"Massage News to educate everyone about Massage Therapy because the journey is endless."

I was having lunch with a friend, last week when our conversation turned to one's intuition.

As he recounted his attempts to connect with his intuition, his eyes flashed with frustration and he said, "Sonia, it's not that I am not aware of my intuition! I a! It's that I am so afraid of looking foolish that I don't follow it!" The he paused, looking even more perplexed…. "The stinker is that every time I do ignore it, it comes back to haunt me and I end up feeling like a fool anyway! So no matter which way I go, I can't win."

My heart went out to him because he was caught in a vicious cycle! One that I've seen more people struggle with than any other. His desire to follow his heart and intuition was constantly being over ridden and squelched by his ego's strong-arm need to be in control of things. Consequently the most he could experience was a disempowering 20/20 psychic hindsight. In other words, he was a card carrying member of the" woulda-shoulda coulda" club of lost opportunity.

The problem lay in his need to be in control, or as he put it, "avoid looking like a fool." As long as you approach intuition on those terms, you will never connect with your heart and the guiding wisdom of your soul. The reason for this is that the ego needs to surrender control of to the soul in order to engage your intuition. My teachers taught me that the way to intuition lies on one's very willingness to play the fool! But the fool is not what you think. The fool, as depicted in the Tarot deck is the very first card. It represents our essential self, our spirit. The Hebrew name for the fool is Aleph, meaning, "spirit". One of his other names is "windbag" or more accurately a container of wind or spirit. One of his other names is "windbag" or more accurately a container if wind or spirit. The fool represents that part of our selves that transcends the human, the mundane, and the ego based perspective of fear and control. To play the fool means literally to allow the spirit to play in your life. Therefore one must be willing to express the fool within to come into contact with spirit. That's why it is so important to be willing to risk looking foolish in order to embrace one's intuition. As my teachers said, "To be in touch with your spirit, you often do like a fool!"

Boy they weren't kidding! Like the time I impulsively quit my job with only $500 in my pocket and moved to France. Or the time I asked a guy on a date in spite of the face that all who knew him said he was non-committal and that to watch out. Or the time I sold our house right from under my feet on a whim, with no place to go. Believe me did I ever look like a fool. Yet, fool that I was, I ended up living in France for three wonderful years, marrying the noncommittal one, and am now living in the house of my dreams.

Reflecting upon these and a thousand other times that I acted like and have been called "Nuts" "Crazy" "Wacko" or other even less flattering terms, I can truly say that the pathway to spirit is that of the fool! And How!

Along the way I uncovered a secret: that playing fool isn't nearly as painful as some fear. In fact once your ego lets go of its need to control, and allows you to look foolish… it's not painful as all. Rather life becomes very interesting and exciting indeed. Discovering this, I have foolishly intuited my way to my heart's desire for years. The truth is the path of the fool is one of wonder, magic, delight, and surprise. I wouldn't trade it for all the control in the world.

After thinking over my own foolish experiences, including mistakes goof ups and embarrassments, I said to my friend, "There's only one thing worse than looking like a fool in life!"

"What's that?" he asked, not imagining what! Smiling to myself as I reflected the marvelously foolish life I lead I said, "Not living like one!"

Sonia Choquette is a unique and extraordinary spiritual teacher, intuitive guide and masterful catalyst whose special gift is to energetically activate the highest vibration and free the authentic Spirit in everyone she meets. She releases people from the restriction and fear of the ego and guides them through the portals to joy, wholeness, and personal empowerment in every area of their life. She has also been a personal Intuitive advisor to such New Age Leaders as Louise Hay, Julia Cameron, Caroline Myss, Dr. Wayne Dyer, pop icon Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins rock band, and professional consultant to international business leaders such as Charlotte Beers, Fortune 500 Company CEO.

A third generation intuitive and prolific writer, she is the best-selling author and has sold more than a million books in over Thirty countries, including her NY Times Best Selling book The Answer Is Simple: The Psychic Pathway (Three Rivers Press), Your Heart's Desire (Three Rivers Press), The Intuitive Spark (Hay House), True Balance (Three Rivers Press), The Diary of a Psychic (Hay House/Publishers July 2003), Trust Your Vibes (Hay House 2004) Ask Your Guides (Hay House 2005) Soul Lessons and Soul Purpose (Hay House 2006) The Time Has Come (Hay House 2008).

Highly trained and apprenticed in both the Psychic Arts and Metaphysical Law, Sonia was educated at the University of Denver and the Sorbonne in Paris . She then pursued a spiritual education at the American Institute of Holistic Theology www.aiht.edu resulting in a BA, MS and PhD in Metaphysics Her best education, however, she insists is her over thirty five years of working “in the trenches” consulting directly with people, and reading for them one-on-one, all over the world.

Sonia is passionate, dynamic, powerful, and direct in her ability to instantly liberate people from the limitations and fears (a five-sensory life) and leads them to create a far more effective, spirit guided (six sensory) successful life which she insists is “our natural way.” Using her highly developed, finely tuned intuitive skills she can instantly identify self sabotaging patterns and life obstacles and guide people past them and directly onto success in all their goals. No-nonsense, to-the point, practical, down–to–earth, and often hilarious in her delivery, Sonia’s intuitive gifts and engaging Spirit inspire even the most cynical. There is no doubt about it; to meet Sonia in person is to change your life.

Sonia has been a regular guest on ABC, NBC, CNN, FOX, Lime, Sirius, and WGN as well as featured in New Woman Magazine (where they rated Your Heart's Desire as one of the 10 best courses to change your life), New Age Magazine, USA Today, Body and Soul, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times and Crain's Chicago Business Journal.

She resides in Chicago with her husband, two daughters and her poodle Miss T.