Grounding During Tough Times
A LOT of people aren’t feeling themselves lately and it makes sense with all the chaos happening this year, but that fact DOES NOT make it easier. In a way, it makes it harder because we’re stuck here wondering, “when will it end?”
Since I cannot answer that question for you, I want to provide a few ideas on how to ground down during this tumultuous time in hopes it will help you feel more secure, more at ease and more yourself.
I had a friend ask me the other day, “how do I balance my chakras, I just don’t feel like myself.” What a great question! I answered by explaining that there is no quick fix, but the fact that someone wants to turn to the chakras got me beyond excited. So here is what I shared:
“Most people right now are feeling very imbalanced in their root chakra, which is the chakra that is all about feeling secure, grounded and content. It is the chakra of survival. Currently, our survival is threatened in quite a few different ways: our livelihood is at stake, our health is at stake and the status quo we are used to is all up in the air. There is no wonder why we are experiencing a collective root chakra disruption. Survival is our first basic need, so when it is jeopardized, it can throw off all the rest of our chakras, so this is a good place to start ‘coming back to ourselves.’”
If you have been feeling:
-Lack of security
-Ungrounded
-Inability to focus
-Hard time feeling happy for the little things
-Hard time being present in the moment,
You are not alone and you are experiencing a root chakra imbalance. Since we cannot control the outer world, we must control our inner world, so here are some steps to balance the root chakra to start to bring down your anxiety and hopefully help you feel back to yourself.
Get Out in Nature
Hiking, gardening, meditating outside, road tripping, bbqing, camping ect. I know it’s winter, but humans invented warm clothes for a reason. Nature is healing and when you spend time in it, you just feel better. So get outside, breathe in that fresh air and feel how you are connected to all that is.
Get Active
Work out, stretch, take a walk, dance. It literally doesn’t matter what you do, so do something that you like and that feels good. The point here is to do anything that gets you into your body and out of your head for a while. Breathe deep and feel this body you are in, take care of it, appreciate it how it is and let your overactive brain take a break for a while. It doesn’t have to be anything long or strenuous, it can be something as simple as a walk around the block. I actually realized I was getting quite lazy these days, so I created a 30 day 5 minute work out challenge for myself. 5 minutes a day is better than nothing and sometimes I find myself with energy to keep working out, break out in a dance sesh, or train to get my splits. Some days the 5 minutes is all I got and that is enough. Get moving to take care of your body and give your brain a rest.
Improve Your Surroundings
Basic cleaning, spring cleaning, rearranging, starting or finishing a project you’ve wanted around your house, yard or room, anything that improves your surroundings can make a drastic difference in the way you feel. Cleaning may seem daunting, but we all know the after effects of cleaning your space feels so good! It brings a feeling of accomplishment and spaciousness, both are important when we feel out of sorts.
Short Daily Gratitude
Preferably upon waking in the morning, ask yourself, “what am I grateful for today?” Some days things will pop into your head without trying. Some days the answer is the big things in life like your family, your pets, your job, your community, specific people, ect. Some days it’s harder to think of things, but find something, anything. It can be as simple as, “I’m so grateful for this comfy pillow” or “I’m so grateful for hot, running water.” What we are trying to do here is switch the brain immediately from scarcity mindset to abundance mindset. Take a 30 seconds to a minute to feel that gratitude in your entire body. Commit yourself to 21 days of this practice. It takes as little as 30 seconds and if you forget in the morning, just stop and do this whenever you can. The more you do it, the more you will begin to appreciate every little thing in your life. It helps the constant negatives start to fall away and the hard parts of life seem less daunting.
Do Something for Someone Else
Do you have a skill you could teach someone? Do you have extra time you could volunteer? Do you have items you can clear out of your house to donate to someone who may need it more than you? Can you donate as little as 1% of your income to a charity you’ve always wanted to support? Often times we get so caught up in our own lives that we forget (or we don’t even know) the power of doing something good for someone else. It’s been proven that doing something good in your community improves your self-esteem, releases feel good endorphins, lowers stress and anxiety, and can even have an impact on blood pressure and other health issues. So check out volunteermatch.org, go down to your local soup kitchen, check out pandemicoflove.com, host a free zoom call for people interested in your craft and give them a free lesson, clean out your closets and take the stuff to a shelter (not a place that sells your items for profit, please), or think of your own way to help someone else.
Remember not to let this overwhelm you. You don’t have to do it all. Choose one and start there. Literally any one of these alone can have a huge impact on how you feel. All of these ground us, release feel good endorphins and, most importantly, gets us out of our heads and into our bodies and our hearts, which is super needed in the world today. So go on and get started on balancing your root chakra and let me know how you feel!
I love to hear from you, so comment here, on IG or FB (links below) or email me back and lets chat.
Namaste friends,
Sara