I'm a firm believer that we all have psychic ability, whether or not we've realized that's what it is. Some refer to this ability as having "a mother's intuition" and others as "following their gut instinct."

In my latest book, The Awakened Psychic, I'm serving as "Your Travel Guide to the Other Side." In this book, I share a wide variety of techniques designed to help you how to tap into your intuitive abilities. Are you ready to explore and connect with your psychic self? Below are six ways to awaken your inner psychic abilities.

1. Pay Attention to Your Emotions.
   This is the most important tip of all. If you can master this ability, your psychic field will open. It has nothing to do with using tools or tricks; rather, it's all about cleansing and clearing your energy so that you become a finely tuned channel to receive psychic information. Here we go!
   
   The journey to awakening psychic ability begins with becoming more self-aware, introspective, and in touch with how we process our emotions. It's important to understand our emotions and learn what triggers us emotionally so that we can diffuse this energy before it overtakes us.
   
   We haven't been taught how to pay attention to what the energy of each emotion does to our mind/body/spirit when someone or something upsets us, so the energy overwhelms us and we react by directing energy back towards the person or situation upsetting us. We might say, "They made me mad," or, "They upset me," and decide to send that negative energy back to them with our words and actions.
   
   This creates a link for energy to transfer back and forth between us and the other person, growing more toxic with each exchange. When we give anyone or anything the power to upset us, the mind/body/spirit becomes emotionally overloaded, clogged up with all of these feelings in our thoughts and in the energy field surrounding our body (known as the aura). When we are overwhelmed emotionally, it is difficult to discern clearly and psychically what is going on around us.
   
   In order to harness your psychic ability, you need to have some control over your emotions. By control, I mean that once you are aware of how someone else's words or actions are affecting you, you then have the free will and choice of whether or not you will allow this person or situation to upset you emotionally.
   
   As you become aware of an emotion rising within you and now understand that you have the ability to redirect it before it overtakes you, you are awakening the connection to your Higher Self/Super Consciousness. You are learning how to clear and diffuse negative energy directed towards you, releasing it away from the mind/body/spirit as quickly as possible.
   
   In this heightened state of self-awareness, you see that a person has stirred the emotional energy field in your aura and that the ripples of this energy are on their way to triggering you emotionally. At that point, you can mindfully stop and expel this thought or conversation away from your mind and body. You now have the control over how much you will allow another person, place, or thing to affect you on a mental and emotional level and for how long.
   
   As you are working to open your inner psychic connection, the ability to detect and have control over your emotional field is very important; once your psychic field has opened, you will be picking up on people's emotions even when they are not outwardly displaying them.
   
   A psychic is often referred to as a sensitive, meaning they are able to sense what's occurring in the spiritual world, but it also comes with the effect that the more intuitive you become, the more sensitive you are to the feelings and emotions of others, and not just when they are being directed at you. You will sense and feel what they are feeling and thinking as their thoughts and emotions spill outward around them through their aura.
   
   This in part is what psychics see in each person. We shape our destiny in part by every free will thought and action that we take. These thoughts are in the mental field of our aura. We manifest these thoughts, wishes, and dreams into our reality by how often we think about them and the more we act upon them.
   
   When a psychic is reading a person, part of what they are seeing is future of what the person is manifesting through their thoughts and emotions. Because the energy of a particular thought, wish, or fear is growing and building in their aura, it will over time attract that experience to them. This is why a psychic will explain that what they are seeing is only the potential of what could occur for the person and that you have the free will to change this outcome at any time by changing your thoughts and actions. The rest of what psychics see is the energy coming from the higher spiritual planes that will bring new experiences to the person.
   
   As you develop control over your emotional energy, you'll have the energetic space to tune into the energy fields of others because your energy won't be overwhelmed by your emotions. People will begin to describe you as a good judge of character, as you'll display an uncanny sense of knowing what's going on with them; however, you'll know that it's your intuitive side that has been awakened and you are reading the energy of the person before they speak or act at all.
   
   The side effect of having awakened your psychic side is that people will sense this energetic change within you and want to open up to you. Because you are no longer carrying these heavy emotions around, you are lighter and more peaceful and your aura and energy fields are able to be more in tune with the world around you. You have created more space in your mind/body/spirit to receive information from spirit world when you ask for guidance.
   
   In return, you'll begin to sense who people really are as their energy emits from their auric fields. You'll see or sense the glow around a person with good intentions and the grey mist around people who are not emitting positive energy at that time.
   
   Animals, especially your pets, understand what you are communicating to them (for instance, knowing that you are about to leave home before you give any clues in this regard and also sensing when you are becoming back home before you appear). It's not that the pets are becoming more psychic—they are already attuned to telepathic communication. What has changed is that as you have opened your psychic senses, animals sense that finally you are able to better communicate with them, instead of the previously limited and often one-sided conversation they were having with you.
   
   Psychic ability at times can be overwhelming, as you pick up the energy of other people, so it's good to establish a daily practice of psychic self protection. Helpful remedies to counteract this overflow of energy including keeping a Himalayan Salt Lamp in your home, taking a salt bath, or swimming in a salt water pool or the ocean when you have picked up too much emotional energy from others.
   
   The most effective technique that I teach to my students to protect their aura, which is the main receptor to feel energy, is to…
   
   
2. Surround Yourself Daily in the Pure White Light.
   When preparing your mind/body/spirit to open to your psychic connection, it's always a good idea to visualize your body being surrounded in pure white light.
   
   This is the universal white light that glows with the energy from the highest and most loving spiritual plane of existence. It surrounds your body and creates a shield of protection so that only that which is for your highest and best good can interact with you from the spiritual planes. It builds up a psychic self defense shield that not only ensures safety when engaging with the other side but also provides a barrier between you and other people as you begin to pick up what's emitting from their energy field, including their negative thoughts and emotions.
   
   These thoughts and emotions spill out of us all day every day through our aura. When we begin to open our psychic pathways, it's easy to become overwhelmed with the flood of energy that you will pick up from others. You’ll walk into a room where people are angry and it will hit you like walking into a wall. In an argument with someone, you'll walk away from them only to realize that hours later you are still suffering from the energy exchange, feeling anxious and perhaps experiencing a headache or stomachache.
   
   As you become more intuitive, you'll start to pay attention to, trust, and honor your psychic feelings. You'll be more proactive, choosing not to stay at a certain hotel, or to park in that area, or go to that event today. The more you practice, the more this knowing will expand, including tuning in to finding the right house to buy, the right time to travel, and who to trust with big and small decisions.
   
   
3. Listen to Your Dreams.
   You've been receiving psychic information from the other side since you were born and maybe don't even know it.
   
   Almost everyone has a story of a dream they had that later came true. Your Higher Self/Super Consciousness has a direct link to spirit world, where it downloads helpful information for you each night when you sleep.
   
   You can receive psychic information through your dreams. First, ask your spirit guides to visit you in your dreams and to send you information. It works best if you ask them very specific questions so that the dream can be focused on that situation. Also ask them to help you remember the dream when you wake.
   
   Over time, with practice, you can remember your dreams and receive valuable information about what's going on in your life and in the world around you.
   
   
4. Psychic Hits.
   You've been making tiny intuitive predictions all along and didn't pay attention to them, like thinking about someone out of the blue and they call you in the next minute, or you pull a friend to safety with no outward indication that something was about to happen.
   
   Now you can take this to the next level and practice tuning in to see what you feel going on around you. All of a sudden those déjà vu experiences are becoming much more common and making sense.
   
   As you open up to your abilities, you'll notice that these warning signs occurred to you previously, but at the time, you didn't understand what they were communicating.
   
   
5. Write it Down and Let the Universe be Your Guide.
   When you tap into your psychic ability, you'll find that the hardest person to read for is yourself. Reading for a stranger is much easier; you know nothing about them, so you are wide open to see and sense the information and energy that is coming to you. When trying to find an answer for yourself, however, the psychic connection can become confusing and murky. This is because the energetic pipeline to reaching the answer on the other side is full of our emotions regarding our thoughts, wishes, fears, hopes, and desires, and these mental and emotional fields are heavily invested in the answer.
   
   When this occurs, it's time to pull out a helpful tool to use as a guide. I love reading tarot cards for these types of questions, but I also love easy freebie ways to receive this information as well. As I mentioned earlier, you can ask for guidance in your dreams. Here's another easy way to help gain clarity on your question.
   
   Get a piece of paper and a pen. Tear the piece of paper into five or six strips. Then, think about your question. Ask yourself what the most highly likely answers are in regard to your question. On each strip of paper, write down one of these answers. Save one last strip of paper and leave it blank. Then fold all of these answers and place them into a bowl or a bag. Shake the papers in the bag or stir them with your fingers in the bowl. Take three deep breaths in and out, surround yourself with the white light, and ask for your highest and best and for your guides to assist you in answering this question. When you are centered, reach into the bag or bowl and pull out your answer. The answer will help guide you with your question. If you pull out the blank piece of paper, it means that the answer is not meant to be revealed to you at this time and that you should wait a week and then ask again.
   
   
6. Practice Psychometry.
   When first trying to psychically read for other people, it's a bit daunting. Try the art of psychometry first, where you hold an object in your hand to see if you can read the energy residue left behind by the object's owner. You can ask a friend to bring you an object to hold, something about which you know nothing. They should make sure the object is not theirs, but from someone else that they know. They should also know the history of the object.
   
   Ask them to handle the object as little as possible before they bring it to you; even have them wrap it in a cloth and place in a bag. Hold the object in your hand to see what you pick up energetically about the object and tell your friend what you see and feel.
   
   Once you have seen and felt all that you could psychically, ask your friend to tell you the story around the object. Over time, you may find that you are able to intuitively pick up on the energy left behind on objects.
   
   Jewelry and watches worn on the body for a long period of time carry the strongest energy. Another option is to visit an antique store and hold an object to see if you feel something about the previous owners. If you do, ask the owner of the store if they can tell you the history surrounding this object.

With these six steps, you are well on your way to awakening your psychic abilities. To delve deeper into your psychic abilities, check out my book, The Awakened Psychic. Happy exploring!