We’ve being doing a yoga breathwork fusion intensive the last couple of weeks. Breathwork targets different parts of the body and brain and I often ask my students to pay attention, in the days following the class, to their dreams, their feelings and their lives and to see what comes up. It’s a yogic thing, paying attention to our intuition and our feelings and not dismissing them as trivial or not important. This intuition, which many people call living from the heart, applies to people, words, media and situations. When you consult your heart, ask the questions: Does it feel good or wrong? And if wrong, why? What feels off?

We are all equipped with an intuition that is potent, trustworthy, and impeccably attuned to truth and our true path. It’s a really honest way to live and it’s how our ancestors survived for thousands of years. It’s only in the last 100 years or so we learned to trust the “experts” and have forgotten to trust ourselves. It’s also an indication of societal demise. In childhood, you needed a primary someone to invest in you to give you the confidence and self-esteem to trust yourself. If you never got that and childhood was stressed, hurried, dominated by “experts,” medicated and schooling was a production line, then this instinct would not come naturally.
So how do we grow this intuition and start to live from our hearts? Spending time in silence is a great start. Once you slow the chatter in your head you’ll be surprised on how much you actually know. Practice using all five senses, in every situation – doing this can raise your sensitivity to your sixth sense. Pay attention to your dreams - when you are sleeping, your cognitive mind rests and this opens space for the subconscious mind to signal you in dreams.
Get creative – this also quiets the cognitive mind and allows your intuition to speak up. Test your hunches – write them down and check them later to see how often you were right. Consult your body. When something feels dodgy, how does your body respond? Does it feel light or heavy? Do you feel sick in your gut or headache-y? It could just be the result of the stress response, but it could also be your intuition ringing loud and clear.
Get into nature – nature is the ultimate truth. Pay attention to the rhythm of the seasons and how nature responds instinctively. Align with your values – learn what it feels like to behave in alignment with your values and you’ll start to sense your intuition more clearly. Because when you’re betraying your values, you’ll learn what intuition doesn’t feel like. And come and join us in Yoga class. You’ll never ignore your body or your intuition again!
Margot Wagner
Yoga Under the Bodhi Tree
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