The role of intuition: When and how should you trust that gut feeling
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Krishna Tanna, a Mumbai-based writer and strategist, recalls a moment when intuition led her to a seemingly spontaneous but deeply fulfilling experience. Without concrete plans or logistical preparation, Tanna and her sister decided on a whim to visit Rishikesh, staying at the Osho Ashram and exploring without an itinerary.
“Although we left without knowing how things would work out, I just knew in my gut it was the right thing to do," she recalls. They encountered strangers who helped them through unexpected challenges, and the trip became a cherished memory, validating her faith in her instincts. Tanna’s experience reflects a fundamental aspect of intuition—it often feels like an inexplicable yet reliable guide.
Intuition can bypass rational steps, drawing from a deep well of memories, sensory experiences, and emotional cues that form a “gut feeling". But can this internal compass truly lead us well in today’s complex world, or is it merely an illusion? Psychologists see intuition as more than a hunch. It’s a psychological process that pulls from past experiences, implicit knowledge, and even subtle cues stored in the subconscious mind.
Mumbai-based counseling psychologist Tanu Choksi describes intuition as “thinking without thinking," where the brain processes vast amounts of information swiftly without conscious awareness. Intuition’s immediacy makes it valuable in moments that demand quick decisions, but its underlying mechanisms are deeply rooted in one’s personal history and implicit knowledge. Expanding on this, Divya Srivastava, a counselling psychologist from The Silver Lining in Mumbai adds that intuition functions as a “bridge between the conscious and unconscious mind,"
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