Hectic Holidays? Get Grounded in 2 Easy Minutes

Do you ever feel totally scattered or flighty?

Do you struggle to make a decision or complete a task due to all the thoughts swirling around in your head?

It’s easy in this fast-paced, tech-driven world to get caught up in your thoughts and worries. Add in the holiday season and you may feel time crunched and challenged to do everything you need to without losing your cool.

Taking time to get grounded is more than just hippie yoga stuff. It’s a simple, yet powerful way to reduce stress and anxiety by quieting the many voices in your head that tend to pull you in all directions.

Getting grounded reunites you with your values, clarifies your goals, and helps you discern what needs to be done, while staying in the present moment. It can be the difference between a day of utter confusion and the frustration associated with being non-productive vs. smooth sailing through your checklist with precision and peace of mind.  

Easy Pose, or Sukhasana, is a simple seated posture that quite literally allows you to feel grounded as your sitting bones are tangibly connected to the earth.  

In Sanskrit, Sukh translates to ease, happiness, peace or relaxation — and this pose is aimed at providing all of it. Combining stillness and focused breath work with this posture culminates in clearing the mind, making Easy Pose ideal for meditation.  

Visualizations and mantras are also great additions to help you zero in on your intentions, especially if your mind is racing.   

Though sitting cross-legged on the floor was natural and “easy” as a kid, you may find it more challenging at first. If so, here are some tips to get comfortable in Sukhasana:

• Take one or two thick blankets and fold them so that they form a firm, flat base on which you can sit.
• Sit close to one edge of the support you formed to help the hip flexors relax.
• Cross your shins and widen your knees, bringing each foot beneath the opposite knee.
• Place a block or small cushion under each knee for extra support if needed.
• Keep your feet relaxed and maintain a gap between your pelvis and feet.
• Sit with spine tall and pelvis in a neutral position, neither arching nor rounding the low back. Try this visualization: balance tailbone and pubic bone in such a way that they are equidistant from the ground.
  

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Once you’re settled into the pose:

• Place the palm of one hand on your heart and fingertips of the other hand on the ground outside your hip.    
• Feel for both of the sitting bones (butt cheeks) to evenly connect with the floor or blankets.  
• Use a deep, rhythmic breath to redistribute your energy, then incorporate any mantras, visualizations, or meditation practices to achieve your desired outcome.  

Stay in Easy Pose for at least two minutes. You will amplify your state of serenity so that you can focus on moving through your day with focused purpose.  

With regular practice you will notice that you more easily alleviate fatigue, stress, and anxiety, while quickly creating connectivity and clarity to discern how to proceed with your daily tasks.