Setting Feelings-Based Intentions for 2023
Hello friend,
How are you experiencing this time of year? Sometimes, the influx of messaging around setting goals and intentions and resolutions can feel like a lot of pressure. Sometimes it can feel exciting or motivating. What feeling does it leave you with? Are you feeling expansive? Contracted? Somewhere in between?
Having spent the week between Christmas and New Years in silent meditation near Mérida, Mexico, I’m currently feeling a sense of connection to myself, and with that a feeling of calm as I move forward into this new calendar year. I find date markers help me to let things go and re-prioritize sometimes.
I thought for this New Year’s edition of my newsletter, I would visit the idea of setting intentions that are centred around feeling rather than doing.
So often, our intentions stay rooted in pass/fail productivity-based items like achievements to tick off, places to go, tasks to complete. What if you approached New Year’s resolutions with a focus on how you’d like to feel this coming year. For example, I’d like to feel spacious this year—including how I hold the concept of spaciousness. With this awareness, I can more easily decide what to prioritize as things come at me by running them through the filter of: does this thing help me feel spacious now or will it help me to feel spacious in the (near) future?
Although not necessarily feelings based, I have been choosing a word to guide my year for a few years now. In 2020 I chose the word home (I had no idea how true that would be), in 2021 I chose heal, and in 2022 I chose the word connect. They each turned out to be spot on themes for the year ahead.
With that said, what word are you choosing for 2023?
As always, I’ve gathered some resources to support the themes of this month’s newsletter. You’ll also find information about upcoming ways you can engage with me and my work.
May your year ahead be as __________ [insert your word here] as possible.
See you soon, friend!
Dawn
ICYMI.
All meditations of season 3 of my podcast—and a New Year’s bonus meditation—are available for your practice on Anchor, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. There are currently close to 30 guided meditations on there. May they support your growth and heart.
Dawned on me.
As a verb, dawn can mean “become clear” or “enter one's consciousness or emotions.” In this section, I share with you some resources that help me get clear. May it be the same for you.
Read.
Can We Automate Slow Living? via The Good Trade
As more and more apps and devices become available to us, as things like smart watches and smart homes make technology a bigger and bigger part of our daily lives, can we take a breath and determine whether the things we are so eagerly downloading and signing up for are actually making our lives easier? Or are they just adding more steps and things to check every day? Can we use technology to help us access more rest? Can tech actually help us slow down? These are some of the questions in this amazing piece by Emily Torres via the Good Trade.
Listen.
How to Find the Right Workout for Your Body from Food Heaven Podcast with Lauren Leavell
This interview between Food Heaven Podcast hosts and weight-neutral certified personal trainer Lauren Leavell sheds a light on all of the ways the fitness and wellness industries try to sell us insecurities in order to drive up their business. The real truth is, there is no exercise you *should* be doing except the ones that feel right and good for you in the spaces that feel right and good for you. Finding movement that feels good in your body, that doesn’t hurt you, that feels sustainable, and even … FUN is the best way to incorporate it into your life. A feelings-based approach to fitness? Amazing!
Read.
How To Pursue A Goal Without Letting It Take Over Your Life via Bustle
I know, I know, we are looking for feelings-based intentions here, but the reality is we still are going to pursue external goals and metrics in life. Here is a nice reminder that you can set and pursue goals without completely neglecting your self care and joy in the process.
Take in.
“May I be loving, open, and aware in this moment;
If I cannot be loving, open, and aware in this moment, may I be kind;
If I cannot be kind, may I be nonjudgmental;
If I cannot be nonjudgmental, may I not cause harm;
If I cannot not cause harm, may I cause the least harm possible.”
- Larry Yang, Awakening Together
Reflect.
What do you want to feel like in 2023? Write it out in as much detail as possible. If helpful, create a character that embodies the qualities you hope to embody and the feelings you hope to prioritize. Name the characters and describe them. Be creative! Play with gender, wardrobe, personality traits … Have fun! Maybe even create a vision board, or a piece of art that brings this character to life and can serve as a reminder during your more difficult moments this coming year.
Meditate.
I personally like to take my time reflecting on the calendar transition for about a month (mid-December to mid-January). One of the many rituals I do at this time includes reflecting on the last year, particularly the highs and lows I’ve lived, the lessons I learned and/or relearned, and how I want to feel in the coming year.
(Note: The meditation was recorded while traveling. If you listen closely enough, you might even hear some crickets. When I get back to Montreal in the spring, I’ll re-record it professionally and update the episode).
Make sure to check out the episode notes where you can access a document to write down your reflections. François and I have been doing this for years, printing out and saving each document for our re-visiting at later times. It has been super sweet and I encourage you to do the same.
Link appreciation: The Good Trade, Hello Brio.
