Where My Intuition Led Me

Mon June 29, 2015 update: Mar attended her first yoga class yesterday and proved to be very flexible for a beginner.

Yesterday my intuition led me on a relatively quick journey that ended with a wonderful surprise that will undoubtedly make a major difference in at least one person’s life.

Perhaps you’ll say it was luck, that there’s no such thing as an inner voice that taps into the great universal wisdom that will guide us on a truer path if we are just still enough, just quiet enough to listen...

Read for yourself and judge.

It started at Roberta’s memorial service, my mother-in-law. There was one guest no one expected to see, but made all the sense in the world that she would be there: it was Mar, Roberta’s main caregiver at her assisted living home where she passed away in hospice.

Mar became Roberta’s favorite person in the world. Not only did she quickly come running anytime Roberta cried out for something (“Mar, something’s wrong with the T.V!"), she took pride in making Roberta look beautiful. She cut her hair, painted her nails, dressed her in the stylish way Roberta preferred, accessorizing her with flashy earrings and necklaces before going to the doctor’s, or even just to take a walk up the street.

In the speeches at the memorial, Mar was one of the most often-mentioned names. She later said Roberta was like a mom to her, and that there was no way she would miss this event, even if it meant taking a day off of her new job and taking multiple buses from Pasadena to Long Beach to be there…

Yes, she came by bus(ses).

Once I found this out, I naturally offered to drive her home. She accepted, and proceeded to wash dishes until we left. You couldn’t stop her if you tried.

On the way home,  a couple things came up in conversation: yoga (I don’t need much prodding here); the fact that her current job was very shaky; and the fact that the group of people she lives with are about to go back to the Philippines for good, leaving her stranded with no place to live.

Big challenges.

First: she was fascinated with the idea of yoga because of her constant back pain. Plus, she could share what she learned about yoga with her elderly patients.

But isn’t yoga expensive, she asked?

I told her the place I go to only accepts donations, and only after you’ve been going for a while to make sure you like it.

This must be where my intuition kicked in: should I just take her to the ashram now to see what she thought?

She didn't live that close. If she went, it would take two buses, or one bus and a half hour walk.

So I asked if she wanted to visit and she said yes, agreeing it would be an adventure. 

What do you think happens when a professional caregiver meets two nuns who have devoted their lives to the service of others? Instant connection. They all took an immediate liking to each other.

I think Mar even blushed when one of the baijis served us bowls of sliced watermelon. Mar is used to doing the serving, but she accepted graciously.

I mentioned that Mar is looking for a caretaking live-in situation, and the baijis said they would put the word out to their devotees.

Then, as we were about to leave... one of the baijis emerged from the kitchen saying she had prepared us something to eat, and did Mar like spicy food?

She said yes, and we followed them into the kitchen.

An ageless man was already sitting at the table eating the tasty food. This was Kanti, a Naturopathic doctor whose rumored age is so advanced, he himself is the greatest testament to the effectiveness of his herbal remedies. 

So when this Naturopathic doctor – who sees many elderly patients – heard that Mar is looking for a caregiver live-in position, what do you think happened?

This: he pulls a business card out of his shirt pocket that belongs to a Filipino man he just met with who owns a caregiving agency. He said this man is a friend, and that he's a gentle, Catholic God-fearing man who would do anything to help anyone.

…

I asked if it would be okay for Mar to call him, and Gautam baiji said she could arrange an introduction at the ashram, which would be a better way to meet. Kanti agreed.

Like I always say (or at least I’ll always say it now): “Come for the yoga, stay for the possibilities.”

Was it intuition or luck that created this connection?

An advanced spiritual training school says: "Psychic ability, a sixth sense, the gift of prophecy, clairvoyance, clairsentience - there are many names to describe this quality we simply call "spiritual intuition." Everyone has intuition; the degree to which it is used varies from person to person. Intuition is often defined as "a knowing, without the use of rational processes." 

The challenge is to tune out worldly distractions to hear it, which yoga and meditation have helped me do to a higher degree. And if you were affected by this piece at all, just know that I wouldn't have written it - and you wouldn't have read it - if I hadn't started my practice of yoga and meditation nine months ago. I wouldn't have had the pleasure and privilege of being a conduit for this force/energy/Spirit to assist Mar, a most-deserving person if ever there was one.