As we approach 2026, it’s a great time to awaken our intuition, reflect on the year, and get clear! What was most meaningful for you in 2025? What do you want to focus on in the new year?

One of the most meaningful things that I experienced this year is teaching a class called Rise & Shine at Oxygen Yoga & Fitness-The Beaches. For me, this class feels more intentional than any other. For many of the members who participate in this class consistently, they begin to walk into the room mindfully, moving more quietly with less of the stomping, slowing down a bit instead of the rushing in, unfolding their mat more consciously, picking up their blocks more gracefully, connecting to their breath with greater awareness, feeling their heart more deeply, beginning to notice how the way they move in class actually impacts the person next to them, becoming more aware of how they pick up their mat at the end of class, exiting the room more elegantly, and taking a bit of the mindful practice out into their day.

Witnessing participants walk into the room mindfully and unroll their mat intentionally is particularly powerful. The physical act of unrolling the mat with intention helps to establish a mental and energetic boundary, signalling a transition from the outside world to a dedicated space for self-care, movement and mindfulness. The act of setting up your own mat is a way to reinforce your intention to well-being and deepen your commitment to the practice. While showing up for class on time is basic etiquette, bringing awareness to how you are showing up is taking it to the next level. Handling the mat and blocks more gently is a way to show respect for the equipment itself, yourself, and those around you. Over time, participants naturally move with more intention, placing the mat gently on the ground and unrolling it in a way that avoids that loud “flapping” noise that can disturb and even startle the person beside them. Rise and Shine is a flow yoga class and we can understand the term “vinyasa” as “to place in a special way.” Unrolling the mat mindfully applies this concept from the very beginning. The class experience begins as soon as we walk through that entrance door. Walking in quietly and softly becomes part of the practice. The class also includes heart openers. Over time the participants start to “get it”. This class isn’t just about physical fitness. It is a way of being, and a way of walking through the world, with the benefits extending far beyond the workout itself.

It wasn’t the physical fitness of this class that brought more meaning to my life, although I do enjoy the flow yoga workout in the Infrared heated studio; it was the positive changes that I’ve seen in the way the participants relate to themselves, each other, and the world. It is also the relationships I’ve developed overtime with the members who live in my neighbourhood here in The Beaches including conversations sparked throughout the week as we cross paths from the sidewalks to The Boardwalk. The Rise & Shine class has become a meaningful mindful practice, teaching participants to move beyond the “doing” and embody more of the “being”. They learn to put more focus on presence, consciousness and feeling more alive. Many have shared that they appreciate the time given for intention setting and enjoy taking a break from the noise of the world, and feel inspired to create more space for reflection in their daily lives. Some of the participants say they feel more intuitive as they’ve committed to attending this class on a regular basis.

Intuition is what guides us to discern when something is in integrity, who to trust, what pace is right, when we are feeling aligned, or when something feels “off” even when the numbers look fine. It also guides us on what ideas have life! Intuition draws on our energetic sensitivity, embodied signals, emotional resonance, and long-term pattern recognition. The body never lies. Ever feel like your body knows before the mind does? When I am making a decision, I pause for a moment and ask my body where it is giving feedback. Intuition continues to help me make better decisions than data alone. It’s not just about how many people are showing up for a training, it’s who is in the room and what are the needs of the day. Before leading a training or workshop, I move my body to get present in the moment and connect to my intuition. When I put on the studio’s microphone to help participants hear my cues, I also connect to my “inner microphone”; sensing my internal cues that help read the room so I can present in a way that feels right for the participants of the day.

One of the most important skills is learning the difference between your intuition guiding you and your trauma or past challenges misleading you. If we are not mindful, it is more difficult to be intuitive. We can say “trust your gut”, however not everyone can make good decisions from that place. When our deep inner knowing comes through like a lightning bolt; we feel it quickly and in stereo, amplified so loud it can’t be ignored. However, what feels like a gut instinct giving direction may not always be clear intuition. It is possible to have a gut feeling that is purely based on fear or anger or previous traumatic experiences. Even anxiety or excitement can cloud judgment and mimic intuition. Cognitive biases can also be a factor. For example, confirmation bias is seeking information that confirms what you already believe. We can also misinterpret signals, projecting our past experiences onto people and situations, perceiving a threat when it is not. It’s helpful to get to know when we’re downloading a crystal clear intuitive hit that we can trust, and to discern the difference when a gut instinct is not coming from the right place.

The more we nurture and trust our intuition, we also tend to get more in touch with our concerns, what’s bothering us deep inside, what frustrates us most, what parts of our identity it’s time to let go of, what parts of our life might need tweaking, and what changes we might need to make moving forward to best support our overall well-being. Having taught this same class for over a year now, more members are comfortable sharing their concerns such as their worries about the increasing stress in our world, changes in their work and the impact technology is having on their well-being. The call back to the office 5 days a week at some organizations is affecting people. Some members are excited to have a break from home and others don’t want to change their routine. Other members are able to continue to work from home or have hybrid models, and a few have shared they are considering a career change. Some are retired and don’t work at all, yet stay at home to raise their kids and still have concerns about the impact of technology on their families. One topic many of us have been discussing is the expansion of AI.

With the impact of artificial intelligence, what we feel and sense becomes more important as we move into 2026. Listening to our intuition is key. As we begin to set goals and intentions for the new year, let’s connect to our heart, make time for hugs, let our intuition guide us, and do more of what makes us happy! When we make choices based on what matters most to us, it becomes easier to connect more frequently to our intuition. How we feel in our heart matters. Hugs matter. Creating a life that we love more matters. We can leverage technology best if we pair it with our deep inner knowing, bringing more awareness, meaning, wisdom and direction to our decisions, supporting our path forward!

As tools handle more data, our intuition can help us to handle the areas where AI currently falls short: navigating uncertainty, making ethical judgments, fostering innovation, and applying human context and empathy to data. Rather than replacing human judgment, AI amplifies its value by creating a “hybrid” model for decision-making. Human intuition remains critical!

• Navigating ambiguity and novelty: AI excels at finding patterns in historical data, but struggles with entirely new situations or contexts where data is scarce or conflicting. Human intuition, built on a lifetime of diverse experiences and our ability to know without knowing how or why, allows us to make decisive judgments in uncharted territory.
• Ethics and emotional intelligence: Decision-making often involves social, interpersonal, and moral concerns that require empathy, situational judgment, and an understanding of human values. AI systems currently lack the ability to interpret nuance or emotional context, making human intuition essential for ensuring decisions are ethically sound and socially responsible.
• Creativity and innovation: While AI can generate data-driven recommendations and optimize processes, human intuition is the source of the “creative spark” that leads to disruptive, unconventional ideas and breakthroughs. Intuition helps in connecting disparate sources of information in novel ways that lead to genuine innovation.
• Contextual understanding: Data tells us “what” is happening, but human intuition provides the “why”. It allows us to “read the room,” perceive unstated human intent, body language, and cultural context—subtleties that are essential for effective collaboration, negotiation, and leadership that AI cannot yet match.
• Accountability and trust: Ultimately, humans  remain accountable for the decisions made. Intuition acts as a filter; if an AI recommendation “doesn’t feel right,” we can use our judgment to question the decision, ensuring accountability and avoiding blind trust in the system.

Rather than relying on AI alone, the more effective approach is a collaboration between human and artificial intelligence. In this model, AI informs by delivering data, analyzing massive datasets, and flagging anomalies. Humans interpret by adding context, values and judgment. Together, decisions can be made, blending data with a check-in of “intuitive data”, that is our deep inner knowing, for sharper and more resilient outcomes. Developing “AI intuition” (the skill of knowing when to rely on AI and when to question it) is becoming an important skill as we navigate this new landscape. The goal is complementarity: leveraging the strengths of both to achieve what neither could on its own.

At the same time, to support our wellness, it is important to take a break from technology when we can, stop all that unconscious scrolling that is so prominent in our world today, and carve out dedicated time to connect to our body and move! By the end of each Rise & Shine class, after participants have taken a break from their computers and phones, it’s amazing how much more clear everyone’s eyes look, how wrinkles in the forward naturally minimize, how tension in the jaw softens, and how much more embodied everyone looks right down to their feet. While there is still technology in the studio as I pull out my iphone to connect to my spotify playlists for background music, it doesn’t feel like the same energetic “noise” that we may feel when multiple people are scrolling on their phone in the same room.

Reflecting on 2025 and connecting to your intuition, what do you want to give more priority to in the new year? If you need more time to think about it, take time to pause, rest and reflect, and create space to feel and sense what you want to prioritize for 2026. Is it wellness? Is it intuition? Is it mindful movement? For anyone looking for an in-person group training in Toronto, I invite you to join me in my upcoming workshop titled, “Energy & Flow”. It will be experiential, interactive, intentional, meaningful & fun! We’ll be moving in ways that move our energy and reflecting on the variety of ways to awaken intuition. This workshop will take place at Oxygen Yoga & Fitness-The Beaches Saturday Feb 7th 1:30-3pm. For the description, click here. Wishing everyone all the best for 2026!