Few months ago I started setting intentions, unintentionally. 

I did not know I was setting an intention.

When I posted a few examples of daily intentions on my Instagram page,

http://www.instagram.com/meenal.ranka

a few friends wanted to know more about this practice and that’s how the thought of writing this blog came about.

 I was looking for some change in my life or rather in myself like:

Be a CALM teenager mom 🧘‍♀️. 

Be a more fun & humorous person. 

Find joy in little moments through the day.

Make mundane life more fun and exciting!

Work on my uncontrollable anger fountain bursting out time and again.

Though I was working on all the above things mentioned, I knew it was not working fully!

So one day, I decided to intentionally let go of whatever was not serving me or helping me become a better person. 😊

I started with a gratitude journal every night in which I was penning everything I felt thankful for throughout the day. 

If you are looking to start journaling every day, you can read an article I wrote on Gratitude Journaling here 

 https://thepositivediary.com/gratitude/

WHAT IS INTENTION?

For me Intention is simply an aim for a day, week or month, in terms of thoughts, feelings or actions.

For example: 

I intend to have fun today!

Or I intend to let go lovingly.

Or Today I intend to be a calm mom. 

Intentions are different from your goals that you want to achieve like becoming a doctor or making a certain amount of money or running a marathon. 

Intentions focus on feeling while goals focus on achieving something.

In simple words, Intentions are internal goals.  Or it is working on emotions that you feel are an obstacle for you.

Thus they lead you to becoming the person you envision yourself as, showing up to life everyday .☺

Personally, they have helped me grow as a person day after day, week after week, month after month. 

WHERE TO START?

For a beginner, i best advice to start with writing in a daily journal, because we are not used to following our own commitment.

You can write a gratitude note , or some reminder for the day, or note some nice things or incidents, write some feelings or about some place , person or memory . You just need to begin. Do not worry about being right or wrong. Just let your thoughts or feelings flow down your fingers . It could be just a few words or a long article , doesn’t matter. They are your words. No judgements.

Once this becomes a daily habit, you will love the process. Then slowly you could move to identifying the feelings or thoughts you need to work on and start to set intentions. It could be as simple as , “smiling more today” or “be more expressive this week .”

Trust me , once it becomes a routine for you, you will start setting an inner goal for yourself mentally . There will be no need of writing it as it will eventually become your second nature. ☺

When I wake up in the morning, I write an intention in my daily journal next to my bed like, “Today I will be more energetic.”

Mental intentions are like being mindful in whatever activity you do!

I also love to set mental  intention before stepping on my yoga mat, like:

 “I will let my body flow today.” Or “I allow my body to relax” or “I let go of all that is unlike love” or “I allow my body to stretch a lil further today.”

My yoga mat is my most sacred space. I step on it as a different person and step off as a transformed person even if it is 0.0001%.

There are no wrong intentions.

Play around with what works for you. Let it be fluid, experiment with them. 

You can have different intentions for different roles you play in life, be it husband, wife, son, father, mother, friend, brother, or employer  or daughter, sister, employee, boss, student, teacher etc

For example:

“I will be more present in my conversation with my family or spouse or children.”

“I will be grateful for the nourishing meals my spouse made.”

“I will talk softly and lovingly to my employees/students.”

“I will observe my anger, let it settle down and then talk lovingly with my children, my employees, etc”

“I forgive myself for the mistakes I made.”

“I forgive my parents for how they treated me when I was a teenager.”

Some days I like to start my day completing this statement

“Today I commit ……….

 “Today I commit to being the best mother I can.”

You can start with setting an intention for a month or a week like:

“This month I am going to smile more. ☺”

“This week i am going to exercise 4 times.”

Let it be SIMPLE & DOABLE!

Let it be POSITIVE LIKE AFFIRMATIONS!

Remember : Simple intentions ,      achievable   ,   instant changes   ,   motivating   ,   empowering

YOUR WORDS ARE POWERFUL!

Start with replacing negative words with positive words that focus on empowering you instead of focusing on what you lack!

The aim here is to consciously start observing the words you say that affect your sub conscious mind to believe them. 

SELF REFLECTION:

At the end of that day/month/week, do look back at yourself keeping in mind the intention you had set. It is okay if you see no difference.  You can repeat the same intention for the next day/week/month.

Do not be hard at yourself. Consistency is your friend. ☺ You want to be excited to start and work on yourself. ☺

You can set intentions for the day, week or month. 

You can set one or a set of intentions. 

Be creative, there are no rules, have fun and enjoy the process ☺

Let your intention be something you believe can happen!!

It is like a commitment to yourself. ☺

These intentions are not the only thing you need to do throughout the day, they just kind of set the mood for the day. Let it be at the back of your mind. ☺

I have my intention written on a sticky note on my cupboard at times . It kinda reminds me about it whenever i glance around.

Let’s start living intentionally ! ☺

Love,

Meenal

Read more….

Mindfulness

Cultivate A Daily Habit

What are You Giving Today ?