Be Still and Live

#14: The Power of Intention: A Quiet Practice that Transforms Everyday Life with Kim Stanwood Terranova

• Gillian Gabryluk • Season 1 • Episode 14

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What if intention isn’t something you set, but something you inhabit—a way of being that changes the atmosphere wherever you go?

In this conversation, we sit with Kim Stanwood Terranova, spiritual teacher and counselor, to explore intention as an inner practice that moves us from reactivity to coherence. Kim invites us to see intention not as a wish for outcomes, but as a steady orientation toward qualities like presence, compassion, and courage—qualities that quietly shape how we speak, listen, and show up in everyday moments.

Together, we reflect on the widening gap between outer technology and inner technology, and how to restore balance without shame, striving, or perfectionism. Kim shares simple, human practices—two-minute breaths, short prayers, no-phone pauses, and intentional check-ins—that help us listen more deeply and respond with clarity rather than urgency. She also offers a gentle reframe on intention-setting: choosing the qualities we want to embody, rather than clinging to specific results.

One of the most grounding moments in the episode is Kim’s nightly acknowledgment practice—writing down five small, specific ways you showed up well that day. This simple ritual softens the “not enough” narrative, builds self-trust, and opens us to receive support and grace with greater ease.

We close with a model intention you can carry into the new year, along with practical ways to bring intention into your mornings, meetings, and moments that matter most. If you’re longing for less noise and more true guidance—less doing and more being—this conversation offers a calm, steady place to begin.

Connect with Kim:

Website

Instagram 

Facebook

YouTube

New here? Start with episodes 1-3: “Take Back Your Life”, "From Hustle to Healing", and “5 to Thrive.”

*Start Fog to Freedom Here*

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Free Guided Fog to Freedom Meditation ...

Kim:

Intentions are not about what do I want to get. It's always about what do I want to bring to this situation.

Gillian:

If your days feel full, but your heart longs for more meaning, you're not alone. Between the screens, the schedules, and the never-ending noise, it's easy to lose your sense of peace. But what if the way forward isn't found in doing more? But in learning to slow down, to simplify, to be still. Welcome to Be Still and Live, a podcast for individuals, couples, and families longing for calm connection, and a more meaningful way to live. I'm Julian, speaker, coach, and founder of Sileo Health and Wellness, and I'm here to help you create space for stillness and step into a life that feels whole and good again. Today's conversation is the kind that reconnects you with truth, intention, and the quiet wisdom always waiting beneath the noise. I am truly honored to be joined by Kim Stanwood Terranova, a spiritual teacher and counselor whose work has transformed lives across the world for more than 25 years. Kim is a three-time best-selling author of the Technology of Intention, a master practitioner and master teacher recognized by Michael Bernard Beckwith and the Agape International Spiritual Center, and a longtime teacher at the Rhythmia Life Advancement Center in Costa Rica. She is also the founder of World as One, a nonprofit dedicated to bringing principles of peace to children around the globe, a mission so deeply aligned with everything we talk about here: presence, compassion, and returning to what matters. In this episode, Kim helps us understand intention not as wishful thinking, but as a living technology, a way of partnering with the divine, clarifying your direction and becoming an active participant in your own unfolding. This is a conversation about purpose, surrender, spiritual practice, and the power of choosing your life on purpose. This one is truly special. Hi, Kim. It is such a beautiful honor to have you on the Be Still and Live podcast. It's honestly a dream come true.

Kim:

Okay, that feels so good. See, and there's evidence right there. Answered prayer, dreams come true.

Gillian:

Right. I know we're gonna talk all about this, just bringing that vision to life. Kim, before we dive in to this beautiful conversation, I know it's your specialty to start with a prayer. Would you be willing to do that for us today?

Kim:

Absolutely. You bet. All right, my dear. Let's just take a big deep breath. How good it is to be right here, right now, to stand in gratitude for the joy of this existence. I'm so aware that the one power, one presence of all that is, whether we name it God, spirit, the universal force, it is all love and overflow. And it moves through each and every one of us. No one is left out. So, right where I am, right where Jillian is, we are open and receptive to allow the spirit to move through us in our sacred time together so that we can know more, share more, and expand more. I bless this conversation, I bless our time together, and I bless everyone who is joining us wherever they are in the world, that they are receiving the blessings that they have prayed for, asked for, and that their heart is open to receive all that is bubbling up for us today. In deep gratitude, I surrender, I let it be, and trust our journey, and so it is. Amen.

Gillian:

Amen. And Kim, you're reminding me why I wanted to talk to you so much because I it's that simple. I explained to you that I had to get four of my kids out the door so I could have this conversation without that distraction in the background. And just from that one prayer, I'm feeling at peace. I'm feeling grounded. And it's that simple.

Kim:

Yes. And that that's the power of us being available to bring prayers or if someone feels more comfortable calling them blessings, but to just speak the word of truth that all is well and what we're planning and claiming is in this next time together. We get to do that anywhere in our lives, whether it's an event, whether it's a meeting, whether it's a podcast, we get to bring our practices everywhere.

Gillian:

Right. And welcoming God's source universe into our life.

unknown:

Yes.

Gillian:

Opening that invitation. Absolutely. It's a beautiful thing. Kim, you teach about the power of intention with such clarity and conviction. And I know teachings like this, they usually come from lived experience, don't they?

Kim:

Yes. Oh my goodness, yes.

Gillian:

So I'm curious if you can share. When did you first realize that intention was more than a concept? And I have read Kim's book that I'll share. She shares her story in her book, but I want Kim to have the opportunity to share with the audience here why intention is so important to her.

Kim:

So I giggle because when I your question, when did I first, you know, really get catch that it was more than a concept was decades ago. And I'm so grateful for that, that I caught it at a very young age in my life that we are co-creators. And when we remember that we're co-creating our lives with spirit, then we are open to lean into the power of intention because intention to me is a highway of co-creation, is that it is one of those full-throttle availabilities to us to know if I'm living by intention, I'm consciously creating my life. Without intention, we're reacting to our lives. So I love them so much because I want to choose to consciously create my life, just as you do. And as you teach, is that as we really stand up and say, okay, if I'm aiming for love, abundance, joy, peace, whatever that is, I have a way to be about that with the power of intention. Um, years ago, my very first intention, it was so funny. Um, I speak about it in my book, that I was, I wanted, I was an actress in the Bay Area of California, and I wanted to move to Los Angeles. So I wrote an intention. To me, the only way to get there at that point in my life was that I wanted to get into the Screen Actors Guild Union. So I wrote an intention that said, and this was really important, my intention is to book a national commercial for me to get into the Screen Actors Guild so I could move to LA. Now, right there, after I describe what intention is, we'll see how I was limiting myself, but I didn't know it. This is where you said, like it's trial, we learn in life. And in that adventure, sure enough, within months, I booked a national commercial. And it was gonna put me right into the screen actors guild. I literally celebrated, packed my bags, got ready to move, filmed the commercial, and halfway down the state of California with a horse trailer and the dog in the truck, I got a call, and my agent said, I'm so sorry to tell you this, but you hit the editing floor, you're not gonna make it to the last final cut of this commercial. Well, as an actor, that means that, oh, there's no residuals, there's no, I'm not, I did the filming, but that's it. I was devastated. And I was still on my way to LA. So I moved, I adjusted, figured it out, and it would took time before I looked back and I thought, I got exactly what I asked for. To get a national, to get into the union, to move to LA. I didn't state like to the highest financial benefit, to know that I move with ease and grace, the all those other elements, I did not state in that intention. It was a lesson that the universal field God is responding to us and absolutely responded to me exactly how I wrote the intention. That was my first lesson on I want to get clearer on how I activate the power of intention. So I'm grateful that I lost that opportunity because it taught me so much.

Gillian:

Right. Right. And I love that you say activate the power of intention. You're saying that like it always exists within us, and we just need to choose to tune in and activate it.

Kim:

Absolutely. We all come equipped with this inner knowledge, this inner guidance system. And that is where we can choose to activate. We can choose to lean in and go, okay, what's the intention? What's the possibility of creating one? Where's my activation point? And in the book, as you've read, I write down three portals that here's the three portals you can go through to activate that power of intention. So then we're we're placing it on the altar of spirit. Here's my intention to call forth a harmonious relationship. My intention is to accept the most divine place of employment to me and be of service and paid abundantly for it. Whatever we are aiming for, we write it, we place it on the altar, and from that moment onward, we're listening as a practice to divine inspiration. So that often people say, Well, Kim, I have to do something. And I'll say it's not about doing, it's about us listening to what is spirit guiding us to bring about that matches that intention. So that's called inspired action, not calculated. We were listening to source at all times, but we're listening from the guidance to match the intention. So it's all in alignment. Then we're in co-creation. And as we're in co-creation, spirit may say, call that person, go over here, activate this. And when we listen and implement, then we're participating in the activity of our lives instead of reacting to circumstances. That's the most important thing to me is that if we don't have an intention, we're reacting to every circumstance we bump into because we're not prepared for who am I going to be. We just walk into a room without an intention and we begin reacting, reacting, reacting to everything that every that everyone says to us or whatever comes to us. That's giving our power away. We have another choice.

Gillian:

Right. I I think the audience will recognize what you're saying in the victim mentality. Is that kind of what you're talking about? And the fear, the fear-based response.

Kim:

Well, when we're in victim stage, we defend our actions by what happened to us. So that's very much a reaction, right? So we could walk into a room and defend if somebody says to us, why did you do that? You weren't supposed to do this or that. We defend ourselves. We're staying in a reaction to a story. So yes, that keeps us in victim mentality. We're out of our power. We all have this power within us, but we're giving it up when we do that. We're like, I don't have a power. Look what happened to me. Those words are you know our victim thinking. We don't ignore what happened to us, we use it as a pathway to heal so we can empower ourselves to be co-creators again.

Gillian:

Right, right. And you call this this the source within us, it's a divine source.

Kim:

Absolutely. Absolutely. Whether you know, I I know there's many paths to honor spirit, God. And some people feel embodied with, oh, I have a relationship with God. And other people say, it to me it worked, I honor spirit within. I believe we're here to honor each other's pathway to the divine without judging it. It's like, can we accept for each other? We all have divine connection to this one power. I I encourage people to not pull away and be separated from someone else if they don't name it the same thing. Right. Right.

Gillian:

Yes, I love the way you put that because there's so much division in our role today. There's so much finger pointing and seeing things as one side or the other. And there's really very little way to progress through that unless you're seeing each other as equal, unless you're seeing the divine in all of the individuals that surround you, no matter what their beliefs are.

Kim:

Correct. I absolutely in agreement with you. And we also get to release the belief that there's a right and wrong. The division is created because someone's saying, I'm right and you're wrong. And the second that happens, a division exists instead of aiming to understand each other. And when we aim to understand, it doesn't mean we have to agree. But if we come to an understanding of, I believe this, you believe that, where are we going to meet in the middle? Now, I I could almost hear people saying, Yeah, but Kim, that isn't how our political system is running. And it begins within each and every one of us. I invite us to look within it ourselves, like, am I operating at that on my level at home in my business? Am I engaging in front of my children and my family that I'm releasing right and wrong because I want to aim for understanding? As we start implementing what I call spiritual practices, self-care practices, practices of connection, when we begin to implement it in our own inner worlds, the natural outpicting is it will keep growing to those fields. We get to look at it's my opportunity to be about it right here.

Gillian:

Oh, this is so on point, Kim. This is this is the reason I started Soleil Health and Wellness. As you know, Soleil means be still. And I really believe that this is the answer because if each and every one of us took responsibility, if we didn't, you know, if we moved away from the finger pointing and the I'm right, you're wrong mentality, that fear mentality, and all we did was each individual took responsibility, personal responsibility for their impact on the world, then the world would be a completely different place. And this is where I mean, it's so important to understand when you're feeling anxious and stressed and depressed, that that's likely because of a lack of control in your life of some kind, that victim mentality. But when you turn inward, that's really the only thing you control. I think Victor Frankfull talks about this in his famous book. Of course. Yeah, it's it's a beautiful thing to take back that power instead of complaining, turning inward and understanding the power that you have to change the world around you.

Kim:

Yes. And and I activate that power by us remembering that it's not a power outside of ourselves to be more powerful than anyone else. It's the inner, our own inner power engaged with honoring everyone else's power. We all came equipped. Yes. We just forgot. We just forgot that we came in as empowered little beings. And as we grow through into our adult life, all sorts of things happen that can keep us stuck in look what happened to me, unless we grow and heal and move through it to remember this happened, and I'm more interested in who I became so that I don't stay stuck. When we're more interested in who we became, the qualities of who we, what we cultivated, because something happened, then we're empowered to be one with our power and connect with others' power. Instead of I'm not taking over you, I'm meeting you in this powerful point of possibility. Right. Anything's possible there.

Gillian:

Yes. Yes, I agree. I'd love to unpack and go back to this idea of being a co-creator of your life. A lot of us weren't raised this way. We weren't raised being taught that this is what it looks like to have a relationship with our creator. Many of us were told, you know, you've got to follow the rules. And there's there's black and white. And if you don't do the right thing, then you live in guilt. And it's simply the way that I've come to understand things, not the most impactful way to live out your life as a spiritual and divine being. But when you recognize that you have power to walk alongside and to tune into that divine source within you, there's there's so much that you can do with your life because instead of feeling like the victim, you feel like you said, you're a co-creator. And you just simply need to invite that presence into your heart, into your mind, into your body.

Kim:

So you said something brilliantly is that many of us were not raised with this. I I'm with you, I wasn't. And my invitation to that for each and every one of us is begin to seek it out. Like once you know, once we know part of that responsibility you're talking about, once we have heard someone else speak about co-creating, or we see where we wished for something or had an intention or go and then it happened, we can start to activate, I am creating. So when we can see rightly, it's our responsibility to engage in our lives so that we activate that place of co-creation. It's always there. And awareness gives us choice. So if we're aware, I wasn't raised this way. Now, here's the thing, Jillian. If someone says I wasn't raised this way, but then they use it as evidence to stay stuck, they're staying limited. If we say, I wasn't raised this way, and you know you've heard me say this, I ask people to say those three words. Up until now, I didn't, I've I've been stuck in this pattern. Up until now, I now know more. I now met this person, read this book, learned more at the spiritual center or at the school, and I have an opportunity to now embody what I now have been taught or have seen to see for myself what's what what is this within me that I could use. And I and I don't want to use that word, I want to um that I could embody, apply for me to be much more co-creative.

Gillian:

And I think it's important to be clear that you're not you're not implying that people need to abandon their traditions, the traditions that they hold close to their hearts, that they practiced since they were a child, that's a part of their legacy and you know what has been passed down from generation to generation. Of course. But it it certainly it improves that practice, that tradition on so many levels. You can continue practicing what you do, it just allows that practice to be deeper.

Kim:

Yes. And and and let's get clear here. When we were pointing to, if we were taught that we were not co-creators, right? Like that was new. Many, just as many of us weren't taught that, many spiritual centers have seeds of it everywhere. It's the basis of it. And when we get interested and allow those that we love in our family to blossom, and I mean the practices, rituals, there's sacred rituals in different religions and spiritual centers that are magnificently beautiful. When we remember, oh, I could honor that, there's no right and wrong. I can honor that ritual and allow myself to embody it in this area that I'm co creating, but I'm not looking at something outside of me to do something for me. That's what I believe. There's a power somewhere outside. There and it's gonna do something versus I'm co-creating with the power that's right here. Mm-hmm. Okay.

Gillian:

Well, that's room for all of yes. I I think that's that's so un important to unpack because people get really sensitive, I find, when you talk about this being a new way. It can be, it can be something that complements what already exists.

Kim:

My goodness, of course. Of course. Again, it's letting go of right and wrong. It's in a it's being interested in, you know, what if we're all interested in what did you grow up with? What did you grow up with? This is what I did, and this is what I've also learned as an adult. And see what honors yourself and humanity. When it's not to bring harm to the world, it's to bring more light and love to the world, we're on track with staying and co-creating with source.

Gillian:

Going back to that space of listening, not just in our own lives and listening to the divine within us, but also listening to each other. Because we all have that the stories and the patterns that have, you know, created the person that we are today. And sometimes we need to move past that and just listen so we can understand people better. Wouldn't our political system be a beautiful thing if that's where we started?

Kim:

I think, and we get to start right here. Yes. Where our intention is to listen to understand. From that space, we have more compassion for one another. And that that is why discerning listening is so important, to really listen to another. Um, and you know, there's so many practices. Like if we're sitting and starting talking to someone and we say there's a moment of confusion, if we look at someone we love and say, Can I ask you a question about that? Would you be willing to hear me about that? Would can I can I share with you what I'm feeling versus that doesn't make sense. What are you talking about? Like just the quality of those questions.

Gillian:

Or I don't agree with that.

Kim:

Right. Allows us to grow. So, so really to listen to understand means we may be asking questions, we may be getting clarifying information because the person who's giving the information may not know where it's landing on the others. So we ask, how did you hear that? Do you what do you think? All of those practices keeps us still and present and available to grow and keeps our channel clear versus, oh no, they're upset at me or I'm upset at them. We make so many stories about that, we don't have to.

Gillian:

Before we continue, I want to offer you a quiet pause. If you've been feeling overwhelmed, mentally cluttered, or like your mind never truly rests, I'd like to invite you into a quiet reset. Functive freedom is a simple rounding exercise designed to help you slow down, release the mental level, and reset. There's no fixing and no pressure, just a flight. So we're in a few reach for the nervous system is full of the floor. If you're still space, you'll normally invite it to begin with freedom. You'll find a link in the show notes or solecoaching.com. Becoming something as you are and offer yourself the gift of space and clarity. Thank you for taking that pause. Now let's return to the conversation. Well, I think this is a great opportunity to transition into your book, which is called The Technology of Intention: Activating the Power of the Universe Within You. And I was saying to Kim, I read this book and highlighted probably 50% of it because so much of it spoke to me. And it really does seem to be powerful, powerful information that can transform the reader's heart, but also have this ripple effect on the world around us. So, Kim, do you mind if I read a couple sentences from the book?

Kim:

Be honored. Nobody reads to me in my book. Are you kidding me?

Gillian:

Well, this was the first paragraph that I completely highlighted because it really stood out to me in the work that I do. At this time in human history, it is more important than ever for us to remember that we each have within us our own inner technology, and it is calling us. Our inner sanctuary of divine wisdom is our intimate point of unlimited guidance. And if we ignore it, we shall be out of balance. We shall be an out of balance society, looking into screens for answers instead of looking into our souls. The key is balance. I thought that was so applicable to what we're all experiencing today because I was talking about this today with um somebody else that I was coaching, and we were talking about this idea that we have lost the ability to trust ourselves. We've lost our intuition. And we seem to be seeking for all the answers in the world around us. We're seeking in the external world to find something that we all have within. I'd love to know your thoughts on what I just read and what you feel the major issues are in the world today. What are the what are the barriers that prevent us from experiencing this inner technology?

Kim:

Ah, thank you for reading that. It was really thank you. Um we have become a society that tends to, and and please give me space. This doesn't mean everywhere, this is a often, uh, that we tend to reach to something that has blessed our lives, which is technology, screens. We can, as a society, gather information in a millisecond. We can ask for anything and it's delivered, we could have answers so quickly. And what has unconsciously occurred is that many of us and and you know, turn to screens before we turn within, turn to screens before we turn and look at someone else. So if we could honor, we have a technology that's been created and it's going to keep growing, and and our opportunity is to grow our inner technology, and I want to say at the same speed, but with such importance. So that means it's like this here's one technology that we ask outside of ourselves for the answers, and we get them. Our inner technology is we must become still, we must learn discernment, we build a practice that takes us within. So when someone can say to me, I don't have time for a practice, Kim, I'll ask them, what brings you to center? What brings you to where you're listening to that inner voice within? Is it meditation? Is it prayer? Is it affirmations? Is it intention? Is it journaling? Is it breath work? Is it time in nature? There's so many practices that allow us to get still so we build the inner muscle of listening. When we first wake up, how many of us? I have been right there, the phone's right next to the bed. The alarm goes off, turn it over, and our first contact in the morning is with a screen. And then often we get hooked by it. What would happen if we didn't have a screen around? What if happened? We all had wonderful old alarm clocks again and woke us up. But for the first, you know, I was speaking with Marianne Williams, and she said, if we had a first hour of the day, no technology, that we just interacted with ourselves, with each other, that we got centered before we engage with the world. So the inner technology, just as it took years to create this technology of screens, and it and people are spending so much time um accelerating it. Many of us are spending so much time as well, is accelerating all the different pathways to go within to create stillness. It could, and it doesn't take an hour of meditation to connect with yourself. It could be two minutes of deep breathing. It could be in a doctor's office that instead of being on your phone, you close your eyes and say a prayer. It could be in the midst of waiting for your children and the you know carpool line that while your car is stopped, you just sit still and allow yourself to be grateful, to acknowledge yourself. Connect, connect, connect to this soul before we connect to the technology of our world. So when we begin to do that and really listen, then you start listening to what's our inner intuition, what's the highest good for me to apply right now? What is the most loving thing I could say right now? Versus what am I to do next? So begin to get creative. You know, in our family, there's no technology allowed at the dinner table. Even if we're at a restaurant, there's like we there's moments of greeting each other when you walk in the door to look at each other, to hug each other once in a while. Tell me if this happens for you. I'll have a client, it doesn't happen too often, but once in a while, I'll have a client say, Well, we were arguing, and I told him this, and he told me that. And then I blocked him. And I went, wait, wait, wait, wait. What? You were doing this on a text? And this I go, and you're in the same house. And they suggest it go never again, please. No, that's just like, why would we miss an opportunity? Because that would be hiding behind technology instead of having the courage to say what we mean to someone, whether it's I'm upset with you, I want to talk to you about this. At times, I'm not saying always, we've activated an outer technology so that we don't have to really cultivate deep relationships. I don't want to miss deep relationships.

Gillian:

Well, isn't that what we're all craving? Yes, we're all craving that that connection, that that desire to connect with others, yet we're looking for it in all the wrong places. When we're feeling that deep loneliness, when we're feeling those uncomfortable feelings, the first thing we do is grab our devices. And I'm completely guilty about this. I study this stuff for a living. I teach this for a living. But then I'll go back into my life and I have four kids who are all pulling at me for one thing or another. I'm trying to give my husband time and space. I'm trying to do all of the things that need to be done to run our household. And sometimes I just want to escape. So I often find myself going to my phone and just finding something to allow me to escape from that uncomfortable feeling. I am completely guilty of it. And I, and I feel like I am quite aware of the negative impact. But it's so easy to have that escape with this technology around us, isn't it?

Kim:

It's just made it so easy, you bet. And it's it's it's just a realignment. It's a realignment. Once we're aware, we can choose again. Now that's what I call building spiritual muscle, meaning we have to have consistency to build the muscle that our automatic grab isn't to something outside of us. We can begin with our children as a perfect example. You know, I had a client the other day say, My son is so upset with me because when I take away that iPad and I'm and I said, Can you live with the upset so you honor his own growth so that he learns? Like there's balance. We get to be in balance. And there will be a moment sometimes that our youth will be like, no, I want my phone. And we get to be gentle and understand and still have a really clear connection with them of I hear you, and I don't want to miss this with you. This is more important to me than that. But mom, mom, I have to text so-and-so. I hear you, you will, and maybe in an hour from now, because right now you and I get to sit outside or go for a walk or just tell me how your day was. I really want to understand. Yeah. And it's here's the other really important part is that if we choose, and I say choice, to not bring balance to this outer and inner technology, we're depriving our youth of understanding the tender moments of connection and intimacy. So, and I don't mean intimacy in any other way than it to like intimate moments of looking into someone's eyes and saying, I care about you or I'm upset about something. Can you hear me? Instead of very often, our youth are saying things on screen that they wouldn't say in person because there's a block there. And we, as um ones who've been, you know, who've been on this planet a little longer get to assist our youth. Like, let me show you another way. Let me help you. I know it's scary, and let's practice. Say it to me, what you'd like to say to your friend. What would you and and just be with them so that it's not wrong or right again? It's we don't want to miss this.

Gillian:

Okay. Oh, I feel like this is this is such an important message to share. It it really is. And I do believe that it has to start with us as the adults. And I'm realizing that more than ever. My my daughters will point at me sometimes and say, Mom, you're always on your phone. And I am so intentional about my phone use. Yeah. But I think they see it as you're choosing the phone over me. But they don't understand in their little heads, hey, I'm using this phone so that I can text your teacher, or so I can see what time the activities are tonight, or so that I can send an email to your doctor. Everything we do is on our phone. We're our kids are no longer seeing us flip through a book to look for a phone number. They're not hearing the conversations because they're overhearing it over a landline in the kitchen. There is this disconnection. So all they're witnessing is my mom or my dad is choosing the screen over me. And we are missing a lot of those moments that you're talking about because this is the way life is lived today.

Kim:

But brilliant example. And we have an opportunity right there to sit and look at our children and say, honey, I'm gonna take the next 10 minutes. I've got to reply to your teacher and doctor, I've got to finish my communications. Like, even if we name it that, we're not, you know, going over social media. I'm gonna do some communications right now on my device. I'll be right back. Anything before I go do that? So that we're still, again, you know, I I think it's so important for us to teach our children how the how we're growing in the presence of them so that they know it's safe to grow in the presence of each other.

unknown:

Right.

Kim:

So even as adults, we don't have it all right, and we're willing to keep practicing.

Gillian:

Right, right. It's so true. And they will mirror what they're seeing. So that's why it's so important. They will learn these practices. So when they get their devices, hopefully they'll be able to integrate those practices as well. Yeah, exactly. Kim, one thing I love about your work and your sharing all of these things again is that it isn't unrealistic. It's something that we can apply. It's lived, it's practical. And that's what our listeners need to hear because a lot of them are completely overwhelmed by the expectations of modern life. So, what you're what you're talking about is something that we can bring into our homes, into our relationships, and into our daily rhythms, which is so important. We have to be able to just integrate it into our life. What are some simple but profound ways that people can begin living more intentionally today? Especially, we're gonna be dropping this interview, I believe it's January 6th. So at the beginning of a new year. And I would love for the listeners to be able to take this to heart and understand that they can create intentions, not just for the moment they're in or the day they're in, but the year ahead. What could 2026 look like if we were to set clear intentions?

Kim:

Oh my goodness. Um, so we'll talk about this at the end because I do have that three-day event that's we create intentions for the year. So here we have the opportunity to create intentions, as you said, for the year from moment by moment for each day. When people say to me, How often should I create intentions? I'll say, as often as possible. Like we can have, and I don't want it to be overwhelming. We would get to remember that this is something we just bring into our lives. We could wake up in the morning and ask ourselves, what's my intention today? That's my favorite question. What's your intention? What's your intention? And when someone asks themselves, what is my intention today? They first get to tap into what they're feeling today. Someone could be brushing their teeth, taking a shower. Oh, I've got a full day. So what do I want to be today? I want my day to be smooth, to be, um, hold on, let me just think for a moment and allow it to bubble up. Ah, to be in clear communication in all my meetings, so there'd be fluidity through my day. Those are all qualities. So when we're thinking about that, then we activate it with we could be taking the kids to school, fixing breakfast. My intention is to honor my loved ones as I'm present this morning. Could be that. And then we take our kids to school, or we start a business meeting. Before you go into the business meeting, take three deep breaths. Another practice, take three deep breaths wherever you're at, tap your heart, get present. What's my intention? To connect with everyone in this room and then walk in the room. So we can start with these smaller intentions that are always based on states of being. What do I want to be? Intentions are not about what do I want to get, it's always about what do I want to bring to this situation. Those qualities are energetic pulls that what you want to get will come to you automatically when you're in a state of being versus get. So I just want to be clear on that. Somebody says, I want that new car, I'm gonna say, tell me about that new car. I want you to know the qualities of it. It's safe, it holds all my children with ease and grace, and it's it's strong, and the gas mileage is good. Those are all qualities that when you state, my intention is to call forth an automobile at the perfect price point that fits all of our families' needs with ease and grace. That is an energetic pull versus I need that green one right there. Does that make sense? So that see, do you see someone would say, Kim, I'm having an intention before I go to buy a car? Sure. Have an intention for anything in our lives because that is the path to co-create with spirit. Without it, we walk in and we're in expectation that something we should get, something from someone else, or we're reacting. So it's it the smallest things are at the beginning of the year, have your year of intentions, whatever that is for your business, your family, and the sub intentions underneath match those year of intentions. You could want to double your business. And underneath it would be this day. My intention is to create unlimited. Conversations that expand my business. That matches that overall intention. So there can be big ones, smaller ones. My invitation first and foremost is to start practicing them. So they become natural to roll off our tongues. My intention is to be present. My intention is to be calm. My intention is to love fully. And then watch what unfolds so that it becomes easy to say, what is my intention before I walk into this?

Gillian:

Right, right. Can you explain what it looks like to have an intention before having a hard conversation, maybe with a spouse or a parent or a difficult person?

Kim:

Absolutely. Um there's always this running giggle that, you know, I've said for years I would not go into any family event without having an intention. And it wasn't because I don't love my family, I love them to pieces. I would know that I want to be certain states of being. So say a difficult conversation. Say it's a family member, and you know it's time to have a conversation. You aim first and foremost to connect. If someone's in the midst of anything to do with relationship, I ask them, please add connect. You want to connect, even if you disagree with someone, you still want to connect. So it could be my intention is to connect, to speak calmly and clearly and share my thoughts as we discover solutions that honor us both. Imagine if you just walked in with that intention to any conversation that felt a little scary. So there's honoring us both to speak calmly and clearly, to connect with this person. Now we walk into the room, we look at the person we love. We don't just say, I want to have a conversation. We don't do that. That doesn't match this intention. We want to connect. So the action would be you'd ask a question. Do you have a minute for us to have this conversation? Are you open for us to talk about something right now that's heavy on my heart? How are you feeling right this moment? Is it a good time for us to talk? Any of those questions are connecting questions. So do you see that action came from that intention? Without the intention, someone could walk in and just go, you know, it's really would be nice if we talked right now. And right then you just broke down communication. So you set the intention, you walk in, you ask a question to keep connected. If somebody says, Yeah, I could talk right now, then you sit down and you have an opportunity to practice. Take, I have to take a deep breath before I say this because it kind of might it might be challenging for me. Would you please just give me a minute? Take a deep breath. Then you may say, My intention is to speak calmly and clearly, and I'd like to share this with you. And you start the conversation. If someone reacts, you stay in your intention. You take another deep breath. My intention was to stay calm and clear. Ask another question. You do the best you can matching your intention.

Gillian:

It's powerful work, Kim. It's a different way of thinking, it's completely shifting the way you approach life, every part of life. But there's something that I want to talk about because I feel like from my own personal experience, you can be in the state of mind. Like I could be reading about this, having these conversations, and then you get thrown into your life and you're triggered. And something surfaces doubt, fear, old stories, old patterns, conditioning, all of this stuff can surface and come out of nowhere. Even when you've been doing your practice, you've been doing your integration, you're feeling great. But you know, you know how life is. Sometimes you can just be thrown for a loop. What resistance do you see most often when people begin working with intention? That is it that fear, how do you work with that?

Kim:

What I see resistance most is the um building the muscle of consistent practice. Guilty? It's it's not fear. It's in this certain question you're asking me. Fear is definitely present in lots of things. But what what your question is, what is the resistance to you know setting these intentions? It's just consistency. So in my book, I give pages and pages and pages of examples. I have an app that's coming out in 2026 that people could sign up for the app, and there will be intentions in overflow. So if you can't think of when you'd use your device for a good reason, open it up and say, What can my intention be in this conversation? Because I know there's resistance. I I hear lots of times people say to me, they just flow out of you. They don't do that for you. So, and I'll say there's only one reason they flow out of me. You practice practicing for a long time, and I love them. I appreciate them, I honor them. It's my path of co-creation as it is for all of us, and I'm willing to practice. So it's building the muscle to just remember before you walk into that meeting, before you pick up the phone, before you text, before you do something, you just take a moment. So that may mean that the first few months that people put post-its all over their house. What is your intention? My intention is this, my intention is that, so that it activates places to remember. I have some clients that um, you know, put little alarms on their phone that every hour something could say, what's your intention? Remember this. Anything that supports our building the muscle to remember to practice. That's all. And and that is why you asked me earlier about the acknowledgement exercise. So I'm gonna talk about that right now, can I? Absolutely. Yes. Yes because this this is why another practice, our acknowledgement exercise, is so important. Because at the end of the day, when you start acknowledging yourself, for oh, I did, I said three intentions today. You're starting to recognize where you're building a practice. So the acknowledgement exercise is something I it's in the last chapter, I think, of my book. I love this exercise. I ask everyone to do it. I've noticed long ago that as adults we stop acknowledging ourselves. We don't always receive a lot of acknowledgement from others. When we have not been receiving acknowledgements or giving ourselves self-acknowledgments, we're often also not good receivers. So if somebody wants to buy us lunch, tell us we look beautiful, tell us we did a great job in that meeting. If anyone listening to this knows that feeling of saying, Oh no, no, I didn't. Didn't you see where I messed up? Oh no, that's too much. I can't accept that. Well, what's happening there is we're pushing away our good. And yet in the quiet moments of our lives, we're praying for love and abundance and all these things. And then somebody gives us anything, and we say, Oh, no, no, no. Well, we're not, those two don't match. We will not cultivate a consciousness to be a good receiver if we don't start saying thank you. So the acknowledgement exercise is an exercise to build that muscle. And what it is, is at the end of the day, I ask people to open their journal and write five things they could acknowledge themselves for. And those five things are small and they could be like, I acknowledge myself for being calm with my children today. I acknowledge myself that I returned those two emails that were that you know I was a little late on. I acknowledge myself that I took a deep breath and set my intention before that conversation today. Anything that is a path of I'm doing okay. I'm growing. It's just an exercise to assist us to see where we're growing. Right. So I could and I to go into more detail, it I want people to read that last chapter because it really helps people see. It's a game changer in self-love and receptivity and all sorts of things.

Gillian:

Oh, I could totally see that, Kim, because the way my day typically ends is I think about all of the ways that I failed, the to-do list that I didn't finish, all of the things that I didn't yet do today, the things that I have to do the next day. I think maybe that's a female thing too, because my husband can fall asleep within five seconds, I think. And I'm laying there thinking about all the things that I miss, all of the things that I still needed to write down or record so I don't forget about it. It's all floating around in my head as I go to bed.

Kim:

That was you will interrupt that when you start writing your acknowledgments every single night before bed.

Gillian:

Okay. Well, I was gonna ask you the what is the one practice that you would recommend to somebody who feels overwhelmed, maybe anxious, make maybe depressed. What is the one practice would you say is the acknowledgement, or would it be like probably would be.

Kim:

Because if one is overwhelmed and anxious, there's a tendency that the chatter of not enoughness is bigger than the chatter of love. So the acknowledgement exercise builds that field of I'm starting to see myself rightly. I could acknowledge myself that I did a little better with this today and I spoke up over there today. So definitely it would be the acknowledgement practice. It just is the it builds an awareness of that we're doing the best we can.

Gillian:

And that's oh, that's so that's so powerful, Kim. It really is. And it's it's changing that storyline in our head, right? Especially before we lay down to rest and recover for the next day. Absolutely. Wonderful.

Kim:

My dear, I we have so much more to talk about. We're gonna have to do this again. I know, I know.

Gillian:

This is just this this is just the tip of the iceberg. So, Kim, I know we're we're running low on time here, and I still want you to be able to share where people can find you, but um, would you like to to share one intention um that you would feel is fitting for this conversation for this audience? I just so we understand what an intention looks like.

Kim:

Absolutely. My intention is to be willing to love myself fully as I move into this holiday season, into this new year with grace and kindness and compassion for myself and others. There you go.

Gillian:

I always breathe deeper when I when I hear your prayers and your intentions, even when I'm reading them in the book.

Kim:

Goodness that makes me happy.

Gillian:

We're gonna move to how people connect with you, Kim, and I'm going to start by sharing that I read this book and I just thought it was so it was so impactful. Understanding that we have this divine power within us to co-create, to have these intentions, to live in that space is everything we need right now.

Kim:

Yes.

Gillian:

And that simple integration of the acknowledgement at the end of the day. I mean, it you're right, it's a game changer. So I highly recommend this book. Maybe we can start with there, The Technology of Intention, Activating the Power of the Universe Within You. Yes. And I I purchased it on Amazon.

Kim:

And you can get it on audio if you want to listen to me the whole time, because I'm the one recording the whole book, which is great. Um, also, anyone could follow me on social media. My Instagram is just Kim Stanwood. We couldn't fit my whole name. Or my website is Kim Stanwood Terranova. And on my website, I have all the notifications of when my annual intention retreat is February 6th, 7th, and 8th coming up. I have a master tools program. People could sign up for. We meet twice a month for one hour, and I'm assisting people to grow these tools, which is a beautiful program. It's over Zoom, so people could be wherever they're at in the world. Um, and I'm always speaking in different locations at any time. So anyone wants to find out, go to my website, sign up for my newsletter. Another book's gonna be coming out in 26. So all that is happening.

Gillian:

Wonderful. We are so blessed to have you, Kim, and to have you share your gifts and talents. And I'm just so happy that you're living out your purpose because you are changing lives. You're you're changing the culture that we live in and you're having such a positive impact. I feel like so many people need this hope, this hope of understanding that we really do have the power to change ourselves, to change our story and to change the world around us. Thank you for that.

Kim:

I'm receiving that and so grateful. And thank you for everything you're bringing to the world, and thank you for this podcast and for saying yes to you.

Gillian:

Thank you so much. I will take that, I will receive that as well. Perfect. And I so appreciate you being here, Kim. Of course. And I will see you again soon. And so everyone. Yes. Happy New Year to you, Kim, and to all of the listeners. Happy New Year. Thank you for joining us for this powerful conversation with Kim Stanwood Terranova. I hope you felt the reminder that intention isn't a concept, it's a practice, a way of living awake to the presence, guidance, and possibility available in every moment. If Kim's wisdom resonated with you, take a moment today to choose one intention you want to carry forward into the day, into the next year, all the way through 2026 and beyond. Something simple, something true, and let it shape the way you move through the rest of the day, month, and year. You can find Kim's books, teachings, and her beautiful organization World as One in the show notes. And if this episode nourished you, I'd love for you to share it with someone who could use a breath of clarity and peace. As always, thank you so much for being a part of this community of stillness, presence, and purpose. Thank you for listening to Be Still and Live. As always, my hope is that this conversation offered you a little more space. Space to breathe, to listen, and to come home to what matters most. If this episode resonated with you, I invite you to subscribe to the show and consider sharing it with someone who could use a little more space for clarity right now. As simple as helps the sport reach the people who need it most. If you're ready for a gentle next step, you can begin with Fox of Freedom in the show notes or as LayoCoing.com. Until next time, be still and live.

Speaker 2:

This podcast is produced, mixed, and edited by Cardinal Studio. For more information about how to start your own podcast, please visit www.cardinalstudio.co or even Mike at mike at cardinalstudio.co. You can also find the details in the show notes.