Two Essential Ingredients For Meaningful Personal Transformation

Attention and Intention:

2 Powerful & Extremely Potent Elements for Personal Transformation

INTENTION
Mind-body therapies and practices employ two complimentary processes: top-down processes and bottom-up processes.

Top-down processes begin in the mind and include honing one's attention and setting of one's intention.

Research has shown that regulating attention and setting an intention contribute to decreased psychological stress.

Regulating attention and setting an intention also impacts body systems, hypothalamus-pituitary axis and sympathetic nervous system activity, which modulate immune function and inflammation. Top-down processes are starting with the mind to influence well-being in both body and mind.

Bottom-up processes begin in the body. Bottom-up processes include breathing techniques and movement practices, which influence the musculoskeletal, cardiovascular and nervous systems, hypothalamus-pituitary axis and sympathetic nervous system activity, which create positive changes in immune function and emotional well-being. Bottom-up processes starting with the body to influence well-being in both body and mind.

Eudaimonic Well-Being

Eudaimonia represents a state of human flourishing or sense of well-being that is non-transitory and is often connected to a sense of meaning, purpose, or self-realization.

The quick and simple exercise set forth below integrates both top-down and bottom-up processes which, when practiced regularly, promote the emergence of transformations in eudaimonic well-being (eudaimonia).

Attention

Paying attention to your breath, body, and intention is an act of generosity toward your self. Give yourself and your goals the devoted time and attention they deserve to stoke and sustain the process of personal transformation.

An Exercise of Attention and Intention

The following breathing and attention setting technique facilitates an underlying sense of connection, calm, and purpose.

1. Begin mindfully breathing in and out to a count of four.

As you inhale you will be inhaling courage and as you exhale you will be cleansing your mind of fear and doubt. 

Continue this breathing for one minute. As you inhale, say aloud the word "Courage" and as you exhale say aloud the word "Doubt". This anchors the body and mind in the moment.

As you inhale courage and exhale doubt, you are cultivating a sense of agency (the feeling of authorship over one’s intentional actions and their external
consequences).  

2.  Set an intention

Setting an intention moves you from living through things as they happen to you to deciding how you seek to experience your life.

Identify your desire and the feeling that underlies the desire. For example, the intention to engage in a certain kind of work may be rooted in the feeling of living with purpose. Intentions establish how you seek to be in the world. Once you have your intention, you will be able to map the path of your intention toward incremental goals that lead to the realization of your intention. Following with the living with purpose intention, goals might include researching work opportunities, updating your resume, having lunch with someone who is actively engaged in the work in order to learn and make connections, looking for volunteer opportunities to get your foot in the door etc.

3. Notice if you have any limiting beliefs that could impede your progress in realizing your intention.

4. Return to mindfully breathing in and out to a count of four.

As you inhale you will be inhaling your intention and as you exhale you will let go of limiting beliefs (i.e. I never follow through on anything).

Continue this breathing for one minute. As you inhale, say aloud your intention and as you exhale let go of the limiting beliefs. This anchors the body and mind in transformation.

5. Look for examples in your life that support your intention and counter limiting beliefs. For example, remembering a time in the past where you sought to and acted with purpose. This will reinforce your intention mentally with examples from your life.

6. Trust that your intention is working behind the scenes as you go through your day enabling you to bring your desires to life.