How to stay calm and grounded WITHOUT a lengthy meditation practise.

With a two and five year old, my meditation practise has definitely changed. Some days, I don’t have the space to commit to my 40 minutes, twice daily meditation routine. To be honest, this once lengthy and consistent practise has become a rarity.

I have however, worked out ways to be opportunistic with my time and also look at alternative techniques and allies to reap the benefits of meditation without my long sittings in play. Meditation is still one of my non negotiables! It brings me to my calmest state of being. It relaxes my body, soothes my soul and brings energy to my spirit. It releases all the stress and energies of my day that either don’t belong to me, or that block me from being my best when I am with my family. Without a meditation practise to release and calm my being each day, I feel like I am wading in concrete. Instead of creating peace in my home and holding space, I feel myself adding to the chaos and feeding into the heightened reactions and emotions.

There is no doubt, a consistent meditation practice opens you to experience a reduction in stress and anxiety, improvements in various health conditions, more energy and vitality, creativity and concentration. I teach people how to incorporate a consistent meditation practise into their daily lives. With this, I also look at the realistic goals and techniques that are going to work relative to someone’s lifestyle. As parents, naturally our lives change on all fronts and fluidity to any meditation practise is required.

I still need my meditation practise however I am a lot more flexible with it and I have moved away from feeling the guilt and shame when I miss a session.

With my second child, life became a lot fuller! I was utterly exhausted constantly and the idea of sitting to meditate was ludicrous. I couldn’t get sleep, shower or eat on my own, let alone find time to zen out, even though mentally I needed that space. I placed guilt on myself for not meditating which added to my mental strain. I had to change my approach. I needed the benefits of meditation however I couldn’t physically or emotionally commit to a consistent practise. What I did manage to comprehend amongst the brain fog, was how beautiful and powerful even the smallest moments of grounding were. I also discovered a new relationship with incense, oils and mala beads and worked with these as allies in grounding.

Grounding gets you out of your mind, and into your body. You connect with your truest being and innate sense of peace and calmness. It is in all of us and we must go within to find it. When I would sit for 5 minutes whilst breast feeding and ground into my being, it would be enough to tap into my innate feelings of calmness.

When you ground, you connect yourself to the earth, you feel into your 5 senses, your physical body and pull the focus away from the past and future moments. You find balance in your emotions and connect to your inner essence. Regularly grounding yourself pulls you out of the moments when emotions get heightened. The more you ground, the more you pull the feelings of connection to your inner peace back out into reality.

When we are in a state of overwhelm, have intense emotions, sensations that are taking over, grounding is a gentle technique that calms you right down and centres you into your truest being. When we are grounded, our physical, emotional, mental and energetic bodies are balanced and connected, and we are in our strongest state of consciousness. You feel safe, calm, connected and at peace.

The best grounding moments of my day happen to be in the shower both morning and night. I am uninterrupted (most days) and spend the first few moments going within and grounding. During the day I use my allies to assist me with keeping connected. I have my grounding spray which triggers me instantly into going within and finding calmness. The scent is intense and instantly centers my being. It is my biggest meditation ally and I carry it around everywhere I go. I also rely on my mala beads. Wearing these is a gentle reminder through out my day to ground, take time out, breath and ground. My mala’s also connect with my energy, softly absorbing any density and aid in a deeper grounding experience.

Grounding is not difficult and is a technique everyone can practise without any meditation experience. It can take 5 minutes to practise and it can be lengthened if you have luxury of time. The more I practise grounding throughout my day, the calmer and more at ease I am with my children especially in the moments of chaos. I am more present and in the moment with my family. The days I don’t meditate, I am always able to find moments in my day to ground.

As parents, we strive to be at our best for our family. Meditation is always going to be a strong foundation technique that brings us to our truest self. In reality however, there are going to be days where meditation isn’t going to happen and it is in these moments we need to rely on the alternatives. Using allies such as incense, mala beads and grounding spray are always going to help you practise the art of getting straight into presence without having to sit down for a full meditation session. Using your allies along with a simple grounding technique is going to give you the practical and gentle benefits of sinking into self without the lengthy ritual of meditation.