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Ritualising Intention-setting 4 minutes · opener

Crossing the threshold

Card 40 of 52

Put it on the board and read it out. Nothing to prepare.

A person leaning out of an open window, plants along the sill

Illustration by RecipesforWellbeing.org, CC BY-NC 4.0

Open this drawing in the library

Welcome to the summer term. Before it gathers pace, settle into your seat and allow your shoulders to rest.

Take three unhurried breaths and let your attention move from the corridor into the room.

Finish the sentence "This term, I would like a little more..." silently, using one word if that is enough.

Keep your word private and hold it for a moment, as something to come back to during the term.

When you are ready, look up and we will begin together.

That’s the practice.

Listen for Students may come back from the break with very different energy, so allow movement and do not look for any particular response to the breathing.

The skill of intention setting. Clarifying your desired outcomes and guiding intentions before engaging in meaningful activities.

How often do you pause to clarify your intention before starting something that matters, and what shifts when you do?

Try the interactive practice on this skill

The skill of intention setting

Clarifying your desired outcomes and guiding intentions before engaging in meaningful activities.

Hear this skill read aloud
Read the whole postTry the interactive practiceReflect on this skill for yourself

Adapting it

Ages 13 to 15
Offer a few example words, such as "calm", "fun" or "sleep", so that students can borrow one if they need to.
Ages 16 to 18
Invite students to name privately one thing they would like to leave in the last term.

If you have longer

There is a full lesson on this skill, about 40 minutes.

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