Intuition is getting the right thought at the right time. It is not uncommon for people to have these impulses, whether it is grabbing an umbrella before leaving the house even though there is no rain in the forecast (and it turns out to rain), or for no real reason having the impulse to take another route home and realizing you avoided an accident.
But, as a culture, we have learned to follow our rational thinking as we go through our daily lives. We pay little attention to our inner voice, or our gut feelings that might strongly disagree with our logical reasoning. Which is unfortunate, because logic relies on our knowledge of a situation in order to be able to make the right choice, so when we don’t know everything about a situation, how can we attempt to figure it out rationally and expect to get it 100% right? This is when a strong connection to our intuition would round out our decision making ability. We were all born with a naturally intuitive ability to perceive beyond our senses, but as we grow, our culture and education obstruct us from developing this inner potential.
Some adults retain more of the intuition they had in childhood, but intuition can also be developed or reclaimed. A solid meditation practice can be an important ingredient in developing intuition as an adult. My own intuition turns up in unusual ways. For instance, a while ago, I gave a colleague a hug.
This wasn’t unusual. I’m a hugger. I’ll hug you the first time I meet you. But It would be unusual for me to hug a colleague if I was rushing down the hall back to class from the bathroom.
But one day last school year, I did exactly that. As I was rushing back to class I crossed paths with a colleague that I don’t know particularly well. She’s a very well put together woman, and was looking great as she does every day, and I just had an impulse to stop and gave her a hug. She seemed to appreciate it and I went back to class. And I didn’t think about it again.
Until our final high school staff meeting on Friday. We sat in a circle and each person shared one highlight of the school year. Most people shared their professional accomplishments. This woman, however, shared the story of how her daughter had tragically died in a car accident a few years ago, and on her birthday I came up to her in the hall and gave her a hug.
It had been a random impulse. All the information my senses gathered gave me no inkling that she might be having a so-so day, and definitely no idea that she might be going through something difficult. But somehow I had the right thought at the right time,
and though it was a little odd, I stopped and hugged her. I only remembered the incident once I heard the story retold, and I had no clue that the hug would have such an impact. I felt grateful that my intuition had kicked in at the right time. Grateful that I could be there to uplift her when she needed it. And grateful to my yoga and meditation practices which have the capacity to improve our intuition.
In yoga, the solar plexus is the area of the body connected to our intuition or “gut feeling”. Energetically, the solar plexus is usually a bit bigger than an almond. Through regular spiritual practice, Sri Sri has said that the solar plexus can become as large as an apricot.
“When the solar plexus expands, the intuitive mind awakens, the mind becomes clear and focused. Krishna was called Padmanabha, meaning whose navel is the size of a lotus flower.” Sri Sri
All yoga and meditation practices are great for nurturing intuition, but through Art of Living I also teach a program for kids ages 5-17 called the Intuition Process. To find out more about the Intuition Process Course, click here.Blog Intuition