Intent Noun
intention or purpose.
      “with alarm she realized his intent”
syn: aim, intention, purpose, objective, object, goal, target

“Be careful about what you think, your thoughts run your life” -Proverbs 4:23

I am not a yogi. I am not a psychiatrist. I am not a dietician. I am happy. I am whole. I am living with intent. In an ever evolving journey to near a holistic lifestyle, I find it comforting that little things make a big impact on how I feel. Brussels sprouts make me feel satisfied. Sunlight brings me joy. Peppermint soothes my stomach. But what about your mind? I am constantly telling myself “it’s okay”. We always hear “our mind is powerful thing”, but what exactly can it do? Just like mastering a sport or instrument takes a lot of practice, so does training your mind. And in order to train your mind, you must live with intent.

What is living with intent?

In my little world, it’s the act of being present. Being here, not there. Being open, engaged and grounded. It’s not an easy thing to do and it doesn’t happen all the time. Some ways you can practice this are by putting your phone away when you’re out to dinner, pausing what you’re doing to listen to a coworker, or by eating your food slowly.

I should probably stop here and master these seemingly simple tasks because I haven’t yet (cue eating an entire bag of popcorn in three handfuls). In my yoga class, we practice noticing things. Noticing how my body feels in a certain pose, noticing how the room sounds, noticing where my mind goes in savasana. I’ve started noticing things outside of class, too. Like how I’m constantly on my phone, how I ‘multitask’ while talking to people, how I finish my food before I even know what I ate. Certainly not engaging acts, but the fact that I am aware makes me able to be more intentional in fixing them.

How else can you live with intent?

There are a million ways to live intentionally. Some people chose to practice yoga several times a day. Some people chose to eat only organic foods. Some people only check their phone at the end of the day. I chose to cultivate my relationships by checking in with my friends regularly. I try to eat wholesome foods to fuel my body, not my mind (because my mind wants to eat everything under the sun). I **try to react slowly to things that easily cause anger (i.e. someone cuts me in traffic, “was that really a big deal? No. Am I fine? Yes. Does it actually matter? No.”). This is a big one for me. I am typically wired Type A, which causes me unwarranted and unwanted stress. Over what? I don’t know. And that’s exactly the point. I am proud to be competitive, driven and proactive. But controlling, worried and impatient are traits I’m working on mending. How? By living with intent 🙂

Take what you can get and be grateful for what it is.
Pass small stuff with ease.
Seek happiness and own it.
Clear your conscious.
Be here.