Living with intention

Some say that intention is everything; that before we can create a new way of being, we need to dream it up. We need to get clear on who we want to be, what we want to stand for, and what we’re trying to accomplish with our practice in order to cultivate the conviction to do the work it takes.

There will be days that we fully step into our intentions, when we wake up with them on our lips and in our minds, and there will be days when we don’t. And that’s okay! However, when we take a moment to reflect on our intention again it helps us to return back to our practice (in whatever form it takes). This is the path: showing up, remembering why, and doing it all over again the next day — or at least trying to. Once we start steeping our minds in our intention, it starts to permeate our actions too.

So before you keep scrolling — take a minute to ask yourself: What is my intention today? Why am I doing what I’m doing — and is this really who I want to be? Do I dare to dream a little bigger and start planting the seeds, in this present moment, of the person I want to blossom into? Is it possible that everything I want, I already have, but just need to remember?

The practices of mindfulness and meditation give us the tools to look inward and ask these types of questions. And once we've found our intentions, meditation can help us gain the focus and concentration necessary to embody them. So our intentions don't just stay off in the future as something to be attained later on, but something we can connect with right here and now, in this present moment.

Credits: The Mindry