When I started practicing and teaching yoga I stopped setting New Year’s Resolutions and began the practice of setting an intention instead. Setting an intention had a deeper meaning for me. An intention became alive with the words flowing from my heart and began to reside in my actions on and off of the yoga mat. Intentions give meaning, structure, and purpose to my very existence. When setting intentions before I would practice yoga, the words became one with all of me and were embodied in my tissues, organs, bones, muscles, and blood. I felt them flowing on my breath with purpose throughout my body, my mind, my spirit while I practiced yoga. That beautiful feeling followed me off the mat and into my day.
My yoga practice deepened with my intentions. Yoga became very sacred to me. I had always loved to exercise. We are here to move our bodies. I loved running, walking, lifting weights, swimming, biking, playing and working in the garden. Yoga was a whole new invitation to exercise. It taught me awareness and listening to my body, my thoughts and my actions. It changed my life in beautiful and countless ways.
One intention for me was to continue to open my heart to the story of my life as it unfolded. It was a beautiful new way for me to be in the world. I have become willing to surrender to what is unfolding and willing to continue to open up and write new stories. I am supported, nourished and inspired by life and of all the possibilities it has to offer. Those possibilities are endless and there is enough for all. Setting intentions brings a quality and an awareness for growth and cultivating what you want in your life. Set an intention for who you want to be in the world, how you want to be in the world, what you can share with the world. Your life will change in ways you could not imagine.
Our bodies speak our minds. Start to pay attention to your thoughts and where they land in your body. Awareness. Your body is always in the present moment. Begin to bring your mind into the present moment. Breathe love into your body. Send love, gentleness, and a softening into all of the areas where you may feel tightness, stiffness, or soreness. What are you holding onto that no longer serves? Are there any feelings of lack, jealousy, resentments, and or judgements that you are holding onto that can be released? All of these immediately cause a separation between us and others. Beliefs we hold onto about ourselves and others stops the flow of energy and creates illness in the body. What judging thoughts or beliefs can you surrender now, release, let go, and transform? When we breathe love, forgiveness, peace and compassionate understanding into our thoughts we heal.
If you do not practice yoga you can still set an intention. Take a moment before you get out of bed to breathe deeply into your body and exhale slowly with a cleansing breath...ahhhhhh. Set an intention to try something new. Set an intention to start to notice your thoughts and how they feel in your body. Start to cultivate an awareness to the connections of your mind, body, and soul. When we seek wholeness our connection to others in the world expands and we begin to see how we are all one.
Inhale slowly and release on the exhale and add the sound of ahhhhhh. Letting go of any distractions, mind fluctuations, and judgements. Start to look beyond appearances. Breathe in and let go and surrender to your higher self. Step into the quietude and peace that resides inside the vastness of you. There is a peace within that is always available. The breath can help you access that calm center. Keep breathing deeply in and slowly exhaling out and begin to observe the quality of your breath, the quality of your thoughts, and the relaxing of your body. Set an intention to fill your day with peace, tranquility and serenity. Let your inner wisdom guide your day.