“If you treat an individual as he is, he will stay as he is, but if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
What role do you think thoughts play in how your day, week, year, life turn out? Are thoughts just nebulous, harmless wisps that float across your brain pan? Do they have power in and of themselves?
How about intention? Does the intention with which you do something affect the outcome of that action? Let’s say it’s a snowy morning and you notice your elderly neighbor’s walk isn’t shoveled. If you shovel his walk with the intention of wanting to help out a neighbor vs. doing it with the intention of meeting a social obligation that you resent, does it still have the same effect? Can your neighbor, on a subconscious level, sense the difference in intention and perhaps feel gratitude in one case and shame in another, even though no words were spoken?
Likewise, do our thoughts, beliefs, and intentions affect the responses we get from others? If we believe a person we are interacting with is oafish or narrow-minded, does the person respond to the energy of that belief and respond with oafishness or narrow-mindedness? What comes first, the chicken or the egg?
“Scientific experiments have repeatedly shown that thoughts can directly influence the rate of growth in plants, fungi, and bacteria. William Tiller, a physicist at Stanford University, has shown that thoughts can affect electronic instruments.” The Emotion Code.
The importance of intention has been top of mind lately. In my coaching class, we are taught that we need to have “unconditional positive regard” for our client – complete acceptance and support of the client, no matter what she says or does. This is a fundamental pre-requisite of providing “safe space” for people, so that they feel secure in opening up to possibilities and potential.
Intention is also a fundamental part of a bodywork session. Sometimes I will invite my clients to set an intention for the session (if you don’t know where you’re going, how will you get there?!), and I too take a moment to set an intention for the session. Usually my intention is to LISTEN in all the ways I can and to trust my hands. Intention also comes into play with the hands-on work. It may not be possible to actually massage the psoas, which lies deep, deep, deep in the body, alongside the spine, but if, with my mind, I can visualize the layers of the abdomen, see my hands sinking slowly down through the skin, the layers of muscle, the greater omentum, the small intestine, and then see the psoas resting along the back, then perhaps I can influence the psoas with my intention. CranioSacral work is very much about intention. It’s very gentle work, but it can be very impactful through the use of intention, meaning it can cause less trauma to the body in the course of a treatment. As Jill Miller (creator of the Yoga Tune Up® balls) says, “It doesn’t have to hurt to work!”
I am working on being very intentional with my intention. My intention is to bring more fun and enjoyment into daily life instead of having the intention of getting done with a task as quickly as possible so that I can rush on to the next item on my to-do list. Having an intention of curiosity and exploration sounds like a lot more fun than having an intention of speed and productivity. I’m a human being, after all, not a computer!
What intention do you bring to your work, to your life, to your mindset? What beliefs do you have about others that might be affecting your interactions with them? What could shift in your life if you brought an intention of unconditional positive regard into your interactions with others?
Space to be Human Lab
Feel Better and Pay Less
If you are experiencing headaches, neck or back pain, stress and tension-related disorders, TMJ syndrome, or general body pain, CranioSacral Therapy (a gentle full-body treatment that can improve the health of the nervous system) could help you! I am offering unlimited sessions at a $15 discount for the next few months. Please use code “CRANIO” when you book a 90 minute session or a New Client session to receive the discount.
QCHWP Mixer
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The Itsy Bitsy (A catalytic question)
What do you value most about yourself, your relationships, and the nature of your work?
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The Magick of the Mind
