Sparkle Revolution Newsletter

Setting intentions can be an extremely powerful practice. In my experience, there are two ways to set intentions. One is more of a goal, when there is a specific thing you know you want to achieve, and so you set an intention to do that thing. Something like “I intend to call my mom today,” or “I intend to take a walk today.” There is another, more subtle type of intention setting that I want to talk about in this article. This second type of intention involves the idea that you are manifesting your reality, and so you can use your conscious intention to create a certain reality (even if you don’t know exactly how you will achieve it).

Here is an example. When you are going to bed at night, but finding you can’t fall asleep, you can begin to say to yourself things like “I intend to fall asleep quickly and easily,” or “I intend to sleep restfully and wake up refreshed.” These things may feel out of your control in that moment, but when you set intentions like this, you are opening yourself up to the possibility, freeing your mind to believe these things could be possible, and telling the Universe (or God, your higher self, or whatever word you’re comfortable with) that you are open to receiving this experience.

Another example of this type of intention is to start your day with an intention of how you want to feel. So instead of (or in addition to) setting the specific goals of things you want to do, think about how you want to feel and repeat this intention with conviction as you are starting your day. Do you want to feel peaceful? Excited? Joyful? Productive? Doing this on a daily basis can really help you guide the course of your day right from the beginning, rather than falling into your programmed patterns and simply reacting to things that happen during your day.

I’ve also found this practice can be helpful when you are feeling a strong negative emotion of some sort. Let’s say someone hurt you in some way and you are very angry at them. While it might not immediately be accessible to you to feel forgiveness and love, you can perhaps tell yourself that you intend to get through the anger, that you intend to look for a way to forgive, etc. Again, this is stating to the Universe that while you aren’t there yet, you know you want to move toward a place of love and more positive feelings.

Often when you practice setting intentions like this, you will begin to receive ideas that help you move toward your goal. Again, since you are telling the Universe what you intend to experience, this may open the door for you to figure out how to move forward toward what you desire. You can try setting an intention in this way, really focusing on the intention, and quietly listening to any guidance that comes up.