May Intentions | #AYearOfIntentionalLiving

This month I’m all about setting mindful intentions. I want to focus on things that I have been ignoring the past month such as connecting with nature, dreaming big and working hard to achieve my dreams and practicing more patience with everyone. I spent an hour sitting quietly and really thinking about what I want for the next month and I thought I would share my May intentions with you. 

  1. Shop Slow. As I shared in my previous post this months is about shopping as locally as possible and in person – no online shopping. 
  2. Connect With Nature Everyday. This is as simple as spending 10-15 minutes or more out in nature. Observing the trees, the flowers, listening for the birds, feeling the breeze. 
  3. Move Your Body. I tell you I haven’t been moving this body of mine enough. I however purchased a Groupon for a yoga studio that I need to activate because I spent the money but more because this body needs some regular activity. 
  4. Tell Your Story. I’ll be honest 90% of the time I hold back. I don’t share my story, my truth and I think it’s time. This may be publicly, to close friends, to my husband or simply to myself in a notebook. 
  5. Manifest your dreams.  I have so many dreams and ideas but I am quick to talk myself out of things or tell myself I can’t do it. This month is about saying ‘yes you can’ and actually putting that all into motion. 
  6. Practice Patience.  My patience is thin. Like paper thin and I need to slow my mind down, slow my words down and practice more patience with my family but also with myself and everyone else in my life. 
  7. Breathe deeply. We recently received a new book called My Magic Breath that teaches children the magic of breathing; how focusing on the breath can help to move sadness and frustration and make space for positive and happy thoughts. After reading and practicing this with my children it was a reminder to myself how the beneficial our breath is. 

What are your May intentions? Share them on Instagram with #AYearOfIntentionalLiving

The Benefits of Living With Intention | #AYearOfIntentionalLiving

I recently shared my intentions for 2018. It’s one thing to set intentions but it’s important to dive a bit deeper and to really define those intentions.  So this week I want to dive a bit deeper into why I am choosing to live more intentionally. What are the benefits of living with intention?  For me the benefits are…

To Be Free From Debt. While we are not swimming in debt we do have a bit from travel, student loans, and moving that we would like to be free from by the end of the year. 

To Spend More Time With My Children. Clutter and cleaning are both huge mental blocks for me. Too often, I end up telling myself and my littles that I need to clean first or I end up staying home on the weekend to clean while Neil goes out with the kids for a few hours. 

To Get Better Sleep.  I am not looking for 8 straight hours but rather more restful sleep when it does happen (I have a baby so sleep is all over the place).

More Time For Me (and the blog).  I have notebooks filled with ideas for blog posts but between a clingy baby, exhaustion, the never ending cleaning and the guilt I feel when I take time for myself nothing has been getting done and it’s weighing on me. For me, living more intentionally means making time for myself and my passions a priority so that I can fill my cup and better take care of my family and our home. 

The ability to travel. We love to explore and travel and by living more intentionally we are providing ourselves with the space, time and financial stability to tap into our never ending wanderlust. 

Reduce anxiety. I have struggled with anxiety for most of my life. It comes in waves and currently it’s high. My hope is that living life with more purpose and being more present will help to reduce my anxiety.

Increase quality time. Days will be filled with more purpose and presence which leads to a higher quality of life and time with those who are most important. 

Stronger relationships.  Being more intentional about how we live our lives helps us to foster stronger relationships with each other and ourselves. 

As you can see these benefits embrace so many facets of life from health, to relationships, to money, to stress.  

Do you seek a more intentional life? What does this look like for you? What steps are you taking?