Intuitive Yoga And How And Why To Do It (Very Healing!)

Intuitive yoga is something that not that many people practice, since yoga is often about a pre-determined set of poses, but doing it more intuitively is what has given me personally the most benefits and had me stick to it, which is why I recommend others try it out as well.

And the good news is that a few minutes per day can be all it takes once you’ve gotten the hang of it and worked out some muscular and postural imbalances, since by then you’ll only need it for maintenance and not as much for healing and rebalancing!

“A few minutes per day could be enough of this ancient practice, and would probably serve you well!”

But, to put first things first, let’s start out with:

What Intuitive Yoga Is And How To Do It
Your Body Is Incredibly Smart And Can Find Its Own Balance And What It Needs (If You Let It)
Why To Do Intuitive Yoga In Addition To (Or instead Of) Other Types Of Yoga
Intuitive Yoga Health Benefits
Summary
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What Intuitive Yoga Is And How To Do It

Although I wish I could take credit for coining the expression intuitive yoga, having started to call it just that independently/without seeing it anywhere else first, a simple Google search let me know that it has been called the same by others before me, although the term still isn’t particularly common.

And what is it? It’s a way of practicing yoga where you do the poses and movements that your body wants to do on its own, and following your intuition.

So again, you don’t have a fixed set of poses that you need to get through, and are more free in which movements and poses to do and for how long to practice it.

You do it by first simply positioning yourself on a good yoga mat like this one from Amazon (I do it mostly standing, which is often the most functional way of exercising).

Then you start by feeling out what poses you want to be doing (for me it’s often poses affecting my neck and lower back positively, since I spend a lot of time sitting down in front of a computer and writing or working) and then doing those accordingly.

It’s really as simple as that, and although it can help having done different specific yoga poses before so that your body has some reference experience of those and can decide whether it wants to do those or not (if you’ve never tried something, you may not even know it’s there and available at your disposal), it’s definitely not necessary, since your body is very smart and can easily figure out what it needs and wants on its own.

It may seem difficult the very first or even the first few times, but after that it should be simple as ABC and again be very intuitive.

I sometimes do it for longer amounts of time but oftentimes just a few minutes once or twice daily, such as in the morning and/or right before bed can be enough to reap many of its benefits.

“Intuitive yoga is a type of yoga that you follow intuitively as opposed to doing a fixed set of poses, and you do it by tuning into your intuition and feeling where to go/what to do next.”

We were talking about how smart our bodies are though, which brings me to more on that:

Your Body Is Incredibly Smart And Can Find Its Own Balance And What It Needs (If You Let It)

As I’ve already touched on this, I’ll keep it brief here.

Our body is extraordinary in the sense that it can know and figure out exactly what it wants and needs and find its own balance, especially if you have a good health intuition, if you let it.

By letting your own body decide what parts of it needs fixing and/or some extra work, you spend more time where it’s needed the most, which will be great for things such as injuries as well as muscular and postural imbalances.

Your body wants to find its most natural balance and homeostasis, and will strive to achieve that automatically, when you practice intuitive yoga.

“Your body might be smarter than you give it credit for!”

Why To Do Intuitive Yoga In Addition To (Or instead Of) Other Types Of Yoga

Another brief segment here to not get too repetitive, but important nonetheless!

You should do more of or at least try intuitive yoga, as opposed to regular yoga because again, it lets you put your focus exactly where it’s needed, as well as figure out where that is.

Don’t get me wrong, most if not all types of yoga can be very beneficial for your health and well-being, but they do carry similar negatives to a lot of other modern strength and gym training including the possibility to create muscle imbalances and postural issues if it’s not a very well-balanced workout regime or if you overdo it with certain more targeted poses or exercises.

But besides, putting your focus where it’s needed the most also saves you a lot of time (and time is one of our most valuable assets today, isn’t it?), which might be why I often feel that just a few minutes is all I need, considering I already did it the day before and the day before that.

One possible drawback to it however could be that it’s not as easily performed in a group along with others or following a trainer, since everyone would be doing their own thing, but on the flip side that could be a positive as well, having less of a need for a group setting and instructions to follow.

“Intuitive yoga, as opposed to regular, can save you time by letting you focus in on what and where it’s needed the most.”

Next up we have some of the many benefits of intuitive yoga:

Intuitive Yoga Health Benefits

The health and healing benefits of intuitive yoga are many and vast, just as with yoga in general, and here I’ll list some of the big ones, starting with:

A better health intuition
Better posture, alignment and body awareness
Improved strength, balance and flexibility and
Reduced stress levels, anxiety and better mental health
Reduced inflammation (study)
Better cardiovascular function (source)
Improved sleep, self-esteem and quality of life
Improved bone health
Improved brain function

“Yoga comes with a lot of benefits.”

For scientific sources to these claims, you can check out this article, and with that said, let’s sum this up:

Summary

To me intuitive yoga has become an integral part of healing my body and staying healthy, and I suspect it could become so for you, as well.

It’s basically an intuitive form of yoga that allows you to save time and get additional benefits by focusing on the parts of your body that need the most work.

Your body is incredibly smart and can know what it wants and needs if you listen to it.

Do it in addition to or instead of other types of yoga, and know that it comes with a lot of benefits.