I started exploring the word “intention” during my spiritual writing class where the facilitator asked each participant to state their intention. Why are you taking the class? What is your intention? What do you want to get out of the class?
With this came many questions…
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How do I know what my intention is?
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What is my intention?
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What intentions do I have that I am not aware of?
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How do intentions create what we have?
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How do I create an intention that is congruent with my beliefs, my values and needs?
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How do I create an intention from my authentic self – free of my ego needs?
My initial thought was what was my goal in taking the class? What did I want to achieve?
What I found out was that wanting to achieve something was different from having an intention.
Say you want to have a successful business. What is the purpose of having a successful business? This is often a more difficult question and is the underlying motivation of intentions. Having the goal of a successful business is a goal. The intention may be different for different people. People want a successful business for different reasons such as
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the need for approval
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the need to be heard or listened to
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the need to be important
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the need to feel of value
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the need to feel loved
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the need to be acknowledged
These needs are often unconscious and driven by your beliefs. Beliefs are how we create reality and make meaning of our lives.
How do you find out what you believe? Just look at what you have in your life. If you are unhappy or struggling with financial issues – there is really some belief that you have that creates these things in your life.
Carl Jung, the famous Swiss psychologist claimed “What you are unconscious of will become your fate”. Our unconscious beliefs are creating our lives.
The way to go about changing your beliefs starts with discovering what it is that you do believe. Ask your self what it is that you truly want and you will discover the beliefs that are getting in the way of manifesting your desires. Why don’t you have the things that you want?
Wayne Dyer in his book “The Power of Intention” says that intention is not something you do, but rather something that tap into – a force that exists in the universe. What keeps us from having what we intend is a result of our egos. Our egos are just an ” idea we construct of who and what we are”. He talks about the 6 beliefs of the ego and how no matter how hard we try, we can’t tap into intention until we lessen the hold these beliefs have on our lives.
Wayne Dyer’s 6 ego Beliefs from“The Power of Intention”
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The key to tapping into our intention is to become more aware of ourselves – our thoughts, our beliefs and our needs that come from our egos. Our thoughts come from our feelings and beliefs and our needs. Our thoughts are usually the same thoughts we had yesterday and the day before.
When we can become more aware of ourselves and start co-creating our life though setting our intentions consciously, we can have the things we want in life.
Deepak Chopra in his book “The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire” talks about the same thing. “An intention is a way of fulfilling a certain need that you have, whether that need is for material things, for a relationship, for spiritual fulfillment, or for love. Intention is a thought that you have that will help you to fulfill a need. And the logic is that once you fulfill that need, you will be happy. Seen in this way, the goal of all our intentions is to be happy or fulfilled”.
One of the ways to get clear about your intentions, needs and desires is to look at what you don’t want.
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I don’t want this back pain becomes I desire a healthy body.
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I don’t want these bills becomes I desire financial security.
When we get stuck in focusing on what we don’t want, it usually becomes a reality. If you spend all of your time worrying about your money and how much you don’t have, you will most likely not have enough money.
So how do we create successful practices through intention? What intention do you have underlying your need to have a successful business? What thoughts and beliefs are keeping you from having a successful business?
Writing exercise:
Write your intention or goal.
I intend to make $5,000 a month doing massage.
Write down what thoughts come into your mind.
I can’t possibly make that much money.
How am I going to get that many clients?
I’ll never be able to get that man clients!
Whatever comes to your mind…
What makes you think those thoughts are true?
Byron Katie has a method for challenging thoughts that she calls “The Work” (www.thework.org). She talks about the process in her book “Loving What Is” and “I Need Your Love – Is it true? She has a worksheet of the questions on her website to assist you in starting to challenge your thoughts.
When you can question your thoughts and challenge your beliefs, you are left with what is real. What is true is that you can do that, be that and more.
The movie “What the Bleep Do We Know”(on DVD) also talks about this thing called “intention”. How do we create our day? was the topic of one of the presenters in this mind awakening documentary. (www.whatthebleep.com). There is a great study guide that goes along with the movie that is available for free from www.ions.org (Institute of Noetic Sciences).
It is also demonstrated in the placebo effect that we have heard about in research – just the idea that something could be working even though it is not really the real pill. Give me some of that placebo effect anyday over that pill!
What is your intention?
What need does having a massage practice fill?
What need do you have that drives you to be a massage therapist?
What is your purpose for building a Practice?
What do you think you will feel when you have created a successful practice?
By looking at what you have in your practice and your life so far, you can discover what your unconscious intentions have been. Becoming aware of your intentions, you can then take the needed steps to change your intention and co-create “Your Ideal Practice” (or relationship, dream house, or whatever you desire).