Inspiration Series - Month Four

Years ago, when I was a student at the Barbara Brennan School of Healing, I was introduced to the concept of effortless intention. It was an incredibly appealing concept. I understood effortless intention to be a state of being in complete harmony with your core essence, with clarity about who you really are and a grounded sense of feeling empowered to create a life you love. Manifesting what you want happens with ease through effortless intention. I said a big “Yes!” to that and couldn’t wait to experience it.

The deep appeal of effortless intention surfaced again in 2011 when I discovered Divine Openings, which is all about ease and grace. I heard Lola Jones telling us to let our intentions be as light as the touch of a gnat’s wing. That’s pretty light, wouldn’t you say? Almost effortless. Once again I said a big “Yes!” Who wouldn’t?

You’ve no doubt experienced times in your life that flowed from effortless intention – times when things came together with ease, when synchronicities delighted you with their uncanny timing and you had all the support you needed, when you needed it. Times when things simply lined up and opportunities and miracles were in abundant supply. Times when you just knew you were on your right path. Times when you felt blessed.

You may not have known at the time that, while you were indeed blessed, you weren’t merely lucky. You created that effortless flow through the grace and power of your intentions, unobstructed by cross-currents of doubt, judgment or any other kind of unhelpful mental wrangling. You stayed out of your own way and gave the goodness of Life full access to your life.

And you can do that now. In last month’s post I wrote about the importance of focusing your thoughts and attention in ways that support rather than diminish you, which is essential to staying in the flow of your own life, created by the power of your own intentions. This month I want to give you another way to get in that flow that has less to do with thinking and more to do with feeling. It’s simple, direct and elegant, and I think you’re going to like it.

But first, a little background. Several years ago I was in a very non-flowy place in my life. I had just received a call with an offer I needed to make a decision about quickly, and it was something very important to me. To say I was engaged in unhelpful mental wrangling would be quite an understatement. The more I entangled myself in my silent debate, the more anxious I felt. But rather than attempting to shift my thoughts to a less diminishing and more empowering place, I reminded myself that I couldn’t wrestle my way to a peaceful decision. I would have to slow down and listen for inner guidance.

Before I could do that, I needed to call a time-out to my runaway thoughts. So I consciously brought my attention to my body, making sure I was grounded and as relaxed as I could be. I moved slowly and mindfully, keeping my attention absorbed in the sensory experience of fixing my breakfast. I deepened my breathing, gently.

As my mind quieted, I sensed a shift taking place. I was still in my kitchen, yet I was also “in” what felt like a velvet field of energy, as soft as the wings of a dove. I had the sense of being held, yet I had total freedom of movement. Every move was supported. It was an incredible feeling, and I opened to it as fully as I could.

It was the feeling of trust – trust in the inherent goodness of Life and in my worthiness to receive it. My mind became still. I felt completely safe and vibrantly alive.

And then the decision I needed to make was crystal clear. No mental wrangling was necessary. It was simply…my truth, arising from what I knew I wanted in my heart of hearts. What I wanted mattered. In that moment of clarity, I realized I was in the field of effortless intention, because what we want is the very heart of intention. We would never consciously intend anything if we didn’t want it.

Intention is a powerful creative force. It is a distinct, and distinctly purposeful, dimension of our human experience. It has an energetic reality of its own, beyond thought and emotion, which serves as the bridge between the unmanifest and manifest worlds. Because it has a vibrational reality, it can be sensed directly, as I did that morning in my kitchen and many times since.

All that is needed to sense it is – paradoxically – an intention to do so, along with a relaxed body and mind and a willingness to explore. Experiencing the felt sense of your own intention, beyond mental concepts, helps you shift from believing yourself to be powerfully creative and lovingly supported, to actually knowing it. Hanging out in the velvet field strengthens and stabilizes your overall vibration, bringing it into greater harmony with your heartfelt intentions.

Try it! Get relaxed, quiet your mind, and let your imagination take you there. Imagine how it feels to know in your bones that what you want matters, and that the universe is designed to support you in bringing what you want into manifested reality. Imagine knowing that, no matter which way you move, you cannot fall and you cannot fail. Your every move is supported. No matter how many turns you take, you can always find the way back to your true north. Breathe gently and sense the feeling of this deep inner knowing. Relax into it as much as you can…

You are loved. You are held. You are fully supported. Allow the grace and power of your own intentions take you where you want to go.