That is why, instead of living with resolve, I am choosing to live with intent.

Intent: purpose: an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions.

Living with intent is different than setting a resolution and trying to stick to it. Intent allows for the uncertainty and ever-changing nature of life. Intent allows for self-love, self-nurturing, and realistic expectations. Intent encourages growth, and is an avenue to release guilt.

You can wake up each day and set a new intention if it serves your purpose. The point is to wake up each day intending to be the best YOU possible, and doing what you can to make that a reality. It can be different every day, and that is okay. Intentions do not set you up for failure, they allow for variance and change.

If the best YOU today is someone who decides to let go of any guilt you would normally feel about being unable to clean the kitchen or about having to cancel plans – that is beautiful! Set it. Make it your intention: “I am letting go of guilt and honoring my health and wellbeing.”

Maybe you are having a good day, so you decide to set a more active intention: “I am walking today and spending nourishing time in nature.”

They are your intentions, and your are free to set them and change them as you please. The goal is not to focus on what you cannot do, but to focus on what you can do and embrace it, celebrate it, nourish it. Nourish YOU!

But if I may offer a few guidelines for intention setting, here they are:

Write your intentions down.

Get yourself a notebook, and wake up each morning with an intention for that day. Even if you write the same intention every day, allow yourself the opportunity each morning to account for the unpredictable nature of things.

Be active and present.

Always write your intention in positive tenses. Write them as if they are already a reality. “I am…, I have…, I live… ” It may take a few tries, but practice writing positive, active, and present intentions.

Be mindful and realistic.

You know your ability better than anyone else. Set intentions that slowly and gently propel you forward. What do you want to achieve? Who do you want to be? Visualize it, and make the daily efforts to move in that direction.

Be kind and self-loving.

Your intentions are tools to focus and encourage you, not to cause you stress, anxiety, or guilt. If today’s intention is not completed to your satisfaction, lovingly place it aside and try again when you are ready. There is no right or wrong here. Only the intention of self-love.

Release your expectations.

You are setting an intention with a purpose and to attain a goal. Let yourself be free to experience it in whatever way it unfolds. Do not be rigid in your anticipated outcome. Life is ever-changing. Expectations do not allow for change, and often lead to resentment and disappointment.

Share your intentions.

Intent.com is a great place to go daily and share your intentions. I have no affiliation with them, other than a personal profile page I have created. I am sharing them with you because I love the inspiration and hope they are spreading one intent at a time.

From Intent.com:

Why Share An Intent?

“We truly believe in the power of intentions. After all, every action starts with an intention. When we share an intention with others, we make ourselves feel more accountable for the mission we want to complete. When you know what your intention is AND you can state it to others, then you are more likely to make the initiative to make your aspiration come true.”

Today my intentions are this:

I am sharing my goal of Living With Intent on FibroHaven.

I am sitting on my mat in silence and embracing the peace it brings me.

I also have weekly intentions:

I am practicing yoga 4-6 times a week.

I am writing 1-2 blog posts a week.

And there are several other intentions swirling around in my brain, all intended to help me be the best ME I can be each day. We all get to determine who that is for ourselves. No one else gets to tell you who to be and how to get there, but I think setting intentions together is a great way to work on it.

Living With Intent is a new project for FibroHaven. I plan to share, grow, and develop this project throughout the year. I am not sure exactly how it will unfold, but then that is exactly the point isn’t it. As long as I intend it to grow, it will.

I hope you will consider joining me, and if you do, please share your intentions either here or on our Facebook page. What you share will help and inspire us all.

Here’s to Living With Intent, and being the best we can be.

Sometimes I try to set grandiose intentions – freedom from all pain, anxiety, and conflict in my life, from here until eternity. Sure, that can happen in an hour. Usually, I am still staring at the blank slate of my mind when the instructor has moved on, so I just skip setting my intention. But then I am left feeling like I missed out on an opportunity.

Today the opportunity came up again; “What is your intention?” And out of nowhere it came to me – Just let go. That was it. That simple. My intention was to let go. No more focusing on what I thought should be happening or what I might be missing out on, just be in the moment and experience it. And experience it I did. It was my best practice by far. My focus was completely on my body, the movement, and what I was experiencing. I found myself more stable and comfortable in poses that are normally problematic for me. My balance was greater. My range of motion was better. My focus was clearer. I found a wonderful balance between effort and ease. It really was a joyful practice.

At the end of each session we get into my favorite pose – savasana. That is the time where it all comes together for me. I can feel how my muscles have loosened and elongated. I can feel how the tension has left my neck and upper back. It is a time of complete joy and peace for me – my favorite part of every practice. Today I felt especially connected to everything; to the mat beneath me, to the music swirling through my body, to my breath as it expanded my abdomen and sustained me from the inside. If I didn’t discover that ancient yoga secret today, then there isn’t one.

And how simple really, I just let go and let myself be in the moment instead of in my head. Now really, isn’t this a concept we can apply to every aspect of our lives. How much less stressful would life be if we could learn to let go of what we believe is expected of us, and just be who we are in every given moment? I am probably the least flexible person in most of my yoga classes, but each stretch benefits me just as much as it does my 60 year-old neighbor who can reach her toes with ease. I need to remember that.

Today was a great experience of just letting go, but it took me many yoga practices to get there. It is something I am going to have to continue practicing too. Practice letting go. Practice being in the moment. Practice acceptance of where you are, and then you can work on reaching where you want to be. I want to touch my toes with ease one day, but it will never happen if I don’t practice.

The Law of Detachment says that in order to acquire anything in the physical universe, you have to relinquish your attachment to it. This doesn’t mean you give up the intention to create your desire. You don’t give up the intention, and you don’t give up the desire. You give up your attachment to the results.

I am sharing this with you to explain an epiphany I had last week while attending an introduction to meditation class at The Chopra Center. I scheduled the event as a support group function and was hopeful that many members would take advantage of the free class. The RSVPs for the event were low – 5 yes, and 3 maybe. It is understandable and common to have people unwell enough to attend or to change their RSVP at the last minute from yes/maybe to no. In the end only three of us made it to meditation, and one member who showed had to leave because she was having a reaction to the incense burning throughout the center.

As I sat there trying to relax and prepare for the meditation I was unfocused and thinking about what more I could have done to encourage participation. I believe strongly that meditation is a great tool to aid us in our never-ending quest for wellness. How could I share my beliefs with the members and make them believers too? These thoughts distracted me, but soon the instructor was able to gain my full attention. At the end of the class she shared with us the intention of Chopra’s Law of Detachment and read to us the following step explaining how to apply the law:

Today I will commit myself to detachment. I will allow myself and those around me the freedom to be as they are. I will not ridgidly impose my idea of how things should be. I will not force solutions on problems, thereby creating new problems. I will participate in everything with detached involvement.

There it was. The universe was speaking to me on that day and telling me to let go and detach from the expectations I have placed on the meetings and events I schedule for the group. It was like a weight being lifted. There were about 15 people in the room but I felt like she was speaking directly to me.

There is no reason for me to get frustrated or discouraged when my members do not attend. I cannot set their goals and intentions for them. I cannot tell them what will work and what will be good for them. I can only continue to schedule meetings and events, enjoy the members who do attend, and give the members who do not attend opportunities to do so in the future. My intention when I started the support group was to create a place for people with Fibromyalgia and chronic pain to come together to learn, laugh, share, and encourage. My intentions have not changed, but I had become too conscious and attached to the results. I am determined now to let go of my expectations and just continue with my intentions. Good things will happen and members will show when they are ready.

The Law of Detachment was read to me on a day when I needed the lesson the most. I am so grateful that I was present and open to the message. Isn’t it amazing how serendipitous our universe can be at times?

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