Day 90 of 365 - Resuming Routines With Intention
For most, the holidays and vacation is finished. It's time to get back in the saddle of our day to day routines. For me today, that meant getting back to my fitness classes. Our Pilates class resumed this morning. After a break of a couple of weeks, my body surely feels the additional work it had to do to keep up with the instructions this morning. But, it is always worthwhile and I really appreciate the ongoing benefits of what I have learned. This evening I'll return to my Yoga Tune Up class and tomorrow morning to my NIA dance class.
Part way through my Pilates class, as I struggled to get my body to cooperate with the exercise, it came to me that perhaps I could think differently about it. Yes, Pilates is challenging work, but do I need to feel like I'm dominating my body's weak tendencies and habits? This harkens back to my tiny tendency to want to be in control. :)
Pondering more on this later, in relation to my mention in yesterday's post about approaching this year by being kinder to myself, asking what would make me happy or feel good, I sought some guidance for shifting my attitude. Sitting in front of my bookcase of personal development books, I was drawn to take two out. The first was Simple Abundance, A Daybook of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach. The title of her January 2 entry is Loving the Questions, in which she refers to 'living the questions' and being patiently open to change.
My mind and ego want to do research and find answers that I can implement NOW to create change. Hah! That's a recipe for frustration and dissatisfaction, because life is a process of flow and possibility, of puzzle pieces falling into place one by one, seldom all at once.
The other book which caught my attention was Wayne Dyer's, The Power of Intention. In the section I skimmed he reminded me that a different way of understanding intention, rather than being a force of will, is to consider it as a universal field of possibility which we all can access. It's something we can be open to, and then be aware of the guidance that comes our way, in the form of synchronicity. It will collaborate with life circumstances to provide what we need.
What the heck does this have to do with my fitness classes, you may be wondering? Well, when we resume our routines after a break, our previous habits and ways of doing things will jump right back into the saddle with us, unless we shift our intention. Personally, I'm kind of tired of feeling like I'm fighting against my body to get it to be the way I'd like it to be, and thinking sometimes of my classes as vehicles for wrestling control of it.
So, I know I want to shift my attitude towards my body and my classes, to something kinder and gentler. And, though I may not have the answer yet to how that will show up for me in my classes, I can at least set an intention to having that kinder attitude, and be open to what presents itself to me. For now, that will be my way of living the question and trusting that life will provide direction.
If we want something in life to be different, we need to change our typical patterns of behavior. If we do what we've always done, we'll get what we've always gotten. By using imagination, questioning and intention instead of sheer force of will, which tends to peter out, perhaps we can have a more satisfying experience. That's my hope and intention anyway.
Part way through my Pilates class, as I struggled to get my body to cooperate with the exercise, it came to me that perhaps I could think differently about it. Yes, Pilates is challenging work, but do I need to feel like I'm dominating my body's weak tendencies and habits? This harkens back to my tiny tendency to want to be in control. :)
Pondering more on this later, in relation to my mention in yesterday's post about approaching this year by being kinder to myself, asking what would make me happy or feel good, I sought some guidance for shifting my attitude. Sitting in front of my bookcase of personal development books, I was drawn to take two out. The first was Simple Abundance, A Daybook of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach. The title of her January 2 entry is Loving the Questions, in which she refers to 'living the questions' and being patiently open to change.
My mind and ego want to do research and find answers that I can implement NOW to create change. Hah! That's a recipe for frustration and dissatisfaction, because life is a process of flow and possibility, of puzzle pieces falling into place one by one, seldom all at once.
The other book which caught my attention was Wayne Dyer's, The Power of Intention. In the section I skimmed he reminded me that a different way of understanding intention, rather than being a force of will, is to consider it as a universal field of possibility which we all can access. It's something we can be open to, and then be aware of the guidance that comes our way, in the form of synchronicity. It will collaborate with life circumstances to provide what we need.
What the heck does this have to do with my fitness classes, you may be wondering? Well, when we resume our routines after a break, our previous habits and ways of doing things will jump right back into the saddle with us, unless we shift our intention. Personally, I'm kind of tired of feeling like I'm fighting against my body to get it to be the way I'd like it to be, and thinking sometimes of my classes as vehicles for wrestling control of it.
So, I know I want to shift my attitude towards my body and my classes, to something kinder and gentler. And, though I may not have the answer yet to how that will show up for me in my classes, I can at least set an intention to having that kinder attitude, and be open to what presents itself to me. For now, that will be my way of living the question and trusting that life will provide direction.
If we want something in life to be different, we need to change our typical patterns of behavior. If we do what we've always done, we'll get what we've always gotten. By using imagination, questioning and intention instead of sheer force of will, which tends to peter out, perhaps we can have a more satisfying experience. That's my hope and intention anyway.
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