As we move through life, the ability to trust in oneself and follow our intuition becomes more and more important. When we’re faced with life’s challenges, such as divorce, illness, separation or loss, it’s often those internal guideposts that bring us through the valley and back onto the mountaintop. A great quote from French writer and poet Rene Daumal illustrates this point well:
“You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know.”
Like Daumal says, once we have climbed the mountain we may no longer be able to see to the horizon, but at least we still know 
that it’s out there. We can trust in our memory of that image, as well as our journey up and down the mountain. The lessons we have learned in the hard work sometimes need to be relearned over and over again until we finally fully integrate them into our being, but we still retain the knowledge of what it takes to get to that point.
It’s that trust of experience that comes to light when practicing yoga allows the yogi to shed new layers and boldly dive deeper into the self, the breath, the spirit. How many times have we heard a yoga teacher say, “Practice and all is coming.” Sri K. Pattabhi Jois is famous for repeating that phrase when his students would pepper him with questions.
As you dive into the self, eventually there comes a point in our practice where a deep and abiding love brings about radical trust within ourselves. We no longer doubt our fears, our feelings or our intuition. We feel authentically alive, ready to respond to live with integrity and strength. In The Alchemist by Paul Coelho, he talks of finding the language of the heart. When we respond to our hearts, we echo the story of Santiago (the main character): “The boy and his heart had become friends, and neither was capable now of betraying the other.” Santiago, who starts as a lonely shepherd, finds through a journey of great challenge, that “Intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life.”
All of these examples are pointing in one direction: Trust. We live in a culture that promotes fear and pain – just watch the nightly news if you doubt this idea. Those promoting fear and pain are subscribing to the belief that avoidance of pain is the way to deal with it. What we learn in yoga is so much more holistic and healing. Once you learn to go towards the fear and pain, to breathe with it, to acknowledge it and stay with it, even while your mind is urging you to get out — the pain can lessen, the muscles can lengthen and you can bring space to a place within your being that was bound or even stuck one breath ago. When you finally trust your body and your intuition that they are sending you the right messages and you pay attention to those messages, great freedom of mind, body and spirit can be found.
So how do you start developing this radical trust within yourself? Start by asking yourself a few questions on a frequent basis (every second if you want!):
- What is my personal truth? How do I really feel about this?
- Am I saying yes to something when my heart really says no? Am I saying no due to fear of pain?
- Am I afraid of this? Why?
- What does my intuition (my gut feeling) say about this?
It may take a while for your heart’s voice to get strong enough for you to hear. But when your heart hears you asking these questions, you will be pleased at how fast it’s voice will return and the peace you will feel by doing so. There’s a reason that one of the best known quotes in the world is “Follow your heart.” You just might be surprised at the treasure that awaits you there.
The author, Anna Ferguson, is a yoga teacher, artist, photographer and writer. She teaches weekly classes at Asheville Yoga Center and other studios in Asheville, NC. Find out more about her at ushasyoga.com.
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