We are not meant to live in isolation. What makes us healthy and whole is the connections we form with one another. With our families. Our friends. Our colleagues and our community… The thing we need the most to feel healthy has become harder to get.
After more than 30 years in the field of social work, I know one thing to be true. We do not need to be victims to our situation. We have choices to make, each and every day about how we want to live our lives. How we choose to show up for ourselves and each other.
Practice #2 - Ground Yourself
For a number of years I have been practicing yoga. I’m not very good at it, but I do it anyway. Yoga is referred to as a practice. You come to the mat each day, ready to begin again. In yoga a pose depends on solid footing. In tree pose the teacher reminds me to ground myself, to press my big toe into the ground. To balance the weight of my body between my heels and toes. Sometimes, more often than I’d like to admit, my attention wanders. I get distracted by my thoughts. I lose my balance and fall. I begin again, feeling the ground beneath me.
The same is true in these difficult times. The structures with which we steady ourselves have all but disappeared. We grow worried. Overwhelmed. Afraid. We need to find new ways to ground ourselves. To press our feet into the earth beneath us. To spread the collective weight between our heels and toes. To create a solid footing. To find our center. A solid foundation will not fail.
Try this: Find a quiet place to sit. A place where you won’t be disturbed. Turn off your phone, close your eyes and breathe. Listen to the sounds around you. Feel the earth under your feet. Notice the way your body moves with each breath. Ground yourself in the present moment. You are strong. You are steady.
When you wobble, and you will, go back again. Breathe. Listen. Feel. Notice. Ground. Repeat.
image from here.
