Originally posted on Facebook HERE
Two things on my mind today – intention and teachers. As for intention, it’s on my mind because for years I’ve wanted to start a daily yoga routine. For years – like maybe twenty years now, but certainly over ten. Never did it. It was just one of the things on my someday shelf that never got pulled out and really examined. Four years ago I mentioned that I was looking for a personal yoga instructor on Facebook and got all kinds of people referred to me. Didn’t do anything. Then, earlier this year, before the virus hit, I connected with one of the people who was referred to me four years ago for the thing I’ve been thinking about doing for over ten years and we set up a time and date to start personal instruction on a weekly basis. So now I was doing yoga once a week anyway – way over my ten year average of zero. I had her put together a fifteen minute daily routine I could do at home, and my initial goal was to do that twice a week minimum. Well, I was pretty wishy-washy about it. Then, after the virus hit, everything started to get shut down including the gym. I know how my mind works – I’m totally obsessive/compulsive. Half-hearted “I would kinda like to do this a couple times a week” goals pretty much never work for me. So I set a new intention: I will do 15+ minutes of yoga every day. I also added that I will run 2+ miles every day as well. That was on May 2nd and I haven’t missed a day. Why? How could I finally go from wanting to do this for years and years to weekly to daily and actually sticking with it? Intention. In the past, I wanted to do it – but I didn’t really intend to do it. Now it’s part of my routine – and on top of that, I have a streak going. My competitive nature won’t let me break a streak for nothing. I’m doing yoga and running every day, that is my intention. Forever? Right now, yes – that is my intention, but really – all we have is today. The one really small change I’ve made that has made the most difference here is I set my mat out as soon as I get up. It’s one of the first things I do. The mat is on the floor. I am going to do yoga and it’s there ready to go, so – once again, the OCD kicks in and just says “we gotta do this now”. And I now have a new routine. A big part of it also has to do with getting the right teacher at the right time, though. My current instructor is from Elevated Yoga in Beaver Dam, WI. Without her guidance I wouldn’t have really known where to start. She’s fantastic. And it got me thinking about the other teachers I’ve found in the past year as well, all because I set new intentions. My intention to become a better bass player this year and work on a couple techniques I’m not that great at led me to Stinnett Music and they’re instructional books – the best I’ve ever seen. My intention to become a better singer this year reconnected me with my old friend Janet Planet as well. What a great instructor she is. And my renewed focus on overall heath has led me to Andrea Russell, who I start working with next month. None of this would have happened without first setting the intention – not the wish or hope – the intention that I was going to do it, whatever it was – yoga, bass playing, singing, nutrition… and then, like magic once I was committed these fantastic teachers appeared. They were always there, too – but I needed to set the intention to move forward before I could actually see them. Are there a few things rolling around in the back of your head that you’ve wanted to maybe someday get to but never did?… what better time than right now to pull one out and set a new intention? A good intention can change your life going forward. But it never will if it isn’t set. You can’t hit a target you never hung on the wall.
