Intentions 2010

Happy New Year. May it be satisfying and filled with love and whatever else it is filled with. Maybe it would be better to say May it be filled with whatever it is filled with. I have been thinking a lot about intentions. New Years resolutions are a tradition in this country. Health clubs are filled to overflowing with people who resolve to commit to better self care in January. By February the workout rooms become much less crowded as people fall back into their habitual self-forgetting patterns. The difference between resolutions and intentions to my mind are that intentions come from our heart's desire and resolutions come from the ego telling us we're not OK and we should do something to improve ourselves. Ego-based resolutions are about fear and greed. An example might be ,"I have to lose some weight because my partner might leave or I have to make more money so I can buy an expensive new toy. Intentions on the other hand come from listening to that still small voice inside that is there guiding us toward our center or inner divinity.
The other day with a group of women I suggested we create three intentions and that we find them by going inside and being quiet with ourselves. These three intentions are: one thing we want to continue doing that we are already doing, one thing we want to stop doing, and one thing we want to start doing.
The three I came up with were very powerful for me.
The one I am already doing that I want to continue doing is the presence process. It is reading the book The Presence Process by Michael Brown, doing continuous breathing practice twice a day each time for fifteen minutes and saying presence activating statements. This process is extremely enlivening for me. I am ready to start week five tomorrow and the process lasts ten weeks.
The one I want to stop is acting out my anxiety by obsessing about my relationship, picking my nails, and eating when I'm not hungry. Instead I want to practice bringing compassionate attention to myself either when I notice I am already doing one of those behaviors or if I notice I am pulled in the direction of acting out in one of those three ways.
I want to notice and soothe myself and explore what is going on with me. I want to see my anxiety as a gift that is bringing me to my own attention rather than distracting me from whatever is going on with me. I want to comfort myself and nurture that fearful child inside.
I want to forgive myself when I fall into my habitual self-forgetting patterns and use them to remember.

The intention that I want to start is to celebrate more. That would include noticing what is good in myself and others, being grateful and allowing myself to do things that feel fun. It would mean letting go and letting myself enjoy my enjoyable life and be kind to myself when I don't. I want to give myself permission to do things I enjoy and more space not to do things I don't. I want to be more playful and silly and dance and sing whenever I am moved to. I will keep you posted about all of this. It is good to share my intentions with you. Would you like to do this process too?
What might your intentions be? Take some time to be quiet and ask yoursef, What do I want
to continue?, What do I want to stop? What do I want to start? Write them down. That gives them more power and lets you have them to refer back to. Consider sharing them with a trusted other person. That lends power too and can provide support. Maybe even choose an intention buddy and support each other once a week in moving toward your intentions.