Good Intentions

When I first started studying BodyTalk, I was intrigued by the idea that a BodyTalk practitioner was asked not to set any sort of intention for the session, but simply pay attention. It was emphasized that "[w]hen you proceed with intent, you are proceeding toward a goal with bias and expectations derived from past training and experiences."^[1] This was in such contrast to much of the alternative healing world, where intentions are constantly set, clarified, and focused-on. So, naturally, it got me thinking...

Let's start with the premise that everything that happens is in one's best interest. (If you don't follow me on that one, it's a whole other blog post). In that case, why would you ever need to set an intention at all? If everything is all in God's perfect order, then there is absolutely no reason to set intention - at least, no reason to set intention about outcome.

I think we have to come down to a bit of a redefinition of intention, and it's different varieties. First of all, there's the kind of intention that describes an outcome.

• I intend to make a million dollars.
• I intend to have healthy lungs.
• I intend to start my own business.

These intentions aren't really intentions, they're goals. Now, there's absolutely nothing wrong with goals, but whether or not you achieve them is not ultimately under your full control, even though it can seem like it is. These outcomes are all wonderful things, but you will only experience the outcomes if they are truly in your highest and best interest. If you are strongly attached to the possible outcomes, you might find it rather painful if you don't get what you want.

What other kind of intentions are there? I suppose you could intend to have "better" emotions or thoughts.

• I intend to feel happy.
• I intend to feel enthusiastic about my diet.
• I intend to think positive thoughts about my job.

Now, I'll certainly admit that we appear to have a great deal more "control" over our emotions, and even more over our thoughts, than we do over physical outcomes. And while working to "improve" our thoughts and feelings is a wonderful leap in consciousness from just plainly being miserable about everything that happens in our lives, what happens when we look even deeper? What if even our thoughts and emotions are just Divinely perfect as they are? What if, in intending to change our thoughts and feelings, we are missing the opportunity to accept them as they are? At that level, you might say that these mental/emotional intentions are also outcome intentions.

This is where I was left wondering if intention had any true purpose at all? If you take away outcomes, whether physical, emotional or mental, what do you have left? Well, I think what's left are qualities of the soul or spirit. I'm talking about things like love, patience, kindness, attentiveness, hope, strength, faith, and peace, among many others. These are things that you do not do or feel, but things that you are. I mean that you already naturally carry all of these qualities, so the intention is not necessarily to become these things, but to bring them into practice in your life. If you're wondering about the difference between a soul quality and a feeling, try pairing the thing in question with what you know to be an "opposite" feeling and see if what you get is mixed feelings or independent things. Can I be angry and happy? I would call that having mixed feelings. Can you be angry and patient? It may not be easy, but it's absolutely possible. It isn't an exact test, but it might be helpful.

I'm not saying that intending to embody these soul qualities will instantly turn you into a different person. Intentions just give an indication to your unconscious mind as to what you would like, and the unconscious weighs that with it's previous requests to choose your reactions. In other words, it takes some practice. But if you focus your intentions on these soul qualities, you're focusing on the things you actually have some influence over and helping the process of you becoming your true self. By setting good intentions, you're opening the door for your true self to come through.

[1] Dr. John Veltheim and Sylvia Muiznieks, BodyTalk Fundamentals. 8th ed. Sarasota, FL: PaRama LLC, 2011, 51

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