Attention & Intention

Happy Monday! Last week I only taught one class before I drove back to North Carolina with my daughter to move her into her house for her last year at college. I was keenly aware of how fleeting the time with her is; realizing that there is likely one more drive home to Florida after graduation and then she will begin her new post college life. I really focused on the two most important elements of mindfulness during our time together and in preparation for the trip I had shared them in my class as my message last week as well. 

Yoga on the mat and mindfulness off the mat boils down to two principles… ATTENTION & INTENTION.  Being present and being intentional. It sounds simple enough but in practice it can be very challenging. As I often remind you all here; whatever we practice we get better at. If we practice scattered thoughts, we get better at those. If we practice moving through life in a bit of a trance of reactivity, well we get better at that too. 

Both our practice on the mat and off helps to train our minds to stay focused on the moment, touch all the emotions that live there and then make mindful choices from there. This is actually why I created the KLARITY Mindsette mindfulness program. Because mindful decision making is the key to happiness and we can’t make mindful decisions without paying true attention. It is a gift to fully practice. I felt it last week in the precious time with my daughter, and this morning when hugging my son goodbye as he starts his first day of his senior year of high school.  It is both the small moments and the big ones that deserve this powerful combination of ATTENTION and INTENTION and the practice brings it all together.