Welcome June ~ we’ve been waiting for you ☀️
Thankfully Maycember, with it’s seemingly endless STEAM fairs, recitals, and picnics, is over 🙌🏼
Side note! Watch this 2 min video because it’s hilarious and sooo true. You parents of school age children will feel this deep into your bones.
Onto a new month!
June, and your whole life for that matter, can be ANYTHING you want it to be… when you get clear and focused about what exactly that is.
Often we just go with the flow without any intention behind what we’re doing…. and then we wake up 5 years later and wonder why we are unhappy, stressed, anxious, and disconnected.
Purposefully bringing more intention into your life is a simple and effective way to cultivate clarity, focus, and trust in YOU and the inherent wisdom that lives within.
New beginnings (new week, month, new job etc…) are perfect opportunities to get quiet, listen deeply to what’s calling you, and then trust yourself enough to follow it.
What this looks like for me:
When I close my eyes, June looks like being present and enjoying the momentary slow down after a busy school year. There is sunshine, laughter, and a sense of ease and happiness.
YESSSS!!!
Here are some ways I’m going to cultivate that:
Family dinners on the deck:
Sports and activity schedules make dinner time exceptionally challenging, looking forward to being together more consistently…. plus everything is more fun on a deck
Embrace nightly reads:
Find a new series to read with the kids, or just go back to some old favs
Have lunch with my husband during the day:
He’s often home, I’m often home, why do we not do this more?
Swim:
Maybe even get my hair wet - but also maybe not ;) Obviously depends on where I am in the hair-washing cycle - my fellow frizzy-haired women will get me on this. If you are one of those women who can just glamorously pop in and out of the pool (or leave the house with your hair WET - I mean, I cannot even imagine…) and have your hair look anywhere near decent, please know you won the lottery on this one
Put my phone down when someone is talking to me:
Do you do this too?? The kids are telling me a story and I’m half listening as I scroll through junk mail just so I can get rid of that number alerting me to an unread email. What on earth?? Where are my priorities? Put. The. Phone. Down.
Eat more ice cream.
As in, get my own ice cream, rather than say “No, I’m good” and then take endless bites of all the ice creams around me, that are often blue in color and gross in taste because a child chose it
Find more phone-free hours during the day:
A straight forward, yet psychologically challenging way to create more presence 💃
Continue to take multiple opportunities throughout the day to be active and get outside:
Movement doesn’t need to be a one and done. I get to go on a few mini-walks with the dog, stretch, play tennis, do yoga, go for a family bike ride etc….
Enjoy a family trip to Yellowstone at the end of the month
Note to self: start planning this
Even just looking at these ideas makes me feel happy, relaxed, and connected - exactly what I was going for.
That’s the power of intention!!
I could just go right on doing what I normally do, just with a 6 in the date instead of a 5, but I get to choose on purpose how I want to show up these next few weeks, and that is empowering, freeing, and honestly amazing.
Here are some tips for getting clarity on what June can look like in YOUR life:
✔️ Grab your pen and paper and write out some qualities or experiences you’d really love to cultivate this month.
How do you want to show up this month? What feels important in your life right now? What do you have going on that you want to lean into? Are there any core values you want to re-align with?
✔️ Look at what you wrote; link together common themes so you can narrow it down to a single thought, short phrase, or word.
Write your thought, phrase, or word down - place it somewhere you’ll see it regularly so you can keep coming back to it. If you are like me and can't handle things being out or stickies everywhere, a sticky inside your bathroom cabinet or other closet/cabinet you frequent works surprisingly well.
✔️ Why is this word or phrase important to you?
Write it out!
The clearer you are on your ‘why’, the more likely you are to keep it close and stick with the commitments you make to yourself around it.
✔️ What are some concrete ways you can invite more of that quality into your life right now?
The options are endless, but may include:
Try a new class or hobby
Get to bed 10 minutes earlier
Wake up 10 minutes earlier
Volunteer for a cause that inspires you
Start a daily journaling practice (2 minutes to begin!)
Find 2 minutes of quiet each morning
Cook something new
Disconnect from social media for an hour, a day or longer
Start a garden
Reach out to an old friend
Read 5 pages with the kids at night
Go for a 10 minute walk by yourself everyday
Stretch for 5 minutes before bed
Learn how to take a deep breath
Do a gratitude practice with your family at breakfast
Tidy up your desk each night before you leave for work
Find a way to laugh everyday
Try an exotic food or visit a restaurant you wouldn’t normally go to
Take 10 pictures with your new camera every single day
Go on a day trip somewhere unexpected
Practice forgiveness - yourself and/or others
Attend a motivational or inspirational talk
Think outside the box and importantly remember, it doesn't need to be a BIG thing. In fact, it’s better to keep it small.
Small changes have a BIG impact.
✔️ Close your eyes and visualize yourself feeling this way and doing these things. Continue to do this throughout the month, maybe even daily.
Don’t skip this part!
Visualization is a powerful technique for stress reduction, goal attainment, problem solving, and healing.
***
You get to be the active creator of your life.
Don’t leave your life to chance, the opinions of others, your jean size, fear of failure, or limiting beliefs to do it for you.
“Intentional living is the art of making our own choices before others make choices for us” - Richie Norton
Send me an email and let me know what you come up with!
Wishing you a June filled with love, happiness, ice cream that is not blue, down-time, chlorinated hair, and all the things that make your heart SING ♥️
With love,
Carolyn
Xx
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