Let’s set our intention for the week!

I always start my yoga classes by setting an intention for my practice. To make it simple, an intention is is a guiding principle for how you want to live, and a way to bring heart and mind into alignment.

Some times I chose mindfulness, especially on Friday when the kids have used all my stock of patience. I would start my practice with this quality in mind, spending more time on my adjustments, breathing consciously. Every asana will be done mindfully, and the same flow would have felt very different had I chosen strength. This is one of the things I love about yoga: being fully in the practice notably by setting your intention and living according to it. On and off the mat.

Today I chose goodness.

Ahimsa is one of the cardinal vertus of Yogis. It is commonly translated to mean non-harming or non-violence, sometimes even compassion, both towards oneself and towards others. Goodness to me goes one step further. It’s wishing good, and doing good.

Sounds hard to practice? Here is a little meditation technique I am using with my 6 years old daughter. It’s called “Change the Channel” (from the excellent book Yoga for Children from Lisa Flynn). Want to try?

Can you remember a time when you found yourself acting or feeling negatively? Perhaps you had a morning when everything that could go wrong, did. Or maybe someone hurt your feelings?Try to recall now what you chose to do. Sulk? lash out? complain to anyone who would listen? if you did act negatively, how did you feel? what is helpful or harmful?

“Did you know that we have a choice abut how we react to a bad situation? We have the power to change OUR channel when we don’t like our behaviour or attitude, just like we change the channel on the TV when we don’t like what is on. Let’s try.

Imagine you are waiting in line for the bus and someone bumps into you, causing you to drop your back into a puddle. Naturally you might feel yourself start to become angry. Byt then you remember you can choose how to react by simply changing your channel. Rather than lashing out, use your yoga tools and pause instead to take a deep breath. Of course you are not happy that you bag is wet. But instead you have chosen to turn a channel of forgiveness rather than anger. Notice how you feel …”

Not sure  if I’ll ever be that zen soon but I still love the exercise – getting used to changing our channel. Zapping from angriness to goodness.

For now I’ll stuck to Plot Goodness. It is positive enough and I believe it can evolve in the short term.

How about you? What is your intention for the week?

Wishing you all a Beautiful one ❤

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