Crafting with the Three Pillars: Engaging Intuition and Integrity to Create an Intention Board

Sunday morning, I got up, threw on a sports bra, wiped the smeared mascara off of my face, brushed my teeth, brushed my hair, put on lip gloss over last night's 12-hour lipstick and drove to Target. To state what might be already glaringly obvious - I was not my most put-together self. But that didn't matter. I was on a mission: I was going to make an Intention Board.


What's an Intention Board? Well, funny you should ask, because, if you take a gander down below, there she is...


That beautiful creation is My Intention Board. A step further than a vision board, it's an explicitly stated list of all of the things that I intend to give my heart and energy to over the coming weeks, months and years. This is my contract with spirit and with myself. Its more than things I want, wish for, and work toward. It's a physical expression of my mind's, heart's, and soul's energetic shift in trajectory with the objective of manifesting these things into reality with the love and support of spirit. This is more than just a list of goals. This is my manifesto.


Why did I feel the call to do this? Well, for starters, if you are on a journey to live a more meaningful, more enriched, and more connected life, I can honestly tell you that the most fundamental element and the greatest tool you will ever have in your toolbox is intention. And when I say "intention," I don't mean it like, "I intended to call you last night" or "It's my intention to go to the grocery store today." In this context, "intention" is defined as a spiritual agreement made in conjunction with a personal physical, emotional, mental, and energetic shift for the purpose of manifesting a specific outcome that is in alignment with your own personal integrity and your highest good. And it is everything. There is no other way to state it. It's the road map, the compass, the north star that shows you the way. It is the anchor, the ballast, and the rudder that keeps you on course. It is the one thing that will keep you from drifting aimlessly, randomly floating through life with a feeling of no control and no clear path. It is the bedrock in which good work, fulfilling relationships, and wholehearted living take root and thrive. To live without it is to live a reactive life, bouncing from relationship to relationship, job to job, project to project, teacher to teacher, in an effort to find meaning and direction. True Intention is what enables you to see that the meaning and direction you've been searching for has always and will always be found within the rich pulpiness of your own beating heart. And the most important thing about Intention is that, even in the darkest hours when you feel defeated and feel like giving up and want to just crawl in a hole, it keeps on moving forward. It never stops, it never gives up, it never changes course unless that is in line with your highest good.



How do I know this? I know this because I spent a large majority of my life searching for answers in every place and every person under the sun except within myself. And then it hit me - in order to find my true path, I must be shown the way by someone who knows me, really knows me - can see me through all of the bullshit and excuses, all the way down to the marrow. The only person that fit that description was me. But in order to find my way, I had to decide where, in my heart of hearts, that I wanted to go and then, like setting a destination in my GPS, I set my course - and that's intention. But intentional thoughts and ideas are one thing. Left floating around in your head, they're merely conceptual. In order for them to become fully realized, they need to be clearly and thoughtfully stated, fully felt, and physically expressed. Creating an Intention Board accomplishes all of the above.


So, here's how to create your own Intention Board:


The first step I recommend in creating an Intention Board is to do a brief meditative exercise. You may have one of your own that you like to do. However, I recommend giving this one a whirl (and I will be recording this, so check back soon!):


Begin by closing your eyes, placing your feet flat on the floor, and checking in with yourself. Ask yourself, where's your mind, your heart, your body, and your spirit? Take a moment and work to get a clear read. Take note of any emotions you may be feeling or any physical sensations that you may be experiencing. Now breathe deeply - in through your nose for three counts, hold for three counts, exhale out through your mouth for three counts. Repeat three times. Now, continuing to breathe, imagine roots sprouting from the arches of your feet and growing deep, down into the cool, dark earth, stretching down toward the Earth's core. Let them stretch down, feel the cool earth with your strongly, anchored roots. Continue to breathe... Now imagine water - gentle, refreshing water - trickling down over your head, starting at the crown, and rinsing down over your face, then to your neck and shoulders, down over your chest and arms, down your upper torso to your abdomen, to your thighs and buttocks, over your knees to your calves, and down to your feet and then down into those roots stretching down into the soil beneath you. And as that water trickles down, release - release any tension, anxiety, hurt, fear, anger, resentment - anything that does not serve you in this exercise - release it into the water as it runs over your skin. Feel the water rinse it from you and carry it down into the soil, where it can be grounded and healed. Continue this exercise until you feel any tension release and calm wash over you. Once you feel the calm set in, continue to breathe deeply and imagine the sun overhead, its loving rays drying and warming you. Feel the sun on your skin and the light around you getting brighter and brighter. As the light grows brighter and brighter, imagine that there is a chord, like a guitar string running through the middle of your body. Now picture something that makes you immensely happy - could be a loved one, or an animal, playing music, or painting. But imagine something that just fills you up with light and puts the most incredible smile in your heart. Hold that thought for a moment and just let it fill you up. Now, picture plucking that imaginary chord that's running through the center of your body. You may hear a lovely sound or your may feel a sense of harmonious vibration, within you - that's your intuition and that's what it will feel like when your intuition is telling you that something is right, true, and aligned with your highest good. Sit with that for a moment. Let that wonderful feeling - that beautiful sound or vibration - wash over you and sink into your bones. Memorize that sound, that feeling. Strike that chord several times and allow the vibrations to just resonate through you until it's as familiar to you as the sound of your own voice. Give yourself a good minute or two just to soak that in. Then, once you feel comfortable, settle back into your body, wiggle your toes, and when you're ready, open your eyes.


What we just did in that exercise puts you in touch with your intuition. That sound/vibration/feeling is your intuitive response and will help you in creating your intention board as it will help you to clearly understand if the intention you've articulated is aligned with your personal integrity and highest good. When you first state an intention, take a moment and see how it registers in your body. Do you experience that same sound/vibration/feeling as you did during the meditation? If not, tweak it. Tune it like you would tune a guitar until the response to your stated in intention matches that feeling (a.k.a. your positive intuitive response). Play with the words and concepts until the statement you've crafted rings true in your gut and in your heart. Once it does, you can commit it to paper (or surface of your choice).


As you go through this process of creating an Intention Board, the mind, heart, body, and spirit come together to clearly articulate your true intention to yourself and to the universe. Putting a creative spin on it - using different colors or doodling - engages the right brain. Crafting your intentions into sentences engages the left brain. Taking the words in, feeling these intentions in your gut and in your heart engages your intuition, your emotions, and your energetic body. And your Intention Board doesn't have to be just words - you can add pictures if you feel guided, but the words need to be there - all the words - whatever is necessary to align them in harmony with your positive intuitive response.



And there are no rules to the intentions that you craft. They can be long-term or short-term. They can be about anything: your job, your art, your home, your finances, places you want to go, the type of friend or partner you intend to be. Again, your intuition is your guide. Use it and write what's in your heart. And your "board" can be whatever you make it - use whatever materials that speak to you. There are no real rules, except these:


1. Every True Intention starts and ends with you - it has to be about you, of you, for you and can be dependent upon
no one else but you.
2. A true Intention crafted in alignment with your truest integrity and highest good can only be crafted from love.
3. State your intention in the present tense - not as something that will be, but as something that already IS.
4. As intention is the first step in manifesting, you must be open and willing to receive. So, the final "rule" is to end your list of
intentions with one that states your willingness to receive with an open, loving, and grateful heart.
5. Lastly (and perhaps hardest of all), detach from the outcome. Trust in the universe and its ability to manage all of the
details that will make these intentions a reality. But, also, prepare yourself for the possibility that a) the universe will bring
your intention to fruition, b) it may be in bigger ways than you ever imagined, and c) it may not look like what you
envisioned.


Once you've created your Intention Board, stand back and appreciate it. Savor it. Bask in it. It was created from your heart and for your heart and represents a sacred agreement or contract with spirit and with yourself. Read it out loud and from your gut with your full, present voice - ENGAGE THAT THROAT CHAKRA! Then put it in a place where you can see it every day. Read it when you get up in the morning and before you go to bed. Let it become your compass, your ballast, the wind in your sails. And then stand back and be willing to receive the opportunity and support that only spirit can provide. And then watch the magic unfold.