Why I don’t set intentions
The Spiritual Mainstream is awash with the idea of setting intentions and using affirmations. It is almost impossible to find a sound bath, retreat, yoga class, or any healing modality where we are not invited to set an intention for whatever event we have been drawn to.
To be clear, I hold no judgement for anyone who takes part in setting an intention for themselves, or utilising affirmations. This post is about why I don’t use them, and to encourage the idea of questioning ‘doing what we have always done’ or going along with the mainstream idea because it’s ‘just what we do’ at the start of any practice. I would gently encourage holding an open mind if you feel to read on, and maybe pause to consider why you may be using intentions and affirmations in your own life, if that’s a practice you currently undertake.
So let me dive straight in with the reasons why I don’t use these practices…
Lack
By setting an intention of how we want the event to unfold, we are coming from a very subtle place of lack, even if we don’t realise this is the case. The same goes when we use affirmations, including ‘I am’ affirmations such as ‘I am abundant’. We are effectively telling ourselves that in using these words that we are not in fact abundant. The very subtle sense of lack is very hard to notice, especially when the Spiritual Mainstream continually enforces that affirmations and intentions can change your life and bring you everything you desire. Next time you use an affirmation like this one, maybe try tuning in to your body and notice if you feel any tension or tightness in a particular chakra point. If you do, what might it be reflecting to you?
Investment in the outcome
By intentioning a particular outcome, we are then fully invested in that outcome. If things ‘go wrong’, we may feel a range of emotions including disappointment, anger, and self-doubt, to name a few. When you have intentioned something and it didn’t work out in the way you have envisaged, how did you feel inside?
The bubble state
Spiritual Mainstream does not explain what happens to the being when we set an intention or use affirmations but we effectively create a ‘3D Bubble state’. Imagine a flowing river and the intention as a dam that is suddenly put in place in the middle of the river. The dam prevents the flow of the river, but it is a temporary dam and will, inevitably, burst. We may be able to create our reality for a time but at some point, the bubble we created is going to burst.
The flow of the soul
Using the river analogy again but taking it further, and seeing the flowing river as the free-flowing soul. The soul doesn’t need to set an intention. It doesn’t need or want a dam preventing it from flowing - the soul wants to flow freely all of the time. By setting intentions, we constrict the soul from its natural state of being: free-flowing.
The ego and identity layers
We all have layers of identity plastered over the soul. It can be hard to hear our own soul due to our years of ‘programming’ from our upbringing, our social circles, relationships, school and work lives but it is always, constantly, trying to forge through via the chakras (this is why chakra cleansing meditations are so important).
So, if the soul doesn’t want or need affirmations or intentions, which part of us is wanting or needing to set an intention to create an outcome? Which part of us is invested in the outcome?
The soul wants only to flow freely so it can only be our ego/identity that is wanting to create an outcome.
So if we know it’s some subtle layer of identity that feels the need to set an intention and create a specific outcome, which is not in the flow of the soul, what can we do about it?
Identifying or just noticing that we think we may have a layer of identity, such as a subtle spiritual identity for example, is the first step to be able let go of ego and identity, and to come from the soul all of the time.
In my own knowing and experience, identity layers can be so deeply entrenched into our psyche that it may feel very uncomfortable and even scary to work with them. The idea of letting go ‘a part of ourselves’ can be terrifying as that identity will have likely kept us from perceived harm.
But this programming is not who we are. We are eternal beings and we are not an identity. In my knowing, we are individual souls, fractals of the Flower of Life which is constantly creating magic. Why would we want to supress the magic of the Flower of Life for a ‘quick fix’?
What if we didn’t set an intention next time we were invited to? What if we allowed the flow of the soul to happen instead? What magic might the soul co-create with the universe?
I can’t wait to find out!
The viewpoint shred here is exactly that - a viewpoint - but it doesn’t come from an opinion via a layer of identity, instead it comes from a careful examination of the subject and how I feel in relation to it. We can only depend on our own feelings and inner guidance.
I would encourage anyone who had read this far to feel into what it feels like internally, if and when you choose to set an intention, and to feel into what I have shared above, and whether it resonates with you or not.
I’m not here to tell you what to think, what to believe, or what spiritual practices you should or shouldn’t adopt, but I would encourage your own personal exploration of how these practices feel for you.
Change can feel daunting but if there’s an unconscious practice that no longer feels good or right on some level, maybe it’s time to consider whether we want to continue it or not.
If you resonate with what I have shared, and would like to delve into this subject on a deeper level, I offer spiritual facilitation sessions where the root of identity layers may be discovered and worked with. Get in touch in you’d like to explore.
With love
Nikki
