Set an intention

When your yoga teacher invites you to "set and intention" for
your practice at the beginning of class, it is for a good reason that extends
beyond your yoga mat. Intentions can play an important role in your life, often
when you are faced with difficulty. Whether you are struggling to find ease in a
pose or dealing with emotional turmoil in daily life.
Intentions are a force  in nature; intentions are what create our reality. Intentions are what create the
fulfillment of our dreams. Intentions are essentially the capacity to stay in
touch with the core values that you wish to live by as you pursue your life's
goals and engage with others. Being grounded in your intention literally changes
what you perceive in a situation and how your mind interprets what you perceive:
it also affects how you act on what you perceive. Knowing what is essential to
you allows you to respond to life's ups and downs with a clear mind and an open
heart. Your intentions also support you in making choices and decisions, help
you endure anxiety, stress, and enable you to bear disappointment and difficulty
with equanimity. Of course when difficulties arise, it's easy to get swept up in
strong emotions and lose awareness of your intentions. So just like learning a
new yoga pose it takes practice to develop awareness of your intentions. 

Below is an exercise that you can practice straight away, with very little effort or investment of time, that can immediately enhance your life. In order to get the most out of this exercise you must clearly visualize your 
intended outcome. It can be for energy, vitality, a clearer connection with a higher power, health, joy, love. Whatever the intention it does not matter, it can be for financial stability, abundance, creative expression. Pick an intention and bring it into your heart, let it grow thru meditation. And soon you will be inspired to make choices that will allow you to step out of dependency and helplessness and into a place of inner strength and power.

Now, find a quiet place to sit or lay down where you will not be disturbed for the next few minutes...
Take a moment to get comfortable and tune into your breath. Relax.
When you have chosen the intention then put your intention in your heart and listen with your soul.
Repeat quietly to yourself, what do I want? What do I want? What do I want? What do I want?
Do not seek the answers to this question at this time, just ask the question. Ask and you shall receive.
Live with this question. Move with this question, what do I want? And soon you
will be moving into the answers, the answers will come to you as situations, as
circumstances, events, relationships, insights, and imagination.


Reflection...
~Now, ask yourself if you truly will make this a regular practice, a core attitude in your daily life and, if so, what it means to you.
~Engage in this practice each day.
~Throughout the day practice being  mindful of your intention as you go about your various activities.
~Remind yourself throughout the day that you intend for all of your words and actions to arise from this intention.
~Notice when your attitude is one of judging yourself and consciously remind yourself of your intention.
~Be mindful of those times when you actually speak or act from this intention, and acknowledge
to yourself that you have lived out your commitment.
~When others demand that you meet their expectations, respond from a place of inner strength and power
that has been created by your intention.

Tap into your most intuitive, intentional self.
Love and Light,

Namaste