As a child, I think our intuition is quite developed and as we grow into the world, some of us tend to loose it a little. It tends to fade away and gets covered up, most of the time, due to our education, the rules of society, the way we see ourselves, the fear of judgment…
Intuition, according to the dictionary is: “the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning.” I would even add to that, it’s our ability to know right away if something is right or wrong for us. It’s a feeling that every cell senses but to me, it’s mostly located in the heart and in the guts.
For me, my intuition was always present in my life but for a long time I covered it on purpose. I think it’s started when I became a teenager or maybe even earlier having a group of friends and wanted to fit in and belong. Oh the things we do when we want to be accepted even when our intuition is yelling the opposite!
I grew up understanding that it’s better to be nice to people and not to make too much noise as we go through life. Basically living under the radar so you don’t get too bothered. In France there is the saying: “to live happily, live hidden”. So I did that for a very long time. And while it’s a totally honorable way to live, it’s also what they call here “playing small” especially if you have bigger dreams and ideas for yourself.
Coming to New York in 2000 was a pivotal moment for me and my intuition. Being in a new country and a huge city (I come from a small town in France), not knowing the language and having basically no money, I had to rely on my intuition a lot to be able to trust people and make decisions. But it’s not until I started to practice yoga and most of all study the philosophy of yoga that I understood how much our intuition is important. It is basically our guiding light, our north star pointing us in the right direction. 
I’m still struggling sometimes about reconciling my intuition and my reasoning mind not even mentioning the fact that I’m a libra so I can be very indecisive. Oh the struggle! But, I’ve been working on sharpening my intuition if there is such a thing, making it stronger and having it taking more place in my life. Basically listening to it more and trusting it rather than hearing a little whisper of intuition and putting it under the rug right away as if it never happened. And then of course, we don’t want to fall into the complete opposite either of not being able to make the difference between our intuition and our fantasies, for sometimes, it is a fine line.
I’m talking more about something you feel and know deeply in your heart as being the truth.

In my experience, one has to work on igniting his/her intuition especially if it doesn’t come easy to us and of course, like everything else in life, the more we do it, the easier it gets.
Here are some of the tools or the practices I’m doing to help me enhance my intuition:
. daily meditation: this has been a tremendous practice and a way to daily get in touch with my feelings, my emotions, my state of mind. It’s also a great way to listen. To listen to your intuition, to what the universe has to tell you. It’s also a way to help suppressing the distractions and really connect.
. I actually don’t journal but I know (my intuition is talking here!) that it is a very important way to refine your intuition. Writing your thoughts but especially the ones that you feel are so wonderful and feel so right but maybe they scare you or you feel not (good, strong, mature, stable, fit…) enough to make them happen.
You may actually see that some of them come back a lot and pay attention because they are trying to show you the path. I do this mentally or sometimes I write down on my phone but I think if I was writing on paper regularly, this would be even more impactful.
. taking some time alone with no distraction, surrounded by nature if possible. New York is so busy and can be so loud that sometimes, it’s hard to hear yourself think! So I cherish these quiet times to kind of reset.
. learn to know yourself better, the way you are, the way you interact with people, what makes you feel good, what doesn’t… through spiritual lectures, chart reading, intuitive session, psychology sessions, healing sessions… whatever helps you to understand better who you are.
. read, listen to podcasts, meet with people that inspire you and that show you that what you want to do is possible. And make sure that your social media feed is a source of inspiration not one that is draining you.

This is a process but to me one that is so worth it for it brings me closer to what feels harmonious in my life.

Here is an example of me following my intuition: this summer I was offered the opportunity to teach a class in an old chapel on Shelter Island. While the task of marketing a class and bringing people in can feel daunting, it also felt completely right to try to make this class happen for the space was just perfect. And guess what, the class did really well this summer and it was such a pleasure to teach there.
Here is an example of me not following my intuition: a while back I agreed to teach a private session to a man who came to an introduction series I was teaching at Yogaworks. I got the sense that he was looking at me in a way that didn’t t reflect solely some interest for yoga but I wasn’t completely sure either. I went, we started doing the session and while he was in a specific seated pose, I saw more than I wanted to see as he wasn’t wearing any underpants under his shorts. So that was that! Should have followed my intuition on this one…

I’ve also noticed, that I have a better intuition for people than I do for myself most of the times. I get that strong sense of what they may go through or how they may feel or what they should do. And in fact, it makes a lot of sense, for I’m not involved in their life as much as I’m involved in mine so it’s easier to see more clearly as I’m not affected by the outcome. 
So let’s try to let go of our fears, attachments and limiting beliefs as we tune in more and more to our intuition.

As always, thank you for reading.
Namaste,