As our lives become busier and busier and 24 hours begins to feel more like 15, it seems we are in a constant battle to stay connected. We strive to find that "something" that grounds us, to stabilize us so we can to go through experiences unscathed, so we can continue going through life at top speed.
In the last decade, there has been a huge push for the use of meditation and how "connecting with oneself" can bring a sense of calm to a person's life. It can help to stabilize the mind and "leave oneself" for a place of serenity and gratitude.
This sounds like a great place to be, and with so many mediation options available it seems silly to not try something, but how and what and why?
Googling "meditation practices" results in pages and pages of techniques to try. This can be a bit overwhelming. Deepak Chopra and Oprah teamed up to create a 21-day free meditation series and Arianna Huffington has a free 21-day meditation journey fittingly titled "Becoming Fearless." It is common, if not all around good practice, to learn from people who have already walked the journey and are successful in their lives; they have balance. When they create meditation techniques, why not give them a try and see if one works.
I've been a morning person for as long as I can remember. It's rejuvenating, and there is just something spectacular about being up while everyone is still asleep and the world is silent. It's my time to meditate, to exercise, catch up on the news, be still and to use the quiet time to balance my thoughts without the ringing, vibrations and pings of technology. It brings me a sense of strength and balance.
Everyone has examples of life changing moments that stop us in our tracks. I'm going to call these moments, unexpected emotional train wrecks or a wake up call that was destined to happen.
Rewind a few years back. I felt strong enough (maybe egotistically so) that I thought I could keep my early morning "me time" schedule in tact, maintain a busy life and balance an unhealthy relationship. I believed that as long as I could compartmentalize it should be easy breezy. It wasn't. While juggling everything at lightening speed I completely lost touch with what grounded me. I was feeling pretty accomplished but I had no idea how a bad relationship could literally wipe away a solid foundation bit by bit. It took some time to get back, but the strange thing is the journey to get back to what grounded me made me stronger.
In life, no matter how grounded you are, you have to go through some uncomfortable situations to get from point A to point B if you want to grow as a person from the experience. It's the cycle of life. If you're too busy to make that journey happen yourself, something inevitably happens that forces it.
For me it was being in an unhealthy, unstable relationship with an alcoholic/drug addict. I wouldn't want to go through that again, but looking back from where I am today, I also wouldn't change anything. It was the longest relationship I was in, but it was the least significant in regards to an emotional tie with another human being but the most significant to finding myself and realizing my strength.
I was living in mass chaos, both physically and mentally, and I took a lot of detours and time to get back to realizing what grounds me. But that journey taught me patience, compassion and strength. It taught me to disconnect if certain energy isn't serving a healthy purpose in my life.
There are over 7 billion people on this earth all just trying to survive "life." No one ever said it was going to be easy and we aren't born with a "how to live life" book, but with so many tools and resources available that can make the journey more manageable, it seems foolish to not give one of them a shot. So I ask you again: What GROUNDS you?