Heart-Centered Intention: Live Talk & Practice 8/10/21

This talk and guided practice is a recording of the Compassion Conversations live session from 8/10/21 on Insight Timer.
In this session, we explore intention, affirmation, and goals. We look at the process of connecting with our intention as a guiding principle to help us move toward our most aligned self. We move through a practice to easefully invite connection with our intention—allowing it to come forward from within us. Guided practice begins at approximately minute 14:00.

Transcript

So we're going to be talking today about intentions. So I'm curious, And if you feel called to, Please feel free to type into the chat, Like what is, Are intentions something that you work with? When you think about intention, What is the first thing that comes to mind? Just curious where you are today with this idea of setting intentions. Because it's something that has a really powerful, It's a practice that once I really came to working with intentions in my own life and with my clients that I work with, Things shifted in a very different way. A really beautiful way, Actually much more than I would have anticipated. So intentions, What I choose to focus on, Be mindful of intention. What do intentions mean for you? Is this something that you work with currently? Are you working with intentions? Do you have an intention on long-term goals? My motive behind everything, Yes. Create the space between thought and action, Oh, Beautiful. A goal, Something to work toward, An affirmation. Transformation for a vibrant life. I love that you talked about goal and affirmation, Because we're actually going to talk about the subtle differences between all of those, Because they're a little bit different. They all have a slightly different energy to them, A different quality. And we're talking about qualities quite a bit today too. So when we think about goals, We're a very goal-driven world, Or do things to get to an end. We have this goal, We have this thing, And we set ourselves in pursuit. And so a goal is very often something that we kind of hold out there. It's like the carrot at the end of the stick and put it out there, And we expect that it's going to drive us forward, That it's going to move us. And sometimes it does, And sometimes it doesn't. What gets lost sometimes between a goal and our ability to reach it, Sometimes the journey toward it. It's all the things in between. And the deeper desire for the experience that we anticipate in reaching the goal is sometimes lost in the goal itself. Sometimes our goals are given to us by others. Sometimes they're passed down. Sometimes they're inherited. There's these messages that we get, But what we're supposed to do, So we set these goals for ourselves and we try. And what often comes up is feelings of resistance, Feelings of fear, Feelings of overwhelm, Even self-criticism and shame when we don't reach them. And then we get in this push-pull with our goals. Like we set a goal and we strive and we do a burst of energy towards it, And then it falls flat, And then we shame spiral, And then we create a new goal and we come back for it. Does this sound familiar to anyone or is this just a cycle that I've run through? New time. All right, We go to this idea of like, I've got a goal. Yeah, And I'm gonna get there. And then we make this progress and we celebrate. And then it falls flat. This is really common at New Year's, Right? We set all these great New Year's goals, These resolutions, And they fall. Something's missing. So there's nothing wrong with goals. I'm not bad mouthing goals, But just being clear, Like when we set them, We want to be more clear. And working with intention helps us find that clarity so that our goals become more aligned with our truth, Our essence, As opposed to being given to us or just generated by the mind. The mind can set up all kinds of goals because we compare. Like, Oh, They're doing that. I should do that. That looks really good. Somebody said that would help. That's my new goal. When we work with intention, We actually bring something forward that comes from within us. So the motivation, It stops being about motivation. So the other thing I want to discern between is affirmation and intention. So they're really similar. They're really, Really similar. The difference with an affirmation is an affirmation is more of a declaration. We affirm something. We state this is true. There's an energy to it. And sometimes, And again, I'd love to hear from you guys, If you're experienced with this, With affirmations, Is sometimes we choose an affirmation the same way we might choose a goal. Like this is something that I want that's out there. So I'm going to say it a hundred times over and just hope and like just white knuckle my way into trying to feel it, Like the fake it till you make it. Also not bad mouthing this yet. We want to make sure that our affirmations are coming from within, Not from out there, Not from the sense of grasping or striving or trying to make ourselves be or feel something that isn't really aligned. So an intention is a little bit different. An intention is a decision. The decision is an interesting word, Like to decide that there's an elimination. There's a cutting off. When we decide something, We're cutting off all options. We're saying that this is it, This is the truth, This is the action. An intention is something that we sit with and we cultivate and we state it as though it's already happened in a very present tense. And we're aiming at inviting something that already lives within us, A potential, Quality, A way of being, And we're inviting it to come forward. We're inviting it to blossom forward and guide our actions. So instead of being the end result, The intention is a decision about how we want to show up in action, How we want to show up with ourselves. It's a communication that we have with ourselves. So an intention is a way that we're saying, This is how I am going to be in pursuit of. So Raven used the example of patience is the intention for today. So the idea of like, Oh, I am patient. I am patient in all things. I am patient in, You know, If your goal is to find new work or to lose weight or to get into shape, These are the common ones that I hear a lot. It becomes I am patient. As I move toward finding work that speaks to me, That celebrates my gifts, I am patient as I learn to honor my body and welcome its ideal weight, Its ideal movement, Its ideal nourishment. I am patient as I open to receive. I am patient, I am patient, Right? Intention for today is to be present. Yeah, I am present. I am present in all things. So he said an intention. And what's really beautiful about intention is that it comes from the heart. So that there's a word in Sanskrit that you'll hear a lot, Especially if you practice yoga nidra, Which I cannot recommend that practice enough. But when you practice yoga nidra, Very often you'll be invited to state a sankalpa at the beginning, Towards the beginning of the practice. And again, At the end. And a sankalpa is essentially an intention. And it translates to mean a vow, A sacred and solemn vow. Another translation of it that I really like is the rule to follow above all rules. Like it's the deciding thing. So when we set an intention, Everything else falls to the side, Is secondary. So intention is about quality. It's not about things. It's not like, Oh, I'm going to win the lottery. It's about how am I going to be in pursuit of abundance? How am I going to show up for myself? What are the qualities of being that already exist within me that I'm going to invite forward? And allow that to be my guiding principle. The rule to follow above all rules. Patience is the rule I follow above all rules. And it can be very clear and very simple. It's something that we anchor ourselves into. It grounds us and it guides our actions and moves us forward. So the other thing that's really interesting, So how these work, We have in our, Part of the way our brain works, Our brain likes to operate with efficiency and on habit. Like it really does a lot of habit energy. We have these neural pathways that are well-grounded. So we have the same type of thoughts over and over and over. And we have a system in the brain called the reticular activation system. The reticular activation system, RAS, Fancy terms. What this does, It's essentially our scanning system. So it's a filter. It kind of, We get so much information thrown at us all day from everything, Right? From media, From phones, From all this stuff. And our intention becomes, When we really work with intention, We're planting that into that reticular activating system. So it's gonna filter out stuff to align with our intention. So it's what's activated. If you're looking to, The great example is suddenly you're like looking for a red car. You're like, Well, I think I might wanna buy a red car. And suddenly all you see are red cars. Like your brain is like starts to tune in and look for that thing. And that's what it starts to see everywhere. So when we set an intention, We're activating that in this part of our brain. We're activating our reticular activation system to filter out the noise that's outside of our intention. So if the intention is presence, If the intention is to move with love and compassion, That becomes the thing we start filtering out. Like all this other information becomes background noise and it becomes this guiding principle. Our mind is geared towards focusing on it, Towards generating it, Towards inviting it in. And when we practice it within the scope of something like a yoga, Nidra practice, We plant that deep in the seeds of our unconscious or subconscious mind so that it becomes more of a default for us too. Our body starts to just believe that this is true. I am patient. I do all things with love. And it starts to manifest as a new way of being. So instead of a goal, Which is something that we have to really, Really work for, Or an affirmation, Which is just this declaration that we're trying to force into being, An intention is something that we're awakening and using as a guiding principle. We can use affirmations to support the intentions. We can use intentions and affirmations to support in pursuit of our goals. An intention is the root. An intention is that very core sense of, Ah, This is how I move through the world. So what we're gonna do in our practice today is go into getting a sense of what our intention might be. And our intention can change from time to time. And the practice of yoga, Nidra, They often suggest that we work with one sankalpa, One intention for a period of three to six months and just work with it daily. And sometimes it might be longer though. It might be up to 18 months. Could be a while, Like really working with it until you've embodied it, Until it feels as though it's manifested. It's actually become part of you. And then you get to shift and invite in a new and working with that. They're all in service to, Are becoming the most embodied part of us, Our most aligned and true self. So we're gonna go towards our most true and aligned self. And that can look a little bit different at different times. So recently I was working and setting my intention. It's like, Oh, You know, The one I'd been working with for the last several months feels like it's come to completion. Like it feels like there's resolution there, Grounded. So it's like, Huh, I need to invite something new. And what does that process look like? And our tendency is to overthink, Right? Like I have to figure it out. I have to find the right intention. And that adds stress, Which when we're working with ourself compassionately, The idea is how do we invite ease? So we're going to do a practice today that is fully invites a connection with our intention, Allows it to come forward from within us, Rather than trying to think our way through it and checklist it and make sure it's just the right thing. Cause here's the thing, You can't do this wrong. So let's set that out right now. You cannot do this wrong. What you can do, Cause your intention can always shift and change and you can have different intentions for different things, Different intentions for different interactions, Different experiences you're going into, But our overall intention that we want to work with for the next few months might be a little bit deeper. So we're going to play with that today in our practice and then see what comes forward. And if nothing comes forward for you today, That's okay. If nothing comes forward for you today, Then I invite you to play with the intention of I am open to receiving and then keep an eye out. Just stay aware in the next few days, Few hours in your dreams, You might get little hits, A little insights that say, Oh, This is speaking today. This is where we're coming from. So that doesn't come through today. No worries. Be gentle with yourself, Accept the possibilities, Stay open to possibility. And then we'll go from there. All right, So let's go ahead and go into practice, Shall we? So I'll invite you to go ahead and just get comfortable for a moment. And you can do this practice today seated or lying down. So if you're lying down, I'll invite you to place something beneath the knees to take pressure off the low back or behind the head to support the neck. If you're seated, Go ahead and find something that will support your back so that you don't have to work really hard. Let your shoulders just roll back. Going ahead and getting cozy. If you have a blanket or a shawl, Please wrap that around you or lay that over you to soothe the nervous system and also to invite that little layer of warmth. Because as we practice, Our body temperature drops. So the blanket or the shawl invites our nervous system to feel protected, Feel steady and to feel soothed with just that little layer of warmth and that tiny bit of weight. And once you feel settled in, Go ahead and taking a nice full breath in as you gently close your eyes and open the mouth, Exhale, And sigh, Gently letting go. And taking a nice full breath in through the nose, Feeling the heart expand with that inhale, Pause at the top and gently open the mouth, Exhale with a nice audible sigh, Softening through the muscles in the face, Neck, And the shoulders drop. Taking a nice full breath in again like this in through the nose, Hold at the top, Open the mouth, Exhale, Release, Allowing the body to sink into the support beneath you. Feeling fully supported as you allow the breath to find a natural rhythm, Each breath flowing fluidly one after the other. Gently becoming aware of the sounds farthest away, Just the sounds around you and just noticing. And without labeling them, Just becoming aware of the sounds farthest away, Letting the ears travel from sound to sound to sound, Allowing yourself to notice the sounds that are closer and closer to you. Perhaps even noticing the sound of the movement of your breath moving in and out through the nose. Perhaps even sensing into the sound of your own heartbeat. And then, Sensing into the sound of your own heartbeat. Becoming aware of the inner sounds, The inner space and simply noticing what's here with you. You scan the body from head to toe and toe to head. Inviting the breath to land and rest in any area that feels tense or uncomfortable, Or anywhere that is calling your attention. Gently becoming aware of the right hand, Right forearm, Upper arm, Right shoulder. Becoming aware of the whole right arm softening, Becoming heavy, Whole right arm, Soft and at ease. Noticing the right side of the body, Right waist, Right hip, Right buttocks, Right upper leg, Knee, Lower leg, And the whole right foot. Just becoming aware of the whole right side of the body, Softening, And sinking into the support beneath and around you. The whole right side of the body fully supported. And moving over to the left, Being aware of the left hand. Left lower arm, Upper arm, Left shoulder. A whole right arm, A whole left arm, A whole left arm, Soft, Restful, Supportive. Becoming aware of the left side body, The left waist, Left hip, Left buttocks, Left upper leg, Left knee, Lower leg, Left foot, The whole left leg, The whole left leg, And the whole left side of the body, The whole left side of the body supported, Soft, And sinking into the support beneath and around you. And the whole body, The whole body supported to become aware of the base of the spine. And then each vertebra traveling all the way up the spine to the top of the head to become aware of the top of the head. Forehead, Right temple, Left temple, Right eyebrow, Left eyebrow, Eyebrow center, Become aware of the top of the head, Eyebrow center, Becoming aware of the eyebrow center, Right eye, Left eye, Both eyes together, Right nostril, Left nostril, Both nostrils together, Right cheek, Left cheek, Upper lip, Lower lip, Lower lip, Teeth, Tongue, Chin, Right ear, Left ear, The whole head, The neck, Both shoulders, Both arms, Both legs, And the whole body. Becoming aware of the whole body together, Becoming aware of the whole body, Becoming aware of the whole body together, The whole body fully supported, Soft, Peaceful. You notice the flow of the breath flowing up through the base of the spine up to the nose and gently exhaling, Traveling down the spine, Finding the soft, Fluid flow of the breath up and down the spine. Breathing like this for a few moments, And gently becoming aware of the heart center, Holding your awareness of the heart center, And then you're going to come back to the heart center, And you're going to feel the heart center holding your awareness of the heart center. You might feel and sense the breath radiating in and out from this space within the heart. And as you breathe in, The heart and the light expands, And as you exhale, It's a softening that occurs, Breathing and sensing into this light in the heart. You might notice here within the heart a silhouette, A silhouette of a person, And as you focus in and hone your awareness here on the silhouette within the heart, You begin to notice that the silhouette is your future self, And you begin to notice that the silhouette is your future self. This is the future self of your true aligned self, Your true self expressed easefully in the world, Rooted in your heart and your truth. And as you breathe in, Notice the~~ As you gaze upon this future self, Noticing the posture, The facial expression. Notice an assurance, Clarity. Gently become aware of the words that describe this version of you. Your true aligned self expressed in the world rooted in the heart. As you continue to observe this aligned self in front of you, You notice you begin to merge you become that you are this aligned true self. And within this embodied experience of your future aligned self, You become aware of the quality of hearing, The sounds you're attuned to, The language that you're using as this aligned self. You look around your environment through these aligned eyes, You notice what you see, The quality, The colors, Images. Notice the taste on the tip of your tongue, The sweetness of life. Become aware of the scent of your environment, And that which nourishes and inspires. You become aware of the sensations, The sensation of the air on the skin, The body and space. You experience this quality of being aligned with your highest self. Simply notice which feeling tones and words land in your awareness, Words that capture the quality and essence of this expression as you're reading. Now holding this word or short phrase, These quality and descriptive words that capture the essence of your experience and add the sentence stem, I am. Coming in, I am this quality. I am. I am. Feeling these words, This intention, This intention of awakening this which is within you, This I am quality, Pulsing with each inhale and each exhale, Inhaling I am exhale, Releasing this essence into the world. Feeling these qualities pulse and radiate through the body with each breath, 37 trillion cells radiating and pulsing with this quality, This intention, I am. You are quality. Now gently calling your name to yourself and stating, I hear you. I see you. I am you. I am. Then your intention, Calling your name to yourself, I hear you. I see you. I am you. I am. State your quality. Calling your name to yourself. I hear you. I see you. I am you. I am you. I am you. Inviting a nice full inhale, Feeling the heart expand, Echoing with this intention. Exhaling, Sensing the body sinking further into the support beneath you as you gently become aware of the body fully supported. Just gently scanning the body head to toe and toe to head with awareness at the heart. And gently becoming aware of the points of contact between the body and the surface beneath you. The backs of the shoulders, The hips, The feet, The backs of the hands. Exhaling into the whole body, The whole body filled with this light of this intention still pulsing through you and noticing how you feel, How the body feels, How the breath moves. And the next inhale, If it feels welcome in the body, Raising the arms up overhead into a nice big stretch. On the exhale, Releasing the arms gently to the sides. And if you're lying down, I invite you to bring the knees into the chest and just rock side to side, Massaging the low back. If you're seated, I'd like to gently rock slightly side to side as well, Inviting subtle movement into the spine. And if you're lying down, Bringing the hand, Rolling over to the side, Bringing the hand closest to the ceiling, Down on the ground in front of the heart, Using that to support you as you return to a seated position. We all meet together seated, Eyes closed, Sensing the vibration of this intention moving through the body with the breath to place one hand on the heart and the other on top of it, As though to feel this intention here, Feeling the warmth of your own hands. Taking a nice full breath in through the nose, Open the mouth, Exhale with a nice big sigh, Just letting go of everything that is ready to be released, That is outside this intention. Taking one more full breath in, Open the mouth, Exhale, Sigh it out, Gently touch into chest, And invite a soft grin to form on the lips as you draw the corners of the mouth back towards the ears, Welcoming yourself back home, Welcoming yourself here, And then gently opening the eyes, Pause, Bring the gaze back to center, And just noticing how you're feeling. Welcome back. So this is an opportunity to, If you have a journal or a notebook, This is a great time to write a couple notes down if something pops into your mind like, Oh, There was something there. So when we're doing this practice, There are a couple things that we did, Right? So initially, Again, We created safety in the body with the breath and the intention. We do this every time. Those of you that have been here many times, You know, We start by really inviting the nervous system very intentionally to switch off from activation with those intentional breaths and this focusing inward of the body and just inviting whatever's hanging out, Emotion, Emotion, Whatever's there to just be there and to breathe into it. So we just connect gently with the breath. And so the intention is I want peace, Greg. So great. So the intention then is I am peace. So we want to be really, This is beautiful, More relaxed than usual, Wonderful. So we want to play with an intention as we want to state these as though they exist or that it is true because it is like deep within us, This is already here. So we want to call it forward. So if we start saying I want, There's we're telling ourselves that we don't have it. If we're telling us I need again, We're sending a message to ourselves that we don't have it, That it's not available to us yet, That there's this like there's this striving that needs to happen. So instead, We're saying I am. And we're inviting when we say I am, We're inviting our body and our mind to accept this deeper truth, That these qualities of being that we are called to that we desire are already within us because we desire them. They're already known to us. Just by the fact that we know that this is a state that we want to experience a quality of being, There's a part of us that already knows it. Otherwise, We wouldn't be like desire. We know what it is. We know it's there. So when we say I am, We're telling our subconscious mind, We're telling our body, Hey, This is already here. We step into it. And then we get to use that as the the solemn vow, The sankalpa, The rule to follow above all rules to guide our actions. That's really powerful about this is that when you're at, We sometimes can call it departure point decision point when you're standing in front of something and you have to make a decision. If you pause for just a millisecond and state your intention, It guides your choice naturally. So it can be as simple as like choosing a food that is aligned with you or not. Like if you're standing there and saying I am peace and you look at a food that you know is going to not necessarily make you feel great later, You're naturally going to choose the other not in a place of deprivation or I can't have that to, Oh, I am peace. I naturally is and I'm going to choose foods that nourish my body and support peace. I'm going to choose things that support this feeling, This quality of being that I'm inviting inward is the rule to follow above all rules. It guides everything. And here's the really beautiful thing. If at some point, Which is going to happen, You're going to make a choice that's not perfectly aligned because hello, We're human and we do that and that's okay. You then get to use that to lean on that to reach into the support of your sankalpa, Of your intention to compassionately respond to yourself, To course correct because it's never too late to course correct. We course correct 10, 000 times a day. We keep shifting and reaffirming. So you reconnect to our intention over and over and over again until it becomes one of those neural pathways that's automatic, That's grounded in there. So I'm curious as just in your experience, When you were with your future self in this practice, What were some of the first words that came to mind when you describe this version of yourself? These are really valuable words. These are adjectives, Right? These are because when we're describing ourself, We're not saying I'm going to become, We're saying, Oh, I am this. I'm dedicated to self care. Oh, It's a beautiful, Yes, Peaceful, Calm, Grounded, Happy, Confident. Yes. Yes. Happy, Safe without regrets. Yeah. Love and compassion, Happy, Healthy, Successful, And beautiful. Yes. Yes. These are all. These are all the qualities that already live in within you. Soft and lovable. Oh, Maureen. Yes. Oh, My heart just felt like a softness with that. This is beautiful. When we're working with setting intentions, They come from the heart. They come from part of us that already knows this truth, But just wants these to be awakened, Which is what, Again, Makes us different from the goal and an affirmation. Again, Nothing wrong with goals or affirmations. I use them all the time too. However, Intention's a bit different. So it guides us and we can use affirmations to support. We can use goals as things where we realize that those often come from intellect or from mind or from others sometimes. I've certainly had goals handed to me before. Most of us have, Right? This is what you need to do next. We're like, Yes, I will. And then we strive and then we spiral. With intention, We're simply stating this is a conversation I'm having with myself. It's a decision I'm making about how I want to be in the world, About how I am in the world, About how I choose to show up for myself and others and for the things that matter to me. I am soft and lovable. If I choose that as intention and move forward in the world from the place of soft and lovable, Everything I do is going to feel different than I have to get to that thing. I have to get that job. I have to lose the five pounds. Do you see the difference, Right? That I get to, I have to, I need to, To, Oh, I'm safe. Yeah, Patricia, Beautiful. Our response is different. Our body softens into a deeper truth, Which then allows us to choose actions that are supportive of this quality of being and the pursuits that we want to invite into our life. You know, I find that when we work from intention, Magical things happen because we let go of striving and we allow ourselves to be. We allow ourselves to be calm, Which is different than this grasping of needing to be different. So my invitation to you is to, As always, Be gentle with yourself, But to play with intention, To explore how you can have fun. And I do mean have fun and play with how you can remind yourself of your intention throughout the day. Now, Sometimes I have, I'm a big fan of sticky notes. I have them all over. One of my favorites, I have three on my bathroom mirror. I'm going to share my little secret with you. So I have three on my bathroom mirror and the one is, It just says, Exhale. There's a point of really grounding and exhaling. The second one is a picture, A stick figure, Because I'm very fancy with my art, A stick figure with their hands on her hips and a sort of a power position, A position of grounded in confidence, Just this, Yes, I am kind of posture. And then the third post, It just says intention. So every morning I will stand, I'll be sitting there brushing my teeth and I'll see my three post-it notes. I'll put down the toothbrush when I'm done. State my intention and state it three times. And really let myself feel it move in the body. And then I will often set reminders on my phone just to go off a couple of times a day. That just like, And all it does, It just pops up and there's the intention. It's like, Oh yes, There it is. There it is. There's my intention. Yeah. Play with your intention. See how you can invite this in throughout the day. Sticky notes are great. Reminders on the phone are great. Little ways that you can play with it. And I think sticky notes, I've got them all over the place and I change them up and change the color so that my mind doesn't get used to them. Cause that's easy to happen where you just get used to them and you stop noticing them as much. So I want to keep that reticular activation system moving, Like keep tuned in, Keep tuned in. So you get to play. So I invite you to hang out with these, To experiment, To enjoy inviting these qualities of being to come to life and all that you do and let them guide you and see what happens. Stay curious, Stay on the lookout for how you can invite your intention to show up throughout the day. And any interaction when you're washing the dishes, When you're making a cup of tea, Whatever you do, Pause and just recite your intention. And then if you really, Really want to work with it, I would invite you to practice yoga nidra. So yoga nidra practice, There are many of them here on Insight Timer. I have several on my profile that you can explore. And I also have an audio course on the practice of yoga nidra, Which kind of walks you through what each stage of yoga nidra is doing and what's happening and how it helps us break free from stuck emotional patterns and from old ways of thinking and feeling and being and how to incorporate sankalpa. So it is when you can embody it. So it awakens within your cells and wagons within your consciousness on all layers and levels of being. So that might be something if you have the opportunity to check out, Check out my course on yoga nidra here and practice yoga nidra and use your sankalpa use your intention at the beginning and end of the practice. It is the most powerful and effective way to bring this into being so that you can live from the intention. There are several different traditions of yoga nidra that are out there. So there are different models and different frameworks for it. The essence of it is the same progression that moves through the stages of consciousness and all of them do that to some extent. We move through different stages of awareness and consciousness to get to a place where our body is in a state of rejuvenation and cellular repair. And during that stage, There's also neural pruning going on where the mind is literally being pruned of outdated patterns. We get to play with that. And then from there, We plant our sankalpa, Our intention again. And so it becomes part of our deeper truth within our actual awareness. So there's something really lovely in that. So I invite you to check that out, Play with the yoga nidra practices and play with your intention. Use sticky notes, Use reminders, Use whatever works for you. And if you have a parrot, Teach them to say it. Have fun. Have fun. Enjoy these. Have a wonderful week ahead. And I will see you next week. Thank you everyone. Happy intention setting. Bye.

Reviews

Love this, it was so helpful. I woke up feeling off kilter and this really helped me re-center. Thanks!