3 Intentions to Set Today

There’s living. And then there’s living with intention. To help us all do that a little bit better, here are a few tips straight from the book, How to Live with Intention by Meera Lester, which is a real-life guide to infusing daily activities with purpose, helping you to improve your sense of peace, gratitude and health, and eliminate thoughts of what is lacking.

1. Assert Yourself

Your personal power doesn’t have much to do with your unappreciative boss, a lack of recognition by your spouse for how hard you work, or an economy that makes it difficult to rise on the socioeconomic ladder. These are all external factors that you can’t control. That doesn’t mean giving in to powerlessness and hopelessness. There are things you can do. Don’t give your power away to others. If you are stuck, find an escape route. Recognize that spark of the Divine within you. Love and revere who you are. A daily act of intention for therapeutic self-empowerment can help. Many Southwestern Native American tribes carve images such as the bear to gain power over problems. They believe a mystical power is released once the image has been created. Let the image of a bear guide you back to your sense of power.

To-do: Hold a picture or statue of a bear in the palm of your right hand. Cup your left palm over your right. Close your eyes and mentally affirm: “I am the architect of my life. My power comes from the center of my being where it links to the Source of all that exists, seen or unseen. I call upon this invincible power, knowing it never fails; I give thanks for all the gifts it brings to me.”

2. Break Up Your Busy Cycles

You eat well, exercise, and get shut-eye — at least a few hours every night — before jumping back on the proverbial treadmill. Before hectic, demanding, and tiring becomes the three-word mantra for your life, take a few minutes of each day to rest, relax, and recharge. Listen to your body; it tells you when to stop pushing. No one can stay at the top of his or her game without some much-needed downtime. Throughout the day, reset your body’s batteries by reconnecting with the Source of your being. Break the busy-busy cycle of work to create breathing space. Consider setting the alarm on your cell phone to sound every few hours as your spiritual call to recharge through breath work.

To-do: Place a drop of sandalwood-scented oil at the third eye (the point between the eyebrows). Sit with a straight spine, palms facing upward on your thighs. Inhale, softly making the sound of “So.” Exhale, making the sound of “Ham.” Do the So-Ham breathing for one minute. Rest your consciousness in the silence for four minutes as your thoughts gravitate toward contact with the Divine. Feel your life-force energy being recharged and reinvigorated.

3. Trust Your Best Life Is Taking Shape

You don’t have to wait to map out a new life for renewal to happen. Adjust your thinking in this moment, right now. Your intention to renew goes right into the energy matrix of the Universe and a shift begins. Hold on to your expectation that things will change because you want them to change and they will. Form an intention, do visualizations, write out a few positive affirmations, take some actions in which you create a new lifestyle for the new you, cultivate gratitude, and trust and expect your best life ever is already on its way to you. You won’t know exactly when or how, but change is coming. You can count on it.

To-do: Hold in your hands a piece of amethyst, a purple-colored quartz stone that brings serenity and rebalancing. It also clears negativity from your space, so it’s good to keep a tall geode of the dark purple crystal in the bedroom. It will bring in new energy. Place your amethyst in the northeast corner of your home, the area of self-cultivation and spiritual growth. If you are experiencing turbulent emotional times, keep a piece of tumbled amethyst in your pocket to touch for healing, calming and grounding.

Which intention will you set today? —Meera Lester

Excerpted from How to Live with Intention by Meera Lester. Copyright © 2018 Simon & Schuster, Inc. Used by permission of the publisher, Adams Media, a division of Simon and Schuster. All rights reserved.