If you follow me on the gram, you know how much I love writing (and doodling) monthly intentions. I adopted this practice from @leefromamerica and it has become a ritual that helps me stay on track with my goals, habits, and self care.

I typically make 3-5 short term goals and try to pick things that I can realistically incorporate into my daily routine. I also find it helpful to be very specific. They say it takes 21 days to form a habit, which makes setting monthly goals the perfie way to adopt new behaviors.

I think one of the biggest keys to setting these monthly intentions is to remember what they are inherently…intentions! This means if you don’t get them all done, or don’t get any of them done, it’s okay! They aren’t meant to serve as mandatory deadlines. And you’re not failing if you don’t get to them. What I’ve found most important about this practice is the act of carving out 10-20 minutes at the beginning of each month to check in with yourself and evaluate where in your life you’d like to create space and change. Here are some of my most recent intentions that will probably pop up again in future months:

• Be present for simple moments of joy and string them all together
• Don’t start mornings scrolling on phone (!!!)
• Shift mindset from “why is this happening to me?” to “what is this here to teach me?”. I am the author of my own story. 
• Chew food slowly and fully to help digestion and bloat.
• Focus on what does work more than what doesn’t work #seethegood

While I’m writing my intentions, I also like to choose a mantra for the month. Often I’ll write mantras for each week in my planner, but a monthly one is a really good way to set an overall tone. One of my favorite places to pull mantras from is Louise Hay’s book, You Can Heal Your Life (which totally transformed my wellness journey). These are some mantras I’ve used in the past few months:

• I can heal. I will heal. I am healing.
• What is meant for me won’t pass me by.
• I focus on all that is well.
• Everything is unfolding as it is meant to. Everything is ok.

This practice has become an integral part of my self care. It allows me to bring awareness into my thoughts and actions, and I find it amazing how such a small amount of time can have a big impact…but that’s the case with a lot of things, right? Below are my intentions for this month, happy May! Let the summer pregame begin!

Natalie Sayre