How to Ground Yourself When You Can’t Get Away from Your Kids!

This morning I felt myself in a slightly elevated stress response and knew I needed a moment to ground myself. Too much coffee and too much on my mind. So taking some very good advice I decided that for a few minutes I would make my needs equal to that of my children’s,  understanding that we would all benefit from it.

So I sat down on the rug to do some breath work. Of course, I was instantly in demand with my toddler who was not impressed with me saying I would do what he wanted, in 2 minutes.

My eyes were closed as I heard the patter of feet moving to the far side of the room, and then very quickly moving towards me…

He ran and launched his whole body at my throat. Well if I didn’t need grounding before…

So I took a different approach. I lifted him on to my lap and did a breathing practise I do with students in school. I get them to inhale through the nose, imagining they’re breathing in a beautiful flower, and then breathe out through the mouth, imagining they’re gently blowing out a candle. Simplicity itself.

I changed it to suit the situation and breathed in, to inhale the sweet smell of my child’s hair and breathed out to watch how my breath made his little golden strands move. He was happy getting my undivided attention, and I very quickly felt grounded again.

So If you’re feeling stressed and need to ground yourself I highly recommend you take a few minutes out of the situation to ground yourself in your senses and fully focus inward, but often with kids that’s just not possible, so maybe give this a try and let me know how it goes.

And ask yourself regularly, “What would happen now if I made my needs equal to that of my child’s?” It doesn’t come naturally to most of us but you might be surprised with what unfolds.