Spark Intuition.

The Deep Knowing You've Been Ignoring

Last month, we introduced SPARK as our word for 2026. We started with consciousness: understanding what's been invisible, recognizing our five energy sources, and making tiny tweaks that create big changes.

But awareness alone isn't enough. You can know exactly what you need and still not engage. You can understand your architecture and still not inhabit it fully.

So, this month, we're asking: What happens when you trust what you know?

The Gift You Keep Refusing

Your body is always broadcasting. Tight shoulders? Tight fists? That's data. Butterflies in your gut? That’s information. That visceral sense of "this just isn't me" when someone asks you to do something that sounds good on paper but feels wrong in your bones? That's intuition.

And yet, we often ignore it. We override it. We pretend we don't know what we actually know— because knowing requires doing, and doing can be scary.

During one of our LAB Community meetings last autumn, a participant said something that still sits with me: "Sometimes it's hard to separate what other people are expecting and what I really, really, really feel."

There it is, in plain language— the tension between external expectations (explicit values) and internal truth (implicit values).

Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic: Why This Distinction Matters

Our culture loves to praise certain values: productivity, responsibility, hard work, being considerate, loyalty. These sound good on a poster. They earn us gold stars from teachers, promotions from bosses, and approval from family.

But here's the tricky part: these explicit values, the ones society hands us, can actually pull us away from peace.

Your implicit values? Those are quieter. They're the ones that make you say "this just isn't me" or leave you feeling totally at peace after making a hard choice. They're intrinsic. They come from within you, not from keeping up with anyone's expectations.

As one LAB member poignantly put it: "We all have to give ourselves a little more grace" when we notice the gap between what we say we value and what we actually do.

That gap? It's where intuition lives. It's the signal trying to get through.

The Science of Gut Knowing

Your spiritual energy tank, the one that governs alignment, values, and inner knowing, isn't mystical. It's your internal GPS.

When you're aligned with your intrinsic values, this tank is full. You feel grounded, clear, energized. When there's dissonance between what you're doing and what matters to you, this tank drains. Even if you can't describe why, you feel it.

That's intuition speaking, not in sentences, but in sensation. This isn't metaphorical. Scientists have discovered that our gut contains over 100 million neurons, more than in our spinal cord, forming what researchers call the "second brain" or enteric nervous system. This gut-brain constantly communicates with our actual brain through the vagus nerve, sending signals that influence our emotions, decisions, and sense of knowing. When we talk about "gut feelings," we're describing a real neurobiological process.

It’s the tightness when you say “yes” to something you should decline. It’s the lightness when you finally muster the energy to say “no”. It’s the relief that floods through you when you choose rest instead of pushing through.

Intuition is your body's way of keeping score.

Why We Pretend Not to Know

During our values work in the LAB, we explored scenarios where values collide. Team versus truth. Individual versus collective. Rule versus relationship.

What surfaced again and again? We often know the right answer instantly. And then we second-guess ourselves.

Why? Because intuition doesn't always align with what's expected. Sometimes your gut says, "Skip the networking dinner and rest instead" while the group says, "Togetherness matters." Sometimes your intuition whispers, "This friendship isn't serving me" while loyalty screams, "I can't walk away."

We pretend not to know because knowing demands action. And action feels risky.

But here's what I've learned: The risk of not listening is greater. When you consistently override your intuition, you train yourself not to trust it. Your internal compass gets fuzzy. Decision-making becomes exhausting because you've lost your clearest signal.

Sparking Intuition: The Practice

So how do we rebuild trust with our own knowing?

Self-awareness: Notice when decisions feel light versus heavy. Light = alignment with intrinsic values. Heavy = tension with explicit expectations.

Practice: Do the 60-Second Body Scan daily. Where do you feel ease? Where do you feel tension? Don't fix it: just notice. Your body is giving you information.

Agency: Recognize you have choice. Even when external pressure is intense, you can choose alignment with your truth. As one LAB member said, "We are inconsistent, and it's okay to recognize it."

Regeneration: When you honor your intuition; when you choose rest, set boundaries, speak truth - you restore your spiritual energy tank. You become the person who operates from vitality, not depletion.

Kinship: Share your struggles. In our LAB, someone admitted, "I say I value health, but I struggle with slowing down, getting enough rest, sometimes even eating. I'll work through and miss a meal." The vulnerability created space for others to admit their own gaps. That's how trust builds.

The Invitation

This month, practice trusting what you already know.

When someone asks you to do something, pause for three breaths before answering. Notice: Does this feel expansive or contracting? Light or heavy? Does this align with what I value intrinsically, or am I performing for external approval?

When you feel that visceral "no," trust it. Even if you can't articulate why yet. Your intuition is rarely wrong. Your justifications for overriding it are what get you into trouble.

A spark ignites when you stop pretending you don't know what you know.

It spreads when you give yourself permission to act on it. It illuminates when you realize that living aligned with your intrinsic values, not society's, is what creates a lit-up life.

You don't need more information. You need to trust the information you already have.

Where will you practice that this month?

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