Search Results for: intention setting
Crazy, Sexy Intention Setting
October 7, 2014 By Leave a Comment
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The Gypsy Girls’ Guide to Intention Setting
July 6, 2014 By Leave a Comment
If you ha
d told me a year ago I would be writing an article about my dreams and intentions, planning, hosting yoga-based events, and supporting my community with the resources I now have, I wouldn’t have believed you, not in a million years! If you’ve ever taken a yoga class, some of these tips may sound familiar. If you have never taken a yoga class then maybe it’s time. . .
1. LET IT GO: This is a mantra that I say to myself, several times a day, seven days a week! If it isn’t serving you, if it’s holding you back, giving you negative energy… Let. It. Go. That monkey chatter telling you that you can’t do something because of xyz excuse? You do not… I repeat, DO NOT need it. Need a reminder? The Let it Go Mala is an excellent way to keep this intention in the forefront of your mind.
2. BREATHE: Throughout our days we may encounter something that stresses us out – whether that be hitting snooze one to many times and running late, or our kids talking back to us, or our boss telling us we aren’t performing to our standards. Don’t forget to breathe – several inhales and exhales with or without an intention (“Stay Present”, “Let It Go”, “I Am Loved”, etc.) can make a difference.
3. DREAM (BIG): What makes you happy? What makes you excited and scared all at once? What are you passionate about? If you’re anything like me, you may not have known what you wanted to be when you grew up. I DO know that I love helping people, sharing things I’m passionate about (yoga), and supporting those that are closest to me! If you follow what makes you genuinely happy, you are on the right track.
4. MANIFEST AN INTENTION: Sometimes things happen organically without planning or putting much thought into it (or maybe I’m getting better at this manifestation?)… but sometimes it takes a little more! Your manifesting be as simple as staying positive or as huge as teaching a yoga workshop to 300 people at a large festival. It doesn’t have to be scary or set butterflies in your tummy… but it should be something positive and worth thinking (and dreaming) about.
5. WRITE IT DOWN: Seeing your dreams and intentions on paper can help you visualize them when you’re feeling stuck in life or literally stuck in traffic. What are your hopes and fears? What is holding you back?
6. SHARE: Dreaming about something and thinking about it is great… but to be able to keep yourself accountable and on track, you should be sharing these thoughts with your trusted tribe. These are people who believe in you when you don’t believe in yourself, who keep you motivated, tell it to you straight when your random idea isn’t going to work, and will help you map out a new idea. Sharing helps solidify your intentions!
7. GATHER YOUR TRIBE: Surround yourself with people who will support YOU! Maybe you have one or two people that will walk through hell and back with you, but maybe you don’t. The law of attraction is “likes tend toward likes”. Your friends should have similar intentions for themselves personally and may not understand your crazy ideas, but they GET you and still support you. And just like your friends support you, there should be some level of support going back to them. Be the person you want to surround yourself with!
8. DO SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOU HAPPY: For myself, I love doing yoga – it makes my mind and body happy. I like to set aside time – even if it’s 10 min during my day to myself. It isn’t selfish… it will help you be a better person to yourself and for the people you surround yourself with.
9. COME BACK TO YOUR INTENTION: What is your intention? Maybe it’s simple and you can just remind yourself throughout the day. Maybe it’s bigger and you need more reminders – like putting an image on your lockscreen of your phone or posting a note by your mirror or door so you see it daily. There is something about reminding ourselves about what our intentions are that helps keep us focused and centered.
10. BELIEVE: Believe in yourself and you’re halfway there – Theodore Roosevelt
Get rid of the negative self chatter and honestly see yourself doing what you’ve only dreamed about. You will be happier for it.
By – Ayami Hiroshige
Confessions of a Boho Fashionista: The magic of the morning, the sweetness before bed: my top intention setting times!
May 23, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Hey Boho Beauties,
Have you ever felt something sparkly the very moment you woke up? The birds were singing, the sun hadn’t quite made its way to that warm place it kisses us from the sky at, and you felt it. Gurus and goddesses in the past have said it before: the morning is a special time. You have 24 hours before you to set your dreams on fire, and the world is your crystal ball to shake up and make magic from. The morning is a sacred time to reflect, set your intentions, and believe that all that’s around you is conspiring just for your yogi self!
Here’s the cool part: bedtime is even more mystical. Years ago I found a book in an old used bookstore called Mandala. It had a moleskin cover and smelled like sage, and when I opened its crisp pages what I found was advice on how to optimize your thoughts before bedtime. The readings within its pages encouraged me to use the hour before bed to dream up all of my plans, write them down, and go to bed knowing I truly deserved all that I desired. Before bed, your boho mind is ready to dream in a peaceful space. So take that special hour before bed to write down all of your dreams, desires, and auspicious goals.
Here are some tips on how to really take advantage of these two special times of day:
1. Keep a journal: Use the morning and evening to write down all of your hearts desires without inhibitions. We often dream of Bali, Venice, and beyond, but never write down our plans. We think of cottages on the coast, dancing with an elephant, and singing a duet our favorite rock star. And when the day passes on, our special desires can get lost. Purchase a journal and use it before the day begins or just as it’s ending.
2. Have an open mind: anything you want is yours, boho babe. In the morning or just before your rest your goddess self, keep your sweet mind wide open to all that’s yours. The whole world is right at the tips of your fingers, so dream big.
3. Create a sacred space: the space you take your rest in, and the place you rise to the worlds magic is a sacred space. Fill your space with objects that make you feel grounded and at peace. I suggest your fave scented candle, some soft throws and pillows, and the mala of your choice.
You have the power of the world with you, bellas and boho babes. Use these special, peak times during the day to harness that power and light it up.
Do you have a buddhaful, go-to practice you use before bed, or in the sweetness of the sunrise? Tell us all about it in the pink section below!
Peace, Love and Magic from
It takes a Mala and Some Magic: A Boho Girl’s Guide to Intention Setting
December 27, 2013 By Leave a Comment
It’s Christmas Eve at the lake house, and I’m getting quiet under the moon with my full bloom mala and some serious intentions for 2014. Crisp nights like this with only the sound of waves breathing along the ice really get me reflecting. The wide and unwavering lake water is magical and it has me thinking about my favorite yoga deity—Hanuman the monkey god, whose greatest power was also his deepest curse.
See, just like you and I, Hanuman had a fire for every experience, but he was blind to his power.
He could stretch himself across the ocean and squeeze long limbs into tiny places. He was a small and mighty monkey who could take on secret identities, and bring back lost loves from far off mountains.
Everywhere he went, there was magic. The problem was, he was completely unaware of it. We’ve all got this kind of magic; we just have to remember that we are magical.
To set your intentions for the year, ask for what your ready for, believe that you have access to it and surrender to receiving it! You have an ocean of power within you, now all you have to do is embody it.
I’m popping on my moccasins, wrapping myself in my Ibiza scarf and taking three simple steps to get clear about all that I am ready for in 2014—gonna to join me, Boho girl?
My 3 Simple Steps to Set an Intention:
Step One: Ask
If you haven’t asked for it yet, now is the time. This is the fun part, gypsy gals. Get silent with a hot cup of chai and think about your wildest dreams. Reflect on something you did, saw or accomplished that made you feel radiant—now multiply that by 108. Feel free to go big here, because after all, gypsy goddesses don’t play small. Now that you’ve asked, write it down for ultimate clarification.
Step Two: Believe
Believing it is the secret. If you can visualize it and trust it without a doubt, you’ve clearly set your intention. Believe that you are completely deserving of your intentions—because just like Hanuman the monkey god, you have the power of the universe within you.
Step Three: Receive
Receiving can be tricky. Sometimes our intentions don’t manifest right away, or in the ways we thought that they would. Surrender to your intentions and remember that once you ask and believe, your intention has been set. Avoid focusing on outcomes, and return to that radiant feeling that your intention brings you. The outcomes will arrive when you have surrendered and you’re prepared to receive all that you’re ready for in 2014.
This is your year, boho girl. Now go set your intentions, and remember that you are powerful beyond your imagination.
About the Writer:
Libby Clark is a 500 RYT (Registered Yoga Teacher), writer and health fanatic based out of London, Ontario. She was born on Valentine’s day, so it’s fitting that she believes that bhakti (unconditional love) truly conquers all. You can find her rocking a mala, sipping green juice, or barefoot at the yoga studio.
Stretch with her at The Yoga Shack or follow her on Twitter and Instagram
Setting a #newintention
September 12, 2013 By Leave a Comment
A new season is arriving and we are ready to set intentions. As fall is around the corner we start to go back into routine spending weekends by the fire still sounding ourselves with family and friends. Take a moment to reflect on all the amazing moments you had over the summer and then turn to set a new intention for a new season. It is the intentions you set that will determine the direction you are heading.
Take a photo of how you set your new intentions today and tomorrow with hashtag #newintention for a chance to receive a $300 prize package from prAna and Tiny Devotions. Be sure to tag @prAna and @tinydevotions in your photos. We will announce the lucky recipient of the gift on September 14th!
Set Intentions
June 4, 2015 By Leave a Comment
You walk into your Yoga class, plop your mat down and take your comfortable cross-legged position. Your hands go up to your heart in a prayer position. You begin to slow down your inhalations and exhalations, then the instructor asks you to “set an intention for your practice.” You think to yourself…what is an intention and why do i have to set one for each class? An intention is a mental state that represents a commitment to carrying out an action or actions in the future. Intention involves mental activities such as planning and afterthought. The importance of setting an intention before you begin your yoga practice is to always have a goal set in mind.
Does your intention have to be the same at the beginning of every class? Absolutely not! Is each and every day of your life the same? That would be nice because you wouldn’t have to put much thought into it. But, if you’re a human being on this planet, as most of us are…you have good days and bad days. So, as you wake up in the morning, listen to your body. Scan your body from head to toe and see how you can make your day or the rest of your day more successful. Listen to signs and cues outside of your body as well as in inside of your body. A good place to start is during your morning routine. Before thoughts of completing your to-do list start to take over and anxiety starts to rise, take a second and ask yourself what is it that you’re missing in your life right now? What will make your day feel more complete? As you conjure up EVERYTHING that’s going on in your head, you begin to narrow it down to one or two special intentions.
Examples of Intentions regarding your physical self:
- not pushing too much in each posture
- improving your balance
- improving transitions from posture to posture
Examples of Intentions regarding your mental self:
- Letting go of your ego
- quieting your inside thoughts
- relieving stress
Examples of Intentions regarding your emotional self:
- Setting more time aside for yourself
- being more patient to your loved ones
- letting go of the negative and inviting the positive
Another important intention some might choose is to dedicate their practice to a loved one in need. These may be those suffering from illness or disease, financial struggles, death in the family, etc., The people in your life who could use some positivity, prayers from the universe, energies from your inner self or from the other people who you surround yourself with in your class. This will help to send out love and support when it is needed the most. Or, you may choose to focus your intention on a loved one and their goal to graduate from Law school, etc., etc. …the possibilities are endless! Be creative but most of all go with where your heart is leading you.
Aim to set an intention at the start of your practice and revisit it towards the end of your practice before entering into savasana. One to two intentions is more than enough to focus on. Don’t be surprised if by the end of your Yoga class your intention has shifted and you maybe opened up some other more important areas of your life to focus on.
The journey you begin when deciding to set time aside each day to set an intention can help you tackle obstacles by keeping you more level headed. Enjoy this journey! You will not only learn more about yourself in the process but you may also find that taking everyday one step at a time will make you a better person to be around and a more loving and kind person to yourself and others.Written by Derina K. Wilson. Derina is passionate about yoga, pilates, gymnastics and dance. Find her on Instagram here.
Goal Setting for Spring
April 6, 2015 By Leave a Comment
With spring comes the opportunity for new goals, new aspirations, and commitment to living the life of your dreams!
In my last post for Boho Daily we discussed how to Spring Clean Your Soul, which includes a journaling exercise to create a happy list.
Most people need more than just a happy list to actually go after and ACCOMPLISH the things that bring them joy.
This post is for you!
My biggest advice:
Dream big, but then streamline. BE SPECIFIC!
What do you REALLY want?
It’s so easy to say “I want more money,” “I want to do more yoga,” or even “I want to lose weight.”
But those wishes are general, which means they will be harder to come true.
Photo by: Richelle Hunter
It’s time to get specific with your intentions this spring.
Here’s an exercise to get you started:
(Yes, you will still need that pesky journal from my previous post! If you don’t have one a piece of paper will do.)
This will probably take a solid 15 minutes, or more to complete. Don’t try to rush! You want to accomplish your goals, right? That means you have to take time to set these goals.
Now I want you to follow these five steps:
1) Write down what you want to see happen in the next three months. Bullet points are great. Not a writer? Draw pictures. Make a vision board. Just get it DOWN ON PAPER. If you completed the happy goal list from Spring Clean Your Soul this can be a great starting list to reference. These can be anything from wanting to have a daily yoga practice, to finishing your first half marathon, to just being happier or a better friend.
2) Now, similar to the happy list. Write down everything that you DON’T want to have happen in the next three months. This could be that you don’t want to not see your family, or to gain weight, or to stay in your current apartment, or even something as simple as you don’t want to have a messy home! Write it down.
3) Now for the trick…. go back and highlight all the corresponding wants and don’t wants. (You don’t really need a highlighter. You could use a pen, pencil, or type them on your computer…whatever works for you!) These are where the goals for spring come! This is where the magic happens.
4) From this list, there’s ONE LAST STEP. (I know, it can be a lot!)
You need to put the wants and don’t wants together to form your actual goals.
Say you’re don’t want is that you don’t want to eat so much junk food and your do want is to cook more at home. Add these together! So your goal for the next three months would be to make more home-cooked healthy meals. Say you also have a goal of saving money and spending more time with your friends. You can combine these!
Example:
- I want to eat dinner at home three to five times per week.
- I want to have friends over once a week for dinner instead of going out to a restaurant. (To save even more money, make it a pot luck!)
The biggest way to succeed is by making the connections and creating simple achievable goals that bring them together.
Of course, If you are a details person, you can always streamline from there for even greater success!
Example:
- I currently spend $100 a weekend going out to dinner with my friends. My goals (above) include saving money, eating at home more, and seeing my friends more. So to combine these goals you could say the following:
- Goal: To put an extra $400 per month into savings
- Goal: To have a potluck dinner with my friends once a week.
See how they connect?
5) Put the plan in action! I try to set only 10 or so goals at once–too many more and it gets too hard to focus on what you really want. You get lost in the shuffle!
Take the list and put it somewhere that you will REALLY look at every day. And make sure you have an accountability posse! Tell your friends, your spouse, join an internet group if you’re trying to lose weight. But make your goals known to the world!! Once you spread the word you are more likely to follow-through! Don’t be afraid to dream big. Don’t be afraid to tell the world.
Spring is the time for rebirth, reawakening, and commitment to self. So welcome in change, commit to your goals, and watch your dreams manifest in real life.
Let me know how it goes in the comments below!
Lora’s photos by Ashlee Hamon Photography.
Written by Lora Hogan. Lora is a yoga teacher, motivational speaker, and author provides yoga for runners, athletes and everyBODY. Founder of #PassLove, Lora also lectures on improving your wellness business, finding and living your passion, and self-love. Lora wants to challenge your body, connect you to the present, and promote self-esteem and compassion on and off the yoga mat! Lora’s yoga classes and workshops nationwide include Lora Love Flows, Yoga for Athletes, and Yoga for everyBODY. She believes that yoga is for everyBODY and loves sharing yoga with people who say they can’t “touch their toes”– as well as those yoga pretzels! 
Find Lora’s website and blog here, or find her on Instagram and Facebook here and here.
Fresh Intentions
January 1, 2015 By Leave a Comment
Each year, we are given a chance for rebirth. A date on our calendar in which we can restart ourselves, reset our dreams, and remind ourselves to focus on what matters most.
This thought reminds me of the end of a yoga class. At the end of most yoga classes, we end in savasana, or corpse pose. This signifies the end, the stillness in life. Yet, shortly after, we are awakened by our breath and put into “fetal pose” or lying on our sides with our knees in our chest. After we end our class, we are given the chance for rebirth. We are given the opportunity to restart our day each time we practice. And in a way, each yoga practice is a celebration of a new you; a brand new day.
So now that we have had a huge reset in our calendar year, and we are given the opportunity to focus back on our goals through our yoga practice, what speaks most to you? What intention are you able to bring your attention to? Instead of making a list of items that revolve around topics such as ‘sticking to our diets’, why not create some long term goals?
Allow yourself to realize that your yoga practice can give you fresh intentions each time you step onto your mat. It can give you a chance to find you intention, and repeat your mantra in your head. This year, I am focusing on this idea of a daily intention practice. My mantra in 2015 is something that I can tell myself as I awake from savasana each day. I ask myself “what is something you didn’t do yesterday that you can complete today?”.
Resetting my intention with each practice allows my mind to stay focused, my dreams to stay set, and my body to reset.
We are ready for you, 2015!
Written by Lacey Calvert. Visit Lacey’s website here, or find her on Instagram @laceycalvert.
