How to: get grounded (aka: instant calm)

Have you ever had one of those days where EVERYTHING seems to go wrong?

Oh yes.

You know which ones I'm talking about. 

The days where you stub your toe getting out of bed.

You burn the roof of your mouth on your coffee.

Oof. 

Your work inbox is overflowing with meeting invites and you are double/triple/quadruple booked. 

The dog will not stop barking at a human outside/the wall/anything that moves and is currently doing zoomies around the living room...(this...is a pretty normal occurrence though... haha). 

The wi-fi has slowed to a snail's pace. And stopped. 

Joy.

AND the city of Milwaukee has conveniently decided to work on the city's water mainline at approximately 8am so your shower water (and associated water pressure) is equivalent to a sad trickle. 

And even the toilets won't work. 

Womp womp.

(True. Story.)

You feel like you just want to crawl back into bed and forget the day ever existed, right?

But this, this is the golden opportunity to ground your energy. 

Grounding turns lemons into lemoncello.

Grounding is one of those incredible skills that you need when you're just about to lose your shit cool. 

It's the opposite feeling of stress.

It's the feeling of the sun touching your skin on a warm spring morning.

Or listening to the ocean waves crash while your feet touch the shoreline. 

Grounding either means:

1) you are fully present in your body

2) or you are connected with the earth. 

So! How do we get to that?

When it feels like everything is going wrong and you're beginning to feel anxiety, the first thing I do is take a giant, and I mean GIANT, breath.

STEP 1: BREATHE!

Try this right now if you can -- breathe in, deep belly breath. 

Hooold it. Breathe in just a little bit more -- like an extra sip -- and finally breathe out. 

Better? Yes. Repeat this a few more times until the worry and anxiety has subsided. A double inhale followed by an extended exhale. 

This is called the physiological sigh -- and its a pattern of breathing to reduce anxiety. 

This incredible technique was taught to me by the incredible Carrie Schaal, an expert breathwork practitioner. 

It has a yogic connection too! It's similar to Viloma Pranayama: which is described as inhaling to a third of the lungs capacity, pausing for 2-3 seconds, inhaling another third and pausing again, and then inhaling until the lungs are filled. Then breathe out. 

It helps calm the mind and relax the nervous system immensely. 

STEP 2: CONNECT TO THE EARTH

I'm writing this blog sitting outside, with my bare feet in the grass, in the sun. 

It feels SO good. 

Now, I haven't turned into a hippie, but when I feel anxious, sunlight and literally touching the ground with my bare feet helps so much.

It allows me to draw in the natural healing frequency of the earth (528hz) and helps absorbs any negative energy and recharge me. 

Thankfully, here in Wisconsin the weather is warming up and we can get outside more, but what happens when its rainy and cold and gross out?

Couple ideas here -- listen to binaural music (there are literally hundreds of links on Youtube but this was a nice 528hz frequency -- the same as the earth's frequency!) and it provides instant calm.

(Another true story: did a very difficult hike in Hawaii once and had to climb down a volcano before an impending storm quickly over extremely narrow, completely vertical, rain-slicked stairs without falling.

Yikes. 

I was seriously stressing out and trying to not hyperventilate. 

It felt like a panic attack was coming on and I was never going to get down that volcano in time. 

I popped in my earbuds and I put this music on and instantly felt the anxiety release and was able to get down the volcano before the storm hit! 

PS: A Hint -- go BACKWARDS. That way you don't see how high you are...I probably looked very strange bear-climbing backwards down a volcano but who cares, you do what you need to do to stay grounded!!)

STEP 3: FIND YOUR ANCHORS

Anchors are things that make us feel safe and supported. They take us out of flight-or-fight response and move us into a feeling of calm. 

Anchors can be:

• Your favorite scents, textures (a fuzzy robe or blanket) or place
• Meditation
• An hour reading a good book
• Sunlight/Red-light therapy
• A cup of hot tea or (decaf) coffee (avoid caffeine if you can) 
• Swaying gently or dancing to your favorite music
• Journaling
• Eating your favorite food and really tasting the flavors in every bite
• Movement -- yoga, biking, walking -- get your heart rate up!
• Disconnect from social media (and the news) 
• SLEEP. Turn off your dang alarm! 
• Putting your hands in water, taking a shower or a bath
• Call someone you love -- their voice could be just the thing that anchors you. 

(PS: What did I miss?! Tell me your anchors in the comments! :)

When I'm feeling ungrounded and can't get outside, I'll do a 20 minute energy cleansing meditation.

Or I'll make candles.

Sometimes I'll bake cookies to bring to neighbors and friends.

Or sometimes I'll just crank up my favorite playlist (aka salsa music) and dance around my house. 

Whatever you have to do, know that whatever emotions you are feeling in that moment is just energy that's been stirred up. That's it. 

You have the power to reconnect to yourself. In ANY moment, no matter how stressful it is.

You are SAFE. 

You are LOVED.

You are AMAZING. 

You can do ANYTHING. 

Believe in yourself. 

Trust yourself. 

Take a deep, deep breath. Let it go. 

You got this.