What's Your Strongest Psychic Sense? A Beginner's Guide to the Clairs

For most of my life, I thought I had a busy mind. I would hear snippets of conversations and random words throughout the day, but especially when I was falling asleep at night. I'd walk into rooms and immediately feel heavy or light. Sometimes I would just “know” about something specific that happened in a room, especially if it was a negative experience that left a heavy energy. 

It wasn't until I started my journey as an adult reconnecting with my medium and psychic abilities that I realized the voices I heard were actually coming from places outside of me. I was using clairaudience!

Even though I knew something about clairs at this point, and I was a regular user of divination, clairaudience came so naturally to me that I didn't even realize I was doing it. I’ve noticed the same thing with other people. They will tell me they just have “feelings” about things that later turn out to be right. They’re using their intuition but, again, the way that they are using their intuition is as natural as breathing and so it doesn’t seem like anything special to them.

Here's what I've discovered: you're probably using your psychic senses to some degree regularly in your life. The clairs—your intuitive abilities beyond the regular five senses—might be so woven into your daily experience that you don't even notice them. That gut feeling about a person, the way you sense someone's mood instantly, or how you just "know" things sometimes… those are your psychic gifts at work.

The key is recognizing which clair comes most naturally to you, then learning to strengthen and trust it.

So What Are These Clairs Anyway?

Clairvoyance means "clear seeing." This is when you get visual information. Maybe you see colors around people, or images pop into your mind that seem to come from nowhere. You might also see spirits with your physical eye, whether they appear like holograms or solid beings or something else. When I'm doing healing work, sometimes I'll suddenly see a symbol or picture in my mind's eye that gives me insight into what my client needs. A lot of animals I speak to will communicate in images as well, whether their intention is literal or metaphorical, and these I see in my mind’s eye.

Clairaudience is "clear hearing." You might hear a voice giving you guidance, or words just appear in your head. I have clients who tell me they hear their grandmother's voice giving them advice, or a song will randomly pop into their head and they realize that the lyrics are delivering them some important information.

Clairsentience is "clear feeling." This is when you feel other people's emotions or physical sensations in your own body. I use this constantly in my healing work. I'll suddenly feel a strong emotion that’s related to something that needs to be healed in my client’s energetic field.

Claircognizance is "clear knowing." Information just downloads into your brain, fully formed. You don't know how you know it – you just do. It's that moment when the perfect solution to a problem suddenly appears in your mind, complete and obvious, even if it doesn’t make sense to your logical mind at the time. This can be a really subtle clair, but the more you pay attention to it the easier it will become to tell when you are using it.

There are also clairalience (psychic smelling) and clairgustance (psychic tasting), though these are less common. Perhaps you’ll smell roses and know that your aunt who had a rose garden is visiting you, or you’ll taste something bitter when someone's dealing with resentment.

How Do You Figure Out Your Strongest One?

Here's what I've noticed in my own journey and in working with others: we all have one or two clairs that come more naturally than others. It's like being right-handed or left-handed. You can use both hands, but one feels more natural.

Start by paying attention to how you naturally process the world. When you're trying to remember something, do you see it in pictures? Do you replay conversations in your head? Do you remember how things felt? That's usually a clue to your dominant clair.

I am a very word focused person. I love reading and understand the world best through language, so it’s no surprise to me that words are the smoothest way for me to receive psychic information.

I always tell people to notice what happens during those "gut feeling" moments. When you walk into a room and immediately sense tension, are you seeing something, feeling it in your body, hearing an internal warning, or do you just suddenly know something's wrong?

Keep a little journal for a week. Write down any intuitive hits you have: moments when you thought of someone right before they called, when you had a feeling about taking a different route home and then later you find out your usual path had standstill traffic, when you just knew your friend was upset before they told you. Look for patterns in how that information came to you.

Developing Your Gift

Once you start noticing your strongest clair, you can begin strengthening it intentionally. It's like going to the gym. The more you exercise it, the stronger it gets.

If you're visual (clairvoyant), try sitting quietly and asking to see colors around people. Don't worry if you think you're making it up at first. That's normal. Practice visualizing in meditation, or try looking at photos and seeing what impressions come up.

For those who are more auditory (clairaudient), spend time in silence and listen for that quiet inner voice. Ask questions during meditation and listen for answers. Pay attention to songs that seem to play in your head at meaningful moments.

If you feel things (clairsentient), practice scanning your body for sensations when you're around different people. Notice how your energy changes in different environments. Try holding objects and seeing what impressions you get.

And if you're a "knower" (claircognizant), trust those sudden insights more. Ask questions and wait for answers to simply appear in your mind. Practice with simple things first, like asking which checkout line will be fastest at the store.

What I've Learned Along the Way

The biggest thing you can do is trust yourself and give yourself grace. It will take some trial and error to learn what an intuitive download feels like versus what your mental chatter/imagination feels like. 

Start small. Pay attention to the subtle impressions you get throughout the day. Trust that first hit of information before your logical mind kicks in and starts analyzing everything. And be patient with yourself.

In my shamanic practice, understanding my clairs has completely transformed how I work with clients. But even if you never plan to do healing work, developing your psychic senses will enrich your daily life in many ways. You'll make better decisions, have deeper relationships, and feel more connected to the wisdom that's always available to guide you.

Your intuitive gifts are already there, waiting for you to notice and nurture them. All you have to do is pay attention and trust yourself.