Staying Grounded: How I Remain Calm, Even As Life Doesn't
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On my honeymoon in Oaxaca, Mexico.
As I go through this summer of change and growth, I try to remember to come back to my breath.
To carve time out of my busy day to roll out my mat and practice. To eat healthy and nurturing foods (even though I’m a sucker for junk food). To drink lots of water, get good sleep, and get some exercise.
I was out to lunch the other day with my friend Beth. I told her, “I just feel so overwhelmed and ungrounded. I don’t know what to do.”
“You can be ungrounded and going through lots of change,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean that you can’t be happy.”
What great words of wisdom!
It may seem like simple advice, but it was an AHA! moment for me. Change happens, and things in the future can seem uncertain, but that isn’t a bad thing. That’s just life!
With those empowering words, I decided to move forward with new strength. I know that NO MATTER WHAT I will always be OK. Even when I feel like I am floating away, I can remain grounded to who I am through my practice, my faith, my friends and my family.
Life is such a gift, such an opportunity. If we remember that, and remember to stay grounded, we can experience all that life has to offer.
Here are some simple things you can do to remain grounded in your life:
Focus on your breath
Meditate, even if you only have 5 minutes. Just close your eyes and be still. Meditation is such a powerful tool! Once you grow your meditation practice, you’ll wonder why you haven’t been doing it all along!
Make good decisions, even if they seem hard. Remember: “The easy way is rarely, if ever, the right way, and the right way is rarely, if ever, the easy way.” It’s not just something parents say to annoy teenagers. It’s true!
Help someone. It doesn’t have to be some huge act. It can be as simple as helping the person in front of you at the grocery store put their groceries in their car.
Rearrange and clean your house. Donate old clothes and household items you no longer need. Declutter your space, declutter your mind!
Be in nature. It’s medicine for the soul.
Find a good community and invest time to be a part of it. A yoga studio, a book club, a church—whatever. Find it and join!
Journal. Write down your experiences and release what you are holding inside.
Disconnect from technology. Spend less time on your phone and more time being present in this reality.
Garden. Get your hands in the dirt. It’s grounding—literally!
Still feel like you’re floating away? Here are a few of my favorite poses with grounding effects:
Heart Melting Pose (Anahatasana) - also known as Puppy Pose. Start in table top position—hands underneath shoulders, knees underneath hips. Keeping your knees where they are, begin to walk your hands forward until your chin or forehead comes to the earth. Feel your heart melt closer to the ground with each exhale. Hold for at least one minute. You should feel this pose in your heart, shoulders, and armpits.
Yogi Squat (Malasana) - Starting in Mountain Pose, take your feet as wide as the mat, letting your toes splay off the mat. Bring hands to heart-center and start to let your hips descend to the floor. Once you are low, press your elbows into your thighs. Elongate your spine. Be here for one minute, or longer, focusing on your inhales and exhales. You will feel this in your hips. Remember to soften your pelvic region. Don’t clench! For extra grounding, you can close your eyes and tune into your Root Chakra (located in the pelvic region), which is all about being grounded and connected to the earth. Meditate on the color red, the color of the Root Chakra. Place a block underneath your pelvis for more support.
Lizard Pose (Utthan Pristhasana) - Beginning in low lunge, walk both hands to the inside of your front foot and come down onto your forearms. Hands can be palm-down on the earth or fingers can interlace. Press your back heel into space, creating length through your body. Hold for two-five minutes. You can lower your back knee at any time. Repeat on the other side.
