Time and current events have been a whirlwind swirling around and within. Today I want to offer us three grounding thoughts, two resources and leave you with a blessing from John O’Donohue. My hope is that you will receive a moment of peace in the midst of the whirlwind of news in the US.
As a neurodivergent woman I have been gathering and developing practices to help center, to ground, my nervous system over several years. I’m grateful for the tool box I have gathered. I’ve shared many tools and practices with you here over the three years of publishing so far. So here are my three grounding thoughts:
Notice. Pause. Practice.
Notice what is stirring reactivity in you. Notice where you feel that in your body. Notice how the reactivity affects you. Just Notice.
Pause. In this pause before reacting or responding to the thing that stirred you up, you can gather yourself instead of fragmenting your attention with anger or snark. It’s a choice. This Pause is like a threshold from a room to a hallway ( Emily P. Freeman’s book How to Walk into a Room) The Pause creates a space to take a beat of rest before the next right thing.
Practice. This is the place to choose a tool from your collection that can help you calm, regulate and respond from a grace-filled place. An easy, carry it with you, no things necessary to accomplish Practice is box or square breathing. I described the process here. Additionally I recommend limiting your news media consumption. If that means Social Media, then take a break. If that means streaming services take a break. Only you can discern what is best for your system.
Resources. In a recent episode, Emily shared a wonderful sensory grounding practice. Check it out here. Another resource I want to offer is the work of Sharon McMahon. You can find her writing on The Preamble on Substack or her insta-famous account @sharonsaysso Sharon is also the author of The Small and The Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, from the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement. This is her first book and is also a NYT best seller!
Finally, I read a blessing written by John O’Donohue and published in his book To Bless the Space Between Us. Here is a link to the text:
For One Who is Exhausted
Take good care.
