Living in Intention: Part II. Intention for Attention

Some days it can feel like the world is moving without you, especially while scrolling the boundless realm of social media. You might scroll past 100 images of the beach in 2 minutes, and find yourself feeling a bit underwhelmed with your current circumstances, especially when your current situation includes rain and rush hour traffic. I've been exploring the effectiveness of living each day in intention and I am loving the way that even on those challenging days, my intentions connect me back to living a meaningful and purposeful life. If you missed Part I of this blog series I would love for you to check it out here.

Living in intention is investing in your story. We have a lot of tough days, terrible days even. We also have many great days, the kind we never want to end. What unites all of the ups and downs is that somehow when woven together, they create your unique story. Intentions are like the themes of your story. The why, the for, the because. Your story is not the what. We aren't defined by what happens to us, but instead we can create beautiful and powerful stories with how we respond to the world around us.

In Part II of this blog series on intentions we are exploring the craft of mindfulness. Intention for Attention is simply tapping into our ability to be present in our lives. I call on this intention when I am feeling overwhelmed by the fast pace of life, or when I find myself experiencing a tough day or season... because the biggest shame of all would be to miss out living my life, because I was waiting for it to be different or better somehow. While I believe that there is always a place for some good old fashioned R&R, I also believe that our tough days can be the most growing days, but we must tune in.

Life is a flow of ever changing moments. To arrive in each moment is the working of Intention for Attention. 

The purpose of arriving is not to suddenly feel happy or magically peaceful. Arriving is taking a pause to be exactly where you are and living the details of your life. We are amazing beings capable of detachment when faced with trauma. While this is an inherent skill for survival, it's quite possible that we are over-training and misusing it. Checking out from difficult conversations or situations is an easy out, but unfortunately it doesn't make the problem go away and even worse, we might be missing out on the grittiness of life that make it worth living. Arriving is the opposite of multi-tasking. We've all developed incredible skills for scrolling, texting, talking and walking all at the same time. In those moments of chaos, dig in! Peel back the layers. Get your hands dirty. Welcome the growing pains every now and then.

There is a lot of talk around mindfulness and being present these days. As fancy as it sounds, it's actually quite simple. Getting present is elevating awareness, usually by slowing down and taking deep breaths. There is no agenda, no required outcome. The only mission is to recognize yourself inside a particular moment. I use a reminder I learned in CPR training back in the day. Look, Listen and Feel. I used this on my walk with my dog today. I started feeling caught up with my list of to-do's, and then I remembered my intention for attention. Pay attention Jamie! Look at the sky, listen to the kids play, feel the breeze on your face! In that moment, the world slowed down and I remembered that simply living a life and walking my dog, was actually plenty.

Journal Exercise: Arriving

Use the following exercise to get present in mind and body. Develop the skill of arriving to this moment. This exercise feels like a mental flush, gaining clarity on where you are at both mentally and physically. Start with a blank piece of paper. Set a timer for 2 minutes and simply write about everything you remember about waking up this morning and every event or detail that comes to mind from that moment until now. Start the timer over and begin to recall all of the thoughts you have had today. The purpose of this is not to be profound or deep, but to acknowledge what kind of thoughts you are currently holding. Lastly, set the timer again and write about every physically sensation you are experiencing in your body. Aches, pains, temperature, vibrations.... You can't be wrong. Once you have completed these three steps, I recommend taking a child's pose or simply sitting still in a chair for at least 10 rounds of breath. The journaling exercise has helped you arrive to this moment and this moment is a gift!

Yoga Application:
If you're a yogi then you know the benefits of vinyasa or flow yoga. Moving your body with breath is a highly beneficial meditation, working directly with your nervous system and strengthening the mind/body connection. If you're not a yogi and not quite sure where to start, try the three simple flows illustrated in the video below.