As we commence the new year, there is so much we may want to do and achieve.
Setting intentions, and realizing them is an important part of moving forward.
In the normal course of life, we try to come up with intentions from a conscious state of being. The follow through is also done from this state, which may be why the success rate of follow through with intentions is always challenging. Additionally, we also need an anchor to the intentions, to ensure that we stay on course.
In a Yogic path, our intentions are pulled from a subconscious state of mind.
When we are in a meditative state of heightened awareness, and we pose the questions about intentions, what the mind shows us may be something different from a conscious mental ntention. It is not merely intention setting but also visualizing how to realize the intention. Lastly, setting intention is a dynamic form of energy, when we do this it is also important to see the other side which is a grounding or still energy to balance the dynamism. If we move with only dynamism and no grounding to back it, then we may get lost along the way.
So as an exercise, before going to bed, try sitting still for a few moments. Visualize how you want the year ahead to pan out and your goal or intention for the year. Pause. Take a moment to also note the steps or changes you might have to make to realize this intention. (In the classes I offer, I often invite students to come up with three intentions: a personal, a professional and one that is family/community related.)
Then think about your grounding force to provide balance through the movement. This is completely personal, and maybe through daily meditations, silent walking, journaling or something else that you resonate with.
Document all of this in an easy to understand manner. Keeping a visual of this handy in the morning upon waking and in the night upon going to bed, will reaffirm the intention in the subconscious mind, thereby getting the conscious mind to act on it.
Take weekly stock through your meditations or journaling to see how you are progressing with your intentions, and the tweaks you can make along the way. We may feel the need to shift these intentions if they are not quite representing what our true goals are, and that is ok.
Think of intention setting as a painting on blank canvas. An artist visualizing the result, the paints needed to achieve that result, and finally progressing with the painting itself with awareness and silence, making changes or shifts along the way if needed.
At the end of the day, it is our painting, and we can choose to create and edit it as we want. The result either way is beautiful…Happy New Year!
We recently bought a house. It has a beautiful garden and the home has been lovingly maintained by its previous owners, and its owners before that, and the owners before that..Which got me thinking..There will be owners after us, and more after that, and maybe after that too..So is the house really ours? Do we own it? Or are we just caretakers?
I feel like I am a caretaker of the house. Making sure it is clean, tidy, neat, beautiful, livable, ensuring the plants are happy, and that the house feels like a home. All this until the next owner comes along.
And extending that thought, aren’t we caretakers of everything else as well? Caretakers of our clothes, our physical possessions, caretakers of our children, and caretakers of our bodies? Life is transient, we are here for a limited amount of time, although at this point it does seem infinite..And what do we really own? Our bodies? Our clothes? Our possessions? All of these will get disposed of when we pass. Our children? They will move on when they are ready.
I feel like I am a caretaker
And I feel the shift in my attitude when I think of myself as a caretaker. As an owner, there is a sense of privilege attached. A caretaker however has an attitude of service, and the humility that comes along with it. Being an owner, I feel like I have a heavy backpack full of possessions, however being a caretaker, I feel a sense of freedom, and lightness.
Knowing that the only thing permanent is change, let us be good caretakers….until the next one comes along.
