Hi,
I'm Amy Pat T.
Colvin.
Thank you for joining me today.
This reflective practice helps you set aspirations and intentions to lead a more meaningful life.
It focuses on connecting with the aspirations for our lives and the lives of others in the world and setting intentions based on those aspirations.
This in turn adds deeper meaning to daily life.
Begin by minimizing the distractions around you so you can focus on this practice for the next few minutes.
Find a comfortable position.
You could be lying down,
Seated on a cushion,
Or seated in a chair.
If you are seated,
Imagine being lifted gently by the crown of your head.
Breathe at a pace that feels comfortable for you.
Relax your jaw.
Relax your forehead.
Relax your neck and shoulders.
Put a gentle,
Easy smile on your face and slowly close your eyes or drop your gaze,
Whichever feels better to you.
As you deepen your relaxation,
Take a series of long,
Deep breaths all the way into your belly.
As you inhale,
Draw the breath all the way down to the bottom of your abdomen.
And when you've reached full capacity,
Release the breath slowly and fully without forcing it.
As you breathe out,
Imagine that along with all the tension in your body,
You are also clearing your mind of any worries,
Anxiety,
Or stories that may be present.
This reflective practice has two parts.
Let's begin with part one.
From this quiet,
Relaxed,
And settled state of mind,
Ask yourself the following question,
From the depth of my heart and from the well of my inner happiness,
What do I truly wish for myself?
Happiness?
Love?
Connection?
Meaning?
Joy or purpose?
Simply let the answers bubble up.
If nothing arises,
Don't worry.
Just stay with the open-hearted energy and be patient.
With that gentle smile on your face,
Ask yourself one more time,
From the depth of my heart and the well of my inner happiness,
What do I truly wish for myself?
What do I truly wish for myself?
Continue breathing deeply and fully as your answers bubble up.
Now release any lingering thoughts or feelings around that question and ask yourself a new question,
From the depth of my heart and from the well of my inner happiness,
What do I truly wish for my loved ones and other people in my life?
Perhaps it's happiness,
Love,
Prosperity,
Health,
Vitality,
Joy or purpose?
Again,
As before,
Just stay with the energy of the question and notice what answers bubble up.
Now ask yourself a third question,
From the depth of my heart and from the well of my inner happiness,
What do I truly wish for the world?
Perhaps it's compassion,
Tolerance,
Justice,
Peace or safety?
Let the answers bubble up.
Again,
If nothing specific arises,
Don't worry.
Just stay with the energy of that question.
What do I truly wish for the world?
Now that you've asked these three questions and reflected upon them,
Make a conscious choice to let these reflections motivate your daily intention.
Aspire to find a deeper meaning in life.
Aspire to bring more love,
Kindness,
Compassion and understanding to interactions with people in your life.
Choose to relate to the world from this deeper awareness.
Now release all of your thoughts and simply bring your attention back to your breath and your body.
Now that we've connected to our deeper aspirations for ourselves,
Our loved ones and others in our lives and for the world,
We'll focus on part two.
Allowing these aspirations to influence our everyday actions.
Think back to the answers that bubbled up for the first two questions.
What you wished for yourself,
Your loved ones and others in your life.
The answers to those questions may have been similar.
We may aspire to have love,
Joy,
Human connection and meaning for ourselves and our loved ones.
Now think back to the answers that bubbled up for the third question.
Perhaps those answers were more value-based,
Such as peace,
Compassion,
Understanding,
Justice.
The answers to the third question reflect the values that matter to you.
Once in a while,
Connecting with these deeper aspirations is important.
Even though we all have aspirations,
We often rarely pay conscious attention to them.
We often don't allow our deeper aspirations to motivate our daily actions.
Conscious intention setting improves everyday life.
Not only does it improve our everyday life,
You can also use this intention setting practice for specific purposes.
For example,
Imagine that you need to have a difficult conversation at work before you start that conversation.
Before you plunge into that conversation,
Connect with your intention.
Envision what you want to say and how you want to show up.
Intentionally hold those values and aspirations in your heart.
Take a deep breath,
Connect with your aspiration and set your conscious intention and show up.
You will notice a difference in the quality during that interaction.
Often we have good intentions,
But because we don't consciously envision them,
We sometimes end up being reactive and behaving in a way that's contrary to our aspirations and intentions.
Keep this aspiration and intention practice in mind and work with it daily.
Notice your aspirations and set your intentions.
With repeated practice,
This will become second nature.
And then,
The next time you know you'll be entering a difficult conversation or challenging situation,
You can bring to mind your aspirations,
Set your intention and hold that conversation with grace.
Whenever you're comfortable bringing this reflective practice to a close,
Gently wiggle your fingers and toes and peacefully open your eyes or refocus your gaze.
Carry this new understanding of and connection with aspirations and intentions into the rest of your day.
