Setting Your Intention

For my very first blog, I’ve been thinking long and hard about what to write about. Should I start with a favorite recipe? A health discussion? Do’s and don’ts about dieting? Fun facts and statics?… but nothing felt just right. Finally, while sitting on my yoga mat this morning I thought to myself, “what is my intention going to be for this blog”? What do people want to hear about? What do I want to say? And then it hit me, I set intentions for myself all the time but I doubt others do the same.

I make a plan and follow through with it using my mind, body, and soul. For instance, let’s say I want to get a bunch of paper work done today. I don’t just rely on my brain nagging me saying “but you promised yourself you would do it”. Instead, I set my intention on what I would like my mood to be while I do the work. Do I want to be driven today? Or maybe I want to have a clear head so I can be creative. I set my intention on every little detail of what my “work day” is going to be like. Starting with location; am I going to do it in the office or at home? Do I want someone else there with me or do I not want any distractions? Do I want to munch on a good snack or do I want to reward myself with an awesome meal afterwards…..and so on and so forth.

Now, you might be thinking, “that is a whole lot of planning for one little day of paper work, who has time for that”? But its not… and you do! See, setting intentions frequently help you be in the moment and in a positive mood. It would be pretty hard to stop and set your intention on being aloof today with a scowl on your face the whole time. It sets the bar exactly where you want it and it actually saves you time and energy in the long run. Because you “pre-planned” for a minute before you started your paper work, you already knew you were going to go to the coffee shop, ordered your chai tea, sat at your favorite table, and turned your phone off because you decided to fly solo today. Thus, you got all your work done in 4 hours instead of the estimated 6, and had time to go home and make yourself that quinoa casserole you’ve been wanting to master ever since you saw it on Pinterest.

Today I set my intention on being free. Free from stress and worry. Free from distraction. And most importantly, free from negativity. I am guilty of being sucked into negativity sometimes just like everyone else. But it doesn’t make it right. I preach health everyday and a big part of health is emotional. Negativity is like a black toxic cloud that seeps into your cells and multiplies. It has short-term and long-term effects and has proven time and time again to lead to health complications down the road.

How can you call yourself truly healthy if your thoughts are stuck in a negative pattern? The simple answer… you cant. So, my intention for today is to free myself from all negativity that I might have been holding on to, and also to dodge all future negativity that may come my way. I am able to picture the smile on my face when I hear gossip. I can feel the warmth radiating from my heart as I hear bad news. And I can see the love that surrounds me when someone I care about hurts my feelings. Why? Because love and acceptance is the key to living a healthy life, and I am setting my intention on only focusing on the positive in every situation.

So what is your intention for the day?

Pointing you to wellness each and every day,

Dr. Carly