Does it feel like everything suddenly got busier?
The slower rhythm of summer begins to fade. School starts again. Schedules shift. Calendars fill. Work picks up. Activities and commitments that took a backseat during the summer suddenly find their way back onto the calendar.
And before you know it, you can find yourself moving from one thing to the next…responding to emails, managing schedules, taking care of everyone around you, and trying to keep all the plates spinning.
You may notice you’re more irritable.
More easily overwhelmed.
More reactive to little things that normally wouldn’t bother you.
Or maybe you’re moving through your days on autopilot, checking things off the list without feeling present for any of it.
When life gets full, it’s surprisingly easy to lose connection with how you actually want to move through your life.
Overwhelm Doesn’t Usually Bring Out the Best in Us
When we’re overwhelmed, we tend to default to familiar patterns.
We react instead of respond.
We absorb the moods and energy of the people around us.
We rush because everything feels urgent.
We move through the day responding to the tyranny of the urgent.
And that’s where setting a daily intention can be incredibly powerful.
Not another goal.
Not another item for your already-full to-do list.
An intention is simply a conscious decision about who you want to be and how you want to show up as you move through the day.
What Do You Want to Anchor Into?
This is something I use in my own life and in my work with clients.
Sometimes my intention is to flow through the day rather than resist every interruption or change.
I want to lean into embodying my ideal self. For me, this can look like:
FLOW.
Flow is that weightless, effortless feeling of ease as we navigate daily life. It feels light in my body—and it just makes me happy!
I might also anchor into an intention:
Observe rather than absorb.
Respond rather than react.
Or I might choose qualities I want to embody:
Calm. Confident. Clear. Centered. Certain.
Then I anchor them in.
Your anchor might be an affirmation or mantra you repeat throughout the day. It might be an image, a word on your mirror, a piece of jewelry, or a question you return to:
How would my ideal self handle this?
Because the intention isn’t to move through your entire day perfectly regulated and unbothered.
The intention is to have something to anchor into when you’re feeling challenged.
From Intention to Identity
This is where intention becomes something deeper.
What are the qualities of that version of me?
How does she respond when something doesn’t go according to plan?
How does she speak to herself?
How does she show up in her relationships?
What does she choose when an old pattern invites her back in?
We can begin visualizing that version of ourselves, experiencing how she feels in our body, and intentionally practicing stepping into her.
Because healing isn’t only about releasing the past.
It’s also about intentionally creating the person you’re becoming.
A Gentle Place to Begin
If you’d like a little more support practicing this, I’d love to gift you a copy of my book, Stress Relief.
Each chapter offers a simple practice along with a coordinating guided meditation designed to help you move beyond thinking differently and actually step into a shifted state.
It’s an easy way to begin practicing embodiment on your own.
When You’re Ready for a Deeper Reset
Sometimes a daily intention or practice is enough to help us recalibrate.
And sometimes we know exactly how we want to respond, but old experiences and deeply ingrained patterns continue to take over.
That’s where deeper healing work can be helpful.
This is one of my favorite pieces of the work we do during a Trauma Healing Intensive.
After spending concentrated time healing the experiences, beliefs, and patterns that have kept you stuck, we begin shifting our attention from:
What am I healing from?
to:
Who am I becoming?
We identify the qualities of your ideal self and intentionally anchor them through visualization, experiential work, affirmations, and mantras—so you’re not simply leaving behind what no longer serves you, but beginning to experience and embody what comes next.
My Trauma Healing Intensives create dedicated space over one to three days to step outside the noise of everyday life, work with what’s been keeping you stuck, and create meaningful shifts in how you experience yourself and your life.
If you’ve been feeling ready for a deeper reset, you can schedule a complimentary consultation to explore whether an intensive might be a good fit for you.
Before September Is in Full Force…
Take a few quiet minutes and ask yourself:
Who do I want to be as I move through this season?
Choose one or two qualities.
Find a word, emotion, affirmation, or visualization that represents them.
Anchor them in.
And the next time life floods in and you find yourself slipping into overwhelm, don’t judge yourself for getting pulled off center.
Gently shift back into flow.
Again and again. 🦋
