The art of setting intentions
Navigating the tension between direction and surrender, simple new year's prompts, plus a free journaling guide
The new year is right around the corner.
Whether you religiously set new year’s intentions, inconsistently do so, or don’t do so at all. Every year, the transition period between the years invites us to reflect.
It’s widely known that intentions are also crucial in psychedelic journeys, where we commonly refer to set (mindset) and setting (environment). Intentions are a big part of your set.
As we journey into 2022, read on for a few thoughts on the art of setting impactful intentions for both your inner journeys and the new year.
Intentions in Psychedelic Journeys Can Help You Find Direction in Surrender
Psychedelic journeys are about letting go.
You can have elaborate, well-planned-out intentions, but in the end, these medicines will bring up whatever they deem most relevant. What they deem most relevant is whatever carries the most emotional charge. Plant medicines heal by priority.
That’s to say, you don’t have control over where your mind will go.
You can try to fight it, but that will either make your journey extremely unpleasant or delay the transformation that was intended for you.
Yet, intentions are still immensely important.
They can be an anchor and help you navigate especially rougher patches. They allow you, to a certain degree, to introduce your own hierarchy of priorities.
Good intentions help you set a direction but don’t attach you to a destination.
Here are two examples of intentions that universally work well because they’re open-ended and relevant to every individual:
The intention to trust is always a helpful one. It may seem fluffy but it works wonders. It will take you where you’re meant to go. When things get tough and you consistently remind yourself to trust, you’re opening yourself up not to the journey you intended to have but the one you’re meant to have.
The intention to see what you don’t want to see is another universally profound one. It invites your mind to take you to those places that are most repressed, most exiled, and most shamed. Those are likely the parts in you that are holding you back from the life you’re meant to live. When you face them, you begin to set yourself free.
Finally, a practice that can help you avoid attachment is to set your intention, communicate it internally or vocally before your journey, and then let it go.
You’ve communicated your intent, but by releasing your grip on it you acknowledge your surrender to the plants. You trust they will know best what you need.
While you may not always get the journey you want, you always get the journey you need.
How To Set Intentions Without Attachment
Whether in life or in psychedelic journeys, when you’re clinging too tightly to your intention, you’ll struggle to immerse yourself in whatever comes up. Resisting your present experience only takes away from it.
Effective intentions that minimize attachment have three qualities:
They focus on the process, not the outcome
They are open-ended
They have depth and address underlying themes
Process over outcome
It’s more impactful to intend to do something than to get something. Doing is in your control, getting is not. Doing is an intention, getting is attachment. If you do what you intended to do, you’ll feel accomplished regardless of the outcome.
For example, if your intention for the new year is to find the job of your dreams, a simple shift to intending to explore can make all the difference.
In psychedelic journeys, choosing a single verb is always a good idea because you can return to it over and over when you feel disoriented during your journey.
Openness
When you want to work on something specific, it’s tempting to be as precise. However, specificity in this context invites rigidity.
For the new year, let’s say you want to get fit, which is perhaps the most universal new year’s resolution people make. You could plan to get into running or join a gym.
Or, you could intend to find a movement routine that nourishes you. It’s very easy to fail at the former and much harder to not make any progress at the latter.
In psychedelic journeys, open intentions work well because they leave the stage to the plant intelligence. They’ll know what to bring up, whether or not it’s what you had in mind.
Depth
Finally, another best practice is to make intentions that truly touch the core of your issues.
If your intentions for a psychedelic journey lack depth, you don’t need to worry too much. The medicines will take you there, however deep you need to go.
In terms of new year’s intentions, it’s much more deliberate.
For instance, you may want to get fit for different reasons, such as to look better or feel better. If you’re in it for the looks, the real question is why you feel that you have to change your appearance. What will a different body give you that can’t have now? Depending on the answer, a deeper intention could be to develop confidence.
If you want to exercise to feel better, similarly you can ask yourself what your true, underlying motivation is. Do you lack energy or feel lazy? Do you need a routine that gets you out of the house? Do you hope it will lessen your anxiety? Exercise may be one answer to your problem, but there could be others, too. An intention to find a practice that energizes you or reduces your anxiety can bring about a much wider range of outcomes.
A Powerful Way to Set Intentions Is to Focus on One Word or Short Sentence
Two years ago, I stopped setting elaborate intentions and instead, focused on one single intention for the entire year ahead.
The first year I did this, my intention was to “create more than I consumed”. It’s the year I piloted a small side hustle that led me to start writing.
The following year, the intention to “be open” motivated me to move across the country and immerse myself in more plant medicine work. It opened me up to new parts within myself, as well as an entirely new community.
When you have a long list of resolutions it’s harder to stick to them than when you have one singular theme that you can return to over the year (or over the course of your journey).
Your Journey
Here are a few simple prompts to help you set an intention for the new year:
What’s the one thing you want most for yourself in the coming year? Why do you want it?
What’s one simple intention that addresses that underlying desire (while being open and process-focused in nature)?
Do you believe that a psychedelic journey can help you connect with that intention in any shape or form in the new year? If yes, how?
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts. If you have a word or sentence, go ahead and share it in the comments or reply to this e-mail. My intention for the new year is to connect.
Dig Deeper
Every year, I reserve an entire afternoon, make some tea, light a few candles, and spend a few hours unraveling the years behind and ahead. I highly recommend this free guidebook by writer Susannah Conway.
Thanks for reading this week’s edition. Please share any reflections or feedback, I’d love to hear from you. Don’t forget to share this if you know someone who might find it helpful.
With love,
Julia
Love and soul purpose fulfillment. Want to live to my highest potential. Have more fun and flow in my life.
2. TRUST
3. I’m open and did a ceremony a few months ago with that intention and the “answer” I got was LOVE