Hi there,
This is Mary from River Shurning Wellness.
I wanted to give just a little bit of a talk about grounding using self-reflection during times of stress.
During times of stress and overwhelm,
Our sense of powerlessness increases.
As it feels in that moment,
It is too much for us to handle.
Without the energy to create positive change,
Without the ability to quiet the noise of self-limiting thoughts,
We can feel heavy and weighed down by anxiety and overcome by uncertainty and fear.
Instinctively,
And without conscious thought,
We actually try to protect ourselves.
I'm sure that you've heard of this process.
When our sympathetic nervous system gets activated,
We can unconsciously react to a perceived threat or danger with a fight,
Flight,
Freeze,
Fawn,
Fine,
And faint reaction.
So,
Breaking those down,
We freeze,
Shutting down or disassociating to avoid the threat.
Or we can fight.
With anger and hostility,
We confront,
Oftentimes with displaced or disproportionate rage.
We run,
Which is flight.
Panicking with anxiety and overwhelm,
We seek to avoid confronting the threat.
Or we can placate,
Fawn,
Become highly agreeable,
Attempting to appease or de-escalate the situation or threat.
We can downplay,
Which is fine,
Denying the actual impact of the threat,
Trying to convince ourselves that we're okay without confronting the threat.
Or we can fry our internal circuit boards.
We faint.
We're so overwhelmed,
So over-activated,
We faint or lose consciousness.
The body attempts to block the threat out from our conscious mind and conscious state.
And while these are our subconscious attempts to alleviate fear,
Danger,
Threat,
Or pain,
We can get stuck in an unproductive and stressful state of being over-activated and overwhelmed.
In times of stress,
It can seem like we temporarily forget who we are at the soul level,
Blocking messages from highest wisdom,
Our intuition,
For our next right step.
We unintentionally allow our inner fire to fade.
We're unable to reconnect within,
Unable to anchor or gather our strength from our personal power.
With our inner vision distorted,
We're unable to see we have choice at every step of the way.
But today,
You are compassionately releasing your tight grip and fighting stress.
During the stressful times,
We need to reorient ourselves to the present,
The actual present,
Not the perceived,
Not what our mind is telling us,
Not what faulty or limiting thoughts are telling us,
But the actual present situation.
And this can help to send an all-clear signal to the brain and we're able to relax.
If you have an awareness you are stuck in an emotional state of overwhelm,
I recommend trying grounding.
There are so many ways to ground ourselves,
Including but not limited to sensory awareness techniques where you're actively counting and perceiving what's in your immediate area,
Breathwork,
Mindfully engaging with your surroundings,
Or connecting to earth and to nature.
My favorite technique for grounding is the combination of breathwork and meditation followed by an honest but non-judgmental inventory for more self-awareness.
Grounding is a technique that is intended to move you away from your fear thoughts and to create that relaxation to reduce the stress in a tense body,
To reconnect back to being present,
And to really begin to hear,
To listen to,
To be aware of your intuition,
Ultimately reconnecting you back to spirit.
Grounding supports you to reorient yourself and return to center so that you can feel more balanced.
It cuts through the illusion of fear.
You're able to reclaim all of your wisdom and have clarity.
You can rediscover the depths of your love,
Compassion,
And kindness for yourself and others.
It feels good when we're able to regain our inner strength and resolve.
Grounding is always available within us,
But sometimes we need support,
Tools,
Or strategies to reconnect back to our sense of grounding and to become fully aware.
If you're new to creating a practice of grounding,
You can ground yourself back to the present safely and gently through self-reflection.
So if you'd like to give it a try,
Find a quiet space to contemplate the following.
What are the physical sensations I'm aware of?
Is my reaction or behavior aligned with my values?
Am I discounting my needs and protecting somebody else's?
Is my reaction overly aggressive or defensive?
Have I shifted my boundaries?
Is there a shift in balance?
Am I withdrawing,
Avoiding,
Or unable to act or react?
Is there some part of me that is needing tenderness and support?
Can I see a higher perspective on this situation?
Is there a healthier way to cope with or address this?
In this moment,
Can I also hold space for my inner strength?
Am I acting from a place of self-love and grounding?
In this moment,
Can I allow for kindness and compassion for myself?
What would be one strategy I could use that creates a sense of inner balance?
So as you reflect on some of these or all of these,
Simply notice how your body,
Your mind,
And your spirit respond to the questions.
Does your body soften?
Maybe your breath slows down.
Does your perspective shift?
Does your intuition heighten?
Does a solution seem to simply drop in?
Thank you for listening to this brief talk today,
And for being so open and brave in creating a new path towards healing and growth for yourself.
If you'd like to try a meditation for grounding in times of stress and overwhelm,
Feel free to find my meditation by the same name,
Grounding in Times of Stress,
Under the free Insight Timer Meditations.
I'm glad we were able to connect today.
I look forward to connecting again.
