Have you ever experienced a “knowing” in your heart or gut, a subtle feeling that told you to steer in a certain direction? We often call that feeling “intuition”; I like to think of it as a type of knowing, without evidence.
In Episode 8 of the Step Into Me podcast, I caught up with renowned Clairvoyant Medium Ruthie Phillips to explore how developing intuition can help us live more authentic lives.
“Learning to recognise and develop your intuition can help you tune in to what feels real and what feels right for you. And when we honour that truth, that’s when we become better acquainted with our authentic selves.”
How Ruthie Phillips Learned to Trust Her Inner Knowing
Ruthie’s interest in honing her intuitive gift began in her early teens, although she admits she was practically born into the world of mediumship, “My family are on the Romany register in the New Forest in the UK and my great-grandmother used to tell fortunes in the back of a gypsy caravan. And my sixth great-grandmother, her surname was Light, so I like to think that I come from the Light!”
However, it was a visit to the Spiritualist Church with her grandfather at the age of 13 when Ruthie first encountered a medium. When she saw the joy the woman brought to the congregation, she set a course to learn all she could about mediumship, past lives, life between lives, and intuition. Over time, she developed the ability to listen to and act on her intuition. She described the process as being “very visual…like little snapshots or videos or postcards.”
” One of the best ways (to develop your own intuition) is to learn to listen to your inner voice often, you know, carve out a quiet space and ask yourself, is this choice truly mine or is this just what’s expected of me? If I follow this path, where do I imagine that might lead? Or maybe if I choose the opposite path, where would that lead?”
Intuition vs Wishful Thinking
How do you know that what you’re feeling is your intuition nudging you forward or just wishful thinking? In my experience, the main difference between the two is that true intuition is usually quiet and persistent, rather than being tied to a particular outcome. It often feels quiet, clear, and resonant, even unexplainable. In contrast, wishful thinking tends to be noisy and attached to specific results or desires.
As Ruthie said, “We’re in a time of major manifestation. And…we have to be very careful about what we wish for because we’ll get it good, bad, or indifferent. But it’s about really understanding our needs and our wants, and also understanding what is for our higher good. And this is where you’ve got to check in.
“It might not be for your higher good to win the lottery and get a £4 million house. It may destroy relationships around you or give you a false sense of who you are. You just don’t know. So sometimes what you have to do is really come back into yourself and go, what is it that I need to aim for that is for my higher good and may be of service to the collective as well?”
Ruthie’s Tips for Developing Your Intuition
With Ruthie’s simple, everyday practices, you too can learn to develop your inner wisdom. Here’s how:
- Listen to Your Inner Voice: Regularly take time out to check in with yourself. Ask, “Is this choice truly mine, or just what’s expected of me?”
- Feel What’s in Your Heart: When facing decisions, tune in to how each option makes you feel.
- Return to Your Heart, Not Just Your Head: Trust your feelings and values rather than always relying on analysis or logic.
- Exercise Your Intuition: Ruthie recommends working on your inner guidance as you do your muscles. The more you use it, the stronger and more reliable it becomes.
- Ask for Signs: Request specific symbols or signs from the universe (like seeing a particular number or object) to confirm your decisions or direction.
The Intuition/Authenticity Connection
Developing your intuition is just one step on the road to authenticity, and it begins with truly listening to yourself. As Ruthie puts it, “Your values are your compass. If you stick to your values, then that’s very much truly who you are in your heart…And you let go of masks and you just be true to yourself. Honouring your intuition means honouring your values and living from the inside out, not moulded by others’ expectations or social ‘masks’.”
According to Ruthie, you can spot an authentic person by these qualities:
- Self-Awareness: “They understand their emotions and motivations and patterns, and they understand the light and shadow of life, and they’re not afraid to explore their inner world.”
- What You See is What You Get: “There’s no pretence, no persona, just realness. You’re not getting the Facebook or the Insta profile where everything’s glorious. And the person at home posting all this gloriousness is completely at odds with that.”
- Consistency in their Words & Actions: “So they don’t just talk about values and talk about things, they actually live them. And integrity tends to be their compass, not convenience.”
- Comfortable with Vulnerability: “They don’t hide their flaws or pretend to have it all together like some guru sitting on a rock. They actually know that real connection requires openness and an ability to share.”
- Unafraid to Stand Alone: “They don’t need to follow the crowd to feel secure.”
- Not Stuck in Image Management Mode: “You feel safe and you feel seen around them because they’re with you. They’re not performing.”
- Respectful of Others’ Truths: “I think this is one of the most important things; they don’t impose their identity and their values and their truth on other people.”
Trust the Process
The journey to authenticity is not about perfection, but rather about being real with ourselves, every step of the way. Developing your intuition is just one way you can learn to walk more confidently in the direction of your true self, anchored by what matters to you most.
I think Ruthie sums it up beautifully:
“We’re all only here for a blink of an eye in cosmic terms, and if we can’t be truthful to ourselves in that time, it’s a waste, because we are not doing what we came to do. We are here to play a role that we’ve chosen before we come here. So let’s just be real about it all. Have a great time. Enjoy this amazing experience in physicality… Let’s just all enjoy it and really get into it and be truthful about it as we do.”
For more insights on developing your intuition, living authentically, and hearing others’ stories, check out my blog or subscribe to the podcast at StepIntoMePodcast.com.
