Shiva Nata: the Dance of ShivaAsk a Shivanaut: setting intentions
Great question from Super Careo about setting intentions.
“As a new Shivanaut I would love to know: did you have an intention when you started practicing? I’m struggling with finding mine.”
A couple things to think about:
Let me tell you what happened the other day.
The day before yesterday I was having a seriously hard time with a challenge in my business.
No matter how many different scenarios I ran in my head, I couldn’t seem to come up with something that solved the thing that wasn’t working.
I thought it over from what seemed like every possible angle. Nothing.
Then I read Eric’s post about how he was doing some Level 4 while waiting for the water to boil for his tea.
And it occurred to me that I haven’t done full Level 4 in ages. So I put on some sea chanteys and rocked out to Level 4. Really sloppily. Just having fun.
Then I did it while counting the numbers. And then I took a nap.
Yesterday morning I woke up and there it was.
A perfect, simple solution. I knew exactly what needed to be done. The business challenge was not only resolved, this particular solution also solved problems I hadn’t even thought of yet.
It was such a completely typical Shiva Nata moment that I laughed for about ten minutes straight.
Classic Shivanautical epiphany.
What’s my point?
When I gave up ten minutes of my day to doing some Dance of Shiva, I didn’t stop to set an intention.
But since I’d spent the past several hours messing around with this problem, I’d subconsciously set an intention.
I didn’t specifically say hey, I need a solution for this thing. But that was the gist of it.
It still worked.
That happens kind of a lot
When I first started doing Dance of Shiva, I had absolutely no idea the kind of crazy stuff it could bring about.
I was just doing it because I had to learn it for Andrey’s teacher training.
So when I figured out what needed to happen to stop smoking, and how German grammar worked, and why I get hungry when I feel pain …
Well, these were all answers to things I’d been spending a lot of time thinking about.
I hadn’t consciously set an intention. But essentially I had.
So you can set an intention pretty much anywhere on the continuum.
For example …
- You can be thinking about a thing and then do some Shiva Nata.
- You can be thinking about a thing and then actively think to yourself, hey I’m going to do some Shiva Nata on it.
- You can be thinking about a thing and then take a few minutes to decide what you would like to receive from your Shiva Nata practice.
- You can be thinking about a thing and then stop to write down a wish for your practice.
Like this:
“I really need some clarity on this thing that is unresolved. I am ready to take apart any patterns that are keeping me from figuring this out, and I’m ready for whatever needs to be created for this to move and change.”
Of course, it’s useful to have a practice of setting an intention.
That’s because it helps you track what you’re working on.
And it puts you in more of a state of conscious awareness in relation to the patterns you’re working on.
But if you don’t have one, or can’t think of one, I wouldn’t worry about it.
Some intentions that can be good to play with:
- “I’m ready to learn what I need to learn for this pattern to be taken apart and for the new pattern to be born.”
- “May whatever I need to know be revealed to me.”
- “I’m ready for a perfect, simple solution for this thing I’m working on.”
- “Even though I don’t know what I need right now, I can trust that I’m on my way to finding out.”
- “Whatever I’m done with can now leave to make room for the new thing that’s on its way in.”
Or you can just practice. And see what happens.
The only thing to remember is that you still have to challenge yourself.
That means make it hard. That means make it even harder. That means not just doing what you know or what you expect.
Because it isn’t (always) just the intention that brings clarity. It’s the combination of asking a question and then challenging your brain to rewrite what it already knows.
So that what you don’t know yet can emerge from the chaos.
That’s the starting point.
Where you go from here is up to you.
If any of you guys have stories about things that have happened in your practice, with or without actively setting an intention, that would be awesome.
And if you have more questions about this, leave them here.
The Twitter version:
Intentions are awesome. Having one will set all sorts of amazing things in motion. But don’t sweat it. Not having one still works.
xox
havi
Twitter: larisakoehn
Funny. I was just thinking about this very thing the other day. Because, often, I have something on my mind and then do some Shiva-ing-it-up. Afterward, I realize I didn’t actually set an intention. I tell myself the things you mention above, but have a hard time trusting myself. (pattern!) So, thanks for the validation!
Twitter: alightheart
Well, on the flip side, sometimes the intention to do Shiva Nata loosens things up…
Andrew Lightheart´s last blog ..Surviving the dangers of getting advice
Twitter: celestialrose
I’m trying to make Shivanata a habit, so am doing it daily (even 1.5 minutes counts) so I’m not really doing the whole process of working out intentions.
However, I’m finding that I’m not having problems in certain areas of my life. It’s almost like I expect this to present challenges and then I just fly through them all; without really noticing they exist. As though solutions are coming up before the problem can be verbalised.
As you’ve said, this is something on my mind a lot and I do spend time looking up facts and figures and doing some “work” on possible problems, but I find that the answer will just come out of no-where.
I view “doing shivanata” as an intention to chan ge patterns in itself – so practising it is, in effect, setting and fulfilling an intention. :)
Rose´s last blog ..VPA #2 – A New Tradition
Twitter: elizabethhalt
I tend to forget to set an intention, but I am generally working on my stuff and trying to be more in my body – which is what the Dance really helps me with – so I think that my intentions are probably pretty clear regardless.
I did, however, remember to set an intention a few times that I remember – when I was trying to write something specific. Afterwards, the words always came.
Elizabeth´s last blog ..feline: friend or foe
A while ago I did the whole my intention is ‘show me what I need to know about myself’ and then realised how hesitent I was when I was dancing, and then I realised – this is what I’m like all the time, and is a major reason why the things I want to happen don’t. And then I realised the whys. The working with it is taking a little longer (sometimes I suspect it may be a little longer as in forever) but wow – totally changed the way I do and think about a lot of things. For instance, I’d written up an interview for my uni’s website, and just wasn’t sending it off. Whereas before I’d blame it on ‘being forgetful’ (even though I kept thinking about it all the time) I knew – patternage.
Twitter: yogiconomist
I didn’t know this blog had a comments section! (In my Google Reader there isn’t a link to the comments at the end of each post like there is for The Fluent Self Blog.)
I’m not a big intention setter. I usually do my practice after work and before yoga. I kind of use Shiva Nata to clear my head. Sometimes I write stuff down afterwords. Mostly not. It still works though.
Katie Hart´s last blog ..An Analogy for the Financial Crisis
Dancing and epiphanies? Yes. And Fun. Three Andrey Lappa’s dancing. I think I understand. And I like moving my arms like that. It is dancing! Yes. I have to wait for the dvd now because I am in Africa and it is far and we have a World Cup to celebrate. I’ve come back to read more and think I must prepare myself for some difficult also. But still. Dancing!
I found the post about doing the sequences in mind and loved Nathan’s letter and the comments. My biggest stress for the last two weeks has been a work thing and a password I forgot. A password I didn’t write down even though I was clearly told it can’t be reset. (Which is just stupid SA Revenue Service!)(actually insert my own name too). I’ve been looking for it in files, diaries and the bits of paper I scribble things on. I wondered if I would be able to find it with Shiva Nata but I have never done it. So … I imagined doing the movements I saw on Universal Yoga. I was driving at the time. Maybe being distracted helps. You probably know where this is going … I remembered. Almost immediately and not the word but exactly what I was thinking when I chose the password. The path. It is insane and lovely.
I now have to face the big mess my forgetting has caused. Along with lots of other work messes. But knowing there is a practice that I can get behind and all your kind words here and elsewhere has given me so much hope. I just wanted to share and say thank you. Here is hoping you read new comments to oldish posts.
Twitter: remadeau
I started Shiva Nata three days ago.
The first day I just learned the ropes.
The second day I set no intention and came away with an amazing flow (as I journalled, “like I’d just had a really exciting idea and couldn’t wait to get started on it. But there was no idea, just all this energy and flow, and I could choose where to direct it.”)
Soon after that I was like, “I wonder what’ll happen if I set an intention,” and I started thinking about an issue I’m having.
Then I promptly forgot about the intention until AFTER I’d done Shiva Nata again the next day (for like five minutes because I was sick). At first my mind just felt clearer and then, when I started journalling about it, I was able to pinpoint what my monster was saying to me – the reason I was having the issue.
I had a little discussion with the monster and immediately felt better.
I know this is all new to me still, but I can’t see myself thinking of Shiva Nata as anything but something I’m excited to do. ‘A friend’, as you put it in one of your teleclasses.
Anyway. Awesome.
Hayley Lau´s last blog ..shoe disgust and hat love
Hey there!
Just wanted to let you know that I just love your style of writing, it’s kinda how I think, but often don’t dare to speak, whaha. Anyway, just ordered your starting kit, really excited about it! Have you heard of Nia? It combines martial arts, yoga, meditation and dance, kinda sounds like it could complement each other :)
I’ll let you know what it does for me ;)
Love this piece on intentions, I have been working with them for quite some time (a friend of mine specialises in them (www.affirmaties.nl, it is in Dutch unfortunately).
Affirmations are really powerful. My favorite for the moment: my path is light
(Light, as in not hard and light as in helpful not harmful :))
Lots of light,
Janine
Havi, chiquita Taos goddess –
I just wanted to send some smooches your way, and to tell you I’ve been “Dance-of-Shiva” – ing all over the place. On the beach with 5 women, in the forest by a river, in the gym by the weights, in front of my TV to the DVD, at a retreat. People just HAVE to know what it is. I’m getting a big hit that I’ll probably be teaching this before long. I’ll be looking up any teaching program thingies you’ve got going on.
Thanks so much for sharing this!
Hugs,
Christina “wacko pants” Frei