If you could choose how you wanted to feel, what would it be? Happy? Energized?

If you could choose the direction your life was heading in, what would it be? To finally take the Yoga Teacher Training? To travel more this year?

We all live busy lives. And before we know it, a month or year has passed and we have no idea what has even happened in that time frame because we are constantly on the go.

Well, my sweet friends, welcome to the power of intention. Setting intentions gives you a compass of where you want to go or how you want to feel. In the present moment. Simply by bringing awareness to what you want can send everything in the direction toward that intention. And this is when the magic happens. You start to live the life you always dream of. And it’s time to start now.

Like right now.

Can I get a heck yes?!?

The best part is that it is really simple to do. I make it really easy at the end of this post!

In yoga, we set intentions at the beginning of practice to encourage how we want to feel, at that moment (This is different than dedicating your practice, which also can serve you greatly, that is another day). By setting an intention on your yoga mat, you are giving your brain direction on where to go throughout your practice. And that intention can stick with you well after your practice ends if you want it to. You have the choice to apply whatever feel-good feeling you set for yourself in your life at home.

For example, you set an intention in yoga to feel calm and renewed. If you want to feel this way, how do you think you will approach your yoga practice? My guess is you will take your time to move through the postures and will let go of negative thoughts and focus on the good that is happening.

After class, you’re driving home and you feel at ease and happy from your practice. And then, your boss emails you with something urgent and needs a response asap. How can a calm and renewed intention serve you in this moment? You have the choice of how you want to react. If you want to maintain that state of calm, I bet you take a deep breath and tackle that urgent email with grace and a kick-ass response vs being frantic and inviting stress in.

Intentions are your “why”. They are your guide to how you want to feel and where you want to go in life.

So we are crystal clear, intentions are not goals. These are often mixed up and they can be related to one another, but they are very different things.

Here is an example.

Intention: I intend to feel healthy.

Goal: I will buy most of my groceries from the produce section.

Recap: You buy produce at the grocery store. Why? To feel healthy.

Let’s unpack that a bit more.

Intentions vs Goals

  • Intentions are the why and goals are the how.
  • Intentions are our motivation and goals are desired outcomes.
  • Intentions are a feeling or an emotion and goals are tangible, and often measurable.
  • Intentions give power in the present and goals are more focused in the future.

See the difference?

Now I love myself some goals. And intentions very well may spark some goal-setting for you, and that’s great! But I need to stress that we need to start approaching goals with our intentions. It can be very easy to set goals because we feel we are lacking or what we have isn’t enough. Read more about why you should change that mindset here.

Intentions are powerful because they propel you towards actions to accomplish what you are setting out to do. It’s like turning the key to your car ignition, it just starts everything up how it should.

So let’s do this already!

How to set intentions

  • Start from a place of gratitude. Acknowledge the abundance you already have. You have the ability to read this right now, you have people in your life that support you. Resist the urge to empower the feeling of scarcity. That serves no one.
  • Let go of outside expectations and voices. What do YOU want? How do YOU want to feel? It’s not what your partner wants or your parents or your friends. Just you. To help you get started, I like to ask myself this: What will make you smile as your head hits the pillow at night?
  • Keep it simple. And I’m talking to you ladies, do not over think it.
  • Determine what your intentions are for. You can set daily intentions, hourly intentions, or a lifetime’s worth. You decide what feels right.
  • For really big intentions or long-term ones, I encourage you to write it down. It can be as simple as writing them in your journal, in your notes app, or the classic post-it on your bathroom mirror.
  • Insider Tip: Write them in the present tense. “I am healthy inside and out.” We’re yogis remember, we like being present.

I have a fun way that I personally set my intentions and I’m sharing it with you. And I am not kidding when I say it works. I’ve proven it to myself!

I write my intentions down via email. A few new year’s ago, I wrote myself an email for my intentions for the upcoming year. I told myself I could read it at the end of that year to see what had happened, and how my year had progressed. I created a new folder in my inbox to save it in and I saw that unread message every time I opened my email. I knew that loving intentions were inside, encouraging me to keep at it.

One year later, when I read the email, my jaw was on the floor re-reading what I had written. Literally, I had manifested almost everything for myself that I had intended to do. My learning though was I need to read it sooner than a year later. I needed a reminder. I now do this intention setting quarterly to stay on top of my intentions.

It won’t take you long to do this and I promise you will feel amazing after you do it.

Here is my template for writing your intention email.

You have a choice with how you want to feel in life, with what you have and will set out to do.

And it’s simple.

Decide how you want to feel and how you want to live your life.

Prove it to yourself.