Five Body Wisdom
Five Body Wisdom is designed to emphasize the deep connection between our five bodies—physical, energy, mental, wisdom, and bliss—and how they work together to promote a life of balance and fulfillment. Inspired by and for women over 55, this podcast delves into the specific challenges and opportunities of this transitional life stage, offering inspiration, guidance, and practical wisdom.
Each episode weaves together personal stories, insightful interviews, and practical techniques to empower listeners to embrace their true selves. The show is hosted by Delia Quigley, an experienced yogi, meditator, intuitive artist, and author with over 40 years of experience in helping women find clarity and purpose in their daily lives. Her compassionate approach and deep understanding of life’s interconnected aspects position her as a trusted voice in navigating change with grace and authenticity.
Listeners of Five Body Wisdom will gain valuable tools to restore balance in their lives, enhance self-awareness, and reignite their sense of purpose. Delia shares her personal journey and expertise, offering techniques for nurturing the body, calming the mind, connecting with intuition, and embracing spiritual growth. The show also features interviews with everyday women who have discovered their inner strength and wisdom, inspiring listeners to do the same.
By tuning in, you’ll join a supportive community of women dedicated to living with intention and joy. Whether you seek practical advice, soulful stories, or a spark of inspiration, Five Body Wisdom provides a roadmap for thriving in the second half of life.
Five Body Wisdom
A Woman's Intuition: When You Just Know
Through fascinating personal stories, we journey into the mysterious realm of women's intuitive knowledge. You'll hear from a mother who woke in the night feeling her son's terror as he faced life-threatening cold in remote Canadian mountains - at the exact moment it was happening. Another woman describes the "seismic" feeling that compelled her to flee an arranged marriage in the middle of the night, forever altering her life's trajectory. These aren't coincidences; they're examples of a profound intelligence that operates beyond rational thought.
Drawing on yogic wisdom and contemporary understanding, we explore how intuition operates through what host Delia Quigley calls our "five bodies" - physical, mental, energy, intellectual, and divine. As the renowned yoga teacher BKS Iyengar put it, "Intuition is super conscious knowing in which you know before you know how you know." This episode offers practical guidance for reconnecting with this innate wisdom: protecting your boundaries, honoring natural rhythms, creating space for stillness, and refusing to allow others to repress your vivid energies.
Whether you've always trusted your inner voice or are just beginning to recognize its whispers, this conversation invites you to honor the wisdom that resides within. As one guest powerfully states: "Listen - this voice is your heart speaking. It is the knowing before anything reveals itself." Share this episode with the women in your life and let your own intuitive voice be heard.
I was racing down a dark country road. I was late for a play in town and as I sped down the winding road, I decided to take my jacket off so it wouldn't get creased. As I pulled my arms out of the sleeves, I got tangled. My hands left the steering wheel and I drifted into the left lane. And I drifted into the left lane. Suddenly I heard a voice yell Pull into the right lane. Now I jerked the wheel to the right, just as a motorcycle, with no light, sped by me at high speed. I pulled the car off the road and sat there for a moment, heart racing, thinking it's time I find out what's happening to me.
Speaker 1:Welcome to Five-Body Wisdom interviews with ourselves. I'm Delia Quigley. Join me as I take you from my humble beginnings as a psychic medium. Delia, delia, what now? Is that true? Well, yes, actually it is. And boy do I have some stories to share. So stay with me to share. So stay with me. Really, delia, psychic medium.
Speaker 1:When did that happen, I know? Hard to believe, hard to believe. A big part of my life slipped past you. Eh, very interesting, and no doubt you have a good story to tell. Yes, I do, but that comes later. For now, a good story to tell? Yes, I do, but that comes later.
Speaker 1:For now, let's talk about this episode A Woman's Intuition when you Just Know. This episode delves into the intricate tapestry of a woman's intuition. We're going to explore how this inner compass operates, not just as a fleeting feeling, but as a profound interplay between our five bodies and experiences. We'll hear personal stories from women who have experienced this inner knowing, moments when they just knew something was right or wrong, even without concrete evidence. These narratives highlight the power and validity of trusting oneself, especially in a world that often prioritizes logic over feeling. So join me as we navigate the fine line between instinct and insight, exploring how embracing our intuitive selves can lead to more authentic and empowered living. Lead to more authentic and empowered living, whether you've always trusted your inner voice or are learning to listen more closely. This conversation is an invitation to honor the wisdom that resides within.
Speaker 2:I've had many small, intuitive things happen, but the most intense was when my son was about 20. He and three friends decided to go on a snowboarding backpacking trip to the Chickchalk Mountain Range in Canada. The first few days of his trip they were backpacking with a sled of about 100 pounds of supplies. They would hike up, camp and snowboard down. It was very remote. The second half they would meet at a campsite with yurts and cabins and meet up with friends. I would have no contact with him as there was no cell service.
Speaker 2:Two days after he left I woke up in the middle of the night, freezing, sweating and incredibly scared. I opened my eyes and it was pitch black. I felt like I was him. I knew something was wrong. I felt like he was scared, cold and thinking he was going to die. I felt like he was calling for me. That horrible feeling lasted 24 hours and then suddenly I felt like he was okay and thank God he was.
Speaker 2:When he got back he told me how, after two days of hiking and dragging this hundred pound sled, they were tired. It had dumped another foot of snow on top of many feet of snow. There were actually avalanche conditions happening. They stopped to camp, which meant digging five feet into the snow and creating tunnels to connect them, and they slept in those tunnels. They tried to sleep, but they watched the temperature drop to below 20 degrees, surpassing their own thermometers. That night was the night that I woke up. The next day they boarded down the mountains and made it to the actual campsite with friends. They made it out with a bit of frostbite, but a huge story to tell. My mother's intuition with both of my kids have always been pretty strong, but I think that was definitely the strongest I've ever felt.
Speaker 1:Your mother's intuition is pretty strong there, delia. What do you think? Well, you know my mom could pick up on my decisions like 2,000 miles away. So I know how powerful it is, and every woman out there knows how powerful it is. I remember one time I was living overseas and that night I decided I was returning to the United States. And she called me the next day and said when are you coming home? And I said, oh my God. Well, I'll be home in two weeks. And you know, years later I thought did she put it in my mind to come home, or did she just pick up on my decision?
Speaker 1:You know, it took neuroscience and physics until recently to embrace the possibility of humans communicating telepathically using only the brain. At the moment, and perhaps in some far-flung, mysterious studios or laboratories, they've already figured it out, but they're connecting electrodes to the human brain and then to a computer and they're able to show images of the thoughts on the computer. Well, that's pretty scary. Pretty soon there won't be anything private to keep to yourself. I know right, I know, pretty scary.
Speaker 3:What is intuition For me? As a professional body worker and also someone who teaches a form of meditation on how to balance and regulate your own developing energy system, I work with intuition quite a bit and I think of it as a realm of information. With intuition quite a bit and I think of it as a realm of information, and it's information that doesn't come through the exchange of words or from reading something in a book or watching a video. It's information that comes from your higher self, and for me, the higher self is actually an expanded frequency range of who you are. This could also be referred to as the soul, and when we're accessing intuition, information or knowledge that comes to you directly through your inner realm, it's because you've created a bridge to these more expanded frequency parts of who you are. I think that we can also expand beyond that to gather and exchange information at even higher frequency ranges, beyond our own personality and soul, into other consciousness realms.
Speaker 3:Two more questions that would come to me are why would we even want to access information beyond our personality self? Why connect to information that comes more from your soul frequencies and beyond a more direct layer of truth about how life works, about what life is and why we're here, and how we can use our own creativity and knowledge to expand how we view consciousness and how we express love on this plane. I don't think there's many people on the planet if anyone right now who would say that us humans are acting at our highest potential for what love is. Instead, our behavior is often filtered through a lot of emotional and psychological distortion, a lot of conditioned beliefs and ideas that aren't necessarily serving us that well.
Speaker 3:So, defining a little more specifically what intuition is, and also learning more about what it can offer us to access these more expanded ranges, expanded frequencies of information, how it can improve our lives and not just our daily experience, but the trajectory of what us beautiful humans are doing here on earth at this time. Another question that comes to me, then, is well, how do I access this information? How do I get more in touch with my intuition? How do I get more in touch with my intuition At a very basic level? Anything that relaxes and energizes you is already expanding your frequencies so that you can access your own intuition, access a wider range of perspective and information that will inform you, your body, your mind and your behaviors from a higher level.
Speaker 1:We just heard first from Denise Kay on A Mother's Intuition, followed by Lynn Goodman, who is a Shiatsu Shintai practitioner with 30 years of experience, and she became involved in touch therapies after years of serious illness. And she also shares a unique system of meditative work called light body activation. System of meditative work called light body activation. So, delia, how does intuition work with your five bodies? Well, intuition is the ability to read between the lines. By that I mean the shifting energies between your five bodies the physical, the mental, the energy, the intellectual and the divine and our connection to consciousness, which is, to me, the web in which we are each connected. When you're sensitive to the movement of those energies, whether you've been trained to open those channels or you were born open, you can tap into the energy running like an underground river between your bodies, because your divine or bliss body is the main conductor, enmeshed or bathed in the frequency of waves that cannot be separated from cosmic intelligence. Our divine body lives in that bath of love and from there our four other bodies feed, draw strength and sustenance. Okay, delia, but research suggests that intuition is more than just a gut feeling. That's a form of unconscious intelligence drawing from our past experiences and the subtle cues we pick up from our environment. Yeah, okay, some might say that describes anticipation, other would vote for instinct. And there's those internal channel surfers who side with the intuitive river that connects all. It's true Intuition isn't just a gut feeling, it is the cable connecting each of your bodies, like phone lines of communication.
Speaker 1:The yoga teacher BKS Iyengar calls it true wisdom. The yoga teacher BKS Iyengar calls it true wisdom, and in his classic book Light on Life, iyengar writes that intuition sees and feels. Only the right Spiritual wisdom knows. It is entirely present and so free of time. My favorite line is where he says Instinct is the unconscious intelligence of the cell surfacing. Intuition is super conscious knowing in which you know before you know how you know what. Oh, yeah, okay. So I'll say it again Instinct is the unconscious intelligence of the cell surfacing Instinct is the unconscious intelligence of the cells surfacing. Intuition is super conscious knowing in which you know before you know how you know.
Speaker 4:I'm just going to clarify that, for me, intuition is something that I know without reasoning, logic or evidence. It becomes a visceral feeling where my body takes over and the mind is bypassed. For me, so, the event I'm talking about goes way back to when I had that intuitive, deep knowing that I couldn't stay at home and I had to run away to avoid an arranged marriage. It was the culture, it was a sign of the times. The tradition was that my parents were going to pick a spouse for me. I hadn't led a traditional life, I hadn't dated, and as a female and from an Indian culture back then, my life was very controlled, and so I kept ignoring that feeling. Ignoring that feeling because I didn't want to break rules, I didn't want to upset my parents, ruin their reputation. But in the end the feeling was seismic. It was like that volcano that just has to erupt.
Speaker 4:And the day that the event actually happened, which was the 29th of September 1985, I left at like four o'clock in the morning, well, runaway guests. And when I go back to that moment in time, my heart was pounding, my palms were sweaty, my nerves were on fire, I was in fight flight mode. Fear was tantamount that they'd catch me as I was leaving and all I kept thinking was leave with dignity, leave with dignity, but leave. And I didn't know what I was heading into. I didn't know what my future held for me and but I just knew. I had this deep inner knowing that my life was gonna go on a trajectory, partly because I knew that if I had stayed at home I could have been ordinary. And now that I had made this massive decision, that it had to be extraordinary, and being the big dreamer that I am, I ended up traveling the world and living in different countries and arriving in America with a backpack and a dream.
Speaker 4:When I look back to that journey, there are no regrets, because my intuition taught me to listen to my inner voice and to follow it, because it's guiding me. I may not know where I'm headed, but I certainly was headed somewhere. And, interestingly enough, the flower for intuition is the blue lotus and it only blooms once a year for three days, and it just is a metaphor for how, when you get that hit of intuition, how magical it is. And there's a famous quote by Osho, and what he says is when the body functions spontaneously, that is called instinct. When the soul functions spontaneously, that is called intuition. And to this day that is what I listen to and follow that because it always serves me well.
Speaker 1:Okay, delia, it's story time. All right, what have you got for us today? Well, I thought this was a good time to tell the story of my initiation into the ancient wisdom of women, the receiving of knowledge not spoken about in polite society, at least not back in 1970. So this happened shortly after my road incident, and I was struggling to come to terms with the strange occurrences I had been experiencing since my childhood. I figured I was either crazy or psychically gifted. I'd been studying the ancient forms of divination using tarot cards for a few years. By then I was 19 years old and fascinated with the idea of communicating with another dimension of reality. Now I needed help, but not the mainstream kind of advice. I needed the knowledge that only a woman steeped in the esoteric could give me, and that's how I came to meet Miss Tim.
Speaker 1:My friend Carlene introduced me to Miss Tim, a psychic medium who was a local legend in Tampa. In her mid-50s she made her living reading tarot cards and people's auric energy. She also held mediumship classes at her home in a small room off the living area. Once, after reading, she invited me to join the weekly group of women studying to understand and, in some cases, control their psychic abilities. I was more than willing to join the 10 women, each much older and more experienced than I was. The women adopted me like a pet kitten and were willing to share their extensive knowledge and stories, gently guiding me through the labyrinth of my psyche.
Speaker 1:At these sessions, we practiced the art of clairvoyance of my psyche. At these sessions we practiced the art of clairvoyance, telepathy, projection and materializing spirit into form. We would practice by reading each other's minds, which was a hoot and well, not always successfully, but intriguing to my young, untrained mind. Another practice was to project ourselves into another place and stand and witness to what was happening. You know, I later learned that the US military had been training psychics to project into the enemy's camps to learn their plans and strategies. It was as bizarre and far-fetched as it sounds and after a while I got pretty good at the mind work, miss Tim. Mimeographed handouts gave us homework and taught us how to protect ourselves from negative forces.
Speaker 1:As intuitives we were susceptible because our channels into cosmic consciousness were open like an unlatched door. We needed to know how to close and lock the doors to all but what we allowed to come through. And then, once I understood, what I had been experiencing was real. My life expanded way beyond this earth plane dimension. Then one day, during a private reading, miss Tim told me something I didn't want to hear. It was all obvious in the cards. It had been obvious since I'd been taking the classes. I knew what she meant and she said I was to leave a certain relationship or it would destroy me. I didn't want to hear it, even though I knew she was right. I was young, I was stubborn and I was trapped and I had no idea how to free myself. It wasn't as easy as her saying you just walk out and that's all. Instead, I thanked her and I got up and I walked out on her and I never saw her again. Her guidance Well, I decided to put the medium work behind me so I could focus on living with both feet on the earth plane.
Speaker 1:But I continued to read the trope cards and to test myself intuitively, and by the late 70s, new oracle type cards were appearing, created by artists and interpreted by contemporary writers. It was fascinating to see and inspiring, and it inspired me to want to create a deck of my own. I made several attempts over the years but never felt I was ready to guide someone beyond the portal into their psyche. Then one day, it was time. I was 25 years into the study of the eight limbs of yoga when this idea slipped into my brain like a seed delivered on a passing breeze, and thus the mindful mandala cards were born.
Speaker 5:I'm in the moment having super loads of insight about what was driving me, my programmings and so on and so forth. I guess it's just that moment in my life, in this life, here all of this becomes clear. All of this happens to, you know, unravel itself and part of this unraveling of what was driving me and therefore what was driving all my relationships and therefore how did this really unfold through my body, like you know, the denial of my desires, needs and wants in here and always trying to fulfill needs and wants and desires in others Really, really important recognitions, because then it becomes also very, very clear why my things in life happened, how they happened. Because there's always a reason and the reason is very simple once you know the reason. And to deny my intuition didn't fit into the programming of like I need to please everybody, I need to fulfill their needs and wants and desires and expectations at all cost. I need to be always nice, I need to be always perfect. So intuition sometimes doesn't fit in. That Intuition says like don't do this or do not go there.
Speaker 5:I got a habit in just denying it anyway, because it was easier in surviving with this programming in my case, and now I'm finding my intuition back, and I have an incredible intuition, you know, and I'm finding, I'm allowing myself to really accept everything, what comes up in me. I never did, never, only kind of. Maybe the good stuff, according to my judgmental mind of like, oh, that might make me lovable, that might make me acceptable for the others, so I can accept that Everything else was just downright denied. And it was never about the others, delia, the others were just the others. But I allowed them to abuse me, I allowed them to manipulate me. I allowed them to manipulate me.
Speaker 5:It has nothing to do with the others, it has everything to do with me allowing it. And for me now to allow my intuition is a total game changer. It's a game changer in a way of like, oh my God, wow, that's me. And instead of pulling it under the carpet, I allow myself to see it, I accept it, I respect it, I completely include it into my beingness and it's the most amazing thing Feels bloody fucking good. Of course it does, because that's me and that's what this body is here for.
Speaker 6:It took a long time for me to start to trust my intuition. It was hard at first to tell if that was just a random thought that occurred because my eyes saw something or I heard or smelled something. Our five senses trigger a lot of thoughts throughout the day. I had to learn to decipher the difference between a random thought and one that arises from deep within my gut, my heart and the energies around me. I think I've been aware of my intuitive tendencies since an early age, but it became sharper and more reliable as I became a yoga teacher.
Speaker 6:Through my breathwork, stillness, meditation and yoga practice I began to trust. I got past those thoughts that intuition was just about seeing the future or having a premonition. I had to get past the thoughts of self-doubt and not feeling that I am worthy of such a gift. I was telling myself intuition was only something special people possessed. But truly we all have this ability when you're able to get past those surface thoughts of daily life, when your mind becomes quiet enough to feel those subtle thoughts and emotions that arise from deep within, not ignited by our ego. I use my intuition every day. I use it to connect with my yoga students so I understand what they may need that day. I use it to comfort a friend when they're in a bad situation and knowing just the right thing to say or not to say. It helps me understand if people are lying to me or if they're telling me the truth and it keeps me safe and protected to not let their energies interrupt or take over mine. It's about knowing when to protect yourself energetically and when to expand it.
Speaker 1:So, delia, no doubt you have a way to tie this all together for your listeners. Yeah, well, you know, it's a testament to the intuitive connection I have with the divine. Because I never know what my guests will say, I invite them, give them the question to interview themselves, and then they send me these recordings and I'm always amazed by their stories and how each one in this episode has spoken on the phases of intuition as initiation into the deep, wild woman knowing you have heard of denial and finally, acceptance of the intuitive, revealing how initiation in a woman's psyche is a step-by-step progression over the course of many years. Okay, delia, and what can women do to connect to their intuitive wisdom? All right, well, a few episodes ago I referenced Clarissa Pinkola Este's seminal work, women who Run With the Wolves, and I suggest those listening purchase a copy, or dust off the one hidden on your bookshelf and turn to Chapter 3, nosing Out the Facts the Retrieval of Intuition as Initiation. I suggest you read it slowly, take your time, chew on the words, let what Clarissa reveals congregate in your mind, then return for another helping of the extraordinary.
Speaker 1:Clarissa suggests that in order to bring a woman closer to the life, death, life, nature, she asks her to keep a garden, she writes let this be a psychic one, or one with mud, dirt, green and all the things that surround and help and assail. Let it represent the wild psyche. Whatever can happen to a garden can happen to soul and psyche Too much water, too little water, bugs, heat, storm, flood invasion, miracles dying back coming back, boon healing. Another way to strengthen connection to intuition is to refuse to allow anyone to repress your vivid energies. That means your opinions, your thoughts, your ideas, your values, your morals, your ideals. There is very little right, wrong or good, bad in this world. There is, however, useful and not useful. There are also things that are sometimes destructive, as well as things which you are engendering. But, as you well know, a garden has to be turned in the fall in order to prepare it for the spring. It cannot bloom all the time, but let your own innate cycles dictate the upsurges and the down spirals of your life, not another person outside yourself.
Speaker 1:Any final words for your listeners, delia. Yes, I want women to know that their intuition is a natural, inherent part of all of their five bodies. Ladies, trust your intuition. Listen to the message it brings your intuition. Listen to the message it brings. That voice is the truth and it's best not to ignore what it's saying. I know your brain may be telling you the opposite of what you intuitively know to be right, but that's your ego talking. If you can push past your mental chaos, you will hear that sweet inner voice. Listen, this voice is your heart speaking. It is the knowing before anything reveals itself, the conversation between your conscious and unconscious mind. Listen and you will know exactly what to do. I'd like to thank my guests Denise Kay, lynn Goodman, anita Peterhansel, kaldib Rao and Christy Mang. Learn more about them on my contributors page here on fivebodywisdomcom and check out my other website, deliaqcom. And please, please, share this episode with other women. Most of all, let your voice be heard. I'm delia quigley and you've been listening to five body wisdom interviews with ourselves.
