The end of term can feel like we are juggling so many things: grinding to meet deadlines, catching up on notes and assignments, maintaining the time and energy to study for exams, and finding moments for ourselves to reenergize too. While it might not seem it, this can also be an important time to reconnect to our intentions for ourselves. In the midst of busyness, we may wonder if we are staying true to our guiding principles. As we proceed along the lines of Inspiring Intention this winter term, let’s explore some of the ways we can remain focused on our intentions during busy times and even inspire others to do the same.

Try these ideas to remain focused on your intentions during Finals:

• Pause and empower. How can you feel as though you are in an organized and prepared position going into finals week? You might reflect on ways to ground yourself, which can even be as simple as taking three gentle breaths. Or perhaps checking in with each of your Roots of Wellness. Another intentional approach can be to apply specific labels to our feelings and address those feelings strategically. Maybe you are experiencing a sense of loss of control and consider prioritizing your most critical tasks to help you regain focus again. Set healthy boundaries for yourself like sticking to a reasonable sleep schedule. Ask yourself: what do I need in this moment?

• Acknowledging overwhelm (and asking for help). Consider connecting to campus resources when you need, including wellness check ins (one-on-one sessions with trained listeners) when you feel talking to someone could be a helpful place to begin. The Academic Skills Center offers finals programming to help you keep on track with your studying and assignments. Finally, the Counseling Center can support with crisis counseling and additional mental health resources. Be real with yourself about how you are feeling and consider opening up to friends and family. Help is here, you need only ask.

• Try an accountability buddy. Pair up with a friend or classmate to serve as an accountability partner or partners. Check in regularly with them to discuss progress, offer support and feedback, and encourage each other with affirmations. This can be a powerful way to inspire intention amongst friends and peers too.

• Celebrate the small victories. Take a moment to appreciate how far you have made it in the term already. Acknowledge not only your efforts to maintain your intentions into the finals week, but recognize your friends’ and classmates’ efforts too. Creating a positive and focused atmosphere can be beneficial to all in our immediate circles and beyond.

Living an intentional life means, to the best of our ability, inching closer with purpose each day towards our long-term vision. In moments when we feel direction paralysis (or lost or distracted from our intended destination altogether) we recognize that this is normal and temporary. By pausing to connect with our immediate needs, asking for help, encouraging others to do the same, and celebrating the little achievements, we can be well on our way again. Best of luck during finals, Dartmouth!    

Proceeding with intentionality this winter term, we are doing the inner work of finding space to connect with our core values and identifying intentions for where and how we want to grow. We may have even inspired intentionality in others through this pursuit. But like on any journey, there will be times when we are faced with challenges too. We might follow our path and take a wrong turn. Or lose sight of the trail or of our goal all together. Or be overwhelmed by a series of decisions. It’s important in these moments to not panic, and instead, rely on the simple wisdom of tree hugging to help get us back on track.

Who remembers being told as a child: “if you find yourself lost in a forest, hug a tree”? No worries if you haven’t heard this one before. The basic gist is that advising a small child to stay put when they are lost on a hike (and to take comfort in the company an old tree) helps the chances of them being reunited with loved ones. Importantly, this safety tip helps keep the child in one place, offers the child a reliable, soothing landmark to wait with, and makes it easier for the search party to retrace their steps back to the last known location. The same advice can be applied to moments when we feel lost on our inner journeys.

Hug A Tree to Reunite with Your Intentions:

1. Don’t panic. Staying calm in a moment of difficulty can mark the difference between reacting impulsively or responding with clarity. Hug a metaphorical tree by trying a quick STOP practice, which helps create breathing room between you and a challenging moment. Try getting outside to clear your mind (and perhaps hugging a literal tree). Or reconnecting with an activity you have an uncomplicated relationship with (ie. playing music, hanging out with friends, dancing, yoga, etc.). The goal is to help settle the nervous system. As the great meditation teacher Thich Nhat Hanh wrote: “Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts.” 

2. Observe your surroundings. Settling your mind and allowing it to observe a grounded sense of reality for a few moments can help us connect to a range of complicated thoughts and emotions we may be feeling. Perhaps you notice the direction you are heading in is causing you to feel confused or misaligned. Or to feel anxious or fatigued. Label the thoughts and emotions that are arising in you. Try this RAIN meditation to strengthen your self-awareness.

3. Check in with your heart’s compass. Once we have created some breathing room for ourselves and identified the emotions underlying our disorientation, proceeding with clarity and intentionality can be more attainable. This allows us the time and space to connect back to our deeper purpose. Establish a journaling practice to root yourself again in your highest aspirations. Perhaps you realize you are taking a burdensome class that doesn’t support your long-term vision. Or perhaps you notice that you are veering away from a lifestyle more aligned with who you want to be. These observations can be powerful signposts that let us know that we are heading the wrong direction. Allow your intentions to show you the way back to your path.

To live with intentionality and purpose is an inherently profound and trailblazing act. Therefore, it is only normal that we will question our path and direction at times. By creating a moment for pause to connect more accurately with how we are feeling and staying true to our heart’s compass, we can be reunited again with the values that inform our long-term vision.

Written by Carmen Rodriguez, Assistant Director for Student Transitions & Persistence, Academic Skills Center

As an academic coach and course instructor for College 101 and The Mindful Academic, I often hear questions like, “Why am I struggling to motivate myself?” and “How do I stop procrastinating?” A similar pattern is then described: Little trouble finding motivation to complete familiar, comfortable tasks. Trouble motivating on bigger, less-familiar tasks. You might replace the bolded words with daunting, time-consuming, tedious, confusing, high-impact, etc. 

When we get curious about this pattern, we find that discomfort–or rather one’s undefined relationship with discomfort–can lead to a reflexive, “Let’s get out of here!” response. One minute you’re working through a difficult problem set, and the next, you’re watching YouTube, Tik Tok, taking an extended break, organizing, powering through less-important HW, or napping. You get the idea. 

But what if stepping into discomfort–once the opportunity appears–became an intentional, primary goal? In “Motivating Personal Growth by Seeking Discomfort,” researcher’s Kaitlin Wooley and Ayelet Fishbach concluded that discomfort as the primary goal, rather than learning itself, was more likely to increase task endurance and calculated risk. Both are vital when you’re trying to push your way through a tough assignment: cue essay, test prep, project, internship application, and more. But how to do that with a little more ease? Here are 3 intentional strategies to get you started:

1. Start to notice your patterns. Get curious: What assignments are you stepping away from? How often? What distracting comforts do you seek when you move away? (Social media, productive procrastination, naps, unplanned social connection–all valid pursuits in the right time and place.) Ask yourself, are these diversions in response to discomfort with the current task? 

2. Accept your discomfort. If discomfort is present, recognize and reframe it as a normal response to unfamiliar territory. (Thank you, nervous system for doing your job of trying to protect me!) And so much of learning is unfamiliar territory! You might even be playful with your discomfort. Give it a name. “Hi, Tabitha. Thanks for showing up again! You’re super dependable. Would you like tea?” In many ways, discomfort just wants permission to coexist in the room with you, like a favorite pet.

3. Practice non-judgement. Decide discomfort is neither good nor bad. However, our response to discomfort can determine whether we meet certain goals or not. For example, if you kick Tabitha out every time she shows up, and she always accompanies newer, highly difficult learning and tasks, then you’ll probably delay that type of learning and task and won’t utilize all the time you have to master that topic. This is simply cause and effect.  However, if you decide to make peace with Tabitha, then the two of you will spend tons of quality time together, (BFFs forever!) and that is very good for that essay, project, or problem set you’re trying to finish. 

4. Start slowly. Developing a more relaxed relationship with discomfort can be hard. At first, you’re very likely to feel a nervous system response–again, totally normal–but that means we have to proceed slowly to develop our tolerance. So, set a timer for 5 or 10 minutes and ease into that project. Be sure to offer yourself self-regulation tools to soothe that nervous system along the way, specifically before, during, and after each session

Finally, and above all else, invite a third party into your new relationship with discomfort: Hello, Self Compassion! We’re all a work in progress and opening ourselves up to the most human version of ourselves, one that feels a variety of emotions–pleasure, discomfort, and everything in between–is powerful work. With self-compassion, we intentionally treat ourselves with the same loving-kindness that we would extend to our friends and family. In doing so, we give ourselves permission to transform again and again and again. 

-Carmen

Written by Denva Nesbeth, Jr. ‘24

What brings me joy and fulfillment? What responsibilities do I have to fulfill? These are the two main questions that guide a lot of my decision making and how I allocate my time. With only so much time in the day, moving with intention supports me in making the most of the day and being present. 

1. Make Time for Play: My biggest creative hobby is working on music production. As fast as the term goes in 10 weeks and as busy as my schedule can be with classes and responsibilities for different organizations I’m a part of, I know that music is super important to me. Music is therapeutic and puts me in a flow state whenever I’m creating it. Thus, I intentionally make time within my schedule to work on it regardless of how busy a week may be.

2. Ride the Inspiration Wave: Opening to inspiration, wherever you find it, can lead to great things. I initially made the In The Stacks song while I was in the East Reading Room in 2022. I realized I could create music that I could imagine my peers could listen to while studying, thus inspiring me to create a full album.

3. Purposeful Decision Making: When it comes to the music I create, I’ve definitely created a lot of it with a lot of intentionality behind the purpose and sound choices. With my second album Reach Higher, in contrast to the chill atmosphere one might find on a Stacks album, most of the songs on the album are high energy that sound completely different to what I released prior. I wanted to show that I can’t be put in one specific box musically. When creating my newest album Stacks, Vol. 3, I wanted to have chill instrumentals that fit alongside the previous two Stacks albums, while also making something new and not completely duplicating what I had already released. For example, I love the song My Focus Is On 10 from Back In The Stacks, so I was intentional in not trying to have another song that sounded exactly like it on Vol. 3 and regurgitating what I did already. I was intentional in trying different sounds and genres, which produces songs like Beauty Right In Front Of Me, Give Yourself More Grace, and When You’re Going Through It (Reprise) on the album. Even down to the amount of songs on my albums. Every single album I’ve released so far only has 7 songs. That’s been an intentional choice because I want to ensure none of my albums have any filler and it’s a smooth, concise experience for the listener.

Moving with intention has supported me in giving my energy towards things that I find important and feeling fulfilled with what I’m doing. By identifying what resonates with me and orienting my decisions based on that with the time I have available, my mental health has benefited greatly by being present in the moment with full engagement.

– Denva Nesbeth, Jr. ‘24

Written by Zhuoya Zhang, M.P.H, Ph.D. candidate in Quantitative Biomedical Sciences, Dartmouth College

A lot of us have some form of New Year’s resolution. Let it be listening to hunger cues, moving our bodies in supportive ways, or becoming a better human being. What if I tell you that there is one thing that can help you accomplish all the goals mentioned before? This superpower is sleep! I know it sounds too good to be true. Research suggests that quality sleep can help us better regulate our emotions, enhance our memories and learning, and explore nourishing food choices.¹

How much sleep do we need? It can vary from person to person. According to the National Sleep Foundation, young adults like us could get as few as 7 hours or as many as 11 hours.² The wide range shows natural individual differences. Listening to our body cues may help us understand if we are getting enough sleep. Just like our body knows how much water we need and will tell us to drink more water by making us feel thirsty. If you notice cues like eyelids feeling heavy, head nodding, and falling asleep during classes and meetings while reading, you may need more sleep. So, I invite you to pay attention to these cues this week and explore if your body needs more or less sleep.

Here are some tips on getting quality sleep:

1. Decide on a consistent sleep schedule. A consistent sleep schedule can help your brain naturally feel tired at bedtime.³ What bedtime and wake-up time would best suit your schedule so you can stick to it daily? Creating a nighttime routine can help you implement the new sleep schedule. Our body needs time to wind down and get sleepy cues. Get cozy, explore deep relaxation practices, and put away the screens. If you fall asleep within minutes of your head hitting the pillow, you may be sleep-deprived and need to wind down a little earlier at night.

2. Moving our bodies. Just as our appetite may increase after exercising, you may sleep better by being active. It is fascinating that sleep and movement have this bi-directional relationship.⁴ More exercise can enhance your sleep quality (fun fact: exercise has been used as a treatment for sleep disorders like insomnia), and those with adequate sleep also tend to exercise more and have better athletic performance.^5,6

3. Limit Caffeinated Drinks. Savoring a warm cup of tea can be a great addition to your nighttime routine. Few things are as soothing as serving yourself a cup of tea, especially before bed. Herbal tea, like chamomile, lavender, and rooibos, may help you relax and unwind.

5. Get curious. How about keeping a sleep diary? I’d like to invite you to bring more curiosity next time. You could experiment on yourself by simply noticing how you feel after a good night’s sleep; do you find it easier to make healthier food choices the next day? Do you feel calmer and more at ease? Are you a kinder and friendlier person? Just explore 🙂

Whether you are an early bird or a night owl, I wish you sound sleep and sweet dreams!

– Zhuoya Zhang

Further Reading:

1. Walker, M. Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams. (Scribner, 2018).
2. Hirshkowitz, M. et al. National Sleep Foundation’s updated sleep duration recommendations: final report. Sleep Health 1, 233–243 (2015).
3. Wu, J. Hello Sleep: The Science and Art of Overcoming Insomnia Without Medications. (St. Martin’s Essentials, 2023).
4. Kline, C. E. The bidirectional relationship between exercise and sleep: Implications for exercise adherence and sleep improvement. Am. J. Lifestyle Med. 8, 375–379 (2014).
5. Alnawwar, M. A. et al. The Effect of Physical Activity on Sleep Quality and Sleep Disorder: A Systematic Review. Cureus 15, e43595 (2023).
6. Watson, A. M. Sleep and Athletic Performance. Curr. Sports Med. Rep. 16, 413–418 (2017).
7. Mead, M. N. Benefits of Sunlight: A Bright Spot for Human Health. Environ. Health Perspect.116, A160–A167 (2008).