Do Highly Sensitive People Have Good Intuition?

“Tell me tonight’s lottery numbers!”

I jokingly ask my partner this when she talks in advance of something that  happens later on, or later we discover it’s already happened.

Her intuition is strong and rarely fails.

She never can tell me any lottery numbers; the intuition is there, but wouldn’t predicting numbers border on clairvoyance?

While writing this article, we had taken a trip to a region where we used to live, and I mentioned a particular person when talking casually, who we then happened to bump into.

Serendipity, like clairvoyance, is separate but on a similar wavelength.

So what is intuition exactly?

From the Oxford dictionary, it’s defined as a noun. noun. /ˌɪntuˈɪʃn/ 1[uncountable] the ability to know something by using your feelings rather than considering the facts; a keen and quick insight; direct perception of truth, independent of reason. Intuition can also be described as a feeling of what is possible, an abstract idea.

The phrase “gut feeling” springs to mind too; all of us have had times when we felt something strong and then went on to be proven right, and this can apply to both the positive and the negative.

When meeting new people I can quickly sense how open they are, how genuine, and generous, and this can lead to a dilemma—either you become choosy and only align yourself with those who meet you where you’re at, and there are not too many of those.

Or, you accept that some are going to annoy you with their secrecy, ambivalence, and stinginess, destined at best to be an acquaintance.

HSPs normally have only a small circle of truly great friends for these reasons that can be traced in part to intuition.

A great amount of intuition does go around our household.

We’re still learning how to enjoy the feeling without getting overwhelmed.

It has happened, though thankfully rare, that all three of us have been overwhelmed at the same time, as we pick up on the situation, or what one of us says.

Over time we’ve all gotten better at managing our emotions, spending more time in nature, meditating, or simply being aware of an experience we’ve learned from.

When my son was young, he had this ability to “know” if another child was going to be friendly, or not, in a chance meeting, which allowed him to approach them to talk about animals, dinosaurs, and aliens.

I think high sensitivity and intuition are interconnected.

Mainly because HSPs are more prone to feel the smallest aspects of feelings, moods, light, and notice the tiniest details others are oblivious to.

Overall the way an HSPs brain receives information from their external environment; gets stored like a canvas with the nuances of colours and tones, smells even.

HSPs are not alone in this, yet they probably have more “data” incoming and perhaps are better placed to process it.

I’m not a specialist in this regard, but do know that thinking and feeling are opposites, literally emanating from different parts of the brain—the rational part of the brain expressing itself in your thoughts, the emotional part in gut feelings, heavy breathing, e.t.c.

Rationally the brain can help you understand where your feelings come from but it can’t simply remove thoughts, emotions, and sensations.
HSPs are prone to overthinking and we might try to second-guess what someone else is thinking. This may not be based on fact but our bias or prejudice.

For example, “They didn’t call me back, therefore, they don’t like me/I’ve upset them,” as opposed to they’ve got something more pressing to deal with or “I didn’t make it clear I wanted a reply/confirmation”.

It might also be an idea to turn the idea of intuition on its head and look at it from the perspective of self-care.

This is important for all HSPs and not just for intuition; if you’ve been picking up on a friend’s feelings and helping them with whatever they’re going through, then you’ll benefit from some downtime afterward.

Indeed you could say it’s vital if you’re to maintain a healthy balance in your life.

You’d wear sunglasses if the sun were too bright, so filtering the incoming energies during or afterward makes for great self-care.

Meditation can be a great solution for some; and mindfulness has been proven to help the medial pre-frontal cortex in the brain, and can be used to help people get over traumatic events.

I think mediation goes well with an HSP temperament; Elaine Aron herself is a big fan of transcendental mediation, for example.

I find it helps with a sense of calmness, slower breathing, and a connection with your heart, perhaps lowering your heart rate itself for a period.

Start the day with a brief practice and similarly close the day out the same way.

In the beginning it isn’t easy and as it is considered a practice, but you’ll get better over time the more you do it.

Make it part of a daily routine, just like cleaning your teeth, and once you get to 21 days consecutive you should have overcome any temptation to quit.

It’s a personal preference for how much time you need/can afford to devote and 15 minutes a day for handling your daily life journey better is a good investment.

To conclude, do I think my intuition is helpful overall?

I’d have to say “yes” with no reservation.

The positives have been outlined and provided you have some self-care practices in place, which is important for all HSPs, not just this aspect we are discussing here, then you’ll see it as a positive of the trait.

Interested in the topic of intuition? Listen to The HSP World Podcast Ep. 3: Why Do I Get Intuitions About the People I Meet?

Have you found your intuition helpful?