If you have been following along for the past few months you may have noticed that I have been setting monthly intentions. Each month I set intentions to make or break habits. Many studies show that it takes 30 days to let habits set in. The beginning of the month is the perfect time to start. I recommend 5-8 (10 if there are a few small ones) intentions each month.
You can join me too! I recommend taking the time to sit down and write them out (they don't have to be colorful and "pretty" as mine). The reason I suggest you write them down and why I do is it
It is a nice time to get quiet and have a meditative practice on your intentions.
It is great to hang or put your intentions somewhere you can see them each day as a friendly reminder.
When you write your intentions down it makes it stick in your memory more and makes it feel more serious. Rather than thinking of your intentions and possibly forgetting them.
Scroll down to see what I have been working on in the past and or to be inspired for your own intentions! I want to know what you are working on this month. Tag me in your intentions @dancinggingeralex & #dgintentions ✌️
April Intentions
I’m taking this month to work on some things mentally while I am abroad for most of the month and then the real work starts. Maintaining the work while I am back in my routine. I have been reflecting a lot on how I am feeling, what I want to change and how I am going to do it. I took a moment to step outside and coach myself and here’s what I came up with.
1. Comparison is the thief of joy. Amen! it is easy to assume someone else has everything you want or to see something in someone else that you think you need. Maybe it’s because I am a dancer (or a human) but I recognize that comparing does take away my joy and I am in control of that.
2. Slow down I want to take it all in! Luckily I’m not as busy while I am traveling and there is no reason to pack my schedule. I have plenty of time to see it all; thank goodness this country is small.
3. Be present. This is my main mantra this month. I feel so fortunate to be able to spend almost a month in a new city and new country. I am working on soaking it all in, not stress too much about school or what needs to happen when I leave. Stay present and in the moment. Slowing down will help.
4. Don’t be afraid to be selfish. Something I learned about my self recently is I don’t make decisions without thinking of others. I am thinking about my clients, my students, my husband. Even if I am given the opportunity to be selfish I struggle with it and I believe it is important to be able to be selfish and take care of yourself.
What are your intentions this month? Tag me @dancinggingeralex #dgintentions I love seeing and being inspired by you!
March intentions
1. No scrolling before bed. It doesn’t help anything but keep me from sleeping. Instead I will read or meditated.
2. Do a DEEP clean of the apartment and clean out the closet. ’m looking to get rid of a lot and minimize, plus our apartment needs some love. Any tips of minimizing send me way.
3. Don’t check my phone RIGHT after I’m done with class or teaching. Can you sense a theme? I mean is anything really that important that I have to check messages?
4. Try a new self care act every week. Also accepting recommendations. I’m thinking I am finally going to try floating, maybe a massage who knows?!
5. No sugar. I’ve been thinking of it for a while and finally doing it. Who’s with me?
What are your intentions this month? Tag me @dancinggingeralex#dgintentions I love seeing and being inspired by you!⠀
February Intentions
February intentions:
1. Talk to myself the way I talk to others
This was an intention from last month. I did a good job but now that I am back I am in NYC and in my routine I want to continue to work on my self talk.
2. Create more
I want to create more content, recipes, choreography and anything else!
3. Find more ways to slow down
It is going to be a busy month and I know I’ll need moments to slow down
4. Spend 4 hours a week on writing and school work
I can’t believe it’s my last 5 months of grad school! Time to buckle down!!
5. Stop late night snacking
It doesn’t happen every night but when it does I know it is mindless eating when I’m not really hungry. Hoping to not eat 2 hours before falling asleep
What are your intentions this month? Tag me @dancinggingeralex #dgintentions I love seeing and being inspired by you!
January Intentions
1. Talk to myself the way I talk to others
I would NEVER talk to my clients, friends, family, students the way I talk to myself. Lately I have been recognizing it and this month I am treating myself like my clients, friends, family and students. Do you talk to yourself the way you would your friends and family?
2. Give my neck and shoulders love
The last two times I went to CA from school I hurt my neck during the last week. This month I am going to do everything I can to NOT hurt my neck. I’ll make sure to put my exercises on my stories so you can work on it too
3. Don’t be on my phone when talking to someone
I don’t like it when I am talking to others and they are on their phone so why would I do it to others? This month I am working on staying present and NOT have my phone out while talking to people.
4. Do something that makes me smile everyday
When I am doing my semester at school it is SO easy to get wrapped up into all the work and not make time for myself. This month I am going to bring more smiles to my face!
5. When I feel overwhelmed stop to take 3 deep breaths.
January is going to be a busy month. I know that when I have a lot on my plate and lots of deadlines I let the stress build up (who doesn’t ) when I am feeling overwhelmed I will stop and take 3 deep breaths. ⠀
What are your intentions this month? Tag me
@dancinggingeralex #dgintentions I love seeing and being inspired by you!
December Intentions
“Plenty of Time”. My mantra for this month is “Plenty of time” when I feel overwhelmed or feel as if I don’t have enough time to get things done I will remind myself “I have plenty of time”
Only look at emails when I have time to respond. No need to look at emails when I know I can’t respond; it just overwhelms me. I want to look at my emails when I have sat down with the intention to respond. (Learned that from not multitasking last month)
Venmo surprises every Friday. I saw someone did this and I love it! Will you be the lucky one to receive a Venmo surprise from me?!?
Brush my teeth after tea. Simple; tea stains your teeth and I’m not in the habit of brushing my teeth after tea. 🦷
Be more intent with my choices of how I fill my days. Something I realized on a weekly call with @roby group coaching program, Rockstar. I have a lot of choices to do things I love and things I need to do that can really fill my day. This month I want to take a bit more time to thinking about my choices and how I fill my days.
I added an extra one a few days ago, “Give my feet more love” I have been feeling feet and ankle pain recently. I bought new shoes which helps. I will be doing stretches and exercises daily and I’ll share them with you too.
What are your intentions this month? Tag me @dancinggingeralex #dgintentions I love seeing and being inspired by you!
November Intentions
Multitask less Often time I catch myself multitasking when I know I should be present. Or I am doing work on my computer and I’m bouncing around answering emails while writing a blog post… sometimes it is best to focus on ONE thing.
Stop instagram comparison This is a big one for me and I know I’m not alone. I see something and think “I should do that” or “they are younger than me and look what they have accomplished”. No good comes from that and I’m putting an end to that. (see #6)
Spend at least 4 hours a week writing for school/Thesis work Did you know I am in Grad School? I am getting my MFA in Dance and I graduate next June. I have had two deadlines for writing and working on my thesis and I haven’t done anything yet. Oops! Need to buckle down and start writing.
Drink more water when I get home I am so good at drinking water during the day and when I get home I stop… what’s that about? I have a large mason jar I drink out of in the morning so I am going to start filling it up at night.
No TV once a week I am a auditory person and like to have sounds on when I am home along working or cooking. I recognize that when I have the TV on for background noise (even if it is something I have seen a bunch) it slows me down a bit. Going sans TV once a day, we could all watch a little less right?
Find gratitude in what you have Goes along with #2 social media is great for many things but often leaves us feeling we don’t have what we need or what we have. Finding gratitude for all that I have and what I have done for myself.
What are your intentions this month? Tag me @dancinggingeralex #dgintentions I love seeing and being inspired by you!
October Intentions
1. Sleep more
I’m tired of being tired I so often get an on my phone that it is “bedtime” and don’t do anything about it. I’m going I want to find more consistency with my sleep schedule in hopes that will help my tiredness.
2. Give myself more time to eat
This past month I took a moment before eating to be more aware. Often times I wouldn’t think before making a plate or I would be so hungry I would start snacking on cold veggies while making food. I am going to give myself more time to eat and try not to get to the point where I need to stuff my face.
3. Call more and text less
Simply want to connect more with people
4. 3 strength trainings a week Last month I did LOTS of yoga. Need to find some balance and get back some of my strength
5. Give myself more time to travel
It’s one of my worst habits; I don’t leave enough time to travel from thing to thing or leave JUST enough time that I’m stress walking to the train. All my fault and totally easy to fix. Who has a habit like that?
6. Stop body checking
This is a big one for me. I have been thinking about this a lot but never knew it had a name. A couple days ago @leefromamerica shared about Body Checking which encouraged me and put a name to the stupid habit I have when I walk past a mirror and check myself out; more like examine myself. The important thing about this is it is hardly positive. Usually me “checking” my progress or tearing apart my body in a negative way. Stopping cold turkey this month. Doesn’t help me at all!
What are your intentions this month? Tag me @dancinggingeralex #dgintentions I love seeing and being inspired by you!
September Intentions
This month there are a lot of new habits I am trying to make. Many of which I need to do every day. It is going to be a tough one but I am up for the challenge!
1. Catch myself when I have negative self-talk.
Last month one of my intentions was to “let go of what doesn’t serve me” I have a lot of negative self-talk; I am learning to let that go but sometimes those thoughts creep in. I am continuing on my journey this month to focus on my thoughts. I have done a great job giving myself time and practicing self-care actions but now I need to focus on my thoughts. Bye bye negative
2. Post on @husbandandwifetalk @instagram stories every day.
I want to do is be more social about my podcast with @corey_loren so get ready to see some fun, silly and hopefully helpful stories from us. Follow along for the fun @husbandandwifetalk
3. Go to bed with the dishes done every night.
Goodbye, pilling dishes. As long as I do the dishes every night they won’t pile up... right?
4. Tune in before eating a meal
When I eat with @erica.carin she reminds me to have a moment before eating. Thank the food in front of you and check in to see where your body is. So many times I reach for food without thinking because I am in a hurry or distracted. It takes SECONDS to slow down. My mind, body and GUT will thank me.
5. Spend time on Sunday reflecting on the week and planning for the next. ⠀
Too often I go into the week not having an exact plan or not knowing what NEEDS to get done that what didn’t get done last week. So every Sunday I will sit down with my journal and planner to reflect and plan.
6. Only spend $40 a week.
I am looking to do some traveling and fingers crossed studying abroad next year so I need to start saving! This month I am going to experiment. Every Monday I will get $40 cash and live off that. It will not count towards groceries or transit but it will have to cover everything else.
7. 30 Corepower classes.
@corepoweryoga is challenging yogis to take 10, 20, or 30 classes this month.(you can win a free month of yoga if you do it too FYI) I agreed to do 30 with @laragobins...wish me luck!
What are your intentions this month? Show me yours by tagging me and using #dgintentions
August Intentions
The theme of August is letting go. Letting go of what doesn't serve me, letting go of what is on my tongue or skin and things around the house. I'm letting it all go!
1. Use a tongue scraper every day. After having @erica.carin on our podcast @husbandandwifetalk I have been convinced to tongue scrape every day. If you are curious I am using @drtungs
2. Dry brush once a week. Also inspired by @erica.carin she said that because my skin is dry that I need don’t need to do it more than once a week. (Picked up my dry brush from @wholefoodsnyc)
3. Finish projects around the house (office and kitchen) it has been on our list of things to do for too long! This is the month! Can’t wait to show you before and after
4. Let go of what doesn’t serve me. If it doesn’t serve me; out it goes!
5. Finish application for independent studying. Last month if you remember I set the intention to do more school work. This month I need to finish my application in hopes I can travel to study
July Intentions
You might be able to see a theme here. I know I'm not the only one that allows fear to get in the way of our to-do lists, trying new things, putting yourself out there... This month is all about knocking down those fears and allowing love to come in. Scroll down for more info about my intentions.
1. Do something that scares me every week. I want to push myself to do more things that scare me that will push me out of my comfort zone and force me to try new things.
2. Spend more time on homework and school This my last year of grad school and I need to dedicate more time working on my thesis, choreography, scholarship applications and more!
3. Do more Instagram live videos . I plan to do more Instagram live, classes, cooking demos, talks and more! Comment below on your request!
4. Do a minimum of 10 mins of yoga or mobility every day. After a month of hard work I wasn’t able to dedicate as much time as I want to my body and I am in pain! Time to refocus, stretch and work on my body.
5. Don’t let fear get in the way of your to-do list. See a theme this month? We all are guilty of letting fear get in the way of things. Not this month! Leaning into love and letting go of fear.
June Intentions
I’m on my way to California for a month-long intensive for Grad School. Knowing that I have a FULL month I kept it to 5 this month and some of them are BIG ones (#1 and #4).
Here they are:
⠀
1. No phone for the first 45 mins of the day. I used to do this and have fallen out of habit. It is SO easy to open your eyes and look at your emails, possible texts, Instagram or anything else. But what is that serving? Your ego? Stressing you out looking at the emails you need to respond to? I'm decided to NOT give in and start my day in a more peaceful way without technology.
2. Eat more fermented foods! After doing @robynyoukilis 3 Day Reset and having something fermented in every meal REALLY helped my belly and digestion. I LOVE adding sauerkraut to meals and LOVE me some kombucha so this one will be easy just need to remember to have it daily.
3. I give a LOT to others and often put myself on the back burner. I know this month is going to be busy with not a lot of free time. But I am dedicating more time to ME this month. I'll let you know how it goes. Send me some ideas or how to put myself first! ⠀
4. As most of you know I try and have a low carbon footprint and this month I’m amping it up! I’m going to do my best to not use any plastic. Thinking about the plastic I do consume its forks, teacups, wrappers for food so I think for me it is just as simple as planning ahead more.
5. My husband and I have been working on organizing our finances recently and this month (even though we are apart) I’m going to say on top of it! This one is a bit of a softball because I won't be spending that much BUT its ok to have an easier intention on the list PLUS I looking to keep up the habit so even though it wont be a lot of work the act of making the time to sit down each week to look at what I have spent in the week will help establish the habit for the futrue.
It’s not too late to join me! I want to know what you are working on this month. Tag me in your intentions #dgintentions ✌️