Hello sunshine,
Ever feel like a week goes by and you’ve stepped through a time warp, not even realizing what day it is? That’s kinda how I feel after being really sick with a cold most of last week and into the weekend. A cold like that gets me off track creatively too, and the inspiration wanes a bit.
As you know, I’ve been sharing weekly creative living with you. Well, my “time warp summer cold” sure did get the better of me, because I missed a weekly post here on The Conscious Wayfarer. For me, it became a lesson in discovering that you can’t always push through a cold to keep a writing commitment. Sometimes the pause needs to be a bit more than a moment, sunshine.
So today, as I awoke, I knew it was a good day to write again. My lungs felt clear. I was rested. The cobwebs in my head seemed to have blown away in a summer storm overnight. What a great day to revisit some of my detox and grounding techniques as I purge those nasty germs.
Since I know “recombobulating” my writing life will be good for me, I’m sure it will help to share it with you too. Let’s take a closer look this week at some creative living practices for detoxing and grounding your way back from disruption.
How does detoxing and grounding work?
There will always be times in your life when you face a disruption, like an illness or a life-altering change in circumstance. You make it step by step through those dark, heavy days. Then a flickering light of hope appears and shines a path for moving through it. On that day, you get to choose how you take the next step into flow again. This is where detoxing and grounding can really help you make that transition out of the darkness.
Detoxing practices help you purge or release what no longer serves you, or what was causing the pain or illness. So many aspects of your mind, body, and soul can be detoxed. This week I’ve focused on a few practices that can support you in simple ways, and I invite you to continue your own research too.
In simple terms, grounding is a way to be present again after disruption. To be stable, balanced, and firmly connected to yourself. The grounding practices I share today can help you move out of daily disruption or anxiety. They are meant to reorient you back into your aligned self, so you feel connected to you, and most importantly, fully connected to your inner guide as a conscious wayfarer.
Your Conscious Wayfarer practice this week
Here's how you can put restoring your flow into practice through detoxing and grounding, so you feel on path again.
Most important first step: Gift yourself grace
The first step in coming through any situation is to give yourself the gift of GRACE. Being sick for a week, that looked like noticing my frustration for not keeping up with daily chores and letting some projects slide. I also had to realize that resting was the priority, and that it was okay to skip commitments or fun moments.
Giving yourself grace means you recognize it’s okay to be sick and to pause life for the days you need to feel well again. Grace is the kindest act you can give to yourself, which is why it’s always step one for me.
Detox the disruption or illness
The next step is deciding what your detox looks like. Since I was sick, I knew a foot soak in Epsom salts would start to release the toxins from my body. You may need to do a little research into the ways to detox that fit your needs, but here are a few others that have worked for me in the past.
Write it, rip it, release it (burn it) - The journal is always my go-to for many of my creative living practices. One of the first rituals I used in group coaching is called Write it, Rip it, Release it, and it goes like this:
* Write everything you've just experienced in the safe space of your journal pages. Describe every aspect of the illness or disruption. Detail the struggles, the pain, and the feelings you carried through it. What doubts and fears surfaced during this time? Write them down, even if they don't seem true today, because at the time they felt true. Purge it all onto paper so it's removed from your body and mind.
* Then you rip out all those pages you just filled with your angst.
* Now release it all. This is the last step, and it’s the most important one for the detox and the healing. The act of release says this is no longer my situation, no longer my story. As my personal mantra claims, you are creating the space for a journey of infinite possibilities.
My preferred way to release is to burn the ripped-up pages in a safe burning bowl outside on my porch. You could also bury the scraps in the earth so Mother Nature can heal them. Or place the scraps in water so they dissolve a bit, then pour it outside. Releasing all the bits of paper completes the detox.
Energy based modalities like singing bowls, reiki or tapping are wonderful for detoxing too. If you've never tried any of these, I'd highly recommend researching a local wellness center that offers sound and energy healing sessions. The best online resource for tapping is The Tapping Solution, and they have a great How Tapping Works guide if you’d like to learn more.
Food and exercise choices matter too, especially when you reintroduce them after a long pause or an extended illness. Some of those comfort foods you reach for aren't the healthy kind your daily living needs to be sustained. Yes, I'll miss my watermelon popsicles, but they get to become a weekly treat again instead of three a day between naps. I'd suggest looking into nutritional ways to flush out the germs.
Grounding into the roots
Once you've worked through the detoxing steps, which may take a few days, you can move into grounding back into the roots of living each day. I've collected so many grounding rituals over the years. I'll share a few here, and I encourage you to keep searching for what works for you. You could even ask the universe to gift you the inspiration to discover a new ritual.
Stepping outside into nature’s greatest healing, the earth. Anytime I feel anxious, tired, or in need of healing, I step out into nature barefoot. I want to feel the grass, the dirt, the stones, the sand. Whatever is outside, I let my feet settle into the feel of it. I close my eyes and pause to be grateful for what it means to be grounded in nature. Then I imagine my essence rooting into the soil and merging with the earth. This precious gift of our earth is so easy to overlook, yet it's the purest, simplest way to connect with ourselves again. The way to be creative again, to discover, to inspire, to be fully present.
Breathing goes unnoticed most every day. Of course, in my sickness I noticed the lack of it a lot, and so did my red nose. When I awoke this morning and knew it was time to write again, I think it was because the breath felt light. I was no longer in survival mode just to feel better. My breath was in flow again. A kind of signal that intentional living is back in action.
I recently discovered the method of Box Breathing that I wanted to share with you as an easy way to add breath work into your creative living practice.
* Inhale through your nose for 4 seconds.
* Hold that breath for 4 seconds.
* Exhale through your mouth for 4 seconds.
* Hold your lungs empty for 4 seconds.
* Repeat this loop 4 times.
My #jenmoments for you
Since I'm giving myself grace this week to ease back into my creative flow, I decided to revive a #jenmoments from the archive, dated August 14, 2016. I'm always surprised at how something I created ten years ago connects to my writing today. I'll be honest, I uncovered a lot of #jenmoments in my archive and realized I should find a way to make them all accessible for inspiration.
Creative living is the act of releasing so you can create the space for your journey of infinite possibilities.
I selected this image and mantra because it holds the essence of why I love to burn the journal pages that carry what I've chosen to release. The practice of Writing it, Ripping it, and Releasing it really does send a message into the universe that you are giving those words on paper the freedom they need. For healing, for rewriting, for releasing, and for "recombobulating" too.
Infinite gratitude, begin with grace today
I’m so glad you are here, sunshine. Whether you give yourself grace today or tomorrow, you belong here, exactly as you are, because this is a space of abundant grace and infinite possibilities.
Shall we detox and get grounded for our journey, beginning with grace, as the conscious wayfarers, together?
Yes, yes we shall.
With love we shine,
Jen Granger
Creative Living Coach and author of The Conscious Wayfarer
P.S. If this resonated with you today, share it with one person who you think might need it. A friend who is searching. Someone who deserves a more intentional experience of their own life. The Conscious Wayfarer grows one sunshine at a time.
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