Today, we want to guide you in a short, but impactful grounding exercise, a few moments to take just for YOU. Follow the prompts outlined below, and feel free to eventually make them your own. Enjoy!
Make yourself comfortable.
Maybe that’s a seated position in a chair or on the couch, or laying on the floor or in your bed.
Find a cozy space to be in, and a comforting position to relax into. Maybe you have a favorite blanket to wrap up in, light a candle or some incense, apply your favorite essential oil
Take a few deep breaths
These may simply begin as regular breaths at first. Bringing awareness to your breath is enough.
Eventually try to deepen your inhales and lengthen your exhales with each breath that passes through your lungs.
Soften your gaze.
As you come to a more relaxed spot, drop your eyelids ever so slightly.
Begin to journey inward, closing your eyes between reading the prompts, if that feels comfortable to you.
Check in with your senses and the space around you.
What do you see in your surrounding space?
What are you feeling around you?
What sounds do you hear?
What are you experiencing in the space that you are in right now?
Simply notice, without judgement.
Take inventory of your body.
What areas of your body can you extend awareness to?
Breathe into any areas that you feel tension. Perhaps you can release further into your seat, drop your shoulders, unclench your jaw, relax your forehead.
Scan your way up and down your body until you feel more at ease.
Be intentional about feeling grounded in the present as your mind journeys.
Think back to a fond moment or even a place that brings you joy, and imagine yourself there.
What do you see? Smell? Hear?
Listen, really listen.
Feel, really feel. As if you are back in that exact place. That precise moment in time.
Perhaps you are alone or sharing the experience with someone.
What about that memory brings you joy?
Take a few more deep, slow, continuous breaths. Inhale through your nose and audibly exhale through your mouth. Let it all go.
When you're ready, begin adding slight movement back into your body, gently wiggle your feet and hands, curve your lips into a smile and slowly open your eyes.
And now, go about your day — hopefully feeling more centered, more grounded.
And if the holidays feel chaotic, or a moment becomes overwhelming — be intentional about taking a few minutes out of your day to listen to your needs, to focus on your senses, to check in with your body, and to ground yourself.