April 20, 2023 • 22 mins
You've heard me talk about setting intentions as a key step in being able to flow with life, but what does that actually look like and why does it even matter?
It was a New Moon yesterday, and the days surrounding a New Moon are ideal for setting intentions. Intentions are not so much things you want to add to your to-do list, but rather, a choice to move consciously towards doing something or creating a particular way of being in life; choosing how to approach or live out something.
They're about aligning with your highest good and choosing intentional actions to do so.
In today's episode, I'm going tell you:
🗸 What an Intention-setting Ritual is
🗸 Why you need it to flow with life
🗸 How to create your own intention-setting ritual
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Resources:
More Episodes Like This:
Episode #40: Energetic Rhythms and You
Episode #52: Intention-setting for Focus in Life, Energetic Rhythms Phase 1
Episode #73: Habits vs. Rituals
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Cathy (00:00):
You've heard me talk about setting intentions as a
key step in being able to flowwith life.
But what does that actually looklike?
And really why does it evenmatter.
In today's episode.
I'm going to tell you what anintention setting ritual is, why
you need it to flow with lifeand how to create your own
intention- setting ritual.
(01:21):
Hey friends.
Welcome to episode 76 of theshow.
Today is all about settingintentions because just
yesterday.
We had a new moon and new moonsare a beautiful time to set
intentions along with the startof your menstrual cycle.
If you use that as yourenergetic rhythms guide.
(01:42):
But today I'm going to talk youthrough the details of an
intention setting ritual so thatyou can craft your own.
Now before we get started.
You might want to pause thispodcast right now and look in
the show notes, click on thelink for the intention setting
worksheet.
If you don't already have a copyof it, click on that link,
(02:05):
download it, print it out, andmaybe use it to follow along as
you listen to this podcastepisode.
You can either get that from thelink in the show notes, or you
can go tocairnyogawellness.co/intentions,
and that will bring you to thepage so that you can download
(02:26):
your own intention settingworksheet and use that as a
reference or as a guide, as youare listening to the show.
Now, this is a worksheet thatyou can certainly use.
One or two times, or you can useevery time.
I pretty much use it almostevery month to set my
intentions.
Or you can use.
Your journal or something else,but for now, if you haven't
(02:47):
already pause the episode, Clickon the link to download the
intention, setting worksheet,download it and grab it.
Then meet me back here.
And we'll walk through it andI'll tell you exactly what you
need to know about creating yourown intention, setting ritual.
Okay, first of all, let's breakdown intentions and what they
(03:10):
are.
Remember from episode 52, when Ifirst talked about the first
phase of your energetic rhythmcycle and how it's all about
setting intentions.
I also gave you the definitionof intention, but just in case
you haven't listened to thatone.
And remember you can go back andlisten to that one.
After you've listened to thisone, it's totally fine.
And intention is a choice tomove consciously towards doing
(03:33):
something or creating aparticular way of being in life.
It's choosing how to approach orlive out something.
So it's not just something thatyou're putting on your to-do
list to check off.
It is.
A choice to move consciouslytowards doing something or
creating a particular way ofbeing in life.
(03:55):
Choosing how to approach or liveout something.
Okay.
When we put that together interms of intention setting, It's
a conscious effort to move inthe direction you want to go.
It's claiming your power to flowwith life.
Even when life feels like it'spushing against you.
(04:15):
It's a way of claiming yourpower and stepping into your
power.
Now that you know, a little bitmore about what I mean, when I'm
talking about intention andsetting intentions, let's talk
about ritual.
I just did an episode on this,not too many back, I believe
it's episode 73.
So just a few back on habitsversus rituals and what makes a
(04:38):
ritual, a ritual.
So refer back to that episodeagain, after you've listened to
this episode.
A ritual gives meaning andpurpose.
It creates a meaningful space todo something.
And it's actually a sacred wayof putting your spirit and
(04:59):
authenticity into a habit togive it more meaning in your
life.
It's an intentional act, thatresults from an increase in the
amount of attention or energythat you put into something.
So what differentiates it from ahabit is that a habit is kind of
mindless.
You generally can do it withouttoo much thinking or intention.
(05:21):
But when you shift into thatritual mode, You are putting
meaning behind whatever you do.
So, when we call intention,setting a ritual.
It means that we're basicallyjust doing it on purpose because
we want to create a particularfeeling.
(05:42):
And maybe even anchor in thatfeeling into our being or into
who we are so that we are morelikely to get a specific
outcome.
It's creating this sacredfeeling.
Around what we're doing.
And that's why I call it anintention setting ritual.
(06:02):
Now I've also in the past calledit an intention setting
meditation.
And sometimes I do that when Iam leading a group through the
intention setting process, I'llcall it a meditation because we
do do some more visualizationwithin that.
But for your own purposes.
And when you're doing thisintention setting practice at
home, it's a ritual.
(06:25):
Intentions have a tendency to bemore sensed than consciously
chosen.
So in order to sense yourintention, you do have to take
the opportunity to get quiet, tomove inward and to tune into
your inner guidance and whereyou feel you're being led.
(06:46):
It's not just a sense of, I wantto do this, this and this and
check these things off my list.
Those are maybe steps on yourway to your intentions.
But the intention is muchbroader than that usually.
It's not about doing andchecking things off your list
necessarily.
It might be in some instances,like if you've got a big project
(07:07):
you're working on and you wantto really embody that project,
then maybe that's the thing thatyou're putting on your list as
that's your intention, so thatall of your energy flows towards
getting that one project done.
And living that whole heartedly.
But overall intentions aregenerally a way of being, a way
(07:31):
of living.
And they come from sensing whatyour inner guidance is calling
you to do.
We need the intention settingpart of the energetic rhythms,
because that's what sets thetone for the rest of the cycle.
(07:51):
Setting your intentions at thebeginning, at the start is what
sets the tone and the mood forhow you're going to move through
the next three weeks of thecycle, three to four weeks of
the cycle.
And that's how you begin to flowwith life.
There's this energy behind thetime that we set intentions.
(08:12):
It's this time when you are.
Really very able to tune intowhat your inner guidance is
calling for.
And that's why you do it at thebeginning of whatever cycle
you're at, whether it's the mooncycle or your menstrual cycle.
We set it at the beginningbecause we can tap into our
inner guidance and hear thatinner voice inside of us a
little bit more than later on.
(08:34):
We set those intentions, we callon that and then we use that to
begin to flow, to move as ourenergy grows into the next
cycle, and then to put stuff outthere into the next cycle and
then to wrap things up.
And we're just letting that bethe guide.
So intention setting is crucialso that you can step into your
power and actually live out howyou want to live.
(08:58):
Instead of feeling like life isrunning you, you can flow with
life.
I mentioned at the beginning ofthe episode, that this is an
ideal time to do your intentionsetting ritual, because we just
had a new moon.
That's one time to do intentionsetting.
Now, if you use the moon as yourguide for your energetic
rhythms, which if you're notsure which to use, whether you
(09:21):
use the moon or your menstrualcycle, if you're a woman go back
and check out some of theearlier episodes of learning
about your energetic rhythms,and that'll tell you exactly
what to use.
I'll link to some of those inthe show notes as well.
But whether you're using themoon or your menstrual cycle, at
the start of it at the start ofeach of those cycles is the
(09:42):
ideal time to do your intentionsetting.
So with the new moon, it'sgenerally within the first three
days of that new moon.
The new moon kind of lasts oneto three days when the moon is
dark and that's a beautiful timeto set those intentions.
And if you're using yourmenstrual cycle, Then within the
first three days of yourmenstrual cycle is an ideal
time.
(10:03):
It's not going to hurt you ifyou do it further into the week.
So maybe the first seven days,but the first three days of your
menstrual cycle is ideal.
In my opinion, your menstrualcycle is a stronger indicator of
working with your own energybecause it's your innate or
internal energy versus themoon's energy.
(10:23):
And the moon is nature's rhythm,right?
The moon and the seasons.
Those are all of nature'srhythms and we feel that energy.
We feel all of that energyaround us.
But the energy that we feel fromwithin our innate energy, from
our hormones, from the vibrationof our body, that's what's
(10:44):
closest to us.
So I always cue people that ifyou have a natural, organic
menstrual cycle, not altered bybirth control or hormones.
Then use your menstrual cycle.
Otherwise use the moon's energy.
And when you set intentionsyou're going to set them for the
upcoming four to five weeks,however long your cycle is, or
(11:06):
however long that cycle is now,the moon cycle is generally
about 29 and a half days.
Menstrual cycle is on average 28ish days.
Intentions are being set for theupcoming four to five weeks.
Lets Walk through how I guidepeople through an intention,
setting ritual for the mostpart.
Now, keep in mind that often, ifI'm leading this as a group, I
(11:29):
go off script and I do whatfeels right in the moment
because I'm listening to myinner guidance and I'm feeling
and playing off of the energy inthe room and what might be
needed in that moment.
But.
If I were going to systematizeit, this is what I would do.
And that's why I put it on aworksheet.
So just a reminder that there isno right or wrong way to
(11:50):
actually do this.
The worksheet is just a looseformat.
Do what feels best for you andwhat your inner guidance is
speaking to.
Create your own ritual to keepyour interest.
Because if this what's on thepaper, doesn't exactly work for
you, then do something that willwork for you.
It's just like any habit youmight have to play around with
(12:11):
it a little bit to figure outwhat's gonna work best and keep
you coming back to doing itregularly, because this is
something that you want to comeback to every month or on a
regular basis.
In order to create your ownritual, you might involve music.
There might be some other formof sound, maybe it's singing
bowls or some other sort ofbrown noise.
(12:33):
Maybe it's scents that you use.
Different scents, bringdifferent feelings and emotions,
and maybe you have one that youspecifically like to use with
your intention setting, and thenit always brings you into that
same frame of mind.
Maybe it's the setting that youdo it in, perhaps it's a
particular room or the lighting.
Whatever it may be, create thisritualistic or sacred space,
(12:57):
sacred container for you tobegin to tune in more to your
inner guidance.
And when you do all thosethings, when you engage all of
the senses, it only allows youto tune in more to your own
inner voice because it's puttingyou in a place of comfort.
So I encourage you to, like Isaid, create the space that is
(13:20):
going to help you feel safe.
That's going to help you feelthe most connected with
yourself.
And the other thing is toschedule this intention, setting
ritual, put it on your calendaras a reminder.
It eventually becomes a habitand you eventually just know
that, okay.
(13:41):
Here's why I'm in my cycle.
Here's where the moon is.
Or you maybe have thosereminders on your calendar too.
And you'll know.
And remember that you need to doyour intention setting ritual.
But in the beginning.
Schedule it.
Put it on your calendar so thatyou don't miss it.
And so that it's also schedulingtime with yourself to nurture
(14:01):
yourself and to connect withyourself.
Friends, this is so importantand being a, do it all person
being kind of the warriorover-functioner person means you
frequently put yourself.
At the bottom of the list.
And that self care doesn'talways come that self
connection.
(14:21):
Doesn't always come as a firstpriority.
But all of the work that you'redoing to connect with yourself
is a way of understandingyourself better.
And when you understand yourselfbetter, you're better able to
know what you need to do so thatyou can flow with life instead
(14:42):
of feeling like there's chaossurrounding you and your it's
pulling your energy in a bunchof different directions.
So schedule the intention,setting ritual, put it on your
calendar.
Now the other invitation here isto write or draw your
intentions.
I know on the worksheet, there'snot a ton of space to draw.
(15:03):
You could always do it on theback, or you could always do it
on a separate sheet of paper.
But.
If you are more of a person whois drawn to.
Drawing, no pun intended.
Then.
Grab a journal.
Grab your drawing pad and beginto draw and creatively.
Put your intentions down onpaper.
(15:24):
I've done this praying in colorworkshop before led by someone
else.
And.
It was all about doodling, yourprayers and drawing and color.
And it was beautiful and it was,it was wonderful.
And I used words and doodles,and that's something that you
could easily do with thisintention setting too.
So if that, if that speaks toyou more than I would invite you
(15:45):
to do that, On the worksheet itleaves space for up to three
intentions.
You don't have to do threeintentions.
You could do one.
But I will recommend that youlimit it to three, because any
more than three, gets a littlebit cumbersome and then it
almost feels like a to do.
And then you're getting in yourhead when you don't meet all of
those intentions and intentionsare not a thing to necessarily
(16:09):
meet or check off your list.
Right.
You've heard me say that.
They are a way of living, ofbeing.
And three is probably the maxthat's, that's the most
manageable.
So these are things that youwant to move towards or to keep
in your awareness.
Remember quiet you'reoverachiever.
It doesn't need to be more thanthree.
It doesn't even need to be morethan one.
(16:30):
Maybe it's just one and it's amantra or an affirmation that
you want to continue living byor keeping in your awareness.
That's okay.
These are not action steps.
They are a way of being.
Once you've had a chance to sitquietly with your breath for
awhile.
You'll generally be able tosense some intention coming up.
(16:51):
And you might have to promptthat by asking what is it that I
need most at this time?
And that's one way to promptyour inner guidance to speak to
you.
The first word or words thatcome to mind are generally.
What your awareness is sensingthat you need most.
(17:11):
Those are strong intentions.
Put those down.
After you've sensed yourintentions then you can take the
opportunity to jot down specificmilestone steps that you need to
take in order to align with thatintention and the worksheet
leaves space for you to begin towrite those steps.
What are the things that, youknow, you need to do in order to
(17:31):
work towards that intention thatyou've listed down there.
And of course, all of this canbe done with doodling
withdrawing with allowing yourcreative juices, to just flow
onto the paper as your penmoves.
After you have decided on whatthose steps are, that need to be
taken in order to move towardsthat intention.
(17:55):
Then I would encourage you tocreate an affirmation or a
mantra to go with each intentionfor the month.
This doesn't have to be done,but we do know science shows
that the way that you talk toyourself, will be how you live
out your life.
So affirmations and mantras arebeneficial in helping you
believe and anchor in thatintention.
(18:20):
Once you've written all thethings down with your intentions
that you know you want to writedown or feel called to write
down, then you can begin toanchor in that intention.
Now this is an optional step.
It is useful, but if you haven'treally worked with anchoring
much before, it might besomething that you wait until
there's a guided process for youto move through this so that you
can anchor it.
(18:41):
But whatever involves yoursenses is going to help you
anchor not only the intentions,but also the ritual you create
the intentions in and basicallyan anchor makes it stick.
And anchor is a way of bringingyour awareness back to something
positive.
An anchor is the opposite of atrigger.
(19:02):
A trigger is an anchor in anegative aspect.
An anchor is the positive.
You can activate your sensoryawareness while thinking of each
individual intention andvisualize yourself aligning with
those intentions it's morelikely to stick in your
awareness.
It's more likely to stay withyou.
(19:24):
The more clearly you can seeyourself aligning with the
intentions.
The more likely you willactually align with them.
So that might involve some sortof, visual auditory,
kinesthetic, or felt experience,um, smell, taste, all of those
things.
That's where I say, when youcreate this ritual, maybe you
(19:44):
have sound going.
Maybe you have smells going orsense going.
Maybe you have, um, certain, acertain look to the room that
you're doing this in.
Maybe you have a certain feelor, or a cushion or.
Uh, chair and a desk that yousit at.
Whatever it may be when you putall of the combination of those
things together.
(20:06):
It will essentially anchor youinto the fact that you're doing
intentions and these are theintentions that are going to be
lived out.
That's anchoring in your ritual.
With each intention, if you canvisualize yourself doing them
and notice all the senses thatcome along with doing them.
(20:26):
That's going to help anchor inthe intention to you.
And then the final step is tolet go of attachment.
Put it in God's hands and justdo your best to create the best
opportunity to live thoseintentions out.
There's even an affirmationincluded for you on this
worksheet that helps you alignwith releasing attachment to the
(20:49):
outcome because friends, we cando all the things to set the
intentions and.
Do the work to align with thoseintentions, but ultimately it's
in a higher powers hands.
And we have to let go of thecontrol or the attachment to
actually controlling theoutcome.
That's how you create your ownintention setting ritual.
(21:12):
Now, there are a couple othersteps that I want to visit with
you about, because if you printit off the sheet, you've noticed
that it is two pages or it'sfront and back.
So on the backside of thatintention setting seat sheet, or
on the second page of it.
There's space for reflectionsobservations and celebrations,
and then things to consider forthe upcoming cycle.
(21:32):
So you want to keep this sheethandy or the journal that you
use for intention setting.
Because you're going to revisitthose intentions at the full
moon and around the end of thecycle.
You might even revisit itweekly, just so that it stays
fresh in your mind.
I like to keep my intentionsetting worksheets, sitting on
my desk after I filled it out sothat it is in front of me all
(21:53):
month long.
And I can remember the thingsthat I'm working towards.
In the top section of thatworksheet there's space for you
to reflect on what's going well,maybe what is not going as well
and what you've had to maybeshift away from.
Keep in mind that yourintentions can change throughout
the month.
They don't have to remain thesame.
Because you might realize thatyou now need to go down a
(22:14):
different path.
You can write down anyobservations.
And of course, any celebrations,because celebrating is a part of
the energetic rhythm cycle.
And it's another crucial phasethat we often forget to do.
It's the fourth phase of yourenergetic rhythm cycle.
And it's one of those thatsometimes we don't even do at
all, and when you don't do that,you're not completing the cycle
(22:35):
and it's not actually finishinganything.
And in your mind, it's left,hanging open and there is no
acknowledgement of ending andeverything has an ending, and
then we get to begin again.
So the celebrations are crucial.
So use that space on the back toactually jot down reflections
and celebrations.
And then at the bottom of thatpage, there's a place to write
(22:57):
down things to consider for yournext cycle.
So maybe things come up and yourealize, oh, I wanna remember
this.
I'm not working on it thismonth, but I want to do it next
month.
Then once you have reflected,celebrated, you can start all
over again with the next month,because then another cycle
begins and you will setintentions again, just as you
did this month.
(23:18):
This intention setting ritualthat we talked about today is
generally done monthly, but youcan do the same ritual on a
smaller scale, maybe weekly andmaybe even a mini version daily
to prep for the day.
That's what I do.
The productivity or energeticrhythm cycle can be zoomed out
for longer periods of time ordialed in for shorter periods of
time, like a day, or even forspecific projects.
(23:42):
So as we wrap up today, justremember that the new moon was
yesterday.
So use some time over the nextfew days to set intentions.
Remember an intention is achoice to move consciously
towards doing something orcreating a particular way of
being in life.
It's choosing how to approach orlive out something.
It's being able to slow downenough to be intentional about
(24:06):
how you move through life.
And that's a big part of flowingwith life Check out the show
notes for all the links fromtoday's show and cheers to
cultivating your own version ofhealth, harmony, and happiness
in your life.
I'm Cathy Struecker and you'vebeen listening to health,
harmony and happiness withCathy.
You've heard me talk about setting intentions as a
key step in being able to flowwith life.
But what does that actually looklike?
And really why does it evenmatter.
In today's episode.
I'm going to tell you what anintention setting ritual is, why
you need it to flow with lifeand how to create your own
intention- setting ritual.
(01:21):
Hey friends.
Welcome to episode 76 of theshow.
Today is all about settingintentions because just
yesterday.
We had a new moon and new moonsare a beautiful time to set
intentions along with the startof your menstrual cycle.
If you use that as yourenergetic rhythms guide.
(01:42):
But today I'm going to talk youthrough the details of an
intention setting ritual so thatyou can craft your own.
Now before we get started.
You might want to pause thispodcast right now and look in
the show notes, click on thelink for the intention setting
worksheet.
If you don't already have a copyof it, click on that link,
(02:05):
download it, print it out, andmaybe use it to follow along as
you listen to this podcastepisode.
You can either get that from thelink in the show notes, or you
can go tocairnyogawellness.co/intentions,
and that will bring you to thepage so that you can download
(02:26):
your own intention settingworksheet and use that as a
reference or as a guide, as youare listening to the show.
Now, this is a worksheet thatyou can certainly use.
One or two times, or you can useevery time.
I pretty much use it almostevery month to set my
intentions.
Or you can use.
Your journal or something else,but for now, if you haven't
(02:47):
already pause the episode, Clickon the link to download the
intention, setting worksheet,download it and grab it.
Then meet me back here.
And we'll walk through it andI'll tell you exactly what you
need to know about creating yourown intention, setting ritual.
Okay, first of all, let's breakdown intentions and what they
(03:10):
are.
Remember from episode 52, when Ifirst talked about the first
phase of your energetic rhythmcycle and how it's all about
setting intentions.
I also gave you the definitionof intention, but just in case
you haven't listened to thatone.
And remember you can go back andlisten to that one.
After you've listened to thisone, it's totally fine.
And intention is a choice tomove consciously towards doing
(03:33):
something or creating aparticular way of being in life.
It's choosing how to approach orlive out something.
So it's not just something thatyou're putting on your to-do
list to check off.
It is.
A choice to move consciouslytowards doing something or
creating a particular way ofbeing in life.
(03:55):
Choosing how to approach or liveout something.
Okay.
When we put that together interms of intention setting, It's
a conscious effort to move inthe direction you want to go.
It's claiming your power to flowwith life.
Even when life feels like it'spushing against you.
(04:15):
It's a way of claiming yourpower and stepping into your
power.
Now that you know, a little bitmore about what I mean, when I'm
talking about intention andsetting intentions, let's talk
about ritual.
I just did an episode on this,not too many back, I believe
it's episode 73.
So just a few back on habitsversus rituals and what makes a
(04:38):
ritual, a ritual.
So refer back to that episodeagain, after you've listened to
this episode.
A ritual gives meaning andpurpose.
It creates a meaningful space todo something.
And it's actually a sacred wayof putting your spirit and
(04:59):
authenticity into a habit togive it more meaning in your
life.
It's an intentional act, thatresults from an increase in the
amount of attention or energythat you put into something.
So what differentiates it from ahabit is that a habit is kind of
mindless.
You generally can do it withouttoo much thinking or intention.
(05:21):
But when you shift into thatritual mode, You are putting
meaning behind whatever you do.
So, when we call intention,setting a ritual.
It means that we're basicallyjust doing it on purpose because
we want to create a particularfeeling.
(05:42):
And maybe even anchor in thatfeeling into our being or into
who we are so that we are morelikely to get a specific
outcome.
It's creating this sacredfeeling.
Around what we're doing.
And that's why I call it anintention setting ritual.
(06:02):
Now I've also in the past calledit an intention setting
meditation.
And sometimes I do that when Iam leading a group through the
intention setting process, I'llcall it a meditation because we
do do some more visualizationwithin that.
But for your own purposes.
And when you're doing thisintention setting practice at
home, it's a ritual.
(06:25):
Intentions have a tendency to bemore sensed than consciously
chosen.
So in order to sense yourintention, you do have to take
the opportunity to get quiet, tomove inward and to tune into
your inner guidance and whereyou feel you're being led.
(06:46):
It's not just a sense of, I wantto do this, this and this and
check these things off my list.
Those are maybe steps on yourway to your intentions.
But the intention is muchbroader than that usually.
It's not about doing andchecking things off your list
necessarily.
It might be in some instances,like if you've got a big project
(07:07):
you're working on and you wantto really embody that project,
then maybe that's the thing thatyou're putting on your list as
that's your intention, so thatall of your energy flows towards
getting that one project done.
And living that whole heartedly.
But overall intentions aregenerally a way of being, a way
(07:31):
of living.
And they come from sensing whatyour inner guidance is calling
you to do.
We need the intention settingpart of the energetic rhythms,
because that's what sets thetone for the rest of the cycle.
(07:51):
Setting your intentions at thebeginning, at the start is what
sets the tone and the mood forhow you're going to move through
the next three weeks of thecycle, three to four weeks of
the cycle.
And that's how you begin to flowwith life.
There's this energy behind thetime that we set intentions.
(08:12):
It's this time when you are.
Really very able to tune intowhat your inner guidance is
calling for.
And that's why you do it at thebeginning of whatever cycle
you're at, whether it's the mooncycle or your menstrual cycle.
We set it at the beginningbecause we can tap into our
inner guidance and hear thatinner voice inside of us a
little bit more than later on.
(08:34):
We set those intentions, we callon that and then we use that to
begin to flow, to move as ourenergy grows into the next
cycle, and then to put stuff outthere into the next cycle and
then to wrap things up.
And we're just letting that bethe guide.
So intention setting is crucialso that you can step into your
power and actually live out howyou want to live.
(08:58):
Instead of feeling like life isrunning you, you can flow with
life.
I mentioned at the beginning ofthe episode, that this is an
ideal time to do your intentionsetting ritual, because we just
had a new moon.
That's one time to do intentionsetting.
Now, if you use the moon as yourguide for your energetic
rhythms, which if you're notsure which to use, whether you
(09:21):
use the moon or your menstrualcycle, if you're a woman go back
and check out some of theearlier episodes of learning
about your energetic rhythms,and that'll tell you exactly
what to use.
I'll link to some of those inthe show notes as well.
But whether you're using themoon or your menstrual cycle, at
the start of it at the start ofeach of those cycles is the
(09:42):
ideal time to do your intentionsetting.
So with the new moon, it'sgenerally within the first three
days of that new moon.
The new moon kind of lasts oneto three days when the moon is
dark and that's a beautiful timeto set those intentions.
And if you're using yourmenstrual cycle, Then within the
first three days of yourmenstrual cycle is an ideal
time.
(10:03):
It's not going to hurt you ifyou do it further into the week.
So maybe the first seven days,but the first three days of your
menstrual cycle is ideal.
In my opinion, your menstrualcycle is a stronger indicator of
working with your own energybecause it's your innate or
internal energy versus themoon's energy.
(10:23):
And the moon is nature's rhythm,right?
The moon and the seasons.
Those are all of nature'srhythms and we feel that energy.
We feel all of that energyaround us.
But the energy that we feel fromwithin our innate energy, from
our hormones, from the vibrationof our body, that's what's
(10:44):
closest to us.
So I always cue people that ifyou have a natural, organic
menstrual cycle, not altered bybirth control or hormones.
Then use your menstrual cycle.
Otherwise use the moon's energy.
And when you set intentionsyou're going to set them for the
upcoming four to five weeks,however long your cycle is, or
(11:06):
however long that cycle is now,the moon cycle is generally
about 29 and a half days.
Menstrual cycle is on average 28ish days.
Intentions are being set for theupcoming four to five weeks.
Lets Walk through how I guidepeople through an intention,
setting ritual for the mostpart.
Now, keep in mind that often, ifI'm leading this as a group, I
(11:29):
go off script and I do whatfeels right in the moment
because I'm listening to myinner guidance and I'm feeling
and playing off of the energy inthe room and what might be
needed in that moment.
But.
If I were going to systematizeit, this is what I would do.
And that's why I put it on aworksheet.
So just a reminder that there isno right or wrong way to
(11:50):
actually do this.
The worksheet is just a looseformat.
Do what feels best for you andwhat your inner guidance is
speaking to.
Create your own ritual to keepyour interest.
Because if this what's on thepaper, doesn't exactly work for
you, then do something that willwork for you.
It's just like any habit youmight have to play around with
(12:11):
it a little bit to figure outwhat's gonna work best and keep
you coming back to doing itregularly, because this is
something that you want to comeback to every month or on a
regular basis.
In order to create your ownritual, you might involve music.
There might be some other formof sound, maybe it's singing
bowls or some other sort ofbrown noise.
(12:33):
Maybe it's scents that you use.
Different scents, bringdifferent feelings and emotions,
and maybe you have one that youspecifically like to use with
your intention setting, and thenit always brings you into that
same frame of mind.
Maybe it's the setting that youdo it in, perhaps it's a
particular room or the lighting.
Whatever it may be, create thisritualistic or sacred space,
(12:57):
sacred container for you tobegin to tune in more to your
inner guidance.
And when you do all thosethings, when you engage all of
the senses, it only allows youto tune in more to your own
inner voice because it's puttingyou in a place of comfort.
So I encourage you to, like Isaid, create the space that is
(13:20):
going to help you feel safe.
That's going to help you feelthe most connected with
yourself.
And the other thing is toschedule this intention, setting
ritual, put it on your calendaras a reminder.
It eventually becomes a habitand you eventually just know
that, okay.
(13:41):
Here's why I'm in my cycle.
Here's where the moon is.
Or you maybe have thosereminders on your calendar too.
And you'll know.
And remember that you need to doyour intention setting ritual.
But in the beginning.
Schedule it.
Put it on your calendar so thatyou don't miss it.
And so that it's also schedulingtime with yourself to nurture
(14:01):
yourself and to connect withyourself.
Friends, this is so importantand being a, do it all person
being kind of the warriorover-functioner person means you
frequently put yourself.
At the bottom of the list.
And that self care doesn'talways come that self
connection.
(14:21):
Doesn't always come as a firstpriority.
But all of the work that you'redoing to connect with yourself
is a way of understandingyourself better.
And when you understand yourselfbetter, you're better able to
know what you need to do so thatyou can flow with life instead
(14:42):
of feeling like there's chaossurrounding you and your it's
pulling your energy in a bunchof different directions.
So schedule the intention,setting ritual, put it on your
calendar.
Now the other invitation here isto write or draw your
intentions.
I know on the worksheet, there'snot a ton of space to draw.
(15:03):
You could always do it on theback, or you could always do it
on a separate sheet of paper.
But.
If you are more of a person whois drawn to.
Drawing, no pun intended.
Then.
Grab a journal.
Grab your drawing pad and beginto draw and creatively.
Put your intentions down onpaper.
(15:24):
I've done this praying in colorworkshop before led by someone
else.
And.
It was all about doodling, yourprayers and drawing and color.
And it was beautiful and it was,it was wonderful.
And I used words and doodles,and that's something that you
could easily do with thisintention setting too.
So if that, if that speaks toyou more than I would invite you
(15:45):
to do that, On the worksheet itleaves space for up to three
intentions.
You don't have to do threeintentions.
You could do one.
But I will recommend that youlimit it to three, because any
more than three, gets a littlebit cumbersome and then it
almost feels like a to do.
And then you're getting in yourhead when you don't meet all of
those intentions and intentionsare not a thing to necessarily
(16:09):
meet or check off your list.
Right.
You've heard me say that.
They are a way of living, ofbeing.
And three is probably the maxthat's, that's the most
manageable.
So these are things that youwant to move towards or to keep
in your awareness.
Remember quiet you'reoverachiever.
It doesn't need to be more thanthree.
It doesn't even need to be morethan one.
(16:30):
Maybe it's just one and it's amantra or an affirmation that
you want to continue living byor keeping in your awareness.
That's okay.
These are not action steps.
They are a way of being.
Once you've had a chance to sitquietly with your breath for
awhile.
You'll generally be able tosense some intention coming up.
(16:51):
And you might have to promptthat by asking what is it that I
need most at this time?
And that's one way to promptyour inner guidance to speak to
you.
The first word or words thatcome to mind are generally.
What your awareness is sensingthat you need most.
(17:11):
Those are strong intentions.
Put those down.
After you've sensed yourintentions then you can take the
opportunity to jot down specificmilestone steps that you need to
take in order to align with thatintention and the worksheet
leaves space for you to begin towrite those steps.
What are the things that, youknow, you need to do in order to
(17:31):
work towards that intention thatyou've listed down there.
And of course, all of this canbe done with doodling
withdrawing with allowing yourcreative juices, to just flow
onto the paper as your penmoves.
After you have decided on whatthose steps are, that need to be
taken in order to move towardsthat intention.
(17:55):
Then I would encourage you tocreate an affirmation or a
mantra to go with each intentionfor the month.
This doesn't have to be done,but we do know science shows
that the way that you talk toyourself, will be how you live
out your life.
So affirmations and mantras arebeneficial in helping you
believe and anchor in thatintention.
(18:20):
Once you've written all thethings down with your intentions
that you know you want to writedown or feel called to write
down, then you can begin toanchor in that intention.
Now this is an optional step.
It is useful, but if you haven'treally worked with anchoring
much before, it might besomething that you wait until
there's a guided process for youto move through this so that you
can anchor it.
(18:41):
But whatever involves yoursenses is going to help you
anchor not only the intentions,but also the ritual you create
the intentions in and basicallyan anchor makes it stick.
And anchor is a way of bringingyour awareness back to something
positive.
An anchor is the opposite of atrigger.
(19:02):
A trigger is an anchor in anegative aspect.
An anchor is the positive.
You can activate your sensoryawareness while thinking of each
individual intention andvisualize yourself aligning with
those intentions it's morelikely to stick in your
awareness.
It's more likely to stay withyou.
(19:24):
The more clearly you can seeyourself aligning with the
intentions.
The more likely you willactually align with them.
So that might involve some sortof, visual auditory,
kinesthetic, or felt experience,um, smell, taste, all of those
things.
That's where I say, when youcreate this ritual, maybe you
(19:44):
have sound going.
Maybe you have smells going orsense going.
Maybe you have, um, certain, acertain look to the room that
you're doing this in.
Maybe you have a certain feelor, or a cushion or.
Uh, chair and a desk that yousit at.
Whatever it may be when you putall of the combination of those
things together.
(20:06):
It will essentially anchor youinto the fact that you're doing
intentions and these are theintentions that are going to be
lived out.
That's anchoring in your ritual.
With each intention, if you canvisualize yourself doing them
and notice all the senses thatcome along with doing them.
(20:26):
That's going to help anchor inthe intention to you.
And then the final step is tolet go of attachment.
Put it in God's hands and justdo your best to create the best
opportunity to live thoseintentions out.
There's even an affirmationincluded for you on this
worksheet that helps you alignwith releasing attachment to the
(20:49):
outcome because friends, we cando all the things to set the
intentions and.
Do the work to align with thoseintentions, but ultimately it's
in a higher powers hands.
And we have to let go of thecontrol or the attachment to
actually controlling theoutcome.
That's how you create your ownintention setting ritual.
(21:12):
Now, there are a couple othersteps that I want to visit with
you about, because if you printit off the sheet, you've noticed
that it is two pages or it'sfront and back.
So on the backside of thatintention setting seat sheet, or
on the second page of it.
There's space for reflectionsobservations and celebrations,
and then things to consider forthe upcoming cycle.
(21:32):
So you want to keep this sheethandy or the journal that you
use for intention setting.
Because you're going to revisitthose intentions at the full
moon and around the end of thecycle.
You might even revisit itweekly, just so that it stays
fresh in your mind.
I like to keep my intentionsetting worksheets, sitting on
my desk after I filled it out sothat it is in front of me all
(21:53):
month long.
And I can remember the thingsthat I'm working towards.
In the top section of thatworksheet there's space for you
to reflect on what's going well,maybe what is not going as well
and what you've had to maybeshift away from.
Keep in mind that yourintentions can change throughout
the month.
They don't have to remain thesame.
Because you might realize thatyou now need to go down a
(22:14):
different path.
You can write down anyobservations.
And of course, any celebrations,because celebrating is a part of
the energetic rhythm cycle.
And it's another crucial phasethat we often forget to do.
It's the fourth phase of yourenergetic rhythm cycle.
And it's one of those thatsometimes we don't even do at
all, and when you don't do that,you're not completing the cycle
(22:35):
and it's not actually finishinganything.
And in your mind, it's left,hanging open and there is no
acknowledgement of ending andeverything has an ending, and
then we get to begin again.
So the celebrations are crucial.
So use that space on the back toactually jot down reflections
and celebrations.
And then at the bottom of thatpage, there's a place to write
(22:57):
down things to consider for yournext cycle.
So maybe things come up and yourealize, oh, I wanna remember
this.
I'm not working on it thismonth, but I want to do it next
month.
Then once you have reflected,celebrated, you can start all
over again with the next month,because then another cycle
begins and you will setintentions again, just as you
did this month.
(23:18):
This intention setting ritualthat we talked about today is
generally done monthly, but youcan do the same ritual on a
smaller scale, maybe weekly andmaybe even a mini version daily
to prep for the day.
That's what I do.
The productivity or energeticrhythm cycle can be zoomed out
for longer periods of time ordialed in for shorter periods of
time, like a day, or even forspecific projects.
(23:42):
So as we wrap up today, justremember that the new moon was
yesterday.
So use some time over the nextfew days to set intentions.
Remember an intention is achoice to move consciously
towards doing something orcreating a particular way of
being in life.
It's choosing how to approach orlive out something.
It's being able to slow downenough to be intentional about
(24:06):
how you move through life.
And that's a big part of flowingwith life Check out the show
notes for all the links fromtoday's show and cheers to
cultivating your own version ofhealth, harmony, and happiness
in your life.
I'm Cathy Struecker and you'vebeen listening to health,
harmony and happiness withCathy.
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