Intentional Living

Build Your Relaxation Response

Build Your Relaxation Response

Many of us push our minds and bodies to the limit, often at the expense of our physical and mental wellbeing. The response to our daily activities may include an increased heart rate, high blood pressure, and an accelerated breathing rate. In this week’s blog we discover practices to effectively reduce stress.

What Do You Want From Life?

What Do You Want From Life?

“What do you want from life?” When faced with a question like this, many of us will say something like “happiness.” But what if we strove for “authenticity”, “wisdom”, “meaning” or “success”? Read all about it in this week’s blog!

Gratitude as a Habit

Gratitude as a Habit

Recently, I saw a study that captured my attention because it aimed to understand the extent to which participants could establish a habit of gratitude thinking before sleeping (Lo & Leung, 2020). The researchers defined gratitude as an inclination to appreciate and savor daily events and experiences. Here is what the researchers found.

Goodbye 2020

Goodbye 2020

Very few of us would say that 2020 was a great year. And it might be hard to find something good about this last year. However, if we look at it through the lens of post-traumatic growth, we might discover that we have gained valuable lessons that will help us in the years to come.

What Kind of Day Will You Have?

What Kind of Day Will You Have?

Living a purposeful life is often described as whether or not we engage in meaningful, nontrivial activities in our daily life (Scheier et al., 2006). The assumption behind this description is that when we are guided by purpose, we allocate resources and organize activities in a way that move us towards our goal. So, how do we do this? How do we live more purposefully on a daily basis?

Ironing: A Mindfulness Practice?

Ironing: A Mindfulness Practice?

I’m no domestic goddess. Because of that, there’s usually a long list of things I would rather not do around the house. But recently, I’ve noticed that I have a newfound urge to clean and organize. Perhaps it is a welcome break from everything that is going on. Or, maybe it is the appeal of getting something completely done and the satisfaction that comes with that. But I think the primary reason is that I have incorporated these routine tasks into my daily mindfulness practice.

Creating Space for Loss

Creating Space for Loss

Many of us are experiencing feelings of loss right now. Sometimes we can identify where these feelings are coming from and other times it feels unspecified, just a vague feeling of sadness and loss that acts as a negative filter over all dimensions of our lives. These feelings can be expected after all, we have experienced a seismic shift in our lives. Let’s learn effective strategies for how to address these feelings and find a way forward.