Intentions....

We all have a purpose, a place, and a meaning for this life. Life can be very challenging and at times we wonder why things are easier for others. The best advice I can give you is to set a mindset to stop comparing. It is an ongoing intention you will need to set in order to retrain your thought process to a healthier mindset. 

Comparing other people's lives is a toxic, and easy to do in a world where everyone is living through a form of their created life on social media. Smiles are infectious and trips seem grand, but behind many of those people's lives is likely pain, suffering, despair and feelings of somnolence. 

Practicing living a healthier life is not about pumping your body with hundreds of dollars of supplements every day, eating good occasionally, and exercising occasionally. It is about a mindset, that then turns into a behavior, that turns into consistent behavioral changes that then modifies your life to achieve your optimal meaning of a healthy life. It starts with the mind, then the body, and the most difficult part is the soul.

I am a firm believe when our mind is not in a good mindset, we are then not able to allow our body to fully achieve its full potential, whether that be in our internal and external health facets, physical demands-exercise or athletic endeavors. 

I believe it starts with the mindset of comparing to others. Wanting more to keep up, when materialistic items may briefly fill your cup, they will not bring you happiness. It is an obsessive unhealthy mindset that overtakes your mind so that you are unable to evolve and grow into the human you were meant to be. 

So, what does it take to have a healthy mindset when we live in a very unhealthy mindset world? We pick up unhealthy behaviors we don't even realize. So how can we change?

It is simple really in the concept, but complex in the practice and delivery. While practice my Reiki and perfecting my skill, I took the process for advancing in my studies slowly. I did this not because I was lazy, or couldn't fit it into my world, it was because I truly believed I could not be a good Reiki practitioner if I did not truly instill the practices in my everyday life. It was very, very, very hard for me. I would fail with my daily intentions, and still to this day I have days where I fail my intentions and let irritability or angry due to overwhelming circumstances take control. It took me a lot of practice, prayer, meditation and practice again. When I felt I fell short I started working my steps of intention and practice all over again until I felt true to myself in being able to continue to proceed with more advanced training. I believe it is why my Reiki skillset now is as effective as it is today due to this daily practice. 

So how do you set an intention. 

First- Make it simple. Don't over complicate it while you are starting out. 

Second- Choose what your intention will focus on- Mental, Emotional, Physical, Spiritual.

......Just for today I will be kind. **I know it sounds silly- but truly, genuinely set that intention you will be surprised how hard it is to keep!- Let me give you an example! I live in the DC Metropolitan area, the driving is a real challenge out here. I feel like sometimes it is a blessing I make it to work in one piece everyday. I would fail my morning intention almost daily for months due to my inner road rage thoughts that never would carry out in an action more than a friendly honk tap to let someone know they nearly just killed me running a red light. The angry with driving was a real hurdle for me, sounds small its an everyday occurrence, people have to drive to work- but see- this daily intention was blown before I even got to work. I would feel when dealing with the hustle and bustle of the demanding traffic here. 

......Just for today I will be patient.***Again, a hard one, seems easy but takes literally a lot of effort to work on this. I found with months and months of practice I did find myself less anxious, less overwhelmed and more of the sense I can handle anything mindset. 

When setting intentions, it is key to really be attuned to how you are feeling in that moment as you start out. Then as your become more attuned to your body, mind, soul and spirit, you will have a better ability to set more intricate intentions that I feel are more spiritually bond and allow you to live a life with more fulfillment. You need to feel your energy. So how do you feel your energy? It is much like your mood or how your body literally feels. Where your mindset is in that moment. When you MANIFEST an intention, you are MANIFESTING a thought of positivity in all intentions, with a goal to make your life more fulfilling. Again, can be simple....

......Just for tonight I want to sleep well. Literally manifest it in a meaningful way, don't say it loosely to your loved one or friend. Feel it, take a moment, plant your feet on the floor, feel your heart, take a cleansing breath in and out and really think that. If your mind wonders, re-do your grounding to allow your thought to really just focus on that simple intention. 

Keep it SIMPLE; say what your desire is, do personal reflection as to what you are desiring and be specific to as you advance in your practice. Being bold and strong with your intention and repeating it is actually a way for our mind to recognize or envision this intention as a reality. What I mean by this is, if you are waking up and feeling down, or your boss just made you feel like you are not good at your job. Take a moment, go to a quiet place, or go outside for a moment and tell yourself about your intention with affirming force.

.....I am a strong employee. I will learn from this. I am a powerful force. I am smart. I will maintain my goals. 

Intentions are similar to affirmations in a sense in some cases when we are having negative emotions or thoughts. Bring yourself up and manifest the intention to allow yourself to then reset your intention for the day if you have "failed". 

If we live a life of manifesting intentions of positivity for aspects of our being and life, we will then gravitate to that energy out in the world. 

Every living being has an energy, its tremendous and once you start opening this practice you incorporate this into your everyday routine. Start it with your yoga practice or your run. Start it before a huge presentation. Tell your mind what kind of person you want to be and begin to manifest it. 

Grounding....

The earth is pretty powerful. Now I am a Christian woman, I am highly spiritual, and I have found that living a life with spiritual purpose, whatever your religion or spirituality is, is highly fulfilling and gets you to a completely different energy wavelength. You learn to get in touch with a realm of energy that truly gives you the feeling of purpose, it invigorates you and I have unlocked that sense of energy charge throughout my training as a Reiki Master. 

Now I am many things, but one thing I am is long research backed methods of holistic healing. There is limited research, but research is ongoing, that backing grounding but what I have found in my practice it has been beneficial. 

Grounding is a technique that can be done pretty much anywhere. The best way to ground is to truly receive the energy from the earth. Sometimes when I am feeling a little static, I literally will go out in my bear feet and set my feet in the grass, take several cleansing breaths and set a new intention to restart. 

The method of ground is to essentially reset your electrical energy current to the earth. Think of it as a re-set essentially. Some people place their hands on a tree and allow to truly envision the energy from the tree and your energy just aligning and simmering down any hyperactivity you may feel. 

You can go for a walk barefoot, but you can ground still while wear shoes. You can ground while you are taking a picnic, and you lay your entire body down on the earth and close your eyes and breath. We ground everyday but it's about where our mindset is where I feel makes the ground most effective, to allow us to receive and replenish or reset the energy disfunction in our bodies to allow for use to feel more aligned. 

It is about being critically alert to just slowing down your brain for a moment in time to truly invision the energy exchange. 

There is a 54321-method technique to grounding I find helpful for folks. Especially when my biggest question from most is "how much time" "how long" "when can I stop". This is not the mindset you should have but have a mindset that you need to give yourself a moment. The word moment is relative because it truly is whatever you make that moment to be. Can you shut your senses down to focus. 

So here it goes...

5: ID 5 things you visually see (focus on those)- I recommend them be nature and not man made. 

4: Focus on 4 things you can touch- again nature preferably

3: Focus on 3 things you can hear- would not focus on ambient sounds from cars, planes, or sirens, please try to focus on the breeze, a bird, water, the grass moving- nothing complicated or offensive sounding. If you are listening to music, you can hyper listen to a specific instrument in that song.

2: Focus on 2 things you can smell.

1: Focus on 1 thing you can taste. 

For beginners the above method is helpful as it can compartmentalize your stimuli and shut down other thoughts. You may feel you are overthinking it and you likely will for a few times until you get good at it. 

Again, the more attuned you are with yourself- mind, body, soul. You will find setting intentions and being successful with them and grounding energy balance is invigorating and you will feel fulfillment!

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!