Yoga has taught me how powerful intentions can be. Most of us have to experience the tangible and intangible firsthand to truly believe in it. At the dawn of my yoga practice, I can remember the awe I felt when setting my first intentions at the top of my mat and watching as they unfolded throughout my practice. I would intend to release tension, connect with spirit, seek out an answer, or increase my presence. It wouldn’t be til the end, when sitting in meditation or laying in savasana, that I would see the fruits of my labor. Suddenly, what I intended to do, feel, see, think… happened.
I expanded my practice of intention-setting to the early morning hours. I would rise to write down in my planner the intentions for the day. Somewhere between midday and afternoon, I would completely forget about my intentions as I moved with the current of daily tasks and chores. Occasionally an event would take place or a strong feeling in relation to my intention that would wake-me-up like the snap of a finger, or it’d be late in the day and I’d reflect on the outcomes of my intentions. They always seemed to come to fruition in some shape or form.
I quickly realized the power of setting intentions and writing them down. I’m not surprised that the mystic within me became drawn to intention-setting with the moon’s cycles. It holds me accountable to consistently set intentions that grow and change with the lunar phases. I find that my devotion to setting intentions has allowed me to stay connected to my values as new experiences change and shape my thinking and understanding. Due to this practice, I’m encouraged to constantly tune-in to the shifts in my belief systems, reflect on my perception, and envision new possibilities.
“The power of intention is the power to expand and increase all aspects of your life.”
– Dr. Wayne Dyer
It comes to no surprise that the beginning of a new year is an outstanding opportunity for me to set a grander intention into motion. It’s the new year! — full of possibility and new beginnings. It takes place in January, which for me, living in New York, is in the midst of winter’s chill. It’s a very yin and receptive time to stay inside and explore the inner-landscape. I’ve been meditating, resting, and reconnecting. Just as the trees’ drop their leaves, I have released everything but the essentials in regards to thought, belief, and relationship. It’s a time to remember my true nature and then create intentions based on what I discover.
Last new year, as we entered 2020, I was on a high. I remember journaling and envisioning a daily practice of love. I wanted to live each day with more love. Love for what I did, the beings around me, my relationship to my environment… everything! I wanted to live and breathe love into every single day. I remember writing the word ‘love’ over-and-over again, repeating it like a mantra. I felt the power of love’s vibration coursing through my energy body and I pictured a perfect year where every day was a day to be fully engaged. I wanted to practice love in 2020.
I set my intention to live each day with love and the year unfolded. By the end of January, I was let go from my job. I had no idea what I would do to pay the bills. It was very sudden and unexpected as the start-up company I was employed with explained they had no more money in the budget for a graphic designer. At the same time, my six-year-old (and beloved) cat, Nani, was diagnosed with cancer and died 3 weeks later. Then came COVID-19 and quarantine. I reflected on a past incident of sexual abuse and decided to take legal action. I began my own branding and design business in response to sudden changes in the market, which has proven to be successful (thankfully); and lastly, the year ended with another loss in my immediate family. My (also) six-year-old dog was diagnosed with cancer and lived a mere ten days after his diagnosis.
I’ve had challenging times in my life, just like anyone else, but this past year took-the-cake. It was one hit after another that reminded me that nothing lasts forever. I’m a spiritual person who believes there is an essence in all things that is everlasting, but in this material world, things come-and-go. The nature of this world is that all things operate in the same cycle of birth, growth, maturation, and death. It’s natural… and it was time for me to wake-up to the reality that all the things I love will one day say their good-byes.
I love how Mark Nepo explains death and loss… I’m paraphrasing, but he says something along-the-lines that within all things that are lost there is an inch of that thing that can never be lost. I truly believe that! — that’s the essence that is everlasting. Your love for that person, place, or thing can never be shattered but lives on forever, and within that love, your relationship still exists. Love is the glue that keeps things in relationship and co-existing. Love is the intangible force that keeps all things connected, no matter where they are across space and time.
However, as transcending as my thinking and understanding can be at times, I also practice to be fully embodied in this material life on earth; and in this reality, we have to say goodbye to things that once were. Like Pema Chodron says, “we are passengers on a train only able to see out the back window of where we’ve been”. Grief is a milestone for human existence. I lost two members of my immediate-family and, due to COVID-19, was forced to leave behind a lifestyle that I, and the rest of the world, had become accustomed too. Grief completely changed my outlook on life and ushered me along my personal development and maturation.
“We are passengers on a train only able to see out the back window of where we’ve been”
– When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron
I set an intention at the beginning of 2020 to love each day. I hoped to bring love into everything I did. Well, the circumstances of 2020 taught me how to do just that. Before this past year, I had a childish idea of love. I pictured love as being enchanting and a dream-state where all is in harmony and everything feels wonderful. I pictured myself conjuring up as much love as I could to live on a high, but what I learned is that true-love is much more dense. Love is nursing a family member when you know they’re dying and there is no remedy to keep them in this world with you. Love is crying in the shower, or in your own time, so that you can release tension and show-up as your best self for the one in passing. Love is allowing yourself time to grieve, feel, and heal at your pace. Love is cherishing each moment by recognizing how fragile it is.
I’m grateful that I set that intention because it increased my awareness. I thought by setting that intention, the year would unravel completely different. — that I would love 2020 because all of my dreams came true; instead, I lived through some tough, personal experiences that taught me the true meaning of love. My intention proved to be beneficial and the fruit of my labor was that I learned how to love more. I find my days steeped in love not because everything is going my way, but because I understand the underlying truth of the fragility of each moment.
Love more. Spread kindness. Tend to your needs. Set powerful intentions.
Thank you for reading. Namaste.