Using your intuition and boosting your brain power
Have you ever been in a situation where you felt the sense to do something so strongly without knowing why? I believe this is intuition. It is an innate skill we ALL have but don’t practise because it is not easy to proof nor linear to use. But intuition is making a return. Intuition is more openly spoken about in leadership now.
I have always had this capacity (I think) but did not know how to tune into it. But I am learning to trust myself and have greater faith in myself and senses now. It is a work in progress and I hope to build a framework for it. Today, I thought I might share a couple of experiences in the hope that they may help you think about your intuition.
Late last year I had a heel pain in my left foot that began to bother me a fair bit. It came during lockdown when we moved away from mountain biking to running. I thought it was plantar fasciitis and went on to treat it without consulting my physiotherapist or doctor. I had it 8 years ago, so was familiar with it. But this time it did not get better, and it was getting super annoying. We walk barefoot in the home, and it was getting unbearable. I had to have slippers on always whilst indoors including upstairs even though the wooden floor is more supportive.
After nearly 5 months I decided to see my physiotherapist (Jeffrey). Jeffrey is Markus’s (my husband) physiotherapist who helped Markus with his rehabilitation after his motorbiking accident. I visit Jeffrey at least once or twice a year for my injuries. I typically go alone for my treatment.
But for this visit, I insisted Markus come along. Markus has recovered well from his riding accident except for a residual pain on the top of his left foot. Though his doctor said there was no damage to his foot it was never x-rayed. Extended periods of walking or exercise made Markus’s foot hurt. After 4 years and trying various things, I was baffled. Watching him in pain was not easy.
And ‘something’ told me that Jeffrey could help but Markus didn’t think so! So, I used the ruse of not wanting to drive to see Jeffrey and got Markus to drive me instead. Though we worked on my heel, which Jeffery diagnosed as plantar fasciitis, we got to talking about Markus’s foot too.
To cut a long story short, though my heel pain subsided for 2 days, it came back. Jeffrey had suggested that I use a foot roller to get blood to my feet before taking my first step every morning. He suggested that for Markus too. So, Markus and I began to use the foot roller every morning. And that’s when the magic happened.
The foot roller made my pain worse, yes, worse BUT Markus's foot pain DISAPPEARED!! Just like that the pain was gone after 4 years. If I was to be honest, I ‘knew’ that Jeffrey was not going to solve my problem BUT I should still go WITH Markus. And I ‘knew’ my pain was not plantar fasciitis!
In the meantime, a random video about doing squats appeared in my YouTube feed a few days later. 21 squats to be precise. It was a video by the infamous Sadhguru of Isha Foundation. I don’t follow him, but I have watched a couple of other videos of his in the past. But these squats intrigued me, and I thought to myself ‘they are worth a try”. Try I did and that’s when my magic happened. My foot pain DISAPPEARED 2 days later. Bizarre.
The 21 squats are now my daily morning ritual. I do them as soon as I wake up. If I miss a day or 2, like when I had covid, I feel my heel pain coming back. I am yet to figure out why. But a BBC REEL video that I stumbled upon recently, brought a different dimension to the benefits of squatting. That it can boost brain power! I found this fascinating. The short video is so worth a watch.
So, where does that leave us with using our intuition? Our brain and sensors are constantly picking up ‘messages’ from our surroundings. We all feel and sense energy but most of us don’t know how to work with it because we have no framework. I hope to change this, so stay tuned.
If you are actively using your intuition, I would love to hear from you.
As always, you can reach me at yoga@yoganesadurai.com
ps. The foot pain I talk about above is a side effect of Markus’s horrific riding accident exactly 5 years ago. I vividly remember that morning. As I hovered around him, as I usually do, as he prepared to leave, a deep sensation in my body ‘felt’ something was off. I could ‘sense’ and ‘feel’ it through Markus. I even said, “enjoy yourself today AND BE CAREFUL”. I NEVER say the latter. But it was my way of ‘protecting him’. I always knew his passion for motocross came with its risks, but I never drew attention to it because energy follows our attention.
At 11.30 am that morning I received the fateful call. I remember it like it was yesterday!