Grounding Red Light [for Pain]

To listen to the guided version of this meditation, please click here.

Today, I want to lead you through a grounding meditation, specifically if you have any physical pain, aches, tension, or tightness in the body. We’ll bring a little awareness to that pain + see if we can soften it just a little.

Find a comfortable seat or lie down. You may choose to sit in a chair or on the floor, however you feel most comfortable. 

We’ll take a few cleansing breaths. Inhaling through the nose, breathing deep into the low belly. Exhaling, opening the mouth - release. Two more like that - breathing in through the nose, expanding the belly. Open the mouth, sigh it out, let it go. 

You can keep with these cleansing breaths if that feels good in the body, or just return to a normal breath pattern. 

Take just a few moments here to settle into the body. Scanning from head to toes, toes to head. Any sensations of pain, aching, tightness, tension? We won’t judge that pain. We won’t label it as bad or worrisome, just simply noticing + observing that yes, there is pain present. 

And once you’ve focused in on one area of pain, I want you to envision a bright, red light circling that area of pain. So you can envision a bright, red ball of energy. Maybe it has a little motion to it - circling or swirling around that pain point. 

As you breathe in, that red light glows brighter. And as you breathe out, letting that red light start to travel down the body … to the legs … + out of the feet into the Earth. 

Again, as you inhale, envisioning that bright, red light encompassing your pain area. Exhale - letting that red energy, red light travel down the body, through the legs, out the feet + into the Earth. 

Again, inhale… red light swirls a little more, maybe grows a little bigger around that pain point. Exhale - allow that red light + the pain to travel with it down the body, through the legs, out the feet, into the Earth. 

Each time you exhale + let that red light travel out the body… see if you can tap into that grounding sensation, so really feeling connected with the Earth. Even if the feet aren’t touching the Earth, can you imagine feet in the grass or dirt? Feeling the Earth support you. 

With each breath out, letting that pain travel beneath you, into the Earth. Letting just an ounce of pain leave the body.

Take a few more moments here - a few more rounds of breath - inhale, envision that bright, red light circling your point of pain, tightness, tension. Exhale - that red light + pain just wash through the body, out of the feet, into the Earth. 

You can return to this meditation any time you experience pain. Wherever you’re at, take a few moments to close the eyes. Visualize that red, glowing light grounding you back into the Earth - taking any pain with it. 

You may stay here for a few more moments - maybe repeating the cycle of inhaling + exhaling - letting that red light take a little pain away. 

If you’re ready to return to your day, invite a little breath back into the body. Deep inhale into the belly. Exhale, let it go. 

Thank you for joining me in this meditation. 

May you find a little relief from your pain.

Let the River Flow

To listen to the guided version of this meditation, please click here.

This guided, visualization meditation will hopefully help you release any thoughts + feelings that maybe you grasp onto too tightly.

So take a moment to get comfortable. Lie down on a mat or in bed or even on the floor. You may choose to take a seat in a chair or on the floor.

Start with a few deep breaths. Big, belly breath in through the nose; hold at the top; open the mouth - big sigh out + let it go. Two more like that.

Deep breath low into the belly. Pause for a moment at the top. Release.

Slow intentional inhale. Pause. Long exhale to let it go.

I want you to picture your favorite river or stream. Maybe it’s in your favorite local park or a place you’ve once visited. Maybe it’s a stream in your own backyard. Picture yourself there.

Coming up to the stream… the water is trickling down, rushing down. It’s a beautiful, sunny day. Step into the water. 

The water only comes up about shin deep, knee deep. As you’re standing in the water, simply observe + notice any thoughts + feelings that come up.

Often times we hold on to - we grasp - thoughts + feelings that make us anxious + worried + sad + lost. Rather than holding onto those thoughts, we’re going to picture them in that river that you’re standing in. Just simply let them float by.

They come up one side of the body - float right on by, through your center, + continue on down the river. The next thought or feeling that brings anxiety  - just let it float, let it flow, let it keep on passing by.

You can imagine if you keep holding onto that thought - if you reach down in the water + grab onto that thought or feeling… if it’s strong enough, it starts to pull you downstream.

As you are pulled downstream, you go deeper + deeper into the water. And of course, it’s easier said than done to simply let go of that thought… but just try.

Whenever you catch yourself in that cycle, come back to this visualization. Standing in the river, knee deep, shin deep - just letting that thought, that feeling swim on by. If you start to feel like you’re getting pulled downstream, release what you can. Come back upstream a little. 

Feel the water on your feet, against your ankles, the calves, the shins, maybe just approaching to the knees. At this level we can still see those thoughts - we can still feel those feelings. But we don’t need to attach to them. We still have enough groundedness in the earth that the flow of the river won’t drag us down. We just let those thoughts + feelings flow with the river. 

On those days when there are a lot of thoughts swooshing by the ankles, maybe just take the gaze up. Don’t even look in the stream + river! Look at everything around you. Notice the trees; are there other people in the park? The blue sky, the bright sun; listen for birds chirping, dogs barking, people chatting. 

It’s really easy to get stuck staring down into that river - holding onto those thoughts + feelings of anxiety + depression + worry + fear + lack. Those feelings are totally normal - totally ok to have. Can we just detach a little from them? 

Take one cleansing breath. Big, belly breath in through the nose. Hold at the top. Open mouth - easy sigh out. Let it all go.

I hope you can come back to this visualization the next time you feel like you’re waist deep, chest deep, neck deep in the water. Remember - just let the river flow.

Ditching Vinyasa Yoga

A traditional vinyasa class just doesn’t do it for me anymore. I’m not sure if that’s due to my chronic pain or being an HSP (Highly Sensitive Person). But I often leave class feeling worse than when I started. Can you relate?

Most vinyasa classes start too quickly. There isn’t enough time to drop in to the body + the mind + the heart. (I won’t even get started on the choice of blaring pop music some teachers choose.)

Most people aren’t yet physically equipped to be flowing in + out of Adho Mukha Shvanasana (“down dog”) + Chaturanga Dandasana 20+ times per class. We lack the shoulder mobility due to sitting all day + having rounded shoulders.

I’m willing to bet I’m not the only person who spends too much time in my head. Therefore, I practice + teach a more grounding class. Sometimes, I may not even stand. I create time + freedom in each movement to really explore the body. The body as it is TODAY. Not in last week’s practice or where you hope to already be. But checking in RIGHT NOW.

Slow movements + connected intentional breath. That’s what yoga is to me. Not a 45-minute sweaty power flow. Is there a time + place for that kind of practice? Sure. But I enjoy challenging my body in others ways (swimming, cycling, resistance training). I practice yoga as a way to further connect back with myself. And often times, I leave a vinyasa class feeling more disconnected + anxious. Maybe I’m the only one, but if you haven’t yet connected with a “traditional” (for the West) yoga class, I encourage you to keep trying.

I’ll be drumming up some new classes for y’all soon + in the mean time, check out @au.yoga’s Monday Morning Mindfulness class. Angelina is a truly gifted teacher + I owe so much of my influence to her. Each class is intentional + well-planned + grounding + inspiring. 

Is Future-Self Journaling More Harmful than Helpful?

Can focusing daily on habits you want to change about yourself cause more harm than do good?

If you’re like me, you jumped on the future-self journaling bandwagon within the last two years. The style of journaling was popularized by “Instagram-psychologist” the.holistic.psychologist (THP), Dr. Nicole LePera. The format invites room for growth + change by allowing you to visualize + write about a future version of yourself: a better, brighter, less anxious version of you. For thirty days, you take a habit you’d like to become more aware of + alter. You create affirmations around the behavior, envision future scenarios where you can respond differently, + contemplate how this future-you will feel.

The benefits of journaling are numerous; it can help reduce symptoms of depression, enhance your self-awareness, offload stress, increase your gratitude, + much more. I’m a big proponent of journaling, but if you turned to writing as a means to alleviate your anxiety, I’m not sure the use of daily future-self journaling is helpful. Hear me out!

After several months of following THP’s format, something felt off to me. I started to feel like this daily focusing on patterns I wanted to fix wasn’t leaving me much room for self-compassion or self-love. Rather than learning to accept myself as is – while still creating awareness around behaviors I wanted to shift – I became hyper-focused on what needed to be fixed next. As someone with anxiety, it was easy to get sucked into the dark hole of worrying + over-thinking + over-analyzing. I also wasn’t learning real-world techniques to be aware enough in each moment of anxiety to calm myself back down. Not to mention, so much forward-thinking left me feeling like my anxiety had actually worsened. After months of using the future-self journal, I began to feel like I was failing at “healing” because I wasn’t making progress quickly enough.

THP also created this journaling tool as a means for people to heal themselves (#selfhealers). I’m a huge advocate for taking your health into your own hands, but I think we still need the support of others – professionals, friends, a true community – not just a hashtag to follow. A Vice article from August 2020 called into question the harm THP may be potentially causing. She encourages “doing the work” all on your own + has previously shown disapproval for talk therapy.

So what to do? Well, the choice is still yours. Maybe the future-self journal works wonders for you. But if you’re like me + it leaves you with lower self-esteem + more anxiety than you began, it may be time to try something new. I also cannot advocate enough for seeking personal, professional mental health. (And of course, the cost + barriers to that for most is a conversation for another day.) 

If you look back through my work, you can find the “selfhealers” hashtag. I drank the Kool-Aid + I placed THP on a pedestal. I considered editing my past work to reflect the change of heart I’ve had. But my hope is that other people will learn from the mistake I made. Question who you follow + trust. Do their methods REALLY work for you? It’s ok to change your mind.    

The future-self journal gifted me with the practice of daily journaling. And I cannot recommend journaling enough! I still find value in this style of journaling – some of the time. It’s powerful to write a letter to yourself 5-years from now + envision all the wonderful changes you created.

Now, however, I’m more focused on being fully present in the here + now. I want to foster self-love + celebrate who I am along this healing journey TODAY. If that feels more your speed, please check out the Me Here Now Journal that I created. I hope this mindful + present journaling technique helps you learn to become better in touch your body + listen to your needs as well as love yourself along the way.

Anxiety Reset: Box Breathing

To listen to the guided version of this meditation, please click here.

If you’re like me, you wake up in a flurry of anxiety. Worried about all the things you need to get done that day. Maybe other things weighing heavy on your mind.

You may have this sense that you need to jump right into the day + start immediately + go go go all day.

But you deserve rest.

You are worthy of a sense of ease.
You are abundant in time, effort, energy, resources, everything.

Let’s take a few deep breaths together. Big inhale through the nose, deep into the belly. Pause at the top - then open mouth, sigh it out. Two more like that.

If you’re sitting, really take a moment + ground down through the sit bones. Grow nice + tall through the spine.

If you’re lying down, growing nice + heavy into the Earth beneath you.

Whether you’re listening to this first thing in the morning + you have a little anxiety or maybe it’s mid-day or even last thing before bed + you have been carrying around the do do do/ hustle feeling - we’re going to do a simple reset with the breath.

Inhale for a count of 4… 3… 2… 1. Pause at the top (for 4). Exhale out the nose 4…3…2…1. Pause (for 4).

Repeat - Inhale 1…2…3…4. Pause 1…2…3….4…. Exhale 1…2…3…4…. Pause 1….2….3….4….

Repeat this several times on your own.

This is called box breathing, so you can imagine four equal sides of a box. So we’ll inhale for 4 counts, pause for 4, exhale for 4, + pause for another 4 counts.

You may count to yourself as you breathe through a few more rounds.

If it feels better to exhale out of the mouth - you’re welcome to do that. Remember, this is your body, your practice so do what feels right or good in your body. But keep your attention + focus on the breath.

Inhale 1…2…3…4. Pause 1…2…3….4…. Exhale 1…2…3…4…. Pause 1….2….3….4….

Take a big breath in through the nose… open mouth, big sigh out. Let that go.

You can return to this box breathing at any point in your day when you need a reset from your anxiety.

Over time, your length of counts may increase.

There is Always Time

To listen to this guided meditation, please click here.

There is Always Time

There is always time for taking care of yourself.

There is always time for rest.

There is always time for connection.

There is always time to slow down, to settle into the present moment,
+ to simply enjoy what it is you’re doing, who you’re with, or where you’re at.

There is always time.



 There is always time for more work, later.

But can you check in with how you’re doing right now?

There is always time for worrying, later. 

But can you let go of some of that right now?

There is always time for anger, later.

But can you just soften a little right now?



There is always time.



What is one area of your life that you feel like you’re lacking in time?

That excuse you always have of, 

“Oh I don’t have time to learn anything new.”

“I don’t have time to exercise.”

“I don’t have time to cook.”

“I don’t have time to rest.”



 You don’t have time - to what?

What is that thing you’re always saying you don’t have time for?



There is always time.



You choose where you put your time, your energy, your efforts.
|
Make time for the things that matter most to you.



There is always time.

Ease + Release - Body Scan

To listen to this guided meditation (recommended), please click here.

Today, I want to lead you through a body scan meditation. You may choose to read through this entire blog post first + then lie down to try the scan. Or you may read shorter sections + try relaxing while reading.

Lie down if you can + get comfortable – we’ll be here for a bit. I recommend placing a bolster or pillow under the knees to help prop them up + support the low back. You may choose to place a blanket under the ribcage to help open your heart space as well. 

When you’re ready - take a few deep breaths to begin. You can keep breathing in this manner – slow inhale, easy exhale – or allow your breath to return to normal.

As we scan the body, try to release any judgments of doing this right or wrong. Try not to attach to any thoughts that may arise. If your mind starts to wander, that’s ok. It’s normal. Just allow your attention to come back to these words. Let’s get started.

Bring your awareness to your face. Is your jaw tight?

Can you soften the closing of your eyelids?

Notice any tension in the face + just let it melt into the earth behind you.

Next, observe your shoulders – are they tense? Can you focus the breath there? With each inhale, bring in ease; with each exhale, relax.

Next, be conscious of your heart space. Can you breathe fully + deeply into your heart? Is there any constriction or maybe walls surrounding your heart?  Soften here.   

Move your focus down into the belly – with each breath in, let your belly rise to the sky. With each breath out, it melts back into your center. Again, breathe in, belly rises. Breathe out, belly melts.  

Now soften your low back - let it grow heavy into the earth. Note any tension in the glutes. There’s nothing to hold onto – no need to grip. Allow the earth to fully support you here.

Note any tightness in the hips. Can you bring your breath’s awareness there? Inhale – invite in a sense of ease and softening. Exhale – relax, let go, release.

Coming down into the legs – recognize how hard your legs work day in + day out to carry you around. Let them be soothed here. Inhale ease… exhale release. Soften the quads, the knees, your calves, even the ankles relax here. Release all tension from the legs fully.  

Lastly, notice your feet. Maybe scrunch the toes, create some tightening – inhale – then slow exhale, the toes are free.  

Pause here + take 5 slow, deep breaths.

Observe any lasting tension in the body. Bring a soft focus there – envision a bright red light circling that area of the body – as you breathe, that red light starts to travel down the body, out the feet, + into the earth. Pause. Ground down.

Release. Release. Release.

Take a deep breath. Start to invite awareness back into your body. Begin to make small movements – wiggle fingers, toes. Stretch the body long – deep inhale. Easy exhale.