Intuition or Anxiety? How to Tell What Your Gut Is Really Saying

You get a feeling that something isn’t right.

Maybe it’s a person you just met. A decision you’re about to make. A situation that looks perfectly fine on paper but somehow doesn’t feel fine.

Do you trust it?

Or is it anxiety?

That distinction can be difficult—especially if you’re someone who tends to worry, overthink or imagine what could go wrong.

In a Heal Squad conversation with psychic intuitive Char Margolis, Maria Menounos explored intuition, self-trust and why learning to listen to those subtle internal signals may be more useful than we realize. Margolis describes intuition through a spiritual lens, but there’s also a practical takeaway: learning to notice what your mind and body are telling you—without automatically assuming every thought is a warning.

What Does Intuition Feel Like?

Intuition is often described as a “gut feeling” or an inner knowing—a conclusion that seems to arrive before you’ve consciously reasoned your way to it.

And it isn’t necessarily dramatic.

Margolis emphasizes that an intuitive signal may be more like a quiet thought or subtle feeling than a booming internal alarm. Maria describes having similar experiences through physical sensations—sometimes feeling that something about another person or situation simply isn’t right.

That’s important because many of us expect our instincts to arrive with certainty.

Instead, they may sound more like:

Something feels off.

I don’t think I should do this.

Call that person.

Ask another question.

Don’t get in that car.

I need more information before I say yes.

You don’t have to believe you’re psychic to pay attention to those signals.

Why Your “Gut” May Know Something Before You Do

Your brain is constantly processing information, including information you’re not consciously focusing on.

A change in someone’s voice. Their facial expression. Something unusual about the environment. A discrepancy between what someone says and how they’re behaving.

You may not consciously think, I just noticed three things that concern me.

Instead, you may simply feel uneasy.

That doesn’t make every gut feeling correct. But it does mean an unexplained feeling doesn’t always need to be immediately dismissed.

Sometimes the healthiest response is curiosity:

Why am I feeling this?

Intuition and Anxiety Can Feel Surprisingly Similar

Here’s where things get complicated.

Anxiety can also tell you something terrible is about to happen.

And anxiety can create very real physical sensations: tension, a racing heart, restlessness, stomach discomfort and a heightened sense of danger.

So how do you distinguish between an instinct worth investigating and an anxious thought?

One clue may be the pattern.

An intuitive thought may appear suddenly and specifically: Don’t do this.

Anxiety often keeps going.

What if this happens?

But what if that happens?

What if I’m making a mistake?

What if something goes wrong tomorrow?

Then the thought gets analyzed, replayed and expanded until one concern has become ten.

Margolis makes a similar distinction in the conversation, arguing that when someone is living in a constant state of fear, it can become much harder to recognize the quieter signals they’re trying to hear.

Don’t Ignore a Safety Instinct

There’s one situation where you don’t need to solve the intuition-versus-anxiety question first: when you feel unsafe.

If a person, place or situation gives you a strong sense that you’re in danger, you don’t owe anyone the benefit of the doubt at the expense of your safety.

Create distance. Go somewhere populated. Call someone you trust. Ask for help.

You can analyze why you felt uncomfortable later.

You don’t need proof that something bad is going to happen before removing yourself from a potentially unsafe situation.

But Don’t Let Every Fear Become a Fact

Listening to yourself doesn’t mean treating every frightening thought as a prediction.

That’s especially important if you tend to worry.

A thought is still a thought.

Feeling that something might happen doesn’t mean it will happen.

And repeatedly interpreting ordinary worries as warnings can reinforce the very cycle of anxiety you’re trying to escape.

Instead of immediately asking, “Is this feeling true?”, try asking:

“What is this feeling asking me to pay attention to?”

Maybe you need more information.

Maybe you’ve noticed a legitimate red flag.

Maybe you’re exhausted.

Maybe you’ve been under tremendous stress.

Maybe something about this situation reminds you of a difficult experience from the past.

Or maybe you’re simply scared.

All of those possibilities deserve different responses.

Getting Quieter Can Help You Hear Yourself

Earlier in the episode, Maria and the Heal Squad discuss several practices they’ve been incorporating into their lives, including better sleep, journaling, reading, spending quiet time alone and paying closer attention to what their bodies are telling them.

Those practices may also help with intuition for a simple reason:

It’s difficult to hear a quiet signal when your mind is constantly making noise.

You don’t need an elaborate ritual.

Try sitting quietly for a few minutes without your phone.

Take a walk without listening to anything.

Write down what’s bothering you.

Prioritize sleep when you’re exhausted.

Notice what you’re feeling before immediately trying to change it.

The goal isn’t to become psychic.

It’s to become more aware of yourself.

Journaling Can Help Separate a Pattern From a Passing Fear

One particularly useful practice discussed in the episode is journaling.

Rather than keeping every worry circulating in her head, Heal Squad’s Keven Undergaro describes the benefit of putting thoughts onto paper and being able to look at them from a little more distance. Maria also talks about revisiting old journal entries and recognizing patterns and lessons she hadn’t seen at the time.

You can use the same idea to examine your instincts.

Write down:

• What happened?
• What did I immediately feel?
• What did my body feel like?
• What was I afraid would happen?
• What actually happened?

Over time, you may start recognizing your own patterns.

Perhaps your instincts about certain situations are frequently useful.

Or perhaps you’ll discover that the “gut feelings” you have when you’re sleep-deprived or stressed tend to be anxiety rather than accurate warnings.

Either discovery teaches you something valuable about yourself.

Self-Trust Doesn’t Mean Never Being Wrong

Learning to trust yourself isn’t about developing perfect instincts.

You’re going to misread situations sometimes.

Everyone does.

Self-trust means knowing that you can notice a feeling, investigate it, make the best decision you can with the information available and adjust when necessary.

That’s very different from either extreme:

Ignoring every internal signal because you can’t prove it.

Or believing every internal signal because you felt it.

Healthy self-awareness lives somewhere in between.

Your Move

The next time your gut tells you something, don’t immediately obey it—and don’t immediately dismiss it.

Notice it.

Ask yourself:

Is this a quiet signal giving me useful information, or is my mind building a frightening story around it?

Then look at what’s actually happening around you.

Your intuition doesn’t have to predict the future to be useful.

Sometimes it’s simply your mind and body reminding you to pay attention.