes situation in which getting the right answer was exceedingly important. Yet the estimates in which they expressed high confidence were no more likely to be correct than those in which they expressed low confidence.”

The ancient Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Christians believed that the pituitary is connected to our spirituality and intuition. In eastern traditions, intuition is housed in the third eye, a place in between the two real eyes on the forehead. It is said to be the eye of wisdom capable of bridging the missing link between mind, body and spirit. At the physical level, it is the site of the pituitary gland and frontal cortex of the brain. The pituitary gland is the master gland or the superstar that controls the functions of other hormones. Our conditioning will generate distinct responses based on experience, often igniting feelings of apprehension or anxiety. A well-established intuition is wisdom-based insight and gives a calmer response. Many people feel that fear is more predominant in their lives and find it hard to cultivate intuition. At physical level calcification of the pituitary gland due to diets rich in hormones, additives and sugars. Some studies refer to constant exposure to radiation from cell phone use. The spontaneity of “good” and “bad” feeling lies in thought, food and actions, which translates into mind, body and spirit.

The writer is a wellness and yoga expert. She can be reached at aliya@aliyaagha.com