Intention is the “why” behind our actions and our thoughts.
Intention is what drives us. It is our “raison-d’etre”.
If we are unaware of our true intentions, we may be letting intention to steer us away from where we want to be and what we want to create in our lives. It’s like letting someone drive for us and we don’t tell the driver where we are going.
That’s why it’s important to know whether our intention comes truly from a place of love or a place of fear. Once we are clear with our intention, we can make sure it is aligned with what we want to manifest in our lives.
Here’s an example of doing the same thing but with different intentions. Let’s say there are two people who decide to do yoga daily.
Person A is doing yoga daily because she is scared of getting cancer, scared of getting fat and old, or scared of feeling left out from her other friends.
Person B decides to do yoga daily because she enjoys it a lot. Her body feels good after yoga and she loves that she has more energy.
Person A’s intention is coming from a place of fear, and Person B’s intention is coming from a place of love.
Well why does it matter? With different intentions, even though these two people may be doing the same action, they may see different results in the long run.
Obviously sometimes it’s not so clear cut where our intention comes from, and sometimes it may be mixed with both love and fear.
In today’s blog I want to share with you my personal story of discovering my own intention and how it helps to reset my mindset.
It was my 39th birthday coming up. Being close to 40, I definitely had some reflections. I have lived almost half of my life now. I was reflecting what I’ve done in the past and what I wanted to do in the future, hoping to make good use of my time for the rest of my life.
To be honest, mostly I was feeling regrets from the past. I saw photos of my younger self. How pretty I was then. I wish I could be more confident with my body then. My youthful years have passed and my body is not the same as when I was in my 20s. How I wish I could have appreciated myself more.
I was also not feeling satisfied with where I was today. I wish I could be stronger and fitter. I wish I could be smarter with money. I wish I could be more successful with my businesses. I wish I could be a better mom.
I know I should be grateful. Logically that was what my mind said. But I was not feeling it at all.
I felt like every area of my life was not good enough. I felt like I was lagging behind. I felt like by 40 I should be more successful, like many other momtrepreneurs I saw on social media but I wasn’t.
The night before my birthday, I sat down in meditation. I wanted some peace and quiet but my mind was churning with thoughts. I asked myself what I wanted to prioritize and focus on for the next year. What else did I want to manifest?
One thought after another, here’s what was going through my mind all the while I was in meditation:
What do I want to focus on? What is my priority?
My priority is still…spending time with my kids.
Why?
Because I’m afraid that they would grow up so quickly and later when they get older, they won’t want to spend so much time with their mom.
Afraid? Hmmm…does that mean I’m doing this because I’m afraid? Is my intention coming from a place of fear?
Yes. It’s coming from a place of fear.
So how can I shift my intention to a place of love?
A phrase suddenly popped into my mind: “I’m proud of.”
Okay…what can I be proud of?
And I started listing all the things that I was proud of in my head.
I want to spend time with my kids because…I’m proud of my kids.
I’m proud of my health and body that I can still do many things with my kids.
I’m proud of my team at Museflower who knows what they are doing and can carry on running the retreat center without my constant presence. So I can work from home and spend time with my kids.
I’m proud of all the support I receive. I’m proud of taking time for myself to nourish me and to rest properly, so then I have more energy to be with my kids.
As I was doing my list mentally with my eyes closed, holding a mudra, I started to feel a shift within. I felt lighter like a heavy veil around me was lifted. I began to feel more excited about the future.
I knew I just received the best birthday present for myself. I opened my eyes and went straight to my journal to write down my thoughts.
In the next few days I kept on repeating the “I’m proud of” statements to myself. To me, the word “proud” was similar to “grateful” but at this moment in time, the word “proud” resonated with me much more deeply.
Being “proud” of me wasn’t something that I heard from others as I was growing up. I felt that I was not good enough in every area of my life.
And this phrase “I’m proud of myself” was the mindset shift that I needed. Instead of focusing on the faults to reinforce my limiting belief of “I was not good enough”, I reminded myself what I could be proud of to celebrate how far I have come.
I’m looking forward to the future again. And I accept my past.
I don’t know how many more years I have ahead of me to live. But at least I know that now I am proud of myself and all that I have achieved, accomplished and co-created with the Universe.
Conclusion
By sharing my personal story, I hope you can see the power of intention in our lives.
When I recognized that my intention was based on fear, it was like something got unlocked. I was not locked in fear anymore. By changing up the word I used in my intention, my mindset completely shifted.
One week has past since my birthday now and I still hold on dearly to the phrase “I’m proud of.” Whenever I repeat this statement to myself, I take a deep breath and a smile comes to me. I know that now I can truly appreciate life as it is from the bottom of my heart.
Being aware of our intention without judging or criticizing can help us live more consciously. It holds great power to setting the tone for the rest of the day, month or even year.
When we align our mind and heart with a love-based intention, we will see that everything will fall into its right place and we are truly living in the flow.
Join Youmin and Tania’s FREE 60-minute “Setting Intention Through Rest” online workshop on Sep 21, 2024 (Sat) from 8.30 – 9.30am Thailand time to experience yoga nidra and allow your heart’s intention arise from a rested place and to learn how to craft an affirmation statement.
No previous experience of any kind is required. This workshop is perfect for anyone who wants to experience a simple yet powerful spiritual practice to help bring more focus and clarity in their daily lives.
By the end of this workshop, you’ll be able to practice setting intentions in your daily life.
