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Grounding Our Nervous Systems Through Routines & Rhythm

The routines and rhythm of our days and weeks factor greatly into the balance in our nervous system (or lack thereof!). If your stress, anxiety and overwhelm are frequently high, finding even just a few small daily or weekly routines and creating a more predictable rhythm to our week can have a HUGE impact!


Coffee cup on a wood table next to a vase of flowers

An incredible acupuncturist I worked with years ago asked me the most profound question when I told her I was suffering from frequent heart palpitations.


"In Chinese medicine," she said, "we think about the heart rhythm being a reflection of our life's rhythm."


"How's YOUR life's rhythm?"


I laughed in response. "What rhythm?"


As I learn more and more about stress, relaxation and the nervous system, I keep coming back to this lesson. Because as it turns out...


Routine and rhythm are best friends of a calm nervous system.

If our daily lives are perpetually filled with new things, people, places...new times for eating, working, resting, rushing kids around here and there and everywhere... Well, it makes sense that our nervous systems would be on high alert. They need to make sure we aren't late, don't oversleep, forget that thing we have to do, or, or, or...


Add to this normal and more major life stressors, and/or our unique biology and life experiences that predispose some of us to operate more often in fight-or-flight-or-freeze mode, and it's no surprise many of us may find ourselves anxious, stressed, having trouble sleeping, and experiencing other symptoms of stress.


So What Can We Do About It?

If your nervous system feels like it's running on high alert too often, there are some actions we can take to help us find more balance.


First: See what you can get off your plate.


Is there anything at all you can let go of (commitments, responsibilities, pressure, etc.) to help you carve out more time and space for yourself?


Next: Look VEEEEEERY closely at the rhythm of your days and weeks...


You might sit with or even meditate on or journal about the following prompts.


REFLECTION/JOURNAL PROMPTS ON RHYTHM & ROUTINE


✨ Is there a rhythm? Or does it feel more like a jumble?

✨ What routines help you feel more anchored, if any? ✨ Are there any familiar guideposts each week? (Like, for us, Friday pizza and movie night, or slow wake-up Saturday mornings!)


✨ Can you be more present in the anchors that already exist? Really carve them out as sacred space and time?


✨ What routines COULD help you feel more rooted...that are EASY to build in? Consider practices, actions, activities that are especially soothing to YOUR body and mind, and note that they don't have to take a long time. As Restorative Yoga queen Jillian Pransky so often shares, "A Little x Often = A LOT!"


For example, in back-to-school season, I'm always struck by how incredibly grounding it feels to bike my son to school in the morning. It starts the day with a small but meaningful dose of family time, nature, movement, and anchoring in the neighborhood and community. And when I get home and begin work, I already feel like I've accomplished some things.


And as many of you know, I'm a HUGE advocate of a short morning meditation. I try to practice every morning right after my first few sips of tea. If the weather cooperates, I squeeze in 3-15 minutes, typically lying down with my legs up on a chair, which is especially calming for the nervous system. Often, I consider how I'd like to feel that day, try to conjure that up, and let myself steep in it.


Morning practices in particular can really set the tone for the day to come, so you're not already in panic mode when you hit the first to-do or challenge! Repeated soothing routines, even if they're just 5 minutes long, help our brains create new neural pathways emphasizing more calm and more desired outcomes.


Note also the positive impact of NOT reaching for the phone first-thing in the morning to check what's awaiting. (A practice I'm still working on myself!) This excellent Forbes article talks more about the big benefits of waking up before your phone.


Other Ideas for Small, Grounding Practices:

  • Take 20 deep belly breaths or reading just 5 pages of a delightful book in bed right before sleep nightly.

  • Sloooooooow down over your daily morning coffee or tea. Can you leave the phone in another room, maybe wake up before any kiddos in the house, and just breathe in this morning ritual?

  • Walk outside for just 5 minutes right after or before lunch. Breathe in the outdoors. Let all your senses notice something.

  • Set an alarm in your phone and eat your afternoon snack at the same time daily. (This one was "prescribed" to me this summer by an Ayurvedic counselor at the Kripalu Center as something small, but deeply soothing and anchoring for the nervous system, body and mind!)

  • Play your favorite soothing song at a helpful time of day, for instance right before you walk back in the house after work.

  • Attend the same exercise or yoga class each week.

  • Block off a consistent time period each weekend for a journaling or meditation practice, possibly reflecting on wins of the week.


One key is to make sure this doesn't just feel like another to-do! Rather, this is a beautiful OPPORTUNITY to help your body and soul feel closer to the way you'd like to feel.


So get reaaaaaalllly curious about your rhythms, routines, what brings your system the most calm...and what doesn't. Watch closely, and gather information.


The more data you gather, the better, more educated the decisions you'll make.


 

INTERESTED IN EXPLORING OR ESTABLISHING GROUNDING PRACTICES IN COMMUNITY?

If you're in the DC area, I teach weekly and monthly classes and lead workshops and retreats across the area. I also lead sporadic virtual practices.



I also lead virtual and in-person 1-on-1, small-group and corporate wellness sessions in Restorative Yoga (and much more!).



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Based in the greater Washington, DC area in Northern Virginia, I offer meditation, mindfulness, restorative yoga, dance, Reiki and other stress-reduction and self-care programs locally, regionally and virtually. In addition to group classes, I also offer private 1:1, small-group and corporate wellness sessions.

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