This year has been filled with challenges! Never one to turn my back on challenges, I have used this time to sort out many feelings, many less than optimal relationships, and many goals. It has made me stronger. It has made me more intentional. And it has allowed me to have more space to find the person I want to become moving forward. Over the past couple of decades, my whole focus was creating a yoga studio and a nonprofit yoga academy. To create more options for people to incorporate the healing practices of yoga into their lives, I created and taught more classes, more courses, did more travel…more and more and more.

And because the work was never ending, the demands of others never ceasing, I found myself letting go of more and more of the "normal" activities of life and was essentially swallowed up by the work seven days a week. As I got closer and closer to my 70th birthday, I knew I didn't want to go into the next decade of my life continuing down this path. I put that energy out into the universe. I meditated on letting go of it all. I put out the intention to move on and I really felt it could happen. But only if I worked toward it. I reached out to other teachers in the community who had a long history of teaching, searching for someone who might be interested. And someone came forward.

Another intention that I made was to help the new owner maintain the student base and continue to teach regular classes for at least a year. The pandemic has made this a considerable challenge for yoga studios and many have closed. Our student base has mastered online classes and attendance remains steady with new students taking the place of the normal attrition

The third intention I set was to get healthier. This summer I realized that any semblance of normal would not be likely before another year or so. I ordered a treadmill. I made some long overdue healthcare appointments. I began to eat and sleep on a regular schedule, eating tons of fresh fruits and vegetables, eliminating most sugar, and bought a sleep machine that plays delta waves to get into deeper sleep patterns. I’m losing weight and sleeping sounder.

So why am I telling you all this? Because the concept of living with intention is SO important. Instead of letting life happen to you, take on life with renewed determination.

Here are 5 ways to start.

1. Make a choice and act on it every day. What do you want? Eliminate the split between what you think and what you actually do. Thinking about something may seem important, but if you don’t take action nothing will happen except you will feel frustration or defensiveness. The idea and the action must be fused.
2. Believe in your ability to succeed. Be convinced at a deep level, that you will make progress toward your goal. That daily action that you take can have its ups and downs but know in your heart that you will see changes over time. Adjust your expectations about how long it will take. Be patient.
3. Accept change. Sometimes when these changes begin to happen, they impact our lives in a way that stirs unconscious fears and we engage in self-sabotage. Yes, change will happen and when it does, you cannot be the same. It is impossible to both change and be the same. Accept this. Don’t fear it. Embrace it.
4. Practice mindfulness. Develop some sort of daily meditation or self-reflection. A practice that will bring you peace and allow you to be more aware and more present upon its conclusion. And each day when you leave the practice, see if you can be a little more aware, a little more present, as you move back into your daily activities.
5. Adjust your lifestyle for success. Simplify your life, eliminating unnecessary busy-ness and clean out the clutter. Set a daily schedule for those things that will build your energy – regular times to eat and eat health foods, regular times to sleep and rise, daily outdoor activity, exercise, meditation, and daily connection with someone who nurtures you.

I encourage you to live with intention in 2021. Don’t make a New Year’s resolution that will probably last a few weeks and then go by the wayside. Living with intention requires action, ongoing commitment and patience.

Happy New Year!

This episode concludes the second season of my podcast. In my own need to live with intention in 2021, I will be taking some time off from creating this podcast and spend time creating short yoga courses and developing one on one yogic coaching.

I hope you will stay in touch. Please go to my website, swamiatmarupa.com and sign up for my newsletter to learn more about upcoming ways we can remain connected. Or you can find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @SwamiAtmarupa. My intention is to start another season of this podcast later next year.

Thank you for listening!