Yoga and Mastering Intuition

By Faye Martins 

How could we go about mastering intuition with Yogic methods? Yoga is a practice and a discipline, which brings the body, mind and spirit to work in unison to produce an equilibrium that gives a more peaceful state of mind to the practitioner. Some physical fitness experts refer to yoga as “the practice of challenging physical postures and balancing poses.” Many people only see yoga as stretching exercises, combined with balancing exercises that give the body more strength and flexibility. The various techniques of yoga (asana, pranayama, mudra, bandha, kriya, meditation, etc.) are practiced so that the body, mind and spirit reach a state of complete bliss.

There are people and practitioners who don’t realize that yoga training can increase a person’s intuition. Intuition is a way of knowing or feeling something that most people may not be aware of. Some people are not aware of their thoughts and emotions as they go about their daily lives; however, if we hone in on our thoughts, awareness and “gut feelings,” instead of shrugging them off, we can cultivate intuition and use it for good in our lives.

The Basics

To increase awareness in our lives it is important to first increase awareness of our physical intuition. Physical intuition comes from the part of our brain that is nonverbal. In other words, our bodies are constantly relaying thoughts to us when we engage in some kind of physical activity. By being more aware of the nonverbal thoughts, we can gain more insight into basic physical intuition.

A Short Session

Yoga can help us realize the potential we have for mastering intuition; however, each yoga training session for building intuition should be at least ten minutes long. All that is needed during this practice is to practice a routine of basic asanas, relax, breathe in and out with no strain, and to avoid feel pressured while you’re waiting for something to happen. As you continue the yoga intuition exercise, be mindful of the physical sensations you feel as the practice continues. Then, once the practice is over, be aware of how your body feels once you leave the mat.

After the Mat

The time after practice is most important because you are applying the practical applications of yoga toward your life. Use your senses to see, hear, smell, touch and taste, after your intuition building session. If you really watch and listen to people, eventually you may accurately predict what they will do next. This is not complicated, but it requires the practitioner to be observant, to focus, and to avoid telling your friends. The time spent on this exercise is worthless if your mind is not focused.

Meditation Helps Too

Some say the best way to develop intuition is by meditating and that is what makes yoga so effective when wanting to increase intuition. Again, this exercise works well when practicing pranayama at the same time. To clarify, when you focus on a problem or concern in your life, or in the life of another, imagine you can slowly breathe in the problem and then slowly exhale releasing the problem, you will find a heightened sense of focus because you are working on the problem instead of worrying about it. Meditating on whatever it is you want to meditate about helps you to become quiet and you are able to focus only on the present moment or present problem. When the mind is quiet, your intuition has a higher sense of awareness and this will enable you to find logical solutions. So, mastering intuition is possible, but will require habitual effort.

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