Settle down, will ya?!

“This is a marathon in life. You can’t be sprinting all the time or else you wear yourself out. You have to make sure you’re taking care of yourself, keeping yourself grounded and not letting every little thing get you worked up.” ~~ Brian Moynihan

Settling down. Feeling grounded. Establishing roots. These are phrases I use a lot in the yoga classes I teach and as I was preparing to write this post about being grounded, I decided to search all my posts to see how many times I’ve written about the topic. Holy wow! This must be one important topic to me because I have written about it a LOT. Which only means to me that I need to work harder at it. I tend to write about the things I need to focus on, and apparently, I am not very good at settling down and feeling grounded. Or at least, I am not very good at it being permanent.

Right now, things have been feeling a bit scattered for me. My oldest daughter is about to begin her Sophomore year in college and is moving back next weekend. My youngest daughter is starting 7th grade and just found out she made the competition Cheer squad, so we’re getting ready for all the practices and games and competitions we’ll be dealing with this fall. At work, things are C.R.A.Z.Y.!!! In both good and bad ways, but crazy nonetheless, which always throws me for a loop, as I am a very structured and scheduled person by nature.

Because things have been so different, I’ve seen a resurgence of some of my Lyme symptoms over the past month. Nowhere near as horrible as they once were, but a regression is a regression and it SUCKS. Luckily, my doc is really good about nudging me and reminding me that I need to stick to the lifestyle changes in addition to the meds and supplements I take. In an attempt to focus on the ability to feel grounded during this hectic time for me, I came up with the following yoga sequence…if you need to feel a bit more grounded, try it out for yourself and see if it helps (you can go to http://www.yogajournal.com to see pics if you need them):

Child’s Pose. Be here for at least 10 breaths, and focus on closing your eyes, so you can shut out all the “noise” around you. Make sure your breaths are as deep as possible, and with every exhale, imagine yourself releasing just a bit more into the earth.
Cat/Cow. While moving through these two poses, focus on rooting down into your hands and knees. Flow with your breath between each pose, but don’t move too fast. Do 5-10 rounds.
Spinal Balance. As you lift alternate arm and leg, make sure your abdominals are engaged, which will help you feel a bit more grounded. Like cat/cow, flow with your breath between each pose, but go SLOW! Do 5-10 rounds.
Vinyasa. Move through a slow vinyasa, focusing on feeling grounded. Think about your hands and feet in plank and chaturanga, focus on rooting your hip points and your feet during cobra, and again on your hands and feet once you reach Down Dog. If you have time, do 5 rounds.
Forward Fold. As you hang in forward fold, focus on balancing between all four corners of each foot. Hold for 5-10 breaths.
Mountain. This is perhaps the best pose, in my opinion, at helping a person feel grounded. I encourage you to close your eyes here and focus on your feet, just like you did in Forward Fold. Hold for 5-10 breaths.
Warrior 1. Keep your torso stacked over your hips, and focus on keeping the balance even between both feet. Hold for 5-10 breaths.
Warrior 2. Same focus as Warrior 1. Don’t let your upper torso lean forward. Hold for 5-10 breaths.
Triangle. As you tip forward, don’t lose that balance between both feet. Keeping shoulders and hips stacked should help. Hold for 5-10 breaths.
Balancing Half Moon. Use a block if you need to, or even a wall, to help you feel grounded and balanced. Hold for 5-10 breaths.
Repeat poses 5-10 on the other side.
From Balancing Half Moon, come into a Yogi Squat. Focus on feeling settled in this pose. Hold for 5-10 breaths.
Seated Forward Fold. Focus on rooting down between both sitting bones and the legs as you reach forward for the toes. Use a strap or blocks, as needed. Hold for 10-15 breaths.
Reclined Bound Angle. As you lie back, if you notice your knees are way up off the ground, you can use blocks underneath them to help with feeling more grounded. Hold for 10-15 breaths.
Savasana. Like Mountain pose, this could also be considered the best pose in helping a person feel grounded. Feel the earth underneath your whole body, supporting you. Allow your bones to completely relax and feel as heavy as possible while here. Stay here for at least 5 minutes.