Spectrum of Intention
Happy Canada Day—159 years young! With recent rains in Alberta, we have been fortunate to revel in glorious rainbows… even double rainbows… sometimes entire arcs across the prairie and foothill skies. It is always a wonder how tiny droplets of water can refract sunlight into its constituent parts, offering insights into its complexity. Considering this also brought me into pondering the complexity of our intentions: “I will do xyz…”. Have you ever considered how one simple task can be performed in such a variety of ways… in as many ways as there are people to perform that task?! It creates a fluid spectrum.
Let’s delve a bit deeper into your own somatic spectrum of intention. Let’s use a movement example: dancing at your daughter or son’s wedding. (Even if you don’t relate to this, continue to read and sense what occurs in your body… we are looking at the subtleties.) I’m guessing your grand intention is to ‘get the steps correct’ and have a bit of grace. So with that you have taken some lessons, listened to the music numerous times and have practiced. The wedding day arrives and the father-daughter dance is about to begin, followed by the parents’ dance. What happens in your body moments before the music starts? (A) You are nervous and really want to do well. So you focus really hard…but oops! how does the dance start? Okay…you started but you are anxious and seem to lose track of the little transitions… feel what is happening in your tissues, are you breathing? Ugh… oh hey…guess it was okay…but… can’t really remember anything… it was a time warp.(B) You are nervous and will do your best, after all, you have practiced and you are here to enjoy the moment. Feel what is happening in your body…notice your breath…so you dance, maybe a few missteps, but you go with the flow and … ah it’s over, too bad…wish it had been longer….and wasn’t that lovely? I’m guessing that these two descriptions offer an insight into our spectrum of intentions. Both A and B were ‘successful’ in intention and both are completely acceptable! One way will offer more ease, another more challenge. (Yes I offered the polar opposites for clarity of example… a spectrum of variation always exists.) Version A illustrates what happens when our intention becomes condensed, narrow and perhaps forced. Our tissues begin to close, become strained, maybe you found your breath become more shallow. Did you notice how your mind felt? Did you feel tension in your body? Version B offers insights into how our intention can still be there but in a more open, expansive and fluid way. In this, our tissues can remain more generous in ability to take in and to offer to others and ourselves. Our breath can be deeper, more voluminous and of course this allows our minds to stay more calm and receptive. In our embryological development, we are primarily fluid before ‘form’ appears…really sensing into our fluidity will allow us to be in a place of responsive intention…without moving into tension. Let’s explore:
Refracting Intention(~ 10-20 minutes or more)
- Consider a movement* that is new to you (or it could be anything*)
- Before you begin: notice your breath, your ability to yield to gravity, notice any ‘holding’ in your body. If you feel any apprehension, can you pause, breathe deeply, and let your body relax a bit more? (this pausing and breathing allows your tissues to expand, open, access your fluidity)
- As you explore the movement* try to sense when you become more condensed. If you feel yourself closing, pause to feel fluid movements in your body: this could be your arterial pulse, your CSF rhythm, your endocrine system, your digestive juices, and so on. Allow the fluids of your body to inform your mind… so that you can soften your intention, without losing it, and without hardening into tension.
- After your movement* allow your current body-mind state to inform your journalling or colouring or drawing… What appears may reveal a …. Spectrum of sorts!
