How to Tell the Difference Between Intuition and Anxiety

I Knew Something Bad Was Going to Happen

Have you ever had that sinking feeling in your gut—like something bad was going to happen—and you just knew?

Sometimes you were right.
But sometimes… it turned out to be nothing.

So how do we know when we’re sensing something real…
and when it’s just anxiety playing tricks on us?

The truth is, intuition and anxiety can feel eerily similar—but they come from very different places in the body and brain. And understanding the difference is one of the most important tools we can develop for emotional clarity and self-trust.

The Body as a Tuning Fork

Gregg Braden, author of The Divine Matrix, describes the heart as more than a pump—it’s an intelligent, sensing organ that communicates constantly with the brain and body.

Science agrees. The HeartMath Institute has shown that the heart sends more signals to the brain than the brain sends to the heart. These signals directly influence emotional processing, perception, and even decision-making.

So when people say, “I just felt it in my heart”—they’re not being poetic.
They’re describing a very real, physiological experience.

Intuition Lives in the Heart—Anxiety Lives in the Gut

You’ve probably felt both. And while they can both come with strong emotional energy, they feel very different when you slow down and tune in.

Anxiety is a signal from your nervous system.
Intuition is a whisper from your inner intelligence.

Why the Brain Gets It Wrong Sometimes

As Dr. Joe Dispenza teaches, the brain is a record of the past.
It’s constantly scanning for patterns to predict what might go wrong, trying to keep us safe.

This is called neuroception—a term coined by Dr. Stephen Porges. It describes how the body and brain detect cues of safety or threat below the level of conscious awareness.

So if you’ve experienced trauma, stress, or emotionally overwhelming situations in the past, your nervous system may be wired to anticipate danger, even when it’s not there.

That “something bad is coming” feeling?
It might not be your intuition—it might be your overprotective brain looping through old data.

Gabor Maté on Trauma, Memory, and Hypervigilance

According to Dr. Gabor Maté, trauma isn’t just what happened to us—it’s what happened inside us as a result.
And one of the ways trauma sticks around is through hypervigilance—the nervous system’s persistent belief that something bad is about to happen.

So we stay alert. Guarded. Braced.
Even when we don’t need to be.

Over time, this pattern becomes exhausting—leaving us anxious, disconnected, and unsure if we can trust ourselves.

Rebuilding the Bridge Between Body and Intuition

If you want to hear your intuition clearly, your nervous system must feel safe.

That’s where somatic tools like Cognomovement, breathwork, and vagal nerve activation come in.
They help downregulate the stress response and bring you back to the present moment—so you can tune into what’s actually happening now, not what your brain is bracing for.

Try this:

• Place one hand on your heart and one on your belly.

• Take 3 slow breaths, exhaling twice as long as you inhale.

• Ask yourself: Is this anxiety or intuition?

• Notice where you feel it.

  • If it’s spinning in your gut, tighten your shoulders, or makes you brace—that’s anxiety.

  • If it’s calm, spacious, and quietly persistent—that’s likely intuition.

Closing Thoughts: You Can Rewire This

If you’ve spent years living in high alert, it can feel hard to trust yourself.
But it is possible to rewire your nervous system—and build a relationship with your intuition that’s based on clarity, not fear.

As Gregg Braden says,

“The heart doesn’t judge. It just knows.”

And you can learn to know again, too.
Not from panic. Not from the past.
But from your heart’s steady, grounded wisdom.

Ready to Practice This in Real Life?

Explore how Cognomovement can help release old stress loops and reconnect you to your own inner knowing.
Your body already has the answers—it just needs the space to listen.

🌿 Ready to learn more?
Book a free discovery call with Helen, a Certified Advanced Cognomovement Practitioner, and explore how you can reconnect with your body, calm your nervous system, and begin trusting your intuition again—with clarity and confidence.

👉 Schedule Your Discovery Call