Heatherā€™s Hintsā€¦ Staying Grounded and Centered During the Holidays (and ALL days!)
Nov 19, 2018
A Daily Practice. Follow these 5 steps for a simple 10-15 minute daily routine that will rewire your brain and nervous system toward a more grounded and centered you.
1. Create a Space. Find a special spot in your house that you can set up for this daily practice. Mine is in my closet. I have a special poof cushion on the floor and a few visual reminders of my power for peace. This routine will be one that you do sitting up, so find a special chair or cushion that you will love going to daily. Make your spot special. I like candles, grounding reminders of my family and affirmations taped to the wall. This will become your sacred spot and you will immediately enter in to a more grounded energy just by sitting in it daily.
2. Practice Posture. Get cozy in your special chair or on your special cushion. Ground your feet or crossed legs on the floor. Create a straight, but relaxed spine. Allow your head to slightly tilt downward. Close your eyes. Notice your body and do a quick body scan as you release your face muscles (especially your forehead and jaw), allow your shoulders to drop even more, bring a relaxed feeling to your core and all the way down to the legs. Finish by grounding into your practice by noticing your sit bones on the chair or cushion. Being present in your body like this is hugely grounding. Keep noticing your sit bones and say,“I am here. Nothing to do, nothing to fix, nothing to plan, nothing to worry about. I am here.”Use your Breath. Set your phone or another timer for 10 minutes. Notice your sit bones again.
3. Relax the face. “I am here.” Start to gently notice the breath. Feel the cool air enter your nose. Breathe easily and deeply. Notice the warm air exit the nose. Breathe in this natural way for a few gentle breaths. Keep noticing the cool air going in and the warm air going out of the nose. Then, on the next inhale, move your attention to allowing the air to fill the belly, then move the air up to the lungs and finally let the air fill the throat. Slowly exhale starting with the throat, the upper and lower lungs and finally the belly until all the air is expelled. Keep doing this “3-part breathing” until your timer sounds. “I am here.”
4. Meditate. Meditation has been shown to do everything from grow gray matter in the brain, reduce heart risks, decrease depression/anxiety, increase relationship satisfaction, boost the immune system and much more. Meditation is perhaps one of the most powerful tools available. Go back to noticing your breath, but now let go of the purposeful breathing techniques in Hint #3 and move into an easy, normal, calm breathing cadence. Notice your sit bones. “I am here.” Just breath and be. All of us have thoughts as we meditate (even the Zen monks!) Thinking is the mind’s job. Meditation is a powerful way to use your mind to change your brain. We do this by noticing when we have a thought and purposefully and gently releasing it. No judgement toward yourself. I literally imagine putting my thoughts on a moving cloud just outside my head. Then I visualize my mind (the space behind my eyes) as clear and empty. Go back to the breath. When another thought comes, just notice it and release it. Clear the mind. Go back to the breath. “I am here.” Continue this process until your timer sounds.
5. Ground your Energy. Stand up and remain in your special area. Finish your routine with the following quick exercises. Your hands are one of the most powerful electromagnetic tools ever invented. Utilize your own palms to center and ground your body. Try the Zip-Up exercise. Place your palm a few inches away from your body. Starting at your pelvis, slowly move your palm up the body’s mid-line to end at the forehead. Use an affirmation to further reinforce your centering intention. “I am abundant in all areas of my life. I am grounded and centered.” For a more intensive (but super quick and easy) exercise, perform The Celtic Weave each morning and end with a Zip Up. The Celtic Weave is performed by crossing your arms in front of your chest, then your waist and lastly your legs. After crossing them in front of each of these spaces, uncross them as you wave them out to each side of your body. This weaving motion creates a protective “shield” around the body. Click here for a video demonstration I recorded while in Colorado this summer. Credit goes to Donna Eden, energy medicine guru.
