INDEX

1. Acknowledgement
2. Objective
3. Introduction
4. What is intuition and anxiety?
5. How to differentiate between intuition and
anxiety?
6. How does our mind argue towards our
intuition?
7. Effect of anxious thoughts
8. Conclusion
9. Bibliography
Acknowledgement
I would like to convey my heartfelt gratitude to Ms. Girly
Kurian for her tremendous support and assistance in the
completion of my project. I would also like to thank our
Principal, Ms. Asma Gilani, for providing me with this
wonderful opportunity to work on a project with the topic
intuition vs anxiety. The completion of the project would
not have been possible without their help and insights.
Objective
• To understand what intuition and anxiety are.
• To assess the differences between intuition and
anxiety.
Introduction
Anxiety will not feel good, it does not feel good because it
is coming from a place of fear. Our body is quite literally
scared and does not know how to express fear, so it freaks
out. And when our thoughts are coming from a place of
fear, they are going to jump to worst case scenarios rather
than thinking logically and allowing us to see what is
happening and the fact there is no reason to be scared but
the good that can potentially come from whatever it is
your anxious about. Rather than just pop out of thin air
without experience. And that is the enormous difference
with intuition. When the intuition comes into play it is
going to be automatic. It is out of nowhere, it is quick, and
we do not feel the sick physical aspects of our anxiety
talking. With our intuition and our gut feeling it almost
feels definite, we do not have to question it whether we
made it up out of our head or it is our overthinking.
What is intuition?
Intuition is an instinct; it is a natural ability that we have
as humans to know or understand something without
conscious reasoning. Scientists believe intuition operates
through the parts of our brain that are responsible for
managing creativity, memory and recognizing patterns.
Our brains are neuronally connected to our digestive
system (our gut) which is why many people will experience
a “gut feeling” when experiencing intuition. However,
intuition is not always experienced as a feeling. In fact,
when you are experiencing intuition, you may not
experience “a feeling” at all. Very often intuition can feel
almost detached, like a wise part of you is operating on
your behalf. Sometimes it may be difficult to listen to your
intuition. It is always experienced in the present moment,
whereas anxiety may seek the future for disaster. Intuition
feels calm and grounded and is experienced as “a knowing.”

What is anxiety?
Anxiety comes from fear, which is another powerful
instinct that we feel in our bodies. Everyone struggles with
fears and anxieties at times and being afraid is a natural
part of the human experience. Have compassion for
yourself, by acknowledging your fears and anxieties
without judgement as you explore and develop your
intuition. Getting to know your unique physical symptoms
when you are anxious can be helpful in differentiating the
two. Like intuition, anxiety can happen in the present but
most often it can also be connected to past emotions or
experiences, and it always sends you into the future to
imagine various outcomes.
Main Differences Between Intuition &
Anxiety
1. Intuition feels like a gentle nudge whereas anxiety may
feel like a fire drill-Anxiety will often present as a
thought that frantically repeats itself, whereas
intuition presents as a calm knowing. With anxiety
there are often fearful and ruminating thoughts that
may feel difficult to dismiss. Anxious thoughts can
make us question ourselves over and over. Intuition
presents a calm knowing.

2. Intuition is your soul’s knowledge and anxiety are more

of a question-With anxiety there are questions your
mind is presenting to you that start with “what if.”
“What if something bad happens” is often a general
theme of anxiety. Both anxiety and intuition may aim
to protect you but with intuition you may not have
any questions at all simply knowing what you need to
do. With intuition it is still very possible to feel
anxious about what you know you must do; however,
you do know what you want. You might notice that
when you try to explain why you are anxious about
something you sound unsure. With intuition you may
not have all the answers, but it is easy to know what
you want or need to do.
3. Intuition feels confident, anxiety feels unsure or self-
conscious-Because anxiety often causes us to
perseverate on an issue, we may go seeking answers
or want to ask everyone we know “what should I do?”
If this happens to you, it is a sign that anxiety has
taken over. Intuition feels sure, confident, and calm.
When we are explaining to someone that we “just
know” what we want because we have an intuitive
feeling, we are more likely to sound and feel confident
and sure of ourselves.

4. Anxiety engages our fight or flight response; intuition is

slow, and grounded-Everyone experiences anxiety
slightly differently but when we experience anxiety
our nervous system is in an activated state in
response to some stimuli. Our fight or flight response
kicks on and there will be physical symptoms. With
intuition, it is easiest to receive impressions when we
are calm and clear. With intuition, you feel a subtle
knowing and confidence in what you know.
5. Intuition is always experienced now-Intuition is always
experienced in the present moment, whereas anxiety
based on past experiences and emotions may focus on
a future disaster—one that may never happen. For
example, when you are experiencing anxiety, it may
feel as though your thoughts are running ahead
imagining various nightmarish scenarios. You may or
may not be aware of a prior negative experience
related to an experience. Intuition happens in the
moment, not when we are worrying about the future
or lamenting about the past. Staying present is an
important way to stay connected to your intuition.

6. Anxiety can feel like it is coming from you, intuition may

feel like it is coming to you-For some people intuition is
a detached feeling. It may feel like a knowing that is
coming to you from your soul or some deeper place. It
might even feel like a wise part of you is operating on
your behalf. With anxiety the thoughts and sensations
often feel as though they are coming from you even if
they are hard to ignore. When an answer subtly comes
to you, that is a good sign that it is coming from your
intuition.
The Mind Can Argue Your Intuition
Highly intuitive people often experience anxiety and
sometimes their intuition may be the cause. You may tend
to consider intuition as far-fetched or a weird experience
that does not apply to your life, but guess what? It does.
Intuition can be real and help us find answers to questions.
Intuition is the voice that helps guide us along when we
have concerns about a situation. It is one that should not
be ignored. When our intuition tells us something is wrong,
it usually means there is something we need to pay
attention to, whether it be a crucial decision or a life-
changing opportunity. When our gut tells us something is
not right, we should always trust that feeling and pay
attention to it. Intuition can also help us manage our
stress levels. If you can pay attention to your intuitive
voice, you will notice that when it is strong, it goes beyond
a hunch. Intuition is linked to a clear sense of knowing.
Effects of anxious thoughts
The researchers hypothesized that anxiety’s effects on our
decision-making is damaging for several reasons: Anxiety
makes us risk-averse, pessimistic, and less confident, all
qualities which make us likelier to choose what we
perceive as the most safe, routine, and unchallenging
decision. In some cases, anxiety can also effectively
paralyze us, resulting in no decision made at all. Using
one’s intuition, the researchers argue, requires confidence
and trust in oneself. If anxious people do not have that
confidence and trust, they may be more likely to ignore
subtle emotional or bodily cues which indicate a “hunch.”
But any anxious person knows it goes beyond that, many
of us deal with what could be considered “cues” and
“hunches” all the time: a racing heart, elevated heartbeat,
sweating, weird twinges and tingles.
conclusion
Our intuition is going to serve us the best possible
outcome, like how Ashley Corbo said in her podcast. And it
is also important for us to know the difference between
anxiety and intuition. Because if we constantly tell
ourselves that our gut feelings are anxiety and feed into
that fear, we are never going to perceive things meant for
us. And it is easy to allow anxiety to hold us back from
things good for us. And I think that when we get anxious
about something that has not happened, yet our anxiety is
coming from past experiences rather than thinking clearly
and allowing things to unfold naturally and allowing new
experiences to form. We apply what we have learned in
past and apply it to new situation and when we apply our
not so good experiences, we are sabotaging the new
experiences potential to be good.
Bibliography
https://www.sherylwagnermedium.com/blog/difference-between-
intuition-and-anxiety
https://www.thecut.com/2017/10/anxiety-makes-it-harder-to-listen-
to-your-intuition.html
https://www.bustle.com/p/8-unexpected-differences-between-
intuition-anxiety-that-could-help-you-listen-to-your-inner-voice-
9078931
https://audioboom.com/posts/8155372-intuition-vs-anxiety
https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/the-difference-between-
intuition-and-anxiety