What Is Intuition?

Every yoga teacher, mindfulness coach and eating expert has said “listen to your body.” But what does that even mean? My body wants a big plate of french toast and bacon. My body wants to lay around in bed all day. My body wants sweatpants and baggy flannel shirts. It seems like if I listen to my body for too long, I’m going to end up fat, lazy and swaddled in terry cloth.

What’s deeper than those initial urges? Underneath your impulses, fears and judgements, what does your body really want from you? My body wants to move, stretch, breath, lay in the sunny grass, love and be loved. My body wants to feel light, fast, free and powerful; my body wants be adorned and honored like the sacred space that it is. My body wants me to look in the mirror and go “Yeah, baby!” My body wants to wake up feeling lithe, spiritual and connected, and to fall asleep feeling safe, proud and well-loved. My intuition wants those things. The word intuition comes from late Middle English, denoting spiritual insight or immediate spiritual communication.

Intuition is the wise, ageless, timeless part of you who simultaneously exists in this moment and every other moment of your life. She is the immortal part of you that knows from personal experience that there is more than this one life-time. She knows, completely and without doubt, that everything will always be okay, because she has stood with you at the end of your life and looked backwards. She has seen that everything “bad” that has ever happened to you is also helping you towards some future enlightenment and fulfillment.

What would it be like to use your intuition to guide your eating choices? What would “rest” look like if your intuition ran the show?