Is It Anxiety or Intuition? A Psychic’s Take on Trusting Yourself
We all come to moments in life where the weight of a decision feels almost unbearable. Should you leave the relationship, take the job, sell the house, or say yes to the opportunity that both excites and terrifies you?
Most people who book a psychic reading with me, whether a life path tarot reading or a mediumship session, are really asking the same underlying question: how do I know if I’m making the right choice?
If you’ve lost someone you love and haven’t been able to feel their spirit close to you, or wondered why you can’t seem to dream of them, this is also part of the same struggle. Grief doesn’t just break our hearts; it shakes the calmness we need to notice when intuition is speaking.
The confusion lies in separating what’s real intuition from what’s just anxiety running the show. Both can feel powerful. Both can grip your body and mind. But they are not the same. Anxiety keeps you spinning. Intuition grounds you, even when it asks you to be brave.
And here’s my advice: read this until the end, because I’m going to give you a surprising way to tell them apart, one you probably haven’t heard before!
When It Feels Like Panic
I used to think psychic insight only arrived as flashes, visions that came suddenly, sometimes in strange or inconvenient moments, like loading my dog into the car for a road trip. Many of those impressions were dire, even tragic, and for a brief moment I would second-guess myself, wondering if they were warnings of what was to come.
But that instant of panic wasn’t intuition.
That was ego, trying to protect me by running through every possible worst-case scenario.
Ego-based fear always has an edge to it. It feels heavy, sharp, and demanding. Intuition is different. It never comes with fear attached. If anything, it carries the opposite quality. Intuition is tranquil, like the weight that lifts from your shoulders after sinking into a hot bath, or the quiet joy that curls in your stomach the way a child feels waiting for Christmas morning.
A Psychic’s Perspective on Intuition
As a psychic medium, my role isn’t to replace your decision-making or hand you an instruction manual for your life. My job is to say exactly what I see, without bias, without control, without guilt or shame attached, and in doing so, help you trust yourself. The most accurate psychic reading is the one that validates what your inner voice has already been whispering, even if you were too afraid to fully claim it.
Every client I read for is a kind of trust fall.
The illusion is that psychics know everything all at once. Could you imagine how exhausting and anxiety-inducing that would be for us? In reality, it’s a very focused state of stillness that we practice (developing intuition).
When I enter a session, I don’t know everything about the person in front of me. The best thing clients can do is to not feed the psychic. Don’t open with explanations or backstory. True paranormal insights land in the space of the unknown, unbiased, unprompted, arriving right when you need to hear them. For both of us, it’s a jump into uncertainty. Anxiety clings to what-ifs and tries to control outcomes. Intuition simply waits to be trusted.
What Intuition Is (And What It Isn’t)
Intuition is not panic. Panic belongs to anxiety. Intuition does not rush you or make you feel small.
Intuition is not self-criticism. Judgment, guilt, or shame, that’s conditioning, not intuition.
Intuition is not obsession. Anxiety loops endlessly; intuition speaks once, then waits.
So what is intuition?
- It’s a flash of clarity that feels calm, even if it scares you.
- A steady pull, like a quiet hand at your back.
- Often the first impression you have before your mind starts analyzing.
- Bodily tone: expansive, light, settled, even when the message is hard.
The key difference: anxiety contracts; intuition expands. One tightens you; the other steadies you.
In tarot, anxiety is illustrated by the Nine of Swords (transformative tarot readings). A figure sits up in bed, plagued by racing thoughts, each sword a “what if.” This card shows what happens when you try to order chaos, but what you actually need is rest.
The remedy isn’t solving all nine swords; it’s holding onto one thought that doesn’t hurt. That becomes the seed of clarity, the path out of the storm into a state where intuition can finally be heard.
Intuition as Still Water
If you’ve lost someone and haven’t been able to feel them or see them in your dreams, this is why. Intuition is much like a body of still water. When your emotions are calm, the surface rests flat and clear, reflecting back exactly what stands before it.
In that tranquility, you can glimpse the truth of your own heart, or even catch the subtle outline of something greater than yourself. Intuition doesn’t shout or distort, it mirrors quietly and faithfully when your inner life is steady enough to notice it.
But when emotions are turbulent, the reflection disappears.
Grief in particular stirs the waters until they’re rough, scattered, and impossible to see through. This is why so many people in deep mourning say they can’t feel their intuition, or why they long to dream of someone they love who has passed but never seem to. It isn’t that the connection is gone, it’s that the waves of grief make it impossible for the image to settle on the surface.
Over time, as grief softens, the waters clear. And in those rare, steady moments of stillness, intuition returns, sometimes as a dream, sometimes as a sign, and often as the quietest voice rising again from within.
How to Trust Intuition
Trusting intuition takes repetition and bravery. It means giving weight to the first impression instead of the fifth. Acting on the subtle pull instead of waiting for proof.
Personally, when I’m faced with a decision, I sleep on it, then listen to the very first thought that surfaces in the morning.
That quiet impression is the one I trust.
It doesn’t arrive with guarantees. Sometimes things don’t turn out as imagined. But intuition keeps you aligned, even amidst chaos. It’s not about perfection; it’s about orientation.
For those navigating grief or heartbreak, trusting intuition can feel impossible because your emotions are raw and overwhelming. But intuition isn’t emotion. It’s the calm awareness beneath emotion. And often, reconnecting with it becomes the very first sign of healing.
The Psychic Gifts: Different Ways Intuition Speaks
Psychics describe intuition through the “clairs.” You may notice one or more in yourself:
- Clairvoyance (clear seeing): Vivid images or symbols appearing in your mind (clairvoyance vs tarot).
- Clairaudience (clear hearing): A whispered phrase or word, even when no one’s speaking.
- Clairsentience (clear feeling): Emotional or physical sensations that aren’t yours, but carry insight.
- Claircognizance (clear knowing): Truth without evidence, you just know, and later events confirm it.
Everyone has access to these gifts; they’re the languages of intuition. Even in moments of loss, when you think you’re completely disconnected, subtle signals still arrive.
How to Increase Your Intuition (and Champion It Over Anxiety)
Strengthening intuition isn’t about silencing your mind, it’s about learning to trust it. It’s a relationship, nurtured over time (how to increase your psychic abilities).
Dream journaling is one of the most powerful tools I use. More than recording images, it’s about tracking emotional tone, where intuition lives. Over time, the process reveals patterns and synchronicities, subtle signs that you’re on the right path.
Another tool is learning to rest when your nervous system is overworked. (what a concept hey?) If you’ve ever struggled with looping thoughts at night, you’ll recognize the Nine of Swords in your own life. Overthinking leads nowhere. Finding one calm thought and holding onto it creates the space for intuition to emerge.
The most surprising anxiety-killer you can try immediately? Hum.
Yes, you read that right. Not a song, not a chant, just a low, steady audible hum. Do it now as you read this. You’ll notice something remarkable: it’s actually impossible to hold an intrusive thought while humming. That’s not coincidence, it’s biology.
For my tarot reader’s out there: if you’ve ever struggled with looping thoughts at night, you’ll recognize the Nine of Swords in your own life. Overthinking leads nowhere. Finding one calm thought and holding onto it creates the space for intuition to emerge (overwhelmed with tarot).
Humming stimulates the vagus nerve, the body’s longest cranial nerve, which connects the brain to major organs. When activated, it shifts the nervous system into a parasympathetic state, the “rest and digest” mode that counteracts fight-or-flight. Research shows humming increases nitric oxide in the nasal passages, which improves oxygen flow, lowers blood pressure, and regulates heart rate.
In plain terms: humming tricks the body into calm.
And calm is the condition intuition needs to be heard.
What makes this so powerful is its immediacy. You don’t need to journal, meditate, or light a candle. You can hum in the car, in the shower, or quietly under your breath at work. As the nervous system steadies, what remains in the silence afterward, that clear, matter-of-fact impression, is intuition.
I’ll share another tool that completely shifted my perspective: lemon balm.
My friend Jim and I were completely spent, exhausted, underslept, irritable. At a pub, a herbalist and gardener friend offered us a tincture. Jim, this six-foot-eight giant, took it immediately, no hesitations. I followed suit. Within minutes, my nervous system softened. That night, I slept profoundly.
Now, lemon balm tea is part of my daily ritual before readings. It lets me return to my breath and to the simple truth: we are not our racing thoughts, not our fleeting emotions, not even our bodies. We are the awareness behind it all (embracing your shadow).
Closing Guidance
The difference between intuition and anxiety isn’t subtle once you learn to listen. Anxiety loops in “what ifs.” Intuition speaks once, and rests, leaving calm clarity.
If you’re struggling to tell the difference, a psychic reading isn’t about control, it’s validation of the truth you already carry (best psychic reading reflections).
Trust that first quiet nudge. Respect it. Nurture it. Intuition doesn’t punish, it steadies. And over time, the distinction between psychic insight and personal knowing will dissolve, until they feel indistinguishably one.
Ready for More Clarity?
If you’re at a crossroads, whether in love, career, grief, or personal growth, I’d love to support you.
Book a reading with me and experience how accurate, compassionate, and empowering psychic insights can help you trust yourself again.
This article was written by Chris Bennett, a top-rated international tarot reader and psychic medium based in Canada. With over 275 five-star reviews, Chris is trusted by clients around the world, including public figures and celebrity clientele, for his accurate, intuitive, and emotionally grounded online readings. His work blends deep spiritual insight with practical guidance, offering both tarot sessions and evidential mediumship that bring clarity, healing, and meaningful connection. Chris works exclusively online, making his services accessible worldwide. Whether you’re seeking direction, closure, or confirmation, you’re in the right place.
