Intention & Mantras: What are they all about?!?

Have you ever been asked to set an intention, to sit down and focus on "a word or a mantra" that can support you in the moment or through a practice? I know for me this can sometimes be challenging, intimidating and even overwhelming. 

​What I have found helpful is understanding more about what intention really is, and how mantras are also connected into intentions. Lets first define intention and mantra to understand these two different words, and how they may impact you:  

• Intention is the overarching aim of how you want to feel in your practice. It’s the broader focus of what you are looking to develop and pull forward in yourself. It can be an emotion, a feeling, a quality, a goal.
• A mantra is a word, sound, or phrase you repeat. A mantra is often taking your intention and using it as a single word or forming it into either an affirmation or phrase and repeating it to yourself.​

To simplify even more: An intention is the overall feeling (the goal of what you are wanting to cultivate), while the mantra is what you repeat to get yourself there.

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So how do you go about setting an intention for your day? for your practice? for your year?
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I find this helpful:

• ​Taking some deep inhales and exhales ​
• ​Asking myself: What do I need right now? How do I want to feel? What's a word that is meaningful to me in this moment?
• ​I may also ask myself... What do I need to release? Why am I here? What is not serving me? What is limiting me, and how can I alter this? 
• ​From here I may choose a word, or even a few words that support my feelings. ​​

It may not be easy, but let it come with ease; there is no right or wrong, and some of my intentions serve me through days, weeks, months - and some serve me for a practice and in the moment. Try to let go of "perfection" and finding the "right" intention. Noting how you feel and what you might need, will bring you to your intention for that moment.

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So - how does an intention turn into a mantra? 
​Today my intention was around grounding and integrity. I have set the intention, and I have identified how I want to feel. Knowing that these are my intentions, I can turn it into a mantra: "I am Grounded. I am Living in Integrity." 
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When we take the time to ask ourselves what we need, we identify an area we want to cultivate. We start to honour this quality (which we already have inside of us, we just need to bring forward). And then at some point, we feel we are embodying it. We then choose to release it and start the process all over again.

Setting intentions is a powerful thing, and can be done in all types of situations to empower you and support a lifestyle that incorporates mindful living. I like to create an intention for my year vs. "resolutions". This supports me in connecting back to my intention, my mantra, and how I want to feel through the year. 

​As we start 2018, notice what your intention might be for this year - feel free to share in the comments, or with us in our Yoga for Real Life group! ​​

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Written By: Sarah Memme
Definitions from: Yoga Journal