The practice of intention has been around for ages. In fact, all of us start intending from the moment we consciously start making decisions. It’s just that most people don’t know that’s what they are doing.
There have been fads of various takes on the intention and manifestation process that have come and gone over the decades. They all serve to remind us of the power we have to create our inner and outer world experiences in line with what we truly want. And many people hop on board and try one or more of these techniques for a while. They have some success and then when things turn south, give it up.
Those that stick with an intention practice rooted in their belief of more powerful processes at work than their own to help them realize their desires, know that they still face the many challenges of life, but with far greater ease. And that’s the part that those who give up don’t understand. An intention practice doesn’t make life’s challenges go away. Rather, it teaches us over time how to meet them head on and resolve every difficulty with a different, more expansive mindset. Eventually, we may not even see anything as a difficulty, which is the absolute beauty of the ultimate practice.
Whenever we commit ourselves one hundred percent to anything, we get better at it. The practice of intention is no different. One can’t expect to start with a perfect skill set. Rather, it is a mental process that invites us to expand our mind over time to enjoy life on a whole new level as we allow ourselves to grow and experience more. While we might fill up our toolbox with different tools to better help us transform our way of thinking and being (and basically you can’t really practice intention without changing for the better), the intention practice remains centered on three core steps:
- Focus on what we want.
- Seize the opportunities that guide us to take specific actions.
- Enjoy the outcome.
Sound too easy? In many ways, intention is that simple, but there are 4 key rules that must be applied to the practice if you want to consistently see the results you desire:
- You must know precisely what you want.
- You must be able to recognize opportunities and grab them.
- You must stay detached from the process unfolding.
- You must remain flexible with the outcome.
While it’s great to want more than one thing at a time and daily intention is a powerful way to start or improve one’s practice (you can have loads of fun with it), manifesting major life changes is a process in itself. Some outcomes can appear rapidly. Others may simmer in the background until we are ready for the change or something better than we could ever imagine is waiting for us in the wings. In fact, intention usually works this way. Yet, this latter point is precisely when people give up or if they do stick with their practice, feel frustrated and start to doubt it when things aren’t happening fast enough for them. This is when it’s essential to pull back, detach from the process, hold the vision and trust in the best outcome manifesting. Because it will.
Enjoying a successful intention practice invites us to always think in a bigger way about what we want and need so that we can expand our experiences in both our inner and outer worlds. Without this expansion, we remain at risk of creating from a more limited consciousness based on past experiences and what we expect will occur, versus a more heightened and even playful imagining with events as they could be – when we let our mind go there.
Signs that we may be intending from a more limiting place may come to us through the frustration or boredom we feel with our current life (different from waiting things out). A loss of interest or motivation to be or want more. The feeling we could or will settle with even just one new thing we are trying to change about our life. The fear to try something new.
Intention is a way of being. More than a mindset, coupled with a spiritual practice it becomes a way of life that can be passed down to our children. (It really is wonderful to witness the lives unfolding of kids raised with this type of consciousness).
As infinite growing beings, we can only ever realize all that we do from the current state of awareness we possess. For those consciously aware of their power to create, it is good to remember that mind transformation takes time. An intention practice centered on this awareness throughout all stages of our growth (spiritual, mental, emotional and physical) helps us synchronize and fine tune our desires to ensure we continue to authentically enjoy our life on a daily basis. Both inwardly and outwardly.
To browse meditations on this and other related topics click here.
Feature Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash