Want to Get Out of Your Grand Canyon of Old Habits? Try Intention

Having a good intention to make some kind of change in your life succeeds only when your heart, mind, and soul are on the same axis and settle into your being. So, how best to “set” that intention?

“Spending a little bit of time to think about it, write it, envision it, breath it, draw it, and speak it,” says Ranch Instructor Jill Thiry, “essentially ensures that you will bring it into your choices for the week, and leave with it “in your mind, body and soul” days later.” Jill leads the Intention Meditation Walk at Rancho La Puerta. During this silent and beautiful journey, you meditate on your intention as you slowly make your way along paths and trails, surrounded by the gardens and hills at The Ranch.

In Jill’s program, we soon learned that setting an intention does not necessarily need a beautiful setting.

“Spending a few minutes at the beginning of your week to set an intention can accelerate and almost guarantee change” says Jill. “It took me 4-5 years of coming to The Ranch and ‘doing the [exercise] things I always did at home,’ which was great for my body, but not as highly transformational for my mind or spirit. When I found the non-sweaty, huffy-puffy classes, the quiet meditative moments, the labyrinth walk—the stuff I had never considered experiencing at first—all served to help me get out of my deep Grand Canyon of old habits, and I began to water a little rivulet of change. Real change.”

Start with small, achievable steps. For example, her Intention Meditation Walk was a great way to start the adventure. I let my intention lead me where I needed to be. Jill’s support and encouragement both focused our attention and literally took us back to where we started our walk. We were changed.

Setting an intention is a kind way to pave the way for change in your life. It can be your guiding principle for the day and help you stay focused. Heart-centered intentions align with your values: they manifest those values into your everyday world and bring clarity and balance to your life.

Sometimes an intention can completely shift your life’s direction and point you to a new path you didn’t know existed. Go ahead. Climb out of your canyons…with intention!