Nourishing News

How many times do you wake up in the morning and reach for you phone to check emails, social media, and news? By changing this one little habit, we can take control of the way our day plays out and remain grounded in our values. Setting daily intentions right upon waking is like programming your subconscious to follow a map with a preferred course. When we reach for our phone instead, we are programming our brains to become reactive to anything the day brings – allowing outside influences to dictate our course. This week in particular, it is important to stay grounded and intentional in our actions and not get caught up in emotions and become reactive.

How to Set Your Daily Intentions

Establishing this habit is actually fairly simple, since it piggybacks off something we all do – wake up each morning! It is important to establish some habits that will make it a success though. First of all, I highly recommend the light alarm that I shared with you last week as well. It gradually wakes your body using a light that mimics daylight, which is the natural way your body wakes. I also add the sound of birds (an option with the light) to start chirping at the time I need to wake, just incase the light alone didn’t do the job. This starts me off in a much better way than an alarm that jolts me awake. I feel much more energized and rested when I wake this way. Setting it for 10 minutes before I HAVE to be out of bed, so I have a built in time for setting my daily intentions is also key. I hate feeling rushed into my day, I need to ease in. Once awake, I follow these simple steps to set my daily intention.

1. Take 3 Deep Breaths.

I do this while still laying down comfortably in bed. Some people like to sit up to do this. I place one hand on my lower stomach and the other on my chest and I feel the air come in and fill by belly as I breathe in through my nose and slowly leave while I exhale through my mouth. (Like I am slowly blowing out a candle) I repeat this 3 times. Sometimes more if I am feeling particularly anxious about my day. You can learn more about deep breathing techniques here.

2. Ask Myself Some Guiding Questions.

I then check in with myself by asking some questions that will help guide me to what my daily intention should be. Here are some examples – there is no wrong question/answer/ way of doing this. Do what feels right for you!

• How do I want to show up in this world? How do I want to be remembered? What do I need to do to actually do that?
• Have I been taking care of myself? What do I need – emotionally? Physically? Have I been meeting those needs? How can I be better to myself?
• How am I connecting to and caring for others? Is there something I could be doing better? Are there skills I need to work on to develop this area?

3. Setting Your Daily Intentions

Based on the answers you gave to these questions, it should become clear where you feel you need to focus the most energy today. Be specific and only chose one. It is tempting to want to do it all and be perfect – but if we are very specific and are intentional about just one thing each day, we will find much more success and will move closer to where we want to be at a much faster rate. This is my intention for this week as an example:

“I will remain grounded in my love for myself and others, even when it is challenging to feel that love.”

Remaining grounded when emotions run high and the stakes feel enormous is difficult for me. I feel helpless and afraid when I see hate and violence rising. It becomes challenging to not allow emotions to cause me to become reactive. My intention this week is to stay grounded in love and to pause before reacting, so I can ensure that what I say and do is a reflection of that love and how I want to show up in the world – being a part of the solution.

Your intention might sound very different from mine, and that is ok! That is the point. We all have unique perspectives and gifts that we are meant to bring to this world. Unfortunately, many times they get lost in the reactiveness we each have to life. Setting our intentions first thing in the morning will help us react less and fulfill more. Don’t let others hijack the direction of your life.

Share with us

Let’s create a list of our beautiful intentions this week! Seeing how we each intend to make the world a little better each day will bring hope and inspiration! Let’s spread that instead of the fear and hate!

With Love and Gratitude,

AnaAlicia