When you’re in the thick of it.. feeling kind of desperate and in a downward spiral of negative behaviors that leave you feeling like you will absolutely never ever get it together no way no how…take heart and listen up. I have a little sumpin for you that will help.
Today I want to offer you a few tried-and-true basics to love yourself back into connection with your wise woman self. Step a-WAY from the crazy missy… you can do it! This is like a little first aid kit that will help you right now. And without hurting yourself with food.
Some of this is a brain-thing.. you’re spinning. Your mind never stops, you’re disconnected from your body and living in that kind of hell.
So whether you’re in the hell of binge eating, or mind-numbing obsessing about every speck that you’ve put in your mouth since you opened your eyes this morning, or burning your wires over exercising or jamming laxatives down your throat… give the self-hatred a tiny break, pull up a chair and take a few notes. These really will help.. you don’t have to do ALL of them (you lovable perfectionists out there, you’re in good company around here!) but try the ones that speak to you and see how you feel.
Laying On of Hands
Take one of your hands and put it over your heart, and take the other one and put it over your belly. Feel the warmth of your hand and see how that might encourage you to breathe into it, fully and slowly.. you may actually be close to holding your breath. Think of this literally as your own “laying on of hands”. It’s comforting, healing.. bringing your own loving healing touch to your own beautiful heart and body. Stay like this for a bit.. breathe and notice the comfort of reconnecting with yourself and being more embodied and more grounded. Feel for the ahhh of it. Notice the warmth of your hands, the expansion of your ribcage in and out. Don’t think, just notice. That’s all… stay here and let your nervous system come back into balance. This literally resets your chemistry, your nervous system, your hormonal balance, your brainwaves. That’s a lot, right?
Light Up Your Heart
Here’s another one…also good for getting back in your body.. which is a big goal around here. When you are back in your body you can feel what’s what… you can feel intuitively (this IS Intuitive Body!) what you need, what feels right and what doesn’t. You can take good care of yourself from an embodied and connected place.. make sense? Ok so close your little eyes.. just let them close. And imagine your heart in your chest is like a beautiful sun, or even like a lamp and visualize is getting very bright and warm.. Pay lots of attention in your mind’s eye to the color as it gets bright. Now imagine that you have a cloth.. and you are going to “dip” that cloth into the quality of kindness. Imagine that you are polishing your heart-center, this brightly lit place in your chest that you’ve been imagining, with the energy of kindness.. Notice what that feels like. You are bringing that feeling of kindness, which is very specific, into this place in your heart. Make the light brighter and brighter and when you feel the warmth and the light as bright as you can, expand it out out out, into and beyond your energy field, and gently put the tips of your fingers of both hands together so you’re touching/matching the fingers of each hand to each other. Read this through and then try it, it’s such a gentle beautiful meditation and it will shift your energy from the harsh spin into something loving and nurturing. Try it.
Breathe, Count, Repeat
Another simple way to quiet your mind is to change your breathing. Try breathing in and out through your nose, and on the in-breath count in for 2, and on the out-breath extend it to 4 counts. Actually do the counting in your mind, not out loud, but do count. It gives your brain something to focus on which is meditative and quieting. Doubling the outbreath also soothes your nervous system. You could also breathe in for 3 and out for 6 if you wanted.. what matters is that you breathe out for twice as long. Simple.. you can do it anywhere, in the car, in a meeting, on a boat, in a train, on a bus, on a plane..
Ahhh..better
Any one of these techniques can take you from freaked out to blissed out fairly simply which makes them nice to have in your pocket when you need them. I do encourage you to try and practice them often as you will find benefits from quieting your busy brain, including not wanting to use food to self-soothe. I really believe that learning to balance our nervous systems is key to sorting out any addictive behaviors, so try these and see if they help. Would love to know how they felt for you, comments loved and adored, always.
Love from my heart to yours-
Denise Hughes says
Lisa,
Simply lovely and energically moving. Thank you for your wisdom energy prescriptions. You are the best!
Lisa says
Denise..Ooooh wisdom energy prescription?.. love that! Love you.. xox Lisa
Nona Jordan | the Business Yogini says
Lisa, this is JUST what I needed to read today – I am getting ready to go to a conference and I’ve been out of sorts and frantic all morning. I changed up my breathing and came back to my body…. ahhhh.
Thank you!! xoxo
Lisa says
Nona.. so glad.. we feel so much better when we get back into our bodies in grounded balanced ways. Go get em, hope conference goes beautifully for you. xox
amy zellmer says
Lovely! It’s amazing how often we have to remind ourselves to just breathe! It immediately calms us, yet when we’re in the thick of it we usually forget!!
Lisa says
Amy- I know.. crazy that we need to be reminded.. and yet. The more we do it, the more it will be automatic and in place when we most need it. xox
Teresa says
First aid for the freaked out soul! Love it.
It’s so important to truly feel, to deeply live our breath. So elemental, so vital to every part of our being. Thank you for this beautiful reminder!
Hugs and butterflies,
~Teresa~
Lisa says
Now there’s a tagline.. “first aid for the freaked out soul…” love that Teresa, thanks! love, Lisa
Jackie D. says
Lisa this is just what I needed this week. I’m doing a half marathon on Sunday and I have myself so wound tight about times and performance when really I am only competing with myself and I just need to breathe, relax and enjoy the ride.
Lisa says
Jackie.. good for you and make it really good FOR you by leaning into it and having fun.. much easier and you’ll sail through. Pick one that works and keep it with you…Cheering you on! xox
Leah Shapiro says
Lisa, this post is so well times for me.
” Step a-WAY from the crazy missy… you can do it!” has been my mantra for the past week. I’m on day 18 of a 21 day cleanse and all kinds of emotional stuff is coming up and I’ve been coming up against all kinds of crazy! It’s weird how the beginning of the cleanse was all about cravings and food things and now it’s all emotional.
I keep coming back to breathing and meditating to gain my center and let whatever is moving out of me go. I feel I’m way more sensitive to the energy around me and I’m having to mange that as well.
I’m going to add the laying on of hands to my tool box.
Lisa says
Hey Leah- it’s true.. once the food stuff is out of the way the you can really see what you’ve been masking with all of those behaviors, that’s the beauty of a committed routine, clearing away the debris so you can see/feel/know. Hope you’re giving yourself lots of love for seeing the commitment through to the bloody end.. I”m on day 4 of my 21-day, and there’s something very grounding and soothing about simple. Your breath will really smoothe you out.. use it and luxuriate in the peace that you can find when things get quieter.. Would love to support you if I can.. xox Lisa
Melanie says
I agree with Teresa: This is First Aid… I am so well known to freak out and head for the cookie cupboard but now I will try your techniques first.
Lisa says
Hey Melanie beautiful girl… cookies will make you crazy.. believe me I know. This really is first aid first…when you soothe your nervous system everything quiets down and you don’t need to turn to sugar or anything else that you will ultimately not feel great about. What we truly crave is peace, most of the time, in my experience. Try this and see if it helps. love to you, Lisa
Claire says
Brilliant! I have real problems with connecting with my body after being ill for nearly two thirds of my life. I’ve disassociated and I’m not very grounded. These exercises will really help me and I’m going to practise them as part of my daily meditation practise. Thank you!
Lisa says
Claire- Makes sense that you would disconnect from your body when it’s held discomfort, but getting more embodied in soothing ways would be very healing for you and give you more power and strength I believe. Let me know how these work for you.. I’d be happy to make other suggestions or tweaks as needed. Love, Lisa
Jessica says
OH, I LOVE THIS POST! I’m already a big fan of changing breath patterns — it’s helped me out of several tailspins. The others are new, and it occurred to me as I read them that they’d be GREAT for kids! I’m going to try them tonight at bedtime with my preschoolers! Yay! Thanks for such quick, easy self-healing!
Lisa says
Jessica.. kids love this stuff, it’s so natural to them and they are so happy to return to their little bodies with you as their guide.. it’s lovely to have bedtime rituals with your kids that soothe both of you.. really love that you’re going to use this.. report back please!! xox lisa
Marita Rahlenbeck says
Just reading these techniques shifted my energy. Lovely, so very lovely. Thank you!
Lisa says
Marita.. so glad. shift baby shift.. xox Lisa
Melanie McGhee says
Hmmmmmmmm. More accurately, aummmmmm. Thanks for the mini spa treatment, my friend. We all really o have what we need to return to center, right through the heart.
Lisa says
right through the heart.. truly.. love to you Mel.. xox