Hi there,
One of the most misunderstood aspects of human intelligence is the quiet voice we call intuition. It’s easy to confuse it with anxiety — the restless hum of anticipation, the fear of making the wrong move, the sense that danger lurks somewhere we can’t yet see.
Both sensations live in our bodies. Both can feel urgent and can make us feel like we have to act right now. But one emerges from calm awareness, and the other from a survival alarm.
There’s danger in getting these two signals confused.
Anxiety is the body’s alarm system — not a truth teller.
Anxiety originates in the amygdala, our brain’s ancient alarm center. When it senses uncertainty, it triggers a cascade: the heart races, muscles tense, breath shortens. Blood flow shifts away from the prefrontal cortex — the area responsible for reasoning, empathy, and long-term perspective — and rushes toward regions primed for fight or flight.
When you’re in this state, your body is not interested in truth. It is interested in safety. Its messages are loud, repetitive, and fear-based: Don’t go. Don’t trust. Don’t move.
If intuition is a whisper, anxiety is an alarm bell. It shouts until you do something to make the discomfort stop.
But anxiety’s job is to protect you, not to guide you. And if you confuse that anxiety for intuition, it will guide you toward safety, not growth. Not your true needs.
Today, I want to help you learn to tell these two signals apart. I’m going to break down the exact difference between intuition and anxiety inside our nervous systems and walk you through three simple, everyday exercises to help foster your sense of intuition, so you can let it guide you forward without fear.
Let’s get into it.