Nurture Your Yearly Intentions at Summer Solstice
Summer Solstice is a good time to review our intentions for the year. Take a few minutes to ponder where you are, regarding the intentions or goals you set at the beginning of the year—and where you desire to be.
What practices and actions will recalibrate you and realign you with your goals?
Intentions are like seeds, the seeds of your ideal future and your ideal self, which need to be nurtured in order to grow. I cultivate these 6 practices in order to power-charge my intentions and create ideal conditions for their manifestation.
At midyear, I nurture my intentions with these 6 powerful practices:
Visualize the Change: When we know that something in our life needs to up-level, it can help to start in the imaginal realm. Allow yourself to envision what positive change might look like. Seeing something in our mind’s eye is the first level of power, so use your curiosity to fill in the details of the outcomes you desire. Just know that if your intentions exist only in the imaginal realm, they will quickly fade away.
Feel Your Intention in Your Body: Once we see the specific changes we need to make, we can power up our intention with our will and determination. This next level of power involves creating a body sense of what it is you want to create, and holding that sensory experience, as a prayer or intention, for several minutes each day. Ask the Divine for all the support you will need to flow to you. I like to do this every morning, barefoot, out on the land, right after my centering practice.
Speak and Share Your Intentions Out Loud: Speaking your intentions out loud empowers them—and you! Formulating our goals into words gives them creational power. Share your intentions ONLY with those you trust to support your intentions. If you don’t already have one, consider finding an accountability partner or coach, with whom you’ll meet regularly to share intentions and action steps. Those who have regular accountability report greater success in meeting their goals!
Put Your Intentions In Writing To Add Creational Power: Writing your intentions adds even more creational power to them. This is why accountability journals are effective. Accountability partners write and share their weekly or monthly intentions with their partner; they hold each other accountable for progress. When we know we will be accountable to a coach or colleague/s, we work harder to achieve our intentions. I’d been working on my book for 18 years, but when I hired a book coach, it was published 9 months later!
Release Judgement and Attachment to Outcome When Setting Intentions: I have a specific ritual that I use when I set my intentions. Part of that ritual includes a process that allows me to release any attachment I have to specific outcomes or deadlines, so that I’m creating from the realm the yogis call “Neutral Mind” rather than “Positive Mind” (trying to make something happen) or “Negative Mind” (resisting something I don’t want). When we live in a Neutral Mind, it’s much easier to create what we prefer.
Activate Your Intentions With An Altar: Creating an altar is the best way to activate your Intentions. An altar is anything that alters your mood or energy level. An altar directs your attention to something that uplifts you. Use altar items that represent what you are working to create. As the items on the altar embody your intentions, the altar opens an access point or portal to Creation. Your altar allows you to devote daily attention to what you are choosing to create.
I hope my 6 practices support you in creating a year you will look back on as a success!