“The ability to access knowledge and/or wisdom without recourse to conscious reasoning.”

We all have intuition, every single one of us. How do we access it? How do we build a relationship with it? How can we use it to improve our own physical health?

The answer is simpler than you expect. The conscious mind when asked a question or faced with a situation does not immediately turn to thought. There is a gap, a magical micro moment of a pause. It is perhaps only a microsecond of time. Yet, in that moment, there is a voice, an image or word that speaks its guidance.

This is our intuition, our soul speaking to us. The very first flutter of an answer that comes to our mind’s, that is our intuition. Yet, what happens? Our socially constructed, overlord of a conscious mind kicks in and reasons away and muffles the intuition. We have been conditioned in the western world to place intellect and reason above all. This is treason to the subtle soul.

As John Kehoe states in his mind power training, “The mind is the great trickster.” The enlightened Indian saint Ramana Maharshi said “After realisation, all intellectual loads are useless burdens and are to be thrown overboard.”

Let me give you a silly and simple example of intuition.

“The ability to access knowledge and/or wisdom without recourse to conscious reasoning.”

We all have intuition, every single one of us. How do we access it? How do we build a relationship with it? How can we use it to improve our own physical health?

The answer is simpler than you expect. The conscious mind when asked a question or faced with a situation does not immediately turn to thought. There is a gap, a magical micro moment of a pause. It is perhaps only a microsecond of time. Yet, in that moment, there is a voice, an image or word that speaks its guidance.

This is our intuition, our soul speaking to us. The very first flutter of an answer that comes to our mind’s, that is our intuition. Yet, what happens? Our socially constructed, overlord of a conscious mind kicks in and reasons away and muffles the intuition. We have been conditioned in the western world to place intellect and reason above all. This is treason to the subtle soul.

As John Kehoe states in his mind power training, “The mind is the great trickster.” The enlightened Indian saint Ramana Maharshi said “After realisation, all intellectual loads are useless burdens and are to be thrown overboard.”

Let me give you a silly and simple example of intuition.

This is the popular game Wordle, where you find the given word in as few a moves as possible. After typing the word ‘steak,’ the word ‘stead’ fluttered up from my chest into my head. Within a moment of this image appearing, my conscious mind roared into life and sensibly reasoned that ‘steal’ and ‘steam’ are far more commonly used words. Yet, the conscious mind was wrong. Somehow that little voice, fleeting, gentle and unpushy knew. How many times has this little voice of knowing been right for you? Many, many times yes? This is our intuition, our soul speaking to us, guiding us. It is our link, our communicative channel to our ancestors. It is the real ‘you,’ without the mentally constructed aberrations of fear, anxiety and doubt.

The way to utilise our intuition does not come via the mind, it comes through opening the heart. This is where ‘we’ live. It is through the heart that we connect with all life on earth. The great Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jin said “Feel, don’t think.” Simple yet powerful. Feeling, sensing is quicker than thought. A martial artist trains oneself to sense his opponent not think what strike is coming next. We feel compassionate, kind and somehow bigger, energetically when our heart is open. We can sense more, feel more. Yet, when our heart has been hurt and we close it, allowing the mind to run amok with thoughts of pain and worry, life does not feel good does it? Our world feels smaller. Our ability to sense anything but pain and fear diminishes. Allow the heart to rule the head, not the other way around. Enlightenment comes through the heart not the head.

Knowledge can guide us yet ultimately we must feel our own truth through practice. Reading about magic does not make us magicians. We must practice to become a magician.

Now we have arrived at yoga.

Take out your mat and lay it out in a space at home. Stand on your mat with an erect spine. Stand proud, yet relaxed, breathe deeply and slowly into your abdomen. There is no rush. Keeping feeling the breathe deepen and lengthen. Feel the breath in your body. Follow the breath. This simple process of feeling the breath takes our focus out of the mind and into the body. Now our Jedi training has begun. Feel, don’t think… Move! Follow that first impulse that flashes up from your heart to your head. Do it! Our intuition will guide us to what our body needs. Revel and relish in the areas you feel stiffness and tightness. Rest and breathe in these places. Trust your initial impulses, the flashes of guidance, they know what you need. Do not let the mind interfere. It matters not if we are doing orthodox yoga asana. It does not matter if it doesn’t flow or look aesthetically pleasing. Just keep feeling and following that initial flash of imagery of where to move to next and when. Now we are truly doing yoga. Your yoga. My yoga. This is the training of a Jedi. You will know when your practice has come to its conclusion. Always allow time in savasana. Always! This is when our practice uploads and upgrades our nervous system. In the quiet of savasana is where we may receive wisdom and direction through our now open hearts.

As often as possible, practice yoga this way. It will build and strengthen the relationship with your intuition and inevitably ‘you,’ the real you.

I cannot put into words how powerful this practice is, how much your yoga will ascend and how your ability to access more than the eye can see will expand. This home practice method is not a replacement for group classes. Group yoga has a unique power of its own. Yet, once you have an understanding of yoga asana and can practice safely, a home practice is a pivotal step to living a yogic life. A life as a yogi. A life as a sorcerer.

Namaste

Half Moon shifts you into single-leg balance, demanding lateral hip strength and proprioception, the body’s internal GPS. It builds that grounded lightness: strong through the standing leg, expansive through the chest. Side Crow then compresses and coils, asking for rotational power, wrist integrity, and focused attention; it transforms core engagement from abstract theory into embodied reality.

Flowing them together is where the magic happens. You move from openness to balance to arm strength in a seamless conversation, teaching the body to transition efficiently and the mind to remain calm inside complexity. It becomes more than poses, it becomes a practice of adaptability, coordination, and composed strength under shifting demands.

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Yoga is much more than asana. Asana is only one of the eight limbs described in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, yet it is the limb most widely practised in the Western world. Meditation, however, has always been central to the yogic path. To experience the full depth of yoga, asana and meditation must work together.

Asana prepares the body for meditation. Traditionally, yogis practised posture so they could sit steadily for long periods of stillness. But I believe it goes deeper than muscular endurance. Asana organises the body. It clears tension. It regulates breath. It steadies the nervous system.

Preparing for meditation without meditating is like preparing a pie and never putting it in the oven. Meditating without preparing the body is like trying to bake with the ingredients still in their packets. One without the other limits the result.

Yoga means “union.” Union with what? In yogic philosophy, it is the joining of individual consciousness with universal consciousness, the dissolving of perceived separation. Without breath and meditation, yoga risks becoming sophisticated aerobics. Valuable for physical health, yes, but that is basecamp. The summit lies elsewhere.

Beyond improved concentration and reduced stress, meditation can lead to states of deep absorption, dhyana, where the boundary between self and environment softens. Whether one interprets this as neurophysiological integration or spiritual union, the experience is transformative.

The eight limbs provide a map:

Yama and Niyama establish ethical and behavioural alignment.
Asana and Pranayama prepare the body and breath.
Pratyahara, Dharana, and Dhyana refine attention inward.
Samadhi represents profound integration a state described as blissful unity.

Why not skip straight to meditation? Because we are embodied beings. Physical tension influences mental turbulence. Restricted breathing influences emotional reactivity. When the body is stiff, the mind often follows.

Through asana, we stretch and strengthen not only muscles but the connective tissues that influence circulation and nervous-system tone. Yogic texts describe energy channels called nadis. In Chinese traditions, similar pathways are called meridians. Modern physiology might describe improved vagal tone, balanced autonomic activity, and enhanced interoceptive awareness. Different maps, perhaps describing related terrain.

There is an old saying: where the breath goes, energy flows. When movement opens the body and breathing deepens, internal resistance reduces. The system becomes coherent.

Meditating in the middle of daily chaos is possible, but difficult. Moving first shifts the state. The body settles. The breath smooths. Attention stabilises. Then meditation deepens naturally.

I suspect that other physical disciplines: strength training, running, swimming, followed by mindful breathing can produce a similar preparatory effect. Movement regulates the organism. Stillness then refines it.

A practical marker from yogic tradition is the central channel, Sushumna. When both nostrils are clear and breathing feels balanced, practitioners say this channel is open. Physiologically, the nasal cycle is linked to autonomic regulation. When both passages are clear, the nervous system is often calm and integrated. Subtle language and modern science may be pointing to the same phenomenon.

In that balanced state, meditation becomes less effortful. Intention becomes clearer. Visualisation becomes more vivid. What some call manifestation may simply be the alignment of focused thought, emotion, and embodied calm.

Yoga without meditation remains incomplete. Meditation without embodiment is unstable.

When posture, breath, and attention align, practice moves beyond exercise. It becomes participation in awareness, in nature, in something larger than the isolated self.

And when both nostrils are clear, the body quiet, and the mind steady, you are no longer preparing the pie.

You are tasting it.

Yoga is a sensational form of mindful exercise. Yet, it is much more than that. Yoga can be a system of how to live if one follows the sutras laid out by Patanjali.

Research on the potential of yoga for its positive effects on a myriad of long term conditions, mental health issues and even deprived communities is rapidly expanding. However, the western world seems to be obsessed with one limb of yoga. Asana!

Asana is the movement limb of yoga where a yogi moves through postures set by a teacher. Asana aims to mobilise, stretch, strengthen and build stability through the body’s musculoskeletal structures. On a deeper level, asana manipulates our nadi (energy channels) which allows prana (life force energy) to flow freely through us. However, if this in itself was enough, wouldn’t dancers and gymnasts who’s bodies epitomise the pinnacle of strength, stability, flexibility and mobility, be the most spiritually evolved and enlightened humans on earth?

Exercise has an unquestionable benefit for health. With correct training, exercise will help us feel more physically able. Yoga is brilliant for this. Yet, being physically able is one dimension of wellness. Can being able to do a handstand improve your well-being? No, not in and of itself. It can if taught mindfully to improve resilience, an aspect of emotional well-being along with developing strong shoulders and a great core.

When asana is supported by satsang (community), meditation, pranayama (breath work) and mantra, the positive effects of yoga can be compounded exponentially. Then well-being improvements can trickle into the remaining four dimensions of occupational, spiritual, intellectual and social health.

Asana is often the first step westerners take into the world of yoga. I applaud that step vociferously. If like I, you one day fall in love with the deep ocean of offerings the yogic path has and you dive into further learning off the mat, an unlimited universe of discoveries await you.

Namaste

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