Stop what you are doing.

 

Just stand.

 

Take a good breath in…and out.

 

 

Just stand.

 

Feel the ground beneath your feet.

 

Wiggle your toes.

 

Feel all four corners of your feet – big toe, little toe and the back edges of your heels – firmly planted, firmly rooted, into the ground.

 

 

Just stand.

 

Take a good breath in…and out.

 

Really feel the ground beneath you.

 

Firm footing.

 

Notice that you can feel your feet. That you are here and now as you reconnect with your presence.

 

Wriggle your fingers. Rub each fingertip against your thumb slowly. Bringing you back to you.

 

If you are feeling quite disconnected or anxious, lift your hands up to look at them and touch them, almost as if you are studying them for a short while. Feel that they feel solid and wiggle your fingers again.

 

Put your hands back by your sides and as you take your next breath in then out, allow your shoulders to lower down.

 

Allow tension to flow out through your arms and fingertips and out.

 

Repeat the shoulder lowering breaths a couple of times until you feel your shoulders are more relaxed.

 

Another good breath in, and out and continue good breath work throughout. Make the exhale longer and as your body takes in the air again, really feel it filling up your lungs.

 

Allow the corners of your mouth to lift slightly. Close your eyes if you can and repeat a few more times keeping the corners of your mouth lifted.

 

As you feel more and more grounded into the earth…more still, more stable, more connected and present…allow yourself to feel the strength of this work, this short bit of time spent on yourself and slowly open your eyes and allow yourself to……

 

Just stand for another minute keeping a gentle hold of how you feel now.

 

When you are ready, wiggle your fingers and toes, shake your arms and jiggle your legs, stretch your neck if need be and, I usually find a couple of shoulder rolls get me going again – make sure they are clock face circles (go through each number), not squished circles!

 

And of you go! Ready to lead your team, take a call, teach your children, chill out on the sofa, or collapse into bed after an exhausting day.

 

Taking Note

If you like to see how things are working, I suggest you give your anxiety, or tension a current score at the beginning and repeat at the end.

 

Ask yourself, ‘On a scale of 1 – 10 how tense/anxious do I feel right now?’ 10 = very, 0 = not at all. Then just aim to reduce this by a couple of points with the grounding work.

 

You can switch it if you prefer; ‘How relaxed/calm do I feel right now?’ 0 = not at all, 10 = very. For this, you're looking to increase the score by a couple of points. Either way works, just make sure to ask the same question at the beginning and end!

 

Keep practising for regular benefit

I find that when I teach this type of exercise that it is cumulative. It can and does work the first-time people try it, pleasantly so, and it works even better the more you use it. My suggestion is to read through the exercise a couple of times and then try it a couple of times, so you get the hang of it. Spend a few minutes on it, 5- 10 minutes each time, longer if you can. And once you find a time that works for you, keep practising it. This way you can schedule in that amount of time before or after an important event/meeting/workday. To help you reconnect, ground and be present.

Need help?

As always, if you need any help with this, get in touch and I will help you master it. There is more on this, going on a deep juicy dive for those that would like to explore more, and for those of you needing something quicker, get in touch also and I can get you going with this. Contact me on 07857 300362 or email kellyATvoice-work.co.uk

 

Stay safe and stay well