Inner Knowing

In a rare occurrence, my sister and I were at the same yoga class last night. It’s cool to share that experience with her because we first started going together to beginner yoga classes with Mary Kay at the Asheville Yoga Center in 2005. It’s really special that we share a town, and it’s neat to think about how far we’ve both come since 2005, on and off the yoga mat.

Yoga last night was focused on inner knowing, on trusting your gut feelings. Intuition can be an illusive thing when we focus so much on using our heads and our brains to be logical, create process, and define a path – rather than simply walk it.

Our teacher Rich focused on helping us bring focus to that part of the belly between the lower ribs and the bellybutton. He wanted us to rotate that inward. I had one yoga teacher in Kelowna who suggested that the best way to get that engagement in the body was to first draw the bellybutton in then feel like you are pulling it up toward your ribs. This automatically draws a hollowing out of the upper part of your stomach. This, coupled with a tucked tailbone, one gains a solid core and the opportunity to expand (or, I like the term “puff up”) the lower, back part of your ribs all the way down to your kidneys.

As a means of honoring the intuition I brought focus to yesterday, I decided to sit on a sunny patch on the hardwood floors – just sit – you know, meditate, because something in my body said it was a good idea.