Seeds of Insight 031 - Autumn Lockdown or Retreat Part 2 - How to Set an Intention of the Heart
Dear Ones,
Last Sunday, at MindRest, we set our intention for the remaining weeks of this year - an intention of the Heart, not the mind. In this post, I share what I’ve learnt about how to set a powerful intention and how to let the Heart lead. For someone quite academically minded, it has been a life-changing discovery for me. For those of you who feel skeptical and resistant towards such practices, I want to clarify from the onset that there is little spiritual about this, despite appearances.
What does it mean to set an intention?
The word “intention” can bring up resistance and skepticism, especially if you tend to be logically minded and pragmatic. If you find yourself dismissing “all this manifestation stuff”, this post is for you. I hear you, my friend - I have felt (and still partly feel) this way.
Little by little, I came to realise that true intention is not some attempt to manifest a better life in the future. Quite the opposite - intention is about the present moment. It is a conscious choice of turning our attention in - in-tention. It is a conscious choice of directing our attention towards what we want, rather than away from what we don’t want (which is our survival-based tendency).
It is ultimately a recognition that what we want is already here, but rather than appreciating it, we often choose to direct the attention (by the force of habit and conditioning) towards wishing things to be different. I’ll explain this part later on - stay with me.
How to set an intention of the Heart, not the mind?
Again, the word “heart” can stir some understandable resistance. So let me be very clear about what I mean. When I say Heart, I don’t mean our physical organ that pumps blood (bless it), and I don’t mean our emotional centre, which is how many understand it. I don’t mean our intuition, nor instinct either. The Heart that I’m speaking of, hrdaya in sanskrit, has nothing to do with emotions, organs or intuition even.
The Heart is the centre of our being - that, which is aware of all our experiences. If you imagine for a moment forgetting who you are, what your role in life is, what your gender is, what your age is, what your name is...If you forget everything you know about yourself and everything you know about the world, ‘something’ in you will remain here aware of your experience and untouched by this loss of knowledge. Some essential part of you will be able to acknowledge “I exist”. If you lose your senses, and even your body, if you lose any ability to perceive the outside world, ‘something’ in you will still be here, aware of your simple non-objective existence. In other words, if you lose everything, ‘something’ in you cannot be lost - you will still be able to intuit, and this intuition may not even be in words, “I exist”. This very essential, very primordial part of our experience is our Heart.
The Heart is where true Wisdom and Fulfilment reside. When we move from the Heart, there is natural wisdom and integrity to what we do. There is inner knowing and confidence in our actions, even if the mind is doubtful. There is energy, rather than exhaustion. There is abundance, rather than scarcity. That doesn’t mean that we’ve suddenly gotten richer - it may just mean that we gradually feel that we don’t need much. It’s a change in perspective, rather than a change in circumstances (although ironically, this change in perspective may lead to a favourable change in circumstances).
So how to reconnect with our Heart, our Essence, our Centre? My beautiful teachers all say “Simply, be quiet”. There are many ways to turn down the volume of our minds, stories, emotional rollercoasters. Getting into our bodies, a short meditation, some conscious breathing or simply sitting quiet, without any need to do anything, without any need to fix anything, without any resistance to what is - whatever works for you really (for me, it is the latter).
How to formulate a powerful intention?
It starts with asking a short and potent question. "What do I really want?" is one option, although this naturally engages our minds and sends them on a desire-search mission. Instead, last Sunday at MindRest, I offered "What do I really need right now?". Regardless of what we think we want, there is a natural wisdom that knows what we need.
It is essential to ask this question to the Heart, not the mind. Once you have reduced the volume of daily activity and reconnected with the Heart, pose the question to that silent awareness within you and let it marinate there. Rather than searching for answers with your mind, let the mind receive the answer from a deeper silent place. At first, no (logical) answer may come, but it is essential that you allow it some space and time without looking for an answer. You might find that the mind can be humbled by what is revealed in this simple and quiet way.
Formulate the intension in present tense, with simple words that resonate for you. It may be a surprise for your mind - let it be so. Make it simple and specific. For example, my intention from last weekend was “I pay attention to my body, which needs care at the moment. I nourish it, support it to detox, rehydrate and rejuvenate it daily.”
How to uncover the deeper, more essential intention underneath it?
This step is crucial. I am not saying that the initial intention should be thrown away - not at all. We will come back to it actually. I am simply saying that it is very powerful to uncover the deeper desire, which is driving it.
One way to do so is to repeatedly ask yourself “And if I had that, what would that give me?” I learnt this from our beautiful teacher and founder of the Leela School of Awakening, Eli Jaxon-Bear. Time and time again, I see the transformative power of this simple inquiry in people that I work with. Once more, let the answers come unedited, uncensored by the mind. The mind is in service here, not in charge. Continue to inquire until nothing more comes out - then you know that you have reached the bottom. You will easily recognise it by its emotional charge and the yearning that you have for this essential desire.
For example, this is what happened with my health-related intention:
“And if I had that already, what would that give me?”
I will feel more confident, I won’t worry about my physical appearance, I won’t worry about my health.
“And if I had all these things, what would they give me?”
Peace of mind and a sense of expansion.
“And if I had peace of mind and a sense of expansion, what would that give me?”
I would be more present with and open to what is.
“And if I had that presence and openness, what would that give me?”
That’s it. Then I’ll be here.
What started out as a health-related desire, ended up as a simple, but very touching urge to be present and open.
It is at this point that I can come back to what I said earlier - ultimately, setting intentions is not about the future. It is about a shift of attention to what we already have, but often dismiss so lightly. Being present and open is already available to me many times a day - during the morning moments of Silence, when I spend time with someone I love, when I play with my puppy Sam, when I open to experience the painful emotions that arise...All of that is being present and open. Rather than chasing it, I can now turn my attention towards it and celebrate it. THAT is in-tension.
This recognition is fulfilment. Ultimately, the more we do this, the clearer we start seeing that this fulfilment is here at all times, regardless of our health conditions, our circumstances, our strengths and weaknesses. As I have already shared many times, I am not into the art of manifestation - it has never resonated with me. I set intentions not to change or improve my life, but to recognise that what I deeply want has already been given.
Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. In fact, the beholder is Beauty itself.
If you feel the call to join the next Mindrest, feel warmly welcome - 5pm on Sunday, for some yoga, silence and deep rest (mostly rest actually). If you missed last week’s MindRest, you may want to catch up with the intension setting. It will support you in the next step of the inquiry, which is about releasing what doesn’t serve us on our way.
1:1 Mindfulness
Do you feel called to mindfulness but you struggle to develop a daily practice? I’m a certified Mindfulness Now teacher and would be honoured to share my love for this practice with you. I offer in person and online mindfulness sessions in a 1:1 therapeutic setting. I infuse them with sound healing and self-inquiry. Through this intimate format, I meet you wherever you are at. Not sure this is for you? Book a free online consultation and get a feel for my energy.
Seeds of Insight is a newsletter of dubious frequency with no news. It’s your dose of words for the soul. To receive them by email, sign up here.
