How to Ground Down
A critical piece to wellness is the ability to find yourself in space and time. There is no shortage of life circumstances that derail us, causing imbalance and overwhelm. It’s important to know what levers are available to pull on as a means of grounding yourself. And the key to this is, do less with clarity.
Our problem solver brain loves to get creative and scheme up 100 ways to engage with life differently in order to escape feeling scattered and weighed down. Top tier intention, but it just doesn’t work that way. Think of overwhelm as having too many tabs open— and instead of opening a new one to research how to solve your problem, you need to close the ones you already have open. This requires getting clear on what simple habits need to be folded into your day and week in order to bring yourself back to earth. Here’s my tips on how to do that.
LEAN INTO CONSISTENCY
The best way to show your body you are safe is to regulate your inner rhythms. Consistency in simple habits such as eating times, movement routine, and bedtime has the power to switch us out of fight or flight and into rest and digest. Aim small, be specific, and stick to matter over mood.
GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD AND INTO YOUR BODY
Physical disrupters have the power to stimulate your prefrontal cortex which is the part of your brain that regulates thoughts and emotions. This has both an accumulative and immediate benefit, so don’t be discouraged if you need to lean on this tactic multiple times a day. Other than the tried-and-true walk around the block, additional options are putting a song on and shaking it out, body scanning head to toe sensations in real time, holding a plank for 30-60 seconds, or setting a one minute timer to focus on your breath.
EAT PROTEIN WITH EVERY MEAL
This one might surprise you, but blood sugar regulation is crucial when it comes to managing anxiety, overwhelm, and depletion. Eating a sufficient amount of protein with every meal will help manage glucose spikes, provide satiety, and regulate stress hormones. This is the first diet topic I nail down with my clients, as it’s the backbone of system-wide regulation and balance.
ENGAGE IN AWE
Awe and purpose are essential to our humanness. When they fall to the background our life feels flat, like each task is robotic and futile. This is the precursor for spiral energy, we’ve all been there. So what summons your sense of awe? Most often it comes down to paying attention. Rhythms, patterns, threads, nature, community, music. These things have a way of screaming “You’re alive! You’re alive! Don’t forget, you’re alive!”