Introduction

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As part of the EUNITA project, we set up a constellation of Rick Snyder’s Intuition Pathway. Instead of discussing the model in theory, each participant chose to represent one of the steps. From that position they spoke, sensed, and moved, not as themselves, but as the step. Their words revealed the qualities, tensions, and hidden aspects of the pathway. What began as six steps unfolded into seven, as embodiment emerged as an essential part of the process. In the end, what we discovered was not a straight line but a spiral of deepening awareness.

Step 1: Awareness

Rick Snyder describes awareness as the starting point: being attentive to subtle cues, bodily sensations, images, or impressions that may carry intuitive meaning. It is the moment we notice that something is happening beneath the surface of rational thought.

In our constellation, no one chose to represent awareness at first. The absence itself became powerful. “We all assumed it was there,” one participant reflected, “but without someone embodying it, everything felt ungrounded.” This showed how often awareness is taken for granted. Later, when someone did step into the role, they noticed how fragile it felt, as if awareness could disappear at any moment. The group concluded that cultivating awareness requires active practice. 

Trainers can help learners experience this by starting with grounding exercises or asking simple questions like “What do you notice right now in your body?” Even such a small act makes awareness concrete.

Step 2: Acceptance -> Acknowledge

For Snyder, acceptance is the willingness to acknowledge the signal as real, without explaining it away or discarding it. It is giving intuition the right to exist before we know its meaning.

The representative of acceptance reported a strong shift: “My body relaxed when I took this place.” Others felt a stabilizing influence radiating from them, as if acceptance allowed energy to flow. In conversation we noticed how often intuitive signals are dismissed with “it’s just nothing.” Acceptance your intuition, interrupts this habit. It does not require certainty, only permission. 

During our conversations we realized that acceptance did not fully capture what was happening in this step. Acceptance felt like a result: you either accept or reject something. What we experienced was more active: the need to notice and give recognition to the signal. As one participant said, “Acknowledging is actually acknowledging that it has happened, that you have listened, that you know.” Another added, “With acknowledge, it’s more like inviting.” For this reason we chose to rename the step from Acceptance to Acknowledging.

Trainers can work with this step by inviting participants to pause after a hunch arises and simply hold it in silence. We saw that once acceptance was embodied, the other steps felt safer and more connected.

Step 3: Listening

Listening goes deeper: it means opening ourselves to hear what the intuitive signal is saying. Snyder emphasizes that this is not rational analysis but a kind of inner hearing. Listening extends the pause of acceptance and brings curiosity into the space.

The representative of listening described their experience vividly: “Something is happening with me and I can’t place it. My worldview is opening up. That’s scary.” Another added, “Here you have to let go of control.” The group recognized this as a threshold: listening invites transformation, which is why it can feel frightening. We also noticed how listening connected strongly with trust. Without trust, listening risked collapsing back into doubt. 

Trainers can help learners explore this step by guiding short inner listening practices: asking a question, closing the eyes, and waiting for what arises without forcing it.

Step 4: Trust

Trust is the decision to believe in the intuitive signal and give it weight. Snyder calls it the “bridge” step, where we choose to lean on what we sense even in the absence of rational evidence. Trust requires courage, as we cannot predict the outcome.

In the constellation, two people independently stood as trust. For some this felt excessive, for others comforting. The doubling itself revealed that trust recurs again and again. “Every time I act on intuition, I have to trust again,” one representative said, “and afterwards I can trust more the next time.” The group realized that trust does not appear once but circles back repeatedly, strengthening each time. We also saw how trust acted as a hinge: it turned listening inwardly into acting outwardly. 

Trainers might practice this with learners by creating safe spaces where small intuitive choices are honored, speaking the first word that comes, drawing a symbol, or choosing a movement, reinforcing that trust grows through repetition.

Step 5: Acting

Acting is where intuition meets the outer world. Snyder describes it as taking the step, however small, that intuition points toward. It is the moment of risk and expression, where intuition takes form.

The representative of acting voiced hesitation: “Should I move forward or stay back?” This captured the familiar uncertainty that often accompanies intuitive action. The group noticed that when trust was close, action felt natural, almost effortless. Without trust, acting became shaky and hesitant. We also saw that acting was not an endpoint but part of a cycle: each action fed back into new awareness and listening. 

Trainers can emphasize this by framing action as experimentation, trying a small step, noticing the result, and then circling back. This helps learners build confidence without the pressure of perfection.

Step 6: Embodying Intuition

In our constellation, a new step appeared between acting and teaching. Snyder’s original model did not name it, but it arose so strongly that we added it. Embodiment is living intuition in our posture, tone, and presence.

The representative said: “Everything you want to teach, you must embody first. Then people resonate with you, beyond explanation.” This landed deeply in the group; many reported goosebumps. Embodiment meant intuition was no longer an occasional act but a way of being. It became clear that without embodiment, teaching risks being hollow. 

Trainers can cultivate this step with body-based exercises, such as walking slowly while holding an intuitive question, or practicing breathing into the gut and speaking from that place. These practices anchor intuition in the body and make it accessible to others.

Step 7: Teaching Intuition

Snyder’s pathway ends with teaching others to use their intuitive intelligence. It’s about sharing intuition so that others may experience their own.

The representative noticed how teaching fed back into self-awareness: “When I teach, I accept it more myself.” Teaching became not just giving knowledge but radiating presence. The group reflected that this step is less about instruction and more about modelling. We also saw how teaching closes the circle by bringing awareness back into the system.

Trainers can use this step by inviting participants to share their own intuitive exercises with the group. In doing so, they both deepen their own learning and spread it to others.

A Spiral, Not a Line

What became clear is that the steps are not linear. Loops and spirals appeared everywhere. Trust, acting, and embodying formed a repeating cycle. Listening stretched back into awareness. Teaching resonated with acceptance. As one participant said: “Every step is in every step.”

The pathway is best seen as a spiral, returning again and again, yet each time with more depth and resonance.

Conclusion

By embodying Snyder’s pathway as a constellation, we discovered more than we could have in discussion alone. Awareness was missing until we noticed its absence. Acceptance relaxed the body. Listening carried fear. Trust doubled itself. Acting wavered. Embodiment revealed itself as essential. Teaching returned as another level of awareness.

For trainers, this journey shows that intuition cannot be taught as a straight sequence. It is a living process that unfolds in spirals. The seven steps, awareness, acceptance, listening, trust, acting, embodying, and teaching, offer both a framework and an invitation: to experience, embody, and share intuition so that others may step into their own journey.

Source: a meeting with 6 trainers in which they explored the 6 steps by Rick Snyder in August 2025