Living in Intention: Part III Intention for Attraction

The third of the the 3 A's is Intention for Attraction. I'm excited to explore this with you because I believe that this is one of the biggest game changing attitudes of all. When I hear people's stories of triumph and success, it seems like they all have one thing in common. This is the moment in time, an inflection point, when someone decides that they are worthy of everything they want in life. They decide that they are worth it! Once someone believes this, they begin to think like a winner, like the writer AND director of their own story. If you have not read Part I or Part II, pease check those out first. I'll still be here!

Fair warning, when you start to think like a winner, you will live more dangerously! This change of thought takes us from fearing failure to deciding that failure is worth it, failure is better than staying still. For me, the fear of failure hasn't just kept me from trying new things, but I believe that it has also kept me from dreaming all together. When was the last time you really let yourself dream?

By my mid twenties I had clocked in 5 years at a highly respected health club as a well respected personal trainer and group fitness instructor. Although I was making an impact and feeling proud of my contribution to people's lives, I knew that I wasn't meeting my potential.  I was starving for the freedom to explore my gifts and creativity outside of those walls. I thank my younger self for taking the risk in quitting that job because everything that has followed has been nothing short of amazing. While I didn't exactly know how things would turn out, I believed that through letting go of my fears, I was creating space for incredible things. I look back and see that decision as one that required incredible faith in myself and it makes me proud.

Believing that you are worth it is in no way self righteous or conceited. I think we have misunderstood ego for a long time. Ego typically isn't the voice asking for more love or more wonderful things. Ego is the voice saying "you aren't as good as he/she" or "you'll never change anyway". While having an ego is an inevitable part of being an autonomous individual, I know personally that I have given my ego too big a voice in my life. If we can quiet the ego, we can see that we are all very similar and connected to one another. We all experience failure, heartbreak, loss, and the spectrum of of human emotions. Why then, do we fight the fear of failure with such vigilance- as if it were something that we weren't supposed to experience? This is operating on ego.

Intention for Attraction is operating on heart power. I find that when I create space in my daily life to feel my desires and daydream, I tap back into that little girl in me saying with all her little heart "I'm going to be a famous singer someday!" When I feel that buzzing energy that says "yes!" I feel motivated and excited and it makes me want more. My yes moments are typically outside in nature, in the ocean or on my yoga mat. 

Learn what turns you on and live in that desire. Like attracts like. Love attracts love. Peace attracts peace.

What do you want to attract more of in your life? Try the journaling and yoga techniques below to explore and elevate your heart voice!

Journal Exercise: Smile, Say Thank you and Ask for More

The craft of writing things down is very telling. It's a chance to be honest and raw with yourself. A reminder that if you are not keen on journaling,  you are invited to tear up the piece of paper afterwards if you like. It is through the process of writing that we gain most of the benefit. With that said, I love to look back every now and then and consider the growth I've gained since then.  It's yours to do whatever you like.
Set a 2 minute timer and start with a blank page. Write about all the things that make you happy. If a specific memory comes up, write the details of that memory.
Set another 2 minute timer and write about all the things you are grateful for. Gratitude connects us to our heart voice and gets us away from our ego voice. Journaling about gratitude could be a daily habit that opens up the dialogue for joy in your life.
Now that you have your heart voice open, with a timer or not, give yourself permission to write out exactly what you want more of in your life. You might ask of these things from a perspective of your personal faith system. Don't be shy with yourself. Nothing is too far out or too ludicrous. Remember you are worth it! I'll share with you something I wrote the last time I did this exercise. I want more bad ass girlfriends in my life- and guess what? The universe more than delivered!

This journaling exercise is designed to up level our thinking and get us tuned into the joy, beauty and blessings in our lives. Revisit this exercise as much as you like, it's an effective way to start thinking like a winner!

Yoga Application:
Try one or a few of these options to connect to your heart meridian and all the gratitude, love and dreams that live there. There are many expressions of heart opening poses in yoga. I encourage you to go to a local class (or mine if you live in Seattle area😉) and explore how you might allow your heart to be the bigger voice on your mat, and slowly that ego will shut down to it's proper place... somewhere in the very back with no microphone.

Upward Facing Dog

Modified lunge with upper back bend

Wheel expression on a wall

When all else fails, simply place your hands over your heart and take some long, slow, deep breaths. It is at your heart center that you connect to your truest form.  💜

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.

Living in Intention: Part I. Intention for Action

I led a workshop a month ago about how to create and use intentions in our life- bringing more meaning and power to each day. Building the content for this workshop brought big challenges, the biggest being the challenge of self evaluation and getting real with my own story. As I continue to revisit the content, I am encouraged to share it with you and would love to hear your thoughts and responses around the subject of 'intentions'.

Think of your intention as a focus for receiving and enriching your perception of the (present) experience" - The Pure Heart of Yoga: 10 Steps to Transformation Sept 2009

I love that quote because of the word 'receiving'. I too often feel bombarded with the pressure of making things happen or working harder. Stuck on these thoughts, it's easily forgotten to receive the gifts in your life, even when they come in the form of a challenge- as they often do. Living in intention is all about receiving what already is and getting present with your story. Intentions are not concerned with a future outcome, but instead intentions bring our awareness to our current circumstances and we work the willingness to work from that place. If you relate, I catch myself often latching onto an image of the distant future (I've always been a big dreamer) - but if we get stuck there too long,  we miss out on the growth and power of living in our own life.

For the workshop, we explored 3 different styles of intentions. I called them the Three A's.

 Intention of Attention

 Intention of Action

 Intention of Attraction

My next three blog posts will be covering the content around each one, so that you have tools to put these to work in your life. For each style of intention I will include a journal exercise and a few yoga poses and/or techniques that are designed to help you create your own intention and bring it to work!

For Part I of this blog series I'm jumping to #2 because I have been personally working this one the most. I invite you to use this style of intention in your life when you feel or need the energy/inspiration for meaningful change in your life.

Thematically the start of a new year is all about change, goal setting and re-inventing ourselves. A new year makes us feel like we have all possibilities in front of us- and some years feel oh-so-good to put to rest. Eh-em, 2016, am I right? Those first few days in January offer that feeling we had as kids on the first day of school- maybe you have some new white keds, an awesome new backpack and probably a new hairstyle to show your friends. We were like "Hey world! Check me out. I'm a whole new person!" But that feeling sadly didn't last. Our shoes get dirty, our notebook gets torn and we find ourselves bored with our teacher by week 3. Before you know it it's 2017 and February is almost through (how did that happen). Check in with yourself, where are you at with those new year vibes?

Let's explore how Intention for Action is different from simply setting goals. Intentions don't replace goals, but perhaps they can enhance them or help you navigate through them. Goals can either feel like a burden or they can be powerful motivators. One of the main differentiators between goals and intentions is that goals are often set from a mindset of lacking, while intentions are cultivated from what we have- it's that (sometimes obnoxious and occasionally misplaced) attitude of abundance! Because let's be honest, there is a time and place for grief and sorrow in our messy lives. However, I am encouraged that during those not so seemingly abundant times we are still capable of cultivating gratitude for what we do have. And the truth is, the more we practice gratitude, the more grateful we are- which can feel a lot like the attitude of abundance. More on that in Part III. Intention for Attraction. (Stay tuned) For now, back to the relationship between goals and intentions...

So how do we create an intention for action? It takes some brainstorming, exploration and self evaluation; which is why journaling is the perfect tool for this kind of thing.  Use the exercise below to discover your Intention for Action.

Journaling tip: If you worry about other people ever reading your words- feel liberated in knowing that you can tear it up and throw it in the garbage when you're done. It's often through the process of journaling that we grow and learn- so don't let that fear keep you from trying it out. With that said, I find it interesting and sometimes valuable to go back and review previous entries. Completely up to you!

Journaling Exercise: Know Your Why

Start with a blank sheet of paper. Divide the paper into 3 columns. Start in the left column and set a 2 minute timer. Write down all of the personal goals that come to mind. Try not to judge or think too hard and please don't limit yourself to just the big stuff, and of course don't hold back on those dreamy far out goals. Try not to let your pencil stop moving. 

After 2 minutes, start your timer over and move to the center column. Adjacent to each goal, summarize why you wrote each down. Again, don't think too hard but just ask yourself Why is this important to me? There are no right/wrong answers. 

Lastly, use your third column, perhaps no timer needed, to summarize each reasoning into a theme/value. This might be a phrase, or simply 1-2 words. It's probable to have recurring themes/values.  

Once you have completed the third column, look it over. Notice the reoccurring themes/values, or observe which one resonates with you the most today. Intentions don't have to be permanent, they may change and grow along with you as you change and grow. Additionally feel free to blend 1 or 2 of them together. 

I like to create sentences or phrases for my intentions, but you might prefer a one word reminder. Or maybe your intention starts with the words "I have" or "I am". The idea is to BE, right now. Not tomorrow. Not in 6 months. But right NOW. 

I will illustrate the three steps using one of the goals I wrote down when I first did this exercise- and how I cultivated my first Intention for Action.

(Goal) Become fluent in Spanish ------> (Why is it a goal) Because I want to be able to communicate with my husbands Spanish speaking family -------> (Core value reflected) Connection/Relationships

When I reviewed my third column I noticed that love, connection and relationships were popular values of mine. My intention could be "I invest in and care about the deep and loving relationships in my life". As I connect deeper and deeper with my intention, my behaviors change, my motivation goes up and in result I seek more opportunities to speak Spanish whether it's with a stranger or my hubby. Suddenly I find myself gaining vocabulary and cleaning up my grammar on the daily- wah-lah! Bienvenidos Jamie! Estas hablando en espanol! Speaking Spanish with my mother-in-law communicates to her and my husband, that I care about our relationship.

When we interact with our environment through the lenses of our values, we become the living expression of those values. 

Another goal of mine was to elevate my craft of teaching yoga by continuing my education and personal practice. Why is this a goal? Because I want to be a good yoga instructor. The value reflected here? Contribution and giving back. My Intention for Action could be "I contribute to my community through teaching powerful and intelligent yoga classes". As I live this intention, I find myself studying my anatomy books, seeking out workshops and going to other yoga studios with a curiosity for learning. I no longer want to be a better instructor, I am a better instructor every (damn) day! 

I might work multiple intentions in one day- when I'm headed into teach a yoga class I'll remember my intention of contribution. And when I have a moment to message my sister-in-law I'll remember that investing in my relationships is an important value of mine.

However seemingly simple the goal- it can represent some big values! Maybe your goal is to do 10 perfect form push ups because one of your core values is physical health. Your active intention could be "I am physically strong". And we aren't trying to fool or lie to ourselves. You are strong. It's a choice of attitude. You just have to be willing to start where you are at. As you work this intention you feel the motivation to get down and do 2 perfect push ups. You kill it, you own it- and you keep at it because success feels good right?  2 weeks later you notice you have the energy and strength to do 5 reps. You own it and you continue to celebrate where you are at. Soon enough, 10 perfect push ups is your new NOW. The difference was the journey in getting there. You didn't waste time punishing yourself or feeling like a failure or wishing you were someone else. Instead you felt strong, successful and empowered to be where you were at, each day!

I encourage you to revisit the "Know Your Why" journaling exercise from time to time. New goals might come up every week, and you might even find that some goals you wrote down a month ago- no longer feel relevant in your life.  Truth be told, the more we connect to and reflect on our values, the juicier our goals will get. I found through my repetitions of this journal exercise that I had outgrown a handful of goals that I had clung onto for too long. Letting those goals go, created space for more meaningful ones. Give yourself permission to let some of those old ones go and who knows, maybe they will present themselves again at a better time.

Living in intention is learning to start where you are at. The idea is not to stay put, but rather go through the work that is in front of us- because feeling paralyzed by the idea that we are so far from where we want to be is no place to hang out. Ask yourself if you are willing to start where you are at today.

As a personal trainer, I have walked alongside many inspiring individuals that worked through a weight loss journey. I was always inspired and deeply touched by their willingness to humbly start where they are at. Because moving from wanting something, to starting something can be the most challenging leap of all. Perhaps working an Intention for Action can close that gap.

Yoga Application: 

Pair your Intention for Action with any or all of these poses below and experience the inner strength, will power and manifestation that comes of it.

Plank Pose- Place forearms on the floor, middle fingers pointing forward and forearms parallel. Press all fingertips down into the floor. Extend legs behind you, creating a straight line from shoulders to heels. I coach a plank with natural spine which means a small dip in your low back- supported by a firm belly. Energize your legs and lift your heels high. Take 8-10 rounds of breath repeating your intention out loud or in your head. 

Modification- knees on the floor to lessen the load.

Boat Pose- Seated on the floor, begin to lean back keeping neutral spine. Lift your feet off of the floor and bend your knees- this will help you lift your chest. Hands extend forward. Take 8-10 rounds of breath repeating your intention out loud or in your head. 
Modification- grab behind the legs for extra support. 

Warrior 2- Step one foot back into a long lunge. Front toes facing forward. Back heel is down, toes turned to the side. Stack your front knee over the widest part of your foot. Back leg is straight- press through the whole foot.  Stack shoulders directly over hips- be sure that your hips are level. Extend your arms out to the sides parallel to the floor. Reach energy through the fingertips and look past your front hand. Take 8-10 rounds of breath internally affirming your intention. I love this pose to ground and elevate our warrior power! Be sure to give each leg a chance to be in front.

I'll see you soon for Part II: Intention for Attention.

-Jamie