RELEASE TENSION, SET INTENTION
I’m not sure if you are anything like me, but I find that at the end of a stay-at-home-mom day, I am spent; everything in me is tired. I catch myself looking at the clock around 4pm, then 4:30pm. At 5pm I think to myself, “Only 30-45 more minutes and then Mason will be home!”
I will admit that sometimes I catch myself thinking, “I just gotta get through the next couple hours and then it will be bedtime!” And what do you know? The second I put him down to bed, I feel relief… and then I miss him. I seriously wonder about my sanity sometimes. That is, until I speak with other mothers and they tell me the EXACT same thing.
I have recently been reading the book High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard and I learned a technique this week that I want to share with you. I feel it may have the power to transform a lot of moments of weakness into joy.
It’s called, “Release Tension, Set Intention.”
It is as simple as it sounds and it has already changed my attitude over and over in the few days since having read it.
The first step is to Release Tension.
Wherever you are, close your eyes. This will only take a minute or two. Once your eyes are closed, repeat the word “release,” and as you say it, physically start to release tension from your body. Relax from the head down, starting in your face, shoulders, hips, moving down your legs. Release some of the tension you are feeling in that moment. Take a deep breath.
Next, when you feel that you have released some of the tension you’ve been holding onto, it’s time to Set Intention. How do you want to feel in the moments after you open your eyes? What energy are you going to bring to your next activity? How can you make it enjoyable?
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This week, at the end of a particularly long day, my son was fighting me as I was taking him up the stairs for his bath time. We have a similar routine every night after dinner in that we do bath time, bottle and books, and then snuggles and prayers/singing before bed. As I was wrangling his little body and listening to him cry before his bath, I caught myself sighing out loud, thinking to myself, “It’s almost bed time. The day is almost over.”
In that moment, I remembered this process.
As I was walking up the stairs and holding on to my fighting monkey, I started to say, “release” to myself. I physically couldn’t stop what I was doing and close my eyes, but I was able to refocus, calm myself and then set my intention.
How did I want our last moments of the day to be together? Did I want my son to feel rushed? Did I want him to feel my exhaustion? Or did I want to have fun, enjoy these last few minutes of his day with him laughing, splashing, reading, singing and sharing my heart with him.
My intention went from, “Let’s just get this done” to “Let’s enjoy this moment together.” My attitude and my heart toward the activities of our bedtime routine completely changed in 30 seconds.
I challenge you to give this practice a try this week and please let me know what you think and if you have any experiences you’d like to share!
Coast x Coast Motherhood 