What does it really mean to trust your gut—especially in high-stakes environments where every second counts and lives are on the line?

In this episode, ILA Radio welcomes Jenn Johnson, author and critical care nurse, who has spent years navigating life-or-death moments guided by both rigorous training and something less tangible: intuition.

From working with energy in the ER to witnessing the rise of AI, Jenn brings grounded insight, surprising science, and a deep reverence for connecting with the body.

We talk about:
– What intuition actually feels like in real-time
– The two steps anyone can take to begin practicing intuition
– Why it’s time we teach intuition alongside intellect in schools and hospitals
– How AI is being trained to “listen” to the same signs our bodies already know

This episode is for anyone who’s ever felt something before they could explain it, who’s learning to listen more closely to their body, or who’s wondering how the wisdom of the gut might guide us in an age of information overload.

🎧 Listen in and remember:
the body knows—sometimes before the mind can catch up.

For more on Jenn, visit https://www.nursejenn.ca/

Don’t forget to check out her book!

LISTEN HERE

WATCH HERE

ASTROLOGY SNAPSHOT

Jenn is a bold and instinctive force (Aries Sun, Moon, and Mercury) who moves through life with gut-driven clarity and fearless urgency. She feels first, thinks later—and often turns out to be right. With deep emotional perception and a no-nonsense approach to truth (Saturn and Pluto in Scorpio), she’s built to sense what’s unspoken and act before others even realize there’s a problem. Her visionary edge (Neptune in Sagittarius) allows her to dream big, speak freely, and push boundaries in service of something greater than herself.

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HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT WE KNOW?

JJ: “Most of what I know is just by chance. Chance and practice.”

She talks about needing a degree and learning in that sense but that nothing really prepares somebody to encounter the things she does in the ER working with people’s energies mixed with what her gut is telling her.

INTUITION & INTELLECT

LA: “How do you define intuition?”

JJ: “To me intuition is more about ‘how are you feeling?’ because sometimes it is very overt where you have a big stab in your gut where all of a sudden your gut is turning over and you know that something is wrong. It is such a heavy gut punch-kind of feeling that you can’t ignore it. Usually these are life-threatening kind of scenarios.”

JJ: “Other people have senses where they can just feel like something is off, like they are missing part of the story, so now you’re on the alert to look for something.”

JJ: “Ideas will also just pop into my head.”

JJ: “It all depends on the scenario and how you best pick it up and everyone’s a little different.”

JJ: The body will start off small but if you’re not paying attention, it will go to gut punch. “And hopefully she picks it up at that point.”

JJ: Sometimes you will just stop and you don’t know why and it’s a physical stop, my feet won’t let me go any further.

JJ: Intuition is also the hairs on your neck standing up or getting chills.

LA: “How can we develop intuition?”

JJ: There’s usually only two steps.

The first step is just to realize that it’s happening. Give yourself five seconds to process and not immediately brush it off.

The second step is picking your head up and paying attention. And asking yourself, “What needs my attention that I’m not paying attention to?”

JJ: Critical care nurses in fast-pace environments were more accurate with their intuition because they didn’t have time to second guess themselves. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4754101/

THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION

LA: How could we do better in education?

JJ: I’d teach intuition. In primary school, in nursing school, everywhere. We tell people to “trust their gut,” but we don’t teach them how. That’s wild to me—because now that I’ve written a book about it, I hear that phrase constantly: on the radio, in books, in random conversations. It’s like the universe is winking, like, we’ve been trying to tell you all along. I think education should include inner knowing, what feels right, and how to listen when something inside you says “pay attention.” That’s where real discernment begins. And if the last five years taught us anything—through COVID and beyond—it’s that the mind alone isn’t enough. We need to honor the wisdom in the gut too.

LEARNING FROM NATURE

JJ: Everything happens for a reason, even the hard, messy stuff. There’s often a long waiting period before you understand why something happened, but eventually, you realize: That’s why I was in that place, with that person, at that time. The story needed it. The ecosystem needed it. Nature doesn’t rush meaning, and neither does life. I think that’s one of the deepest lessons: trust the timing. Even in chaos, something’s unfolding.

LEARNING FROM AI

JJ: Around five years ago, we didn’t think AI was going to be that big of a deal and now I use ChatGPT every single day. That’s the beauty of science. You never know what’s in the works and what’s going to be coming out. Everything changes so quickly.

There are now AI-driven biomarkers!

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11906928/

JJ: There are emerging AI components being developed that actually mirror aspects of intuition. For example, Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles has a program that scans a patient’s electronic health record—analyzing around 12,000 data points per second—and can alert doctors hours or even a full day before a patient shows visible signs of deterioration. It’s fascinating to see how this kind of technology is now part of the broader conversation, almost like intuition being brought into the group chat.