Trusting Our Inner Guru – How to Quiet the Noise and Fearlessly Follow Our Intuition
- Brainz Magazine
- Aug 1
- 7 min read
Erica Stanzione is a NYC-based yoga and meditation educator, retreat host, and teacher training leader. She was given a mission and has a deep passion of supporting and empowering her students as they elevate their lives spiritually, emotionally, mentally, physically and energetically.
As someone who has been living in NYC for the greater part of the last twenty years, I know firsthand how crucial it is to remove the chatter within us and the distractions around us in order to turn inward and truly listen to that inner voice. In this article, I am thrilled to share all of my tried-and-true tools for not just hearing, but really listening to the wisdom that resides within all of our bodies. Then, not only being receptive to that wisdom, but also using our discernment and confidence to take action on that invaluable guidance.
As a yoga and meditation practitioner for over twenty years, these critical tools have enabled me to stimulate and sharpen my intuition in ways that I am grateful for beyond words. That undeniable voice, or those nudges that you can’t ignore, were particularly instrumental for me when I was forced to make two extremely difficult decisions that majorly changed the trajectory of my life. Those incredibly challenging but Divinely guided choices, made via my sharp intuition, gave me the courage to stand firmly in my faith in order to end my marriage and, years later, leave a fourteen-year corporate career in the legal industry.
In both of those scenarios, my intuition was monumental in guiding what I knew to be true for myself, as well as how I desired to feel and the life that I was meant to be living. I have also had the great fortune of teaching these tools to thousands of yogis over the last twelve years, which is why I am wildly passionate and invested in this topic and how it has blessed so many of our lives!
In addition to what I like to call my "prayer in motion" or the movement aspect of my yoga practice, breathwork, meditation, and journaling have all been irreplaceable tools that have taught me the true extent of how we harness, facilitate, and nurture our intuitive abilities. They have changed the way that I use my body to communicate with that inner knowing and, ultimately, with how I channel information from the Universe. In my eyes, meditation is one of, if not the most powerful tool to open up these lines of communication. Yet, many people are instantly intimidated by a meditation practice, which is unfortunately the reason why they never start.
But the practice doesn’t have to be as rigid as you might envision or look like the images that you see online. I believe in starting small and slowly building the skill. Like anything else in life, remaining consistent is key in order to see real results. I think it can also be comforting for beginners to understand that it doesn’t have to involve sitting on a meditation cushion, counting prayer beads while reciting mantras, or listening to a guide on an app. That’s great, too, if that’s for you, but meditation, like yoga, isn’t one size fits all. I always encourage my students to find a sweet spot that personally works for them without any concern for what other people are doing or looking like in their mindfulness practices.
Perhaps for you, it’s seated against a wall or on your back in a savasana position with props to comfortably support you. If you are on the newer side, I recommend setting a timer so you aren’t constantly looking at the clock, wondering how long you’ve been sitting. You can start with something as small and digestible as three minutes, then increase it to five minutes the week after, and then ten, and so on. My sweet spot is twenty minutes, and sometimes that is all that I need for a very fruitful session. For me, just that allocated time not only allows me to channel information and guidance both within and from God, but it is also a huge catalyst for fueling my creativity.
If a traditional seated practice isn’t for you initially, and you’re someone who loves nature, I also like to recommend the powerful option of a walking meditation alone in the woods. Utilizing that peaceful setting in your happy place to remove any commentary in your thoughts gives you the gift of presence to really bear witness to what’s coming through in your body. I also like to suggest standing in your shower with your eyes closed and focusing on those intentional, deep belly breaths in and out through your nose. That, in itself, can be used as an opportunity to visualize and receive a mental and emotional release or reset, which then creates that muscle memory of a calm and regulated nervous system. Those sensations and that relaxed state will then activate our parasympathetic nervous system, which mirrors the same impression as if you were in a typical meditation.
I am also a huge advocate for sharing the profound effects of journaling, both on its own and especially post-meditation. I trust in the power of coupling these modalities together so much that they are staples in my daily routine, as well as being offered in all of my workshops, retreats, and training sessions. Many students are usually a bit resistant to journaling at first, which is to be expected. But if you are consistent with it, writing from the heart without a filter enables us to move any stuck, stagnant, or unclear energy out of our body and onto the page, which can feel deeply cathartic. The levels of clarity and awareness that can come through after a few minutes of stillness and undivided attention are a game-changer and will inspire you to want to do it all the time. And when all else fails, if you open your journal and feel blocked, just start by creating a list of all the things that you are grateful for on that particular day. You most certainly won’t feel the same after those reflections, which will elevate your vibration and serve as a lovely springboard to get those creative juices flowing for anything that’s meant to be seen, heard, or felt during that writing session.
Now, even after we’ve introduced and gotten comfortable with stillness and a movement/meditation practice, coupled with journaling to allow that prana or life force in our body to percolate, shift, and then get recorded on paper, there is still a caveat! This is a crucial component that I believe many people get tripped up on, as I’ve unfortunately witnessed many mindfulness practitioners who are beautifully showing up consistently in their yoga and/or meditation practices several days a week, as well as working with all of our holistic health methods to remove energetic blockages, heal, and activate our chakras, like reiki, cupping, acupuncture, and massage. But then, they are going home to toxic relationships or engaging in negative connections and unhealthy environments where all of that internal work is being compromised or completely negated. Once we’ve made that conscious choice and understand how much we desire to live life awake and authentically, we have to be really honest with ourselves about how detrimental our social circles can be to our nervous system, energy, healing, and growth. I always encourage my students to be incredibly mindful of the energy around them and the company that they keep. People who are chronically negative, competitive, and who are constantly gossiping about others due to their low self-esteem are destructive beyond measure and will drastically lower your vibration when you partake in those conversations and connections. External energy that isn’t pure, loving, or genuinely supportive can hugely affect our thought process, mental health, frequency, and overall success in how we attract and magnetize our desires. If we’re serious about embodying our practices and living lives that contain true inner peace, sustainable joy, optimal health, and utilizing the innate wisdom within our bodies, clearly identifying those relationships that uplift and inspire us, and those that leave us feeling depleted, is imperative.
When I was in the thick of making my difficult decisions to leave my marriage and my corporate career, there were endless energies, fears, and opinions around me that thought I was being naïve, reckless, and flat-out foolish. Although I knew it was coming from a place of concern, my intuition kept guiding and teaching me how important it was for me to tune out all of the fear-based projections around me. The laundry list of worries and judgments from family and friends about me leaving a good man, and then leaving a financially secure and stable career, was never-ending. I was also starting to receive unsolicited advice from people who were trying to provide guidance on lives they had never led. That was the precise moment I knew how vital it would be to create tunnel vision for myself. The power of alone time and my faith practice became my lifelines during that period. What I knew to be true for myself was how that voice within was screaming at me, telling me that I was making the right choice in both scenarios and to stay true to my heart.
During those chapters of life, I never fully understood how significantly I was unconsciously communicating with the teacher within me, long before I actually received my more extensive certifications as an educator in the yoga industry. What I hope this relates to for all of us is that, if we take that innate ability, which we might not even be entirely cognizant of, and then add years of practice using these modalities, coupled with the wisdom that comes with age and life experience, we all have the capacity to sharpen how we hear and follow that inner guru. Whether you refer to it as your intuition, your gut, your guru, or that Divine guidance, may you always trust that internal teacher and never second-guess the voice of your soul, which always knows the way. If you’re able to master all of these tools and the discipline to wholeheartedly give credence to that voice within you, rather than listening to the noise and distractions around you, you will always have the capability to lead a more balanced, peaceful, aligned, and fulfilling life!
Read more from Erica Stanzione
Erica Stanzione, Yoga and Meditation Educator
Erica is an industry leader in guiding the life-changing practices of breathwork, vinyasa yoga, and meditation. She leads by example both on and off of the mat, and teaches others about the profound effects of our mindfulness practices that far exceed the external benefits. The intention behind her classes, workshops, retreats, and trainings are to serve as a sacred container where her students feel safe to step further into their power, confidence, emotional intelligence, spiritual connection, and continuous evolution.
