From Intention to Action: Realize Your Most Cherished Projects E-Book

Velleda Dobrowolny - Jasmine Mauri

• Herausgeber: Youcanprint
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Have you ever wondered what is the hidden factor connecting thoughts, words and actions, influencing relationships and events? In this book you can find answers to your questions and become aware of the role you play in creating reality with your intention. In every situation you carry a more or less conscious intention that interacts with your convictions, creating a mix that supports or sabotage your efforts. Knowing this helps you to avoid traps and obstacles to fulfilling your dreams. Enjoy exploring your wishes through creative imagination and discovering the secret longings of your heart.

Leseprobe

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1 Intention and Reality

2 Creating the Reality You Wish

3 What Supports Your Intention?

4 From Intention to Action

Conclusion

Explorations on Intentionality by Jasmine Mauri

1 Facilitating Change through Art Counseling

2 Synergy and Intention

3 Creating a Shared Vision

Suggested Readings

About the Authors

Notes to the Text

FROM INTENTION TO ACTION

Realize Your Most Cherished Projects

Copyright © 2021 Velleda Dobrowolny, Jasmine Mauri

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced with electronic, mechanical or other means without the authors’ written permission. First edition CreateSpace 2018.

Drawings by Jasmine Mauri

Cover: Unlock Yourself by Nicola Artico

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Since I can remember, I have always been motivated by my great curiosity to understand cultures and people from foreign countries, to discover the common, unifying elements of human experience in all its wonderful manifestations. This interest has often led me to move in unexpected directions, to study foreign languages and live in distant lands, to experiment with alternative ways of being, acquiring new perspectives and knowledge. In 1989 I started following the teachings and practices of the Siddha Yoga path, which marked the beginning of a beautiful adventure of self-knowledge. My search was prompted by my longing to discover a deeper meaning, that mysterious connection between everything that happens inside and outside me, in relationships and in life. I am deeply grateful to my meditation teacher Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, who has opened my heart and my mind to a new awareness. Her inspiration and guidance have allowed me to connect with a deeper source of balance and wisdom within me. This connection gives me great joy and also the strength and clarity to make conscious choices and take full responsibility for my own creation, moment by moment.

Over the years I discovered the fundamental coherence of Yoga teachings with other cultures and disciplines, such as the Sufis poetry, the wisdom of Taoist and Zen sages, as well as the teachings of Buddhists masters, inspiring profound acceptance of all and compassion for all living creatures.

In the last ten years, working with people in creative workshops on Public Speaking, leadership and authentic communication, I learned about the importance of listening deeply within, to integrate all aspects of mind and heart. I am grateful to everyone I had the pleasure to work with: your experiences with intention and synchronicity have inspired this book. I also thank the scientists of quantum physics whose research has pierced the veil of limiting determinism, opening a window on a new model of reality, a much subtler vision of the complex and interconnected energy field in which we live.

My gratitude goes to all the people who contributed to this book, my dear colleagues, family and friends who have been a sounding board for my research, supporting me with their stories, their interest and advice. I wish to thank particularly Paola Sponda for her precious contribution and feedback, and Francesca Dardi for her creative support. Heartfelt thanks to my dear friend Silvia Pertot, who has always believed in my work. Thanks to Simonetta Marenzi, for the clarity of her writings and her Hatha Yoga classes. Thank you to Jasmine Mauri, my dear daughter who joined me in the adventure of writing this book, for the depth of her insights, the beauty of her experiences and the contagious humor of her art. I truly relished working with Jasmine and felt very free! And I also thank Karim Mauri, my dear son, who has always been a protective presence, with his empathy and support. To all those who are reading this book, thank you for being with us in this journey. I wish you to live every day to the fullest and enjoy fulfilling your dreams.

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this book is to offer useful tools to all those who work in service of personal and professional development, and more generally, to support anyone interested in observing themselves and their life from a deeper perspective, to discover the links between thoughts, words and actions, between wishes and reality, objectives and concrete events. In recent years, whenever I faced obstacles on my way, I looked for answers within, for I am deeply convinced that, if we are looking for balance and want to offer our contribution to society, we need to work primarily on ourselves. When we choose to do this, the difficulties and obstacles we face in life reveal their potential for change, they become valuable opportunities for growth. Imagine what it means to be able to maintain this perspective along the ups and downs of life, in your work and relationships. It is a result that requires continuous effort, but it’s definitely worth trying, because it leads to a much steadier state of mind.

Have you ever wondered why, even though we have a fabulous and thorough plan, we often fail to carry it out? How comes that some people are successful even if lacking a clear purpose or planning skills? How can you communicate your thoughts with immediacy, effectiveness and authenticity in a challenging situation? What would it take to flow with the energy of true passion that makes everything simple and beautiful, like a surfer riding the waves of life? What would it take to move with that contagious energy you can see in people who follow their inner call? And how is it possible to keep a balanced state of mind and stay in touch with our deepest intentions even in challenging situations? How can we maintain the precious connection with “a permanent center of gravity”, as the Italian musician Franco Battiato calls it, that inner shield of steadfastness and flexibility that supports us at all times?

Reflecting on these questions over the years, I have followed different paths to understand better the continuous flow of thoughts-silence-emotions-words-actions and, at times, reactions playing in my mind! The beginning of my inspiration comes from the eastern philosophies of Zen masters and Taoism, and has blossomed with the practice of Yoga philosophy and meditation, enriched by experiences of coaching, theatre improvisation, poetry and philosophy of mystical Sufi sages and other studies.

It was fascinating to discover a fil rouge in my search, a pattern that is able to impart order, purpose and direction to my messy thoughts, an element that is able to gather my resources, especially when I am confused. This catalyst is my intention. Whatever I have done in my life, I have always asked myself where I was going and what was my purpose, what contribution I could offer to myself and others. These questions are at the foundation of our actions. In every situation we bring with us a more or less conscious intention, interacting with our beliefs and ideas, creating a mix that supports our efforts or undermines them. Understanding all this has been enlightening for me, it has given me a key to understand reactions, beyond verbal and nonverbal communication. It helps me to clarify what I want or do not want, what I really want to communicate and why. It gives me clarity and strength. And most importantly, it gives me the opportunity to choose what I want.

In recent years many authors, teachers, scientists, sport coaches and management consultants have written extensively on intentionality. Just to mention a few, there are the international trainer Lynne McTaggart, the holistic doctor Deepak Chopra, scientists and quantum physicists such as William Tiller, Amit Goswami, Joe Dispenza, Masaru Emoto with his studies on water crystals, and many others. We have the confirmation that the answers to many questions can be found by studying animal behavior, as documented by the biologist Rupert Sheldrake’s studies on the extended mind.

Candace Pert’s neuroscientific research confronts common assumptions on the separation of mind-brain-body, detecting the activities of neuropeptides and receptors in many vital organs and especially in our belly. Neuroscientist Marjorie Woollacott overcomes ingrained limits of scientific determinism to understand the influence of consciousness on brain and body. Recently, the joint efforts of various scientists and quantum physicists have inspired a genuine interest around the world, demonstrating the need to consider objective reality with a more conscious and less mechanical approach.

These studies have supported my reflection in the last few years while working with intention in trainings and workshops. Working with intentionality supports so many aspects of leadership and communication, it allows us to lift a veil and understand what is happening within and around us. Over the years I have seen people flourish, drawing strength and clarity from the connection with their deepest motivations.

This book stemmed from my wish to share my experience of the power of intention in my life and in the lives of people I worked with. My daughter is my co-author of this book, and together we intend to provide a practical key of interpretation of reality, along with a clear method to create positive and effective intentions to put into action. You will receive food for thought and questions to test your intentionality and direct it wherever you want. And also practical tools to address the common traps and overcome obstacles, the rocks against which dreams and wishes often shatter. You shall see how you contribute creating your own reality every day, how you influence it with your choices, words, thoughts and habitual thinking pattern and how you can transform this experience through a greater awareness of the power of intention. In chapter two, you can follow the instructions that will guide you to fulfill a dream, by creating an effective and sustainable intention. In the following chapters, you can identify what is holding you back, and you can discover how to bypass moments of confusion, impasse and crisis. Finally, you can explore how to expand your creative intention through Art Counseling and how to develop synergy and create an inspiring shared intention when working in groups. This book will silently accompany you in your personal journey towards greater freedom, so you can infuse your days with intuition, new possibilities and a sense of purpose.

1 - INTENTION AND REALITY

I have always been fascinated by the relationship between our intentionality and everyday reality. And I want to start with a question: what is intention, precisely? It is clear that we are influenced by a personal representation of reality that has an overall impact on our actions and our way of being. And, within that inner representation of reality, we have a sense of what we want to experience or an image of where we want to go, how we want things to develop. We have a natural tendency to move toward a specific direction, that we have developed over time in response to our experiences, our learnings and our development model. It is an inner tendency that shapes the way we are, speak and act, it allows us to make continuous choices in various situations, to understand and achieve what we want, what makes us happy. Intention is activated moment by moment within us, as we head towards the objects, the purpose or the results we desire to reach. Intention aims to change reality, in fact, the word intention derives from the Latin intentāre, tending towards a goal. The dictionary defines intention as:

- disposition, tendency of the mind toward a specific purpose.

- inclination of the will toward a specific action, to achieve a goal or a result.

Intention, or intent, is first of all an inner movement, revealing a person’s more or less conscious state of mind. Intention is not about a person’s fleeting thoughts nor his or her ever changing preferences, but about the inclination or disposition of mind that leads a person to make choices aimed toward a specific direction. It is a disposition that is fairly consistent over time and therefore has the power to guide us to act in order to achieve results. Let us now examine some synonyms of intention.

- Objective, aim, end, goal, are terms that refer to a goal to reach. Intention is different from goal. A goal is the end toward which effort or ambition is directed, but also a condition or state you want to achieve, it is the result or the desired state, it is the answer to the question: What do you want? Intention is a movement of the mind and soul, the desire that precedes and leads to a specific goal, a specific objective.

- Motivation, motive, refers to that which moves or pushes you to do something. It is a very close synonym to intention, because motivation is the source of actions. We can have multiple reasons to say or do things, different wishes and inner impulses that move us and cooperate to shape our intentions. Often people discover covert motives or unexpressed reasons behind words and actions. Motivation refers to an inner movement affecting our mental state and thus our intentions.

-Purpose, from the Latin proponere, means placed before, it is a thought that is resolute and aimed to accomplish something. It is the closest synonym of the word intention, often interchangeable.

- Resolution, firm decision, acting deliberately, beyond any doubts.

At any time, we may harbor within us a variety of competing impulses and intentions - more or less declared and conscious, moving us to fulfill our wishes in the different areas of our lives. Working with our intent allows us to observe the internal scene and to understand what we really want and why, to choose between different and sometimes opposing inner urges so we can go in the direction that really matters to us.

The creative impulse of consciousness

Several years ago, studying the philosophers of Kashmir Shaivism, I met a fascinating definition: according to this school of philosophy the absolute, i.e., the creating principle, creates the universe by exercising the three powers of will (in Sanskrit iccha), knowledge (jñāna) and action (kriya)1 . As soon as It wants an object, the world in its broadsense, It conceives it and gives it a shape within Itself. The beauty of this representation lies in its simplicity and the possibility of immediate feedback in everyday reality. Will is at the origin of everything, the source of all creation. We are thinking beings, desiring beings. We want one thing, and the impulse of our will sets in motion a chain of circumstances, actions, words and events to bring about its fulfillment. “Cogito ergo sum”, Descartes said, that means: “I think therefore I am”. I would rather say, “I think therefore I create!” Creation takes place within us and our intention is the seed of creation. It is the fire that burns, the energy that drives us to act. We want one thing, and in this way, we activate our innate creative power: we form within us an image or an idea of what we want, and then we act to get it, find it or manufacture it. Whether it's a table, a building, or a boat trip. So, an artist creates an object, a project, a design, a work of art. He thinks it, plans it in his mind and then transfers it into matter. In the same way each one of us creates a relationship with the world, moment by moment; a hypothesis that is endorsed by quantum physics studies.

Quantum physics and a new vision of reality