Along with our 40 days of yoga, we started choosing an Intention for the month. One for your mind, one for your body, and one for your spirit. It's actually been pretty amazing and in a lot of ways as mind bending as physically doing yoga. Its made me slow down and examine where I have weaknesses and help me really look at them and see if I can fix them or if I can start fixing them.
For the last year and a half at the end of each month, I look over what's going on and where I need to be better or where I'm struggling and I try to focus my Intentions on helping me either beat it or fix it or at least acknowledge it. So as it's the last day of the month, I'm really thinking a lot about what I want to work on this month. Since John's been laid off, my Intentions have been going down the road of just get your butt out of bed and do something for someone else--even it's making breakfast. Don't eat chips before breakfast . . . or if you must, stick to only 10. When you want to scream and cry, do it into a pillow and then go wash your face so no one will know and so on. But this month, well, I've had a bit of a change of heart (maybe it's all this writing . . . ) and I want to do a REAL intention. I want to find my center again and not just survive, but live. I've taken out my magnifying glass and I'm looking at my life pretty critically and seeing where and what might need a little tweak or two.
This is what I've found I want to work on this month:
March Intentions
Mind:
Read for 10 minutes a day something I wouldn't normally read (Brene Brown's book, Gift of Imperfection, an article in Smithsonian magazine, a National Geographic article--no, scratch that, they are too depressing . . . an article in the New Yorker, etc). I got to get this brain of mind working again.
Body:
Drink 8 solid glasses of water a day (this is the third stinking month I've done this . . . I'm making a chart for me to cross off!) and limit sugar to only after dinner . . . even cookies (this is a very brave Intention--HELP ME!).
Spirit:
Pray daily with real intention of listening and being open to the will of God. (I read a talk recently where they quoted Desmond Tutu. They asked how his relationship with God had changed since he was younger. He said that he used to pray with a laundry list of needs and wants. Now, he says, he shuts up and listens. Like a you sit by a fire, he says, and feel the heat, that is how I feel God. I want to be more like Desmond Tutu, I want to be quiet enough to feel the warmth of the fire and be ok with that.)
So, now it's your turn: What are your intentions for this month? I want you to really think about them and make them something you write in your heart and mind and you don't forget for the next 31 days. I'm telling you, it can be super simple like saying Hello to someone on the bus and just saying Thank you to your body for being so good to you and thanking the Sun for rising each day. Or it can be complex--get up to running 10 miles, doing a headstand for one minute, not eating any white flour (bless you if you pick this one), and meditating for 30 minutes a day. You choose . . . but try it. Take a few minutes and look at your life and see what could use a little tweaking. As you can see, mine are pretty basic, but to me, they are pretty profound. No one can tell you, you get to tell yourself and no one will judge.
On our first day of yoga of the month we tell each other our intentions to give each other support and often laugh a little about how we did (or didn't do) last month. Sometimes it takes months to get better at things (look at me and my drinking enough water--MONTHS), but it's ok, we're all trying and being ok with our failings. It's our practice. We're here not to be perfect, but to accept our imperfections and feel grace and love and share that.
So . . . let's do this!
Three things: Mind; Body; Spirit.
Let's start something TODAY.
And share it with me . . . let's do this together. Tell me if you want and I'll help you. We can do this together! We can. We will.
For the last year and a half at the end of each month, I look over what's going on and where I need to be better or where I'm struggling and I try to focus my Intentions on helping me either beat it or fix it or at least acknowledge it. So as it's the last day of the month, I'm really thinking a lot about what I want to work on this month. Since John's been laid off, my Intentions have been going down the road of just get your butt out of bed and do something for someone else--even it's making breakfast. Don't eat chips before breakfast . . . or if you must, stick to only 10. When you want to scream and cry, do it into a pillow and then go wash your face so no one will know and so on. But this month, well, I've had a bit of a change of heart (maybe it's all this writing . . . ) and I want to do a REAL intention. I want to find my center again and not just survive, but live. I've taken out my magnifying glass and I'm looking at my life pretty critically and seeing where and what might need a little tweak or two.
This is what I've found I want to work on this month:
March Intentions
Mind:
Read for 10 minutes a day something I wouldn't normally read (Brene Brown's book, Gift of Imperfection, an article in Smithsonian magazine, a National Geographic article--no, scratch that, they are too depressing . . . an article in the New Yorker, etc). I got to get this brain of mind working again.
Body:
Drink 8 solid glasses of water a day (this is the third stinking month I've done this . . . I'm making a chart for me to cross off!) and limit sugar to only after dinner . . . even cookies (this is a very brave Intention--HELP ME!).
Spirit:
Pray daily with real intention of listening and being open to the will of God. (I read a talk recently where they quoted Desmond Tutu. They asked how his relationship with God had changed since he was younger. He said that he used to pray with a laundry list of needs and wants. Now, he says, he shuts up and listens. Like a you sit by a fire, he says, and feel the heat, that is how I feel God. I want to be more like Desmond Tutu, I want to be quiet enough to feel the warmth of the fire and be ok with that.)
So, now it's your turn: What are your intentions for this month? I want you to really think about them and make them something you write in your heart and mind and you don't forget for the next 31 days. I'm telling you, it can be super simple like saying Hello to someone on the bus and just saying Thank you to your body for being so good to you and thanking the Sun for rising each day. Or it can be complex--get up to running 10 miles, doing a headstand for one minute, not eating any white flour (bless you if you pick this one), and meditating for 30 minutes a day. You choose . . . but try it. Take a few minutes and look at your life and see what could use a little tweaking. As you can see, mine are pretty basic, but to me, they are pretty profound. No one can tell you, you get to tell yourself and no one will judge.
On our first day of yoga of the month we tell each other our intentions to give each other support and often laugh a little about how we did (or didn't do) last month. Sometimes it takes months to get better at things (look at me and my drinking enough water--MONTHS), but it's ok, we're all trying and being ok with our failings. It's our practice. We're here not to be perfect, but to accept our imperfections and feel grace and love and share that.
So . . . let's do this!
Three things: Mind; Body; Spirit.
Let's start something TODAY.
And share it with me . . . let's do this together. Tell me if you want and I'll help you. We can do this together! We can. We will.
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