Things have been tough.
We’ve all been through quite a lot over the last two years and it’s still ongoing. It’s hard to get through everything without worry and fear, without feeling overwhelmed. We feel lost and without direction at times.
Taking care of those around us is difficult when we don’t feel well, so we need to try and let the outside world not mess too much with our hearts and with what is truly important to us.
I for sure have those moments where I feel lost and anxious, but I also know that there are things I can do that help me get back to myself and get centered again.
What are those things?
It all has to do with feeling grounded.
I have a few grounding exercises I do when I feel the need to center myself again and to get out of my head and out of the fear. These help me to get back into being in the moment and doing what I am called to do.
I want to share these with you because if you’re reading this you might feel overwhelmed as well. You might feel fearful at times and I am pretty sure you long to get out from those feelings.
Here is what you can do.
Breathe
Breathing is a very grounding experience because it connects you with yourself. Your breath connects you with life itself and it is something that helps us to be present in this very moment.
This is the first thing to do when you want to calm yourself.
And just stop for a moment and consider this: right now probably everything is fine because right now you might be sitting at your desk in a room, a house, or apartment where you live.
You might have heating and you have enough food in the fridge and the roof over your head is waterproof.
And most likely you have healthy eyes with which to see the beauty of the world, and you have hands with which to hold a loved one and you have a body that is functioning perfectly in most parts. You see, there’s so much to be grateful for!
Therefore, in this very moment, everything is well, right here, right now.
This is what your breath connects you to as well, to this very moment, to your beautiful and resilient body, to all that you can be grateful for.
So, breathe deeply – and breathing deeply means breathing into your belly – let your belly expand when you breathe in and just empty and flatten again when you exhale.
What I love doing is to take 3 deep breaths whenever I feel the need to center myself and become calm.
To do this, simply close your eyes and then take deep breaths, three of them, one after the other, and exhale slowly, emptying the air completely. Then stay a little bit afterward and feel how this impacts your whole body and your mind, how quiet it’s gone inside you and how this exercise regenerates every cell.
Connect with the earth
You might have heard that there are health benefits to being with bare feet on the ground or on the grass. Indeed there are, as connecting directly to Mother Earth means that you are grounding yourself.
This is what happens: there are electrons and ions in your body that will change their charge by aligning with the negatively charged electrons and ions of the earth and this is a very powerful and healing action you can take.
If it’s cold winter and you’re not into walking barefoot in the snow you can simply touch either the ground or even simpler touch a tree trunk when you go for a walk. This creates a feeling of connection and stability that will carry you through your day.
Do this as often as you can. It’s very powerful and it connects you also via your senses with nature. Nature is here for you and it helps you to stay in the moment.
Essential oils
A third way to ground yourself is to trigger one of your 5 senses, the sense of smell.
The sense of smell immediately fires receptors in your brain and goes to the limbic system, connected to memory and emotions. A very powerful way to trigger this sense is to use essential oils, as they can soothe your nervous system.
If you are feeling anxious smelling some lavender essential oil can help to calm you.
If you are feeling depressed then uplifting citrus notes, like lime or orange oil can be of support. I use mostly DoTerra Oils and especially love their PastTense and OnGuard blends.
In case you don’t have high-grade essential oils at home simply cut a lemon open for it to release its refreshing scent or other items from your kitchen, like spices. Or simply smell a flower.
Vagus Nerve
The vagus nerve is the biggest connecting nerve in our nervous system. It reaches all organs, is involved in all systems, and especially important is its function as a bridge between our gut and our brain.
This superpower nerve is involved in regulating many functions in our body and activating it helps to get back into the parasympathetic state, which allows our body to rest and digest.
There are many ways to activate it, one of them is to use your voice and your vocal cords by humming or singing, or gargling.
Food
Lastly, we have food as a way to ground ourselves.
Eating is a very grounding activity, especially if you eat foods that are growing inside the earth like root vegetables such as carrots, beets, sweet potatoes, garlic, ginger. Also, pumpkins are great, so why not make a wonderfully warming carrot-pumpkin soup?
Or roast those veggies in the oven for a comforting meal.
Pumpkin soup is really easy to make, here is a simple recipe for you, so you can ground yourself via your tastebuds.
Ingredients
· 3 Tbsp olive or avocado oil
· 1 large onion – peeled and chopped
· 1 small pumpkin – deseeded and diced
· 4 – 5 medium carrots – peeled and diced
· 3 cloves garlic – peeled and crushed
· 1 inch piece fresh ginger – peeled and grated
· ½ tsp each of ground coriander, cumin, paprika
· ¼ tsp chili powder (optional)
· 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
· 1 liter (4 cups) vegetable stock
· salt and pepper / (non-dairy) milk or cream (optional)
1. Heat oil in a big saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes until soft and translucent. Add pumpkin and carrot, and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add spices and cook for 30 seconds then add the vegetable stock and stir together. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Remove the soup from heat. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth.
4. Stir in (non-dairy) milk or cream and season to taste with salt and pepper. And then enjoy!
All the above are things that you can easily integrate into your daily life.
You need to breathe – shift your mind back to your breath regularly and focus on lengthening the exhale.
You need to eat – choose calming and grounding food, chew well, and focus on the food. Smell the food before you eat, saying thanks.
You need fresh air – go outside and hug or touch a tree.
You need to express yourself – Sing and hum and gargle to your heart’s content and feel joy returning to you and worries fading into the background.
Whenever you feel it’s all getting too much then you know you have this at your fingertips. You have these tools just within reach and can do this anytime.
Don’t forget we will get through this! Stay connected to your heart and take care of your physical and mental wellbeing first, so that you can assist those around you.
I would love to hear from you if this speaks to you!
And if you feel you would like support in reducing migraine and other chronic health challenges naturally, then schedule a free assessment call with me.
Martina is a Certified Health Coach with the vision to help transform the way that chronic diseases are dealt with. Enough of the medication overload that many people are getting into once they are diagnosed with a chronic disease! Most often there are better and safer ways.
She helps sensitive women in their 40ies and beyond to reduce their migraines and other chronic health issues naturally, with the principles of healthy nutrition and functional medicine plus lots of body-mind attention.
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