Keeping In Touch With Your Intuition: Eboni Banks On How To Get In Touch With Your Intuition And When To Trust Your Intuition When Making Decisions
An Interview With Maria Angelova
Pay attention to the quieter thoughts. For example, we hear negative thoughts loud and clear, spend time with the inner listener that is softer and quieter and has positive thoughts, and allow those thoughts to become louder.
Intuition is defined as the ability to understand something immediately without the need for conscious reasoning. Where does intuition come from? Can it be trusted? How can someone tune in to their intuition? To address these questions, we are talking to business leaders, coaches, mental health experts, authors, and anyone who is an authority on “How to Get In Touch With Your Intuition And When To Trust Your Intuition When Making Decisions.” As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Eboni Banks.
Eboni Banks is an Intuitive Healer and Coach from a lineage of spiritual and wellness practitioners. Eboni’s main spiritual gift is Clairtangency, which means clear touch and is the ability to receive information and impressions through touch. She is on a mission to serve people by healing the parts of their lives that have been stuck and preventing them from living the life they desire. As a trauma survivor, Eboni has learned to use her wealth of inner spiritual resources to thrive on her own healing journey and is now inspired to teach people how to do the same. https://www.ebonibanks.me/
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we start, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
I had a really happy childhood. My parents divorced when I was five, and our mom primarily raised my older sister and me. My fondest childhood memories are of just everyday life with the three of us. However, my dad was present as my sister, and I spent many weekends with him at art galleries, cultural festivals, and all kinds of restaurants. He was a social worker who owned a private practice, and we also spent a lot of time in his office, where my sister and I worked at different times in our lives.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
One that speaks to my journey is from Anais Nin, who states, “life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” Healing is quite possibly the most courageous thing anyone can choose to do for themselves. And when you just start to make the trek, even before the healing occurs, you are greeted with a world more expansive than you knew existed, and it keeps expanding. Healing is known for being hard work, but I think the real reason healing is unpopular is because of the courage it takes to go into unknown places inside yourself and manage how your relationship with those places changes your life.
Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
At the start of my spiritual journey, many books stood out and gave me much-needed information to help me understand myself and how I think about life. The four that come to mind immediately are:
Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
Anatomy of the Spirit by Caroline Myss
Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch and Neale Marshall-Walsch
The Book of Stones by Naisha Ahsian Robert Simmons
The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield
And my favorite film of all time is the musical film The Wiz by Sidney Lumet. It’s the
African American version of the Wizard of Oz and is from the 1970s and stars Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Lena Horne, and Richard Pryor, among others. It is incredible for so many reasons, so if you’ve never seen it, it is a must-see. However, the takeaway for me as a child was that no man behind the curtain, which I interpreted to be a man in the sky who was responsible for anyone’s happiness. The person/thing you are looking for is you.
Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. Let’s begin with a definition of terms so that each of us and our readers are on the same page. What exactly does intuition mean? Can you explain?
I’ll start with the current dictionary definition, which states understanding by instinct. To give some historical reference, the word’s origins are Latin and date back to 1776, and at that time, it meant to tutor, look at, or consider, and also, at that time, a tutor was a guardian or custodian. In 1840 the definition changed to mean to perceive directly without reasoning, to know by immediate perception. My understanding and experience speak to all of this, as I know intuition to be a guide meant to support us in directing our lives, and our ability to access intuition is through our perception. I’ll add that intuition is a natural human expression, and for that reason, all of us are already using it at some level. Being intentional about using it is when the most guidance comes. To be intentional, you must have a relationship with this part of yourself. If you don’t, you must develop that relationship before you can fully experience its guidance.
How would you define common sense? Are intuition and common sense related?
I define common sense as collective lessons that have been learned and are based on experiences most of us have had. Intuition and common sense are different. I don’t think of them as related, either.
How are they different from each other?
Intuition differs from common sense as it speaks to the individual based on their experience. Common sense is practical, and its conclusions can come about by thought. Intuition is perception-based and does not come from thoughts. Intuition will guide you to something you likely didn’t think about that is at least equally and typically more beneficial to the individual.
What are the positive aspects of being in touch with your intuition? Can you give a story or example to explain what you mean?
There are many, and the big ones speak to cultivating a healthy inner world and bringing more balance to our inner and outer worlds. Intuition is Divine guidance and only loving; intuition acknowledges the non-physical self, expands your relationship with the self, and teaches you that all you are is love. My healing journey has been the greatest testament to that to date, and I can use healing in general as an example. The work involved in healing requires the allowing of all parts of yourself. We typically focus more on tending to our outer world via behavior, habits, and relationships with others. Being in touch with your intuition greatly enhances your inner world, which supports the challenges in the outer world.
Are there negative aspects to being guided by intuition? Can you give a story or example to explain what you mean?
There are not any negative aspects to being guided by intuition. Since intuition comes from the Divine part of you, your intuition can’t lead you to anything negative. Whatever comes from that guidance will always be for your greatest good, even if it may seem like something unwanted on the surface. Sometimes, what is currently active in our lives is not for our greatest good, and we are guided to move away and not understand why. Years ago, I was guided to move away from my social circle. They were all beautiful, lovely people, and I needed to develop a better relationship with myself, so I had zero social circles until I could love myself more.
Can you give some guidance about when one should make a decision based on their intuition and when one should use other methods to come to a decision?
Yes, as with other relationships, until you have developed trust, I do not advise relying on intuition. It is a relationship like all others; however, it is your relationship with yourself. If you do not have a solid relationship with yourself, you will make choices from ego, fear, pain, and thoughts that you may think are your intuition and are not.
From your experience or perspective, what are some of the common barriers that hold someone back from trusting their intuition?
It was not knowing the self well enough to allow the pathways of intuitive information to make it’s way to the person. The overidentification with the physical self only, without attention given to the non-physical self.
Here is the central question of our discussion. What are five methods that someone can use to become more in touch with their intuition?
- Pay attention to the quieter thoughts. For example, we hear negative thoughts loud and clear, spend time with the inner listener that is softer and quieter and has positive thoughts, and allow those thoughts to become louder.
- Counter negative self-talk with thoughts with the opposite as soon as you become aware of the negative thought. For example, if your negative self-talk tells you, “nobody likes you anyway,” counter that thought with “I’m well-liked.”
- Develop a relationship with your non-physical self. For example, give inner thank you to your breath, energy, thoughts, and feelings for being with you whenever you think to do so.
- Watch your posture. For example, Be mindful of crossing your legs and arms and generally holding your body in positions cutting off your connection to the energy around you. Energy is information.
- Tune into your body more often. For example, whenever you’re doing anything physically that makes you feel good and check in with different parts of your body to become more aware of how your body communicates that it feels good.
You are a person of significant influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
To recognize that life is loving and that the events that take place in our lives are part of a trajectory of love that is moving us into more extraordinary love, collectively and individually. The understanding of that comes from developing a better relationship with the self, which comes from knowing and learning to use intuition for the purpose intended.
Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!
Thank you! Paulo Coelho, Eckhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra, Rhonda Byrne, Glennon Doyle, and Gabby Bernstein all share the knowledge of the inborn wisdom that each of us possesses.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Website: ebonibanks.me and IG @intuitiveeboniwrites
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
About The Interviewer: Maria Angelova, MBA is a disruptor, author, motivational speaker, body-mind expert, Pilates teacher and founder and CEO of Rebellious Intl. As a disruptor, Maria is on a mission to change the face of the wellness industry by shifting the self-care mindset for consumers and providers alike. As a mind-body coach, Maria’s superpower is alignment which helps clients create a strong body and a calm mind so they can live a life of freedom, happiness and fulfillment. Prior to founding Rebellious Intl, Maria was a Finance Director and a professional with 17+ years of progressive corporate experience in the Telecommunications, Finance, and Insurance industries. Born in Bulgaria, Maria moved to the United States in 1992. She graduated summa cum laude from both Georgia State University (MBA, Finance) and the University of Georgia (BBA, Finance). Maria’s favorite job is being a mom. Maria enjoys learning, coaching, creating authentic connections, working out, Latin dancing, traveling, and spending time with her tribe. To contact Maria, email her at angelova@rebellious-intl.com. To schedule a free consultation, click here.
Keeping In Touch With Your Intuition: Eboni Banks On How To Get In Touch With Your Intuition And… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.