Being Intentional in Health

Many of us live our lives day to day, completing the tasks we need to do, fulfilling our basic needs. We do this in the same mundane pattern day in and day out, until we stop and think, “wow, it just seems like everyday crosses into the next, and the days pass without me even realizing it”.

Have you felt like this before? If so, you may be lacking intention and purpose in your actions!

Putting Intention Behind our Actions!

Recently, I was sitting down with a client. We were discussing her struggles with knowing what to eat from day to day, as we had removed many foods from her diet, for the purpose of reducing inflammation and increasing gut healing. She was struggling with their being no foods to go to when she was ready for lunch.

Doing what I normally do in a situation like this, I coached my client on some very simple an practical food preparation strategies. I taught her that, if she spent the time she was already spending in the kitchen, such as when she was preparing dinner, simply making doubles of her dinner meal, she could have a lunch option prepared for her the next day, without having to slave away in the kitchen preparing something from scratch.

She very much liked the idea, and in fact, what she said next was something that stuck with me and is the reason why I am writing this blog post. She said, “You know, from time to time, I was doing this already, but now I’m going to put intention behind it”.

I thought about this for a while after our session and came to realize how integral putting “Intention” to ones actions is to their success in any personal health goals they strive for!

Why Intention is so Important When Working Towards a Health Goal

Think about an NHL hockey player; when that player goes out on the ice, what do you think would happen if they were to say “Eh, I don’t really care much for this game , I’m just going to play because I have to”.

Do you think that player would preform well? Do you think they would achieve everything they needed to in that game? I would fair to say they would not preform very well at all!

Why is this? Well, if you have no intention behind your purpose, then you will never be in the right mind frame to achieve your goal!

Performing an action with the power of intention behind us gives that action our full energy! There is full awareness and purpose behind this action, making it much more achievable.

When we are doing something habitually, we may be doing this without thought, and thus the action and goal at hand may be undermined

Applying This Concept to a Health Practice

Take working out for example; if our goal is to begin a practice of working out to get stronger, if we did not put our full intention behind this practice, we may work out without giving it our all, and doing it sporadically without priority, resulting in poor results.

Instead, if we were to align what we thought, said, and felt with our goal, and worked out intentionally and consciously with purpose, we will put our full focus, energy, and drive into it, likely resulting in a better outcome!


In closing, remember that when you are working to change your health, in whatever way it may be, don’t just do it because you “Have to”, or because your Doctor told you that you should be more healthy! Do it because you want to do it, because you know it will make you stronger, and do it with your full focus and intention behind it!