Intention, Impact and Svadhyaya.
Not too long ago I heard the civil rights activist Shaun King speak about the difference between intention and impact and I’ve been contemplating it ever since. It caught my attention because we often use the practice of setting intention before yoga. It’s a beautiful way to begin class. Seated with hands in prayer, the teacher asks us to set an intention for our practice, so we set the intention, chant Om and off we go into our downward dog. But what is intention really? How does it translate beyond the yoga studio and and how does intention differ from impact?
I love looking up definitions of words. Even the words that I think I know because there’s always a surprise. Intention can be defined as what one intends to do or bring about, it can mean an object for which a prayer is offered, it means importance or significance and in medicine it can mean a process of healing wounds. See? Surprise! Intention also means a determination or resolve to act in a certain way. Bingo. That’s the definition that I’m obsessing over these days. Meaning, how do I want to be in the world? And then asking “do my thoughts, actions and words line up with my intentions?” If I say I want to be an agent for positive change but 95 percent of the time my thoughts, words and actions are based in fear, blame or judgement then my intention, no matter how pure, can’t possibly translate to positive impact. I’m living in discord with my own deepest wish. Now what?
Svadhyaya, one of my favorite sanskrit words, is the perfect practice to bring myself back into harmony with myself in regards to intention and impact. It’s the 4th of the 5 Niyamas (observances) and the word can be broken up into two parts. Sva (self or human soul) and Adhyaya (lesson, lecture, study). I use self-study almost constantly, watching how I talk to myself and others and studying the effects of my own thoughts, words and actions.There was a time when I really beat myself up if I didn’t live up to my own expectations, which just compounded the problem causing more suffering. Now, when I see that I’ve caused harm, I do my best to right it and then I look for ways to keep myself from repeating that harmful action. This kind of work takes a lot of trial and error, effort and courage. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that very few of us want to be the cause of suffering, so we rationalize, excuse or even ignore the impact our behaviors have on those around us.
How exactly do I ‘study myself’? So let’s say I’m on my way to the studio and I start to feel the energy of NYC. Someone’s man-spreading into the one available seat on the subway, there’s a disgusting smell on 8th Ave, the person in front of me in line is taking forever to order their latte and suddenly I hear myself think “Ugh, just order already!!!” On a good day, I immediately recognize that this thought is not in alignment with how I want to be in the world. I take a deep breath, silently forgive those whom I perceive as having caused me harm and adjust my line of thoughts to something more beneficial. A key to this practice is to catch the thoughts before they stir my emotions. That’s not to say I’m not allowed to have feelings but after years of watching my thoughts, I know that more often than not my emotions are manipulated by my own exaggerated thoughts. I have to make the effort to look for the truth of the experience rather than let a whirlwind of thought whip me into an emotional frenzy. It takes a great strength of spirit to look honestly at oneself and with compassion, but it’s the most important work we can do. We say we want a better world but we must beging to do the work to align our thoughts, words and actions with our intentions to create the positive impact we desire. Until we create kindness and compassion within ourselves it simply cannot manifest in the world.Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. -Gandhi
