Well, here we are, a third of the way into November, about to plunge headlong into the holiday season, with all of its stresses and joys.
Before it gets into full swing, I thought I’d share with you a quick and easy practice you can adapt to ensure that your time is rich and full and your stresses no more than tiny bumps in the road.
Ready? Okay, here goes.
Choose Your Theme
The first thing you want to do is decide on a theme for the upcoming weeks. What feelings or attitudes would you most like to have filling you as you travel to the year’s end?
Would you want to be flowing with gratitude? Ease? Kindness? Contentment?
Would you want to feel inspired most of the time? Creative? Appreciative? Energetic?
Pick two or three of your favorite feelings or attitudes and write them down as your theme. Then say to yourself, right out loud, “My intention is to be filled with ___________ and _________ .”
Install It In Your Mind
Next, take a couple minutes to remember a time when you felt each of your chosen feelings or attitudes and let yourself experience feeling them now as fully as you can.
Maybe you’ll remember where you were and what you were doing when you felt that feeling before.
Maybe you’ll notice a little smile on your face as you call the feelings or attitudes to mind.
Maybe you’ll simply feel the depth and strength of them
Once you’re experiencing a clear memory of each of your chosen feelings, name them out loud, one at a time, as you pat the heart region of your chest three times. “Thankful. Thankful. Thankful.” Then do it with the next feeling.
Take It to the Park
Super. Now you have installed your intention. And it only takes two small actions to activate and strengthen it daily.
1st As soon as you wake in the morning, remember your intention, repeating it to yourself, saying it out loud. “My intention is to be filled with __________ and _________ today.”
2nd As you go through your day, do this little PARK exercise to reinforce and nurture it. (PARK it any time you think of it, or on the hour, or before each meal.) Here’s how:
P – Pause in whatever you are doing, momentarily setting it aside.
A – Become Aware. Allow yourself to become aware of the present moment.
Do a quick body scan and let go of any accumulated tension. Notice the data your senses are bringing to you: What are you seeing? Hearing? Smelling? Tasting? What is your skin feeling? How’s your posture? Your breathing?
If you like, you can also do a quick review of how you spent the past hour and acknowledge yourself for it.
You can do all of this very effectively in a matter of a few seconds. Or stretch it out as long as you like, enjoying the way this break relaxes and refreshes you.
R– Remember. Remember that the purpose of this exercise is to energize your intentions. Briefly touch your heart center and let the beautiful feelings of your intention fill your awareness for a moment. Feel how alive they are within you, quietly guiding you. (If you’re in circumstances where you would be uncomfortable touching your heart center, simply focus your attention there.)
K – Keep on. Return your attention to whatever you were doing or would like to do next.
That’s it. Choose two or three feelings as your theme for the remainder of the year, install your intention to be immersed in them, do a morning reminder when you wake and practice PARK as you go through your day.
This practice has been one of the favorites of my coaching clients, by the way. I hope you’ll give it a try and experience the sense of well-being that it can bring you.
Wishing you beautiful intentions!
Warmly,
Susan
Image by Mircea Iancu from Pixabay