Orlando Therapist Explains Anxiety vs. Intuition: How to Tell the Difference
Orlando Therapist Explains Anxiety vs. Intuition: How to Tell the Difference
Written by: Lauran Hahn, LMHC
You’re at a crossroads and a feeling washes over you: don’t move forward. You sense it in your body, but you can’t quite explain it. The question starts spinning in your mind, is this my intuition guiding me, or is it fear holding me back?
You don’t want to live a fear-based life. You’re ready to take risks, to expand, to learn, and to grow. You know that living in fear keeps you playing small, and you’re no longer willing to settle for that.
It’s common to wonder what your body is trying to tell you. Is it an intuitive hunch, or is it fear? When you first start leaning into your gut and listening for intuition, it can feel confusing. In the beginning, it’s hard to tell the difference between fear holding you back and the wisdom of your body pointing the way forward.
In this post, we’ll look at what makes intuition different from anxiety and explore practical ways to strengthen your intuition. By the end, you’ll have tools to help you recognize whether it’s fear speaking or your inner wisdom guiding you.
What is Intuition?
Intuition is a calm, inner knowing that comes from both the mind and the body. It often feels clear and steady, even when you’re facing risk, and gives you a sense you are on the right path. Unlike anxiety, intuition usually brings clarity and ease. It may show up as a strong “no” or as gentle guidance toward your next steps.
Intuition often comes in subtle ways: a gut feeling before you accept a new job, a quiet sense that a relationship isn’t right, or a pull toward an opportunity that doesn’t make logical sense but feels aligned. These nudges usually bring peace, even if they ask you to take a leap.
You might notice intuition in your body as a gentle tingling sensation, a grounded feeling in your stomach, or a calm focus in your mind. Rather than racing thoughts, intuition feels like space opening up around a decision.
Everyone experiences intuition differently. Learning to listen to it matters because it helps you build trust with yourself. When you recognize its voice, you can make decisions from a place of wisdom instead of fear.
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a fear-based reaction to real or perceived danger. It shows up in the body as tension and tightness, and in the mind as perseveration, looping thoughts, and constant “what ifs” and worst-case scenarios. It often brings restlessness, racing thoughts, and a sense of unease.
Unlike intuition, which feels like a calm beach breeze, anxiety feels more like a tense, racing freight train.
Anxiety also tends to have a pattern or a sense of perpetuity. If you notice the same fear showing up again and again. For example, if you have a known fear of traveling, flying, bridges, or driving, and you feel angst whenever something related to that fear comes up, it is likely anxiety. These recurring fears can often be traced back to unresolved trauma or past events. This is why it is important to peel back the layers of anxiety with a trained anxiety therapist and explore whether there is a root cause at the core.
How to Tell the Difference Between Anxiety and Intuition
Intuition feels calm, spacious, and steady, while anxiety feels urgent, pressured, and tense. Intuition can be a clear yes or no that comes with ease and certainty. Anxiety, on the other hand, is fear-driven and often brings racing thoughts, body tension, and a sense of being frozen or stuck.
Can anxiety be mistaken for intuition?
Yes. Because anxiety is also felt in the body, it can feel like a gut reaction. The difference is that intuition carries ease and certainty, while anxiety carries tension and urgency.
Is my intuition right, or am I paranoid?
Paranoia feels intense, suspicious, and hypervigilant. It comes with fear, worry, and scanning for danger. Intuition, on the other hand, doesn’t predict the future or foresee events. It is a gentle inner wisdom that helps you sense whether you’re on the right track. While paranoia leaves you unsettled and distrustful, intuition brings a quiet clarity and ease.
Can anxiety affect intuition?
Yes. Anxiety can cloud or distort intuitive signals, sometimes making everything feel like a “no.” Intuition, however, can be either a yes or a no, and both come with calm certainty rather than fear.
A Practice for Decision-Making Anxiety
When you feel stuck on a decision, slow down and take one option at a time. You can do this through journaling, mindfulness, or meditation. Choose one possible path and explore how it feels in your body, your emotions, and your thoughts. Notice the qualities that arise: is there tightness and angst, or is there spaciousness and calm?
Give yourself time and space. Later, or even the next day, repeat the process with the other option. By comparing the qualities of body, mind, and emotion, you can begin to distinguish whether you’re hearing anxiety or intuition.
For example, if you are deciding whether to stay or leave a relationship, imagine your future without this person. If you feel calm, peaceful, and at ease, that may be your intuition guiding you to move on. If instead your mind races with fear-based thoughts such as “What if I’m alone forever?” or “No one else will want me,” those are signs of anxiety holding you back. If decisions feel paralyzing, reach out to Mindful Living Counseling for support.
Practical Ways to Strengthen Your Intuition
The best way to sharpen your sense of intuition is to practice listening to your body in everyday moments. Start small and low-stakes so you can notice the signals your body gives you.
Try these practices:
Body check-ins on walks: Ask your body which route to take and notice what feels lighter or easier.
Eating awareness: Pay attention to how your body signals fullness or satisfaction instead of blowing past those cues.
Bathroom signals: Notice how your body tells you when it needs something as basic as a bathroom break, and practice honoring those cues.
Pause before decisions: In small choices such as what to wear or which errand to do first, pause and notice what your inner wisdom is guiding you toward.
Daily body scans: Take a few minutes to notice areas of tension versus ease. This helps you map what anxiety feels like in your body compared to intuition.
Reflective journaling: Think of times when your intuition guided you. How did you know? What did it feel like in your mind? In your body? Writing these memories down strengthens your awareness of your intuition’s voice.
Over time, these simple practices build a stronger relationship between your mind and body. That connection makes it easier to recognize when intuition is speaking and when anxiety is trying to take over.
If anxiety is overwhelming, therapy can help.
If anxiety patterns are constant, intrusive, or making decisions feel impossible, it may be time to reach out for help. You don’t have to sort through fear and intuition on your own. Support is available.
At Mindful Living Counseling in Orlando, our trauma and anxiety specialists can help you untangle fear from intuition, calm your nervous system, and strengthen your connection to your inner wisdom. Therapy offers tools to reduce anxiety, build trust in yourself, and move forward with clarity and confidence.
Trusting Your Intuition
Anxiety is fear-driven, urgent, and often overwhelming. Intuition, by contrast, is calm, steady guidance that helps you recognize the path that feels right.
The more you practice tuning into your body and listening for the difference, the clearer it becomes. If anxiety is clouding your ability to trust yourself, remember that support is available. With the right tools and sometimes the right therapist walking alongside you, you can learn to quiet fear and strengthen your connection to your inner wisdom.
Ready to Start Anxiety Therapy?
At Mindful Living Counseling, our team of professional therapists offers anxiety therapy in Orlando that will teach practical ways to strengthen your intuition.
Fill out our New Client Consultation form here.
Once you complete the form, you’ll be invited to schedule a 15-minute phone consultation with one of our anxiety therapists.
Get ready to start healing from anxiety!
Not Quite Ready for Anxiety Therapy?
At Mindful Living Counseling, we know how overwhelming anxiety feels, and you don’t have to face it alone. We invite you to explore the blogs below for more guidance and support.
Anxiety Therapy Orlando Resources
Decision-Making Anxiety? Anxiety Therapist Shares 5 Steps to Make Decisions Easier
Anxiety Therapy Explains High-Functioning Anxiety
An Anxiety Therapist Shares Everything You Need to Know about Anxiety
Guided Meditation for Anxiety: Five-Sense Grounding
Other Therapy Services Offered at Mindful Living Counseling in Orlando
We offer a variety of therapy services! Our therapeutic options include EMDR therapy, Trauma Therapy, Eating Disorder Therapy, Teen Therapy, and Toxic Relationship Therapy. Additionally, we provide Guided Meditations for our clients.
Anxiety Therapist Lauran Hahn
Lauran Hahn is the owner of Mindful Living Counseling in Orlando and a therapist specializing in helping clients manage anxiety and trauma. She holds certifications as a Sensorimotor Psychotherapist and an EMDR Therapist, and she is recognized as an EMDRIA Approved Consultant. Lauran works to help individuals achieve a sense of calm in their bodies, peace in their minds, and connection in their relationships.