Spread calm
My heart is going out to everyone whose life has been turned upside down by the corona virus pandemic. As fear and stress can hinder our ability to manage challenging circumstances — not to mention our immune systems — I thought I'd share a few simple energy balancing practices you can do to restore calm and clarity to your own system and by extension to the community.
None of us is immune to the collective energy field — its impact on our state of mind is often more profound than we realize. Cultivating groundedness, calm, and balance can make a real contribution to the health and well-being of all.
Below are a few different exercises to help you find your center. Links are to previous blog posts where I go a bit more in depth about each exercise.
Four Part Breath (or Square Breathing)
This is my first go-to when I need to feel calm, grounded, and centered. You can do it while sitting or standing anywhere.
Start by resting your palms on your thighs, and close your eyes if possible. Breathe in slowly and deeply for four counts, then hold the air in for four counts. Exhale deeply for four counts, then hold the air out for four counts. Continue for as long as you like, at least for a few minutes.
This article has more details about the many positive effects of this breath pattern.
Relieves tension, gets energy moving through the neck and upper back, clears out the nasal passages, brings fresh energy to the lungs. Take a deep, quick, forceful breath in through the nose as you lift your shoulders up to your ears, then make a deep, quick, forceful exhale through the nose as you drop them. Continue for a minute with fast or slow movements, whichever feels good.
This seated energy balancing sequence can help clear stagnant energy and bring in mental focus. First, bend forward, folding your torso over your lap, and let your arms and head hang down towards the floor. Take a few deep breaths and with each exhale allow your back and shoulders to gently release a little deeper. Then roll back up slowly and gently.
Second, place your fingertips in a vertical line in the middle of your forehead and pull them out to the sides while pressing in, like you're prying open your forehead. Continue this same motion — press in and pull open — up and over the midline of your skull, pressing in and pulling apart until you reach the base of the skull.
Finally, using your fingertips tap gently all over the top of your head.
Check your emotional battery levels
How do you know when your emotional/spiritual battery needs charging? When you're feeling irritable, low, anxious, and unsettled. Some of the most draining activities we engage in run constantly in the background of our minds, like apps we forget to close, leaving us with little "juice" left to manage life's challenges. I invite you to examine your inner battery and see what you might be able to release to free up some extra power.
