Simple tools can work when we feel anxious, afraid, stressed. We have a choice about whether or not we remain grounded.
Earlier this month I posted the following self-care/writing tip:
Be a creator of peace on earth…as you journey through the holiday season. Write a list of twelve things that calm you and are easy to do anytime, anyplace. Keep the list nearby and commit yourself to peace by practicing something on your list each time you begin to feel stressed. Sway with the changing winds, but remain rooted in serenity.
So in the spirit of sharing, here’s my personal response to this task:
Take deep breaths
Meditate
Write a gratitude list
Walk
Close eyes for five minutes
Do a journal purge write
Lay hands on the earth
Get in yoga’s child’s pose
Hug someone’s dog or my cat
Enjoy an art image or photograph book
Paint mandalas
These work for me. Some of these are my daily practices; others are what I consider “decadent”—things I allow myself only as a rare treat.
I’ve chosen to do eight of these in the past several days. While I have many other grounding activities and practices I can do to move back into balance, these are the simplest and most effective in “a pinch”: precisely the time I need such de-stressors. With this short list of simple go-to activities, I can remain rooted in peacefulness even as my day blows to the winds.
May you embrace this season - of holidays, endings and beginnings, the shifting ratio of light and darkness, events and visitors and obligations and socializing – with moments of punctuated peace. May you generate calm. May you be calm. And as you are calm, despite whatever else is happening, may you feel the solidarity of our common quest for forward movement, deeper roots, and peaceful interconnection with all beings.
(Original version of this was posted in Dec 2015.)
