The majority of us are not taught how to listen to our intuition. In fact, childhood and adolescent experiences often separate us from our intuition. If you want to be more in tune with your intuition, there are practices – such as breathwork, dancing and yoga – that can prove to be pivotal for your journey.

Breathwork teacher and intuitive guide Erin Telford describes intuition as, “Guidance that is received through connection with the wisdom that already lives inside you – within your spirit, your heart and your essence.” Maggie Hayes, somatic coach, yoga and meditation teacher and breathwork facilitator, says, “[Intuition is] the voice guiding you in the direction of your unique alignment.”

Coming Back To Your Intuition

“We are all born intuitive and are incredibly aware and sensitive as children.  Many people are socialized out of and guided away from using this gift as it’s not often understood by caregivers,” Telford says.

Hayes explains while there are many forces that cause a divide between us and our intuition, there are also many things that make it easier for us to listen to the guidance. To begin connecting with your intuition, she suggests asking yourself:

• What makes you feel alive?
• What are you doing when you feel like you can slow down?
• How can you get clear on what your unique truth is, and practice speaking it?

When you understand your intuition, you can navigate the twists and turns of life with greater ease because you understand your own needs.

Embodied Practices For Intuition

Hayes explains, “When you can land in an embodied state – when you’re literally, physically in your body – your intuitive guidance is not only easier to hear but easier to listen to.”

By helping us sense and understand cues in the body, practices that encourage a deeper sense of bodily awareness inherently help us listen to intuitive cues.

1. Breathwork

“Breathwork allows you to override your thinking, logical brain and drop into the wisdom of the body and the heart,” Telford states. “When we bypass the constant mental chatter in our brains with the breath, we can actually hear ourselves and what’s most important and true for us.”

Both Telford and Hayes believe breathing is one of the quickest and most authentic ways to drop into your intuition. “When you are triggered, instead of trying to distract yourself and/or run away from the feeling, just pause, and breathe WITH the experience,” Hayes expresses. “When we create this internal environment where everything is free to flow and be as it is, intuition has the literal space to come through.”

2. Dancing

Twirling, swaying, jumping, shaking. As with breathwork, somatic movement gives us time and space to genuinely recognize sensations in the body.

Hayes explains, “A somatic practice allows you to explore how you physically hold your emotions, and how it is experienced as energy in the body. It creates this space of radical allowance, where we are connecting with ourselves as we truly are in a safe and supported way. Each time we do this, we strengthen our access to our intuition – because it’s simply a growing connection to what is true within us.”

3. Yoga

Consider rolling out your yoga mat with the only intention to move in an intuitive way. Close your eyes and let your body guide you through each movement. No need to open your eyes, you know the ground is there to hold you. Be astonished at how you can move and balance without your sight. Keep in mind  moving intuitively takes practice, so be patient with yourself.

Practicing yoga with closed eyes is uncommon and vulnerable – but it’s in this state that you can learn to move intuitively, honor your desire and trust your stability.

Listening To + Trusting Intuitive Cues

“Learning how to trust your intuition is ultimately learning how to trust yourself, which is essential for any human in this lifetime,” Telford proclaims.

As with all disciplines, the practice of listening to and trusting your intuition takes patience and compassion; committing to your intuition is investing in yourself, and you’re worth it!

Photo one courtesy of Maggie Hayes. 

Photo two by Melodee Solomon. 

Kristen Grace is a writer, editor and yogi who ardently loves storytelling. She enjoys writing about all aspects of mental, physical and collective wellbeing. She finds bliss in nature, especially on picnics, as she is also a foodie and amateur baker. Kristen holds a degree in communication and is passionate about listening and learning. She is currently pursuing a yoga teacher certification because movement and breathwork are two of her true loves.