Do you feel like you’ve been non-stop running? Getting stuff ticked off the list, preparing, looking after others, packing away, making sure everyone is happy and content? Your head feels almost detached from your body as you keep on holding it high, worry, think, organize and frown..? ‘As long as everyone is being looked after.’..
Stop. What about Yourself?
Isn’t it usually the case that once you are ok and relaxed, everyone else around you starts breathing out and relaxing too? Isn’t it usually you, the busy mum, that’s in the centre of everyone’s needs? So are you making sure that you are coping well, so you CAN be there for everyone else?
I’d like to share 4 simple ways to centre & ground yourself with you today that can bring you instant relief from feeling frantic, stressed, all over the place
and bring inner calm, centredness and relaxation– no matter in what situation you are in:
1. Solar Plexus relief with hand acupressure
As shown in the picture, use the thumb of one hand to palpate the point that’s located in the depression under your middle & ring finger, just below the fleshier part below your fingers. Hold this point on both hands and palpate as long as it takes, until you feel a sense of calm. You might notice that your breathing is getting deeper and slower, as your Solar Plexus is releasing its tension.
2. The tree pose
This exercise is best done barefoot and on a patch of grass for a maximum grounding effect. Stand tall and straight with your feet parallel and shoulder width apart. Imagine you are a tree with your tree roots deep in the ground. Your body is the stem of the tree, strong and solid, so as to withstand any storm. Your arms reach up to the sky and make up your branches. You are a tree that is strongly planted with its roots deeply in Mother Earth, receiving her nourishing guidance, and your branches are reaching up into the sky, receiving ideas, visions and inspirations. Feel the difference in your emotions, sense where your body automatically wants to sway to. Do you feel your weight is leaning towards your toes? Does it sway your body backwards, with your main weight on your heels? The aim is to feel most of your body weight in the centre of both feet. You are strong and nothing can knock you over.
Hold this position and visualization until a sense of calm has washed over you.
3. Instantly breathe deeper & relax with only one Reflexology point
Also for this exercise I use the help of a picture (this one is of the foot of my 5 year old) to show the location of this amazingly useful Reflexology point. It's the reflex point for the Solar Plexus, the nerve centre that's located right below the arch of our rib cage. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, this is the acupoint called Kidney 1. You can locate it right under the ball of both feet, by folding/squeezing your feet. You will see a depression forming in the line right between your 2nd and 3rd toe. Apply thumb pressure onto this reflex point on both your feet. If someone else is doing it for you, ask them to do both feet simultaneously. However, don’t worry if it’s a DIY attempt! It’s totally fine to grab one of your own feet at a time. I’ve got countless examples of myself doing a meditation and just holding this point on one foot (whichever I felt needed it more in that moment) and feeling instantly sooo much more relaxed and able to connect with myself.
This point is great when you feel anxious, emotional or even panicky.
4. Visualize the sky & earth energy as water taps
This fourth tool is a simple, yet tremendously helpful visualization. Sit in a comfortable position as if you were to do a meditation. Now close your eyes and imagine having two taps running: One above your head, feeding your head with water from above (Father Sky) and one from underneath your Root Chakra/buttocks, feeding your body with water from below (Mother Earth). Ignore your mind which might say “That doesn’t make sense! Water can’t go against gravity!”, as this is simply a visualization to assist us in feeling into ourselves.
Now, feel into both “taps”. Which one are you receiving lots of water/energy from right now? Do you feel like one is gushing whereas the other one is a mere dribble? Do you feel like the one from up above is feeding you way more than the one from below? Well, if this is the case, it would explain why you’ve been feeling so stressed out and worried, in your head and on the run!
Now, let’s fix this. Keep your eyes closed as you imagine turning down the tap from up above. It’s important that you send gratitude and say something like “Thank you for all your energy, but it’s a bit too much for me today. Please turn it down a little (or even quite a bit!)” And in doing so, focus on the tap from below and ask “Mother Earth/Earth energy, please turn up the tap, I’d like to receive way more from you right now.” Of course you can also do this the other way round. Simply feel into what you need right now and aim for balance.
Let this vision unfold. How do you feel now?
(Note: Some of you might not be that familiar with the terms of Mother Earth and Father Sky. Don’t worry, I will go into them more, but another time. If you don’t feel comfortable using these terms, simply call them something else. It’s about the meaning and intention, not about the names being used.)
For now, I hope these 4 simple ways to centre & ground yourself have given you inspiration and guidance of how to get out of a scattered, stressed and overwhelmed mood and start feeling more relaxed, centred and empowered again.
And if you’d like to go deeper into the ancient modality of Reflexology, even with no prior knowledge or natural health skills, take a look at The Footprint Connection’s Online Reflexology Course.
We all have feet that we walk around on.
Let's start looking after them and therefore ourselves to our full capacity!