Pausing The Day To Slow Down, Anchor, And Check In

Hi there and welcome. Together, we pause the day for a moment, find space, and flow through a check in with our body, mind, and emotional landscape. This can be helpful as part of a daily practice, as well as when you’re feeling stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed. I hope it will bring you some peace, grounding, and warmth.

Super cute, cuddly kittens courtesy of Junjira Konsang.

Transcript

Hey, It's me, Sarah. Good to see you. So today I just wanted to connect in a different way. I just sort of wanted to talk to you and. . . Just sort of have a moment. To just be present with you. And I don't know, Just kind of be present with me too. And I usually do. Sort of check-ins with myself throughout the day. And I thought this time. I could do my check-in with you too. So this recording is going to just be really natural. It's not scripted. Spur of the moment. You might hear my cat meow in the background. You might even hear a plane flying or a car go by but that's okay because this is the world that we live in and it's okay to just be here experiencing what is. And so I thought we could just sort of experience what is together. So I first just wanted to start off with, How are you? How are things going and how has your day been so far? For me, It's definitely had ups and downs. I was excited this morning because I actually found a old piece of dark chocolate in my cupboard that I thought I had already eaten. So I feel like that was a highlight for me this morning. And there's also been challenging times and times when I felt impatient, Exhausted, Overwhelmed. And I had to take pauses because I'm human. And I had to sort of find my breath and find my anchor as well. And that's one of the things that I do during my check-ins. So right now I'm just sitting here I'm actually sitting on the floor here in a really cuddly sweater because I have this really cuddly sweater that I put on when I just need a moment to snuggle in and sort of ground and just sort of I don't know, Find my center. And I have a little cup of tea here. That I also like to drink and smell and sometimes honestly I just like to hold it because it feels warm in my hands. And there's something really, I don't know, Nostalgic, Comforting. About just holding this. Cup of tea in my hands. So I'm going to do my check-in with you and if you don't mind I'll share a little bit about what I'm noticing and of course you have space to to check in with yourself and what you're noticing too. So we can just sort of. Kind of hear each other and be there for each other a little bit. So the first thing I'm doing is just pausing. When I'm pausing, I'm just sort of feeling myself seated on the ground. I'm going to inhale and exhale and I like to feel the cool air. When I inhale and I like to feel the warm air when I exhale because it just sort of brings me I don't know. Out of my head. And just into this like natural. Energy and resource that I know. Exists and it just kind of quiets everything so I'm going to do that. From there I'm just going to check in with my body. Gonna sort of start up my toes and wiggle my toes and see what that feels like and just sort of check in. Almost like I'm scanning for my toes up. Just noticing some tension. A little bit in my taps. Noticing that I'm clenching my quads a little bit. It's interesting. What are you noticing? Noticing a little bit of I don't know, Activity in my stomach? Almost like a swirling whirlpool Noticing that my fingers are just a little bit of they're kind of pressing against each other so I'm kind of just noticing that. And I think my jaw is ever so slightly clenched. And now usually after I notice. Whatever areas are just coming up for me, I sort of give myself a choice. That I can either sort of just kind of be with them. Maybe I can choose to sort of adjust a little bit depending on what my body's saying that I need. And it's really this longest spectrum. So I might just sort of right now actually think I'm going to release my jaw just a little bit. And you can sort of do the same with your choice and sort of see what you might either want to sort of release or soften or what you might just want to let be. And just sort of know is present. So I think some of the tension in my legs, I'm just going to soften just a little bit. I think my breathing that I'm noticing right now as I'm talking. I think I'm just going to sort of let it be as it is. I don't think I'm actually going to shift that. I'm just going to sort of see if my natural rhythm kind of takes over a little bit. Especially as I'm sort of softening these other areas. Again just noticing what you may want to soften, Release, Or just let be. And now I'm sort of looking into my mind a little bit and noticing my thoughts. I noticed right now. They're not really moving too quickly. They're just kind of flowing. They're making some interesting designs in my mind. As they kind of swirl, Loop a little bit. I feel like one is almost just sort of fading into another. Just kind of noticing that. How about you? I don't know saying there's there weren't a lot of sticky thoughts today. Sometimes I have thoughts that are sticky. Don't flow with as much ease as others, But right now just kind of noticing. They're just kind of flowing. It was because I'm here talking to you. And I'm just sort of breathing as I'm noticing. For me today, I think my breath is my anchor. It's kind of what I'm using to almost just helped me find my center so that I can explore more. And I can look around more. Maybe you notice what your anchor is today. A place where you just feel kind of centered. Maybe it's your breath or maybe it's the cool air in, The warm air out. Maybe it's just a feeling of your body on the floor or in a chair. Not bad. Maybe it's like a picture or an image or an object around you. In your mind. And that can be sort of like a. . . Almost like a tree trunk or roots so that you can explore these thoughts and feelings and you know. What your body feels like. And I'm also noticing now the actual content of my thoughts. I'm kind of just reading the content like i'm reading a book So I'm not really engaging much in it. I'm just sort of noticing what's there. Almost just looking at my mental landscape. So now I'm just kind of gently getting my attention. Sort of to my emotional landscape. For me it feels like an emotional ocean because I feel like I can sort of dive in at different levels and different dimensions and I can move and swim sort of you know, More vertically, Deeper down, Or I can sort of swim in side to side, Or I can explore, You know, Just all these areas all around me. In the ocean. And then almost like those deep divers there's like this uh i always envision this like kind of I don't know, Line there, Which I would be right now kind of like my breath and anchor. And I can always sort of come back to that and just pause and hold it for a moment if I need to, And then sort of swim out and explore more. So I'm just noticing what feeling is coming up first for me. So maybe notice what feeling comes up first for you. What do you notice? For me, I think it's almost like a Gosh, Like a Oh, I'm trying to trying to understand it. I'm actually seeing it right now. It's a color. It's like a blue because I've been talking about the ocean, But it does feel like sort of a blue. So I can't tell if that's sort of like a more of a melancholy sort of feeling or. . . What it is. So I'm just going to sort of explore that a little bit more. And I might dive a little bit deeper and see if there are other emotions that come up for me as I'm noticing this one. I'm just noticing some of my emotional landscape here. And you can share some of what you're noticing with me. You can kind of just keep it in. Sort of just keep it for you. I think some of what I'm noticing deeper down, I might just. . . Sort of notice for me. Especially since I'm sort of still understanding it and exploring it. I'm still kind of walking around this landscape, Or in my analogy, I'm kind of still swimming in this ocean right now. I think it may be something I swim in for a little while and explore a little more, Maybe just noticing new things as I swim. And then I usually check in with what do I feel like my emotion is telling me that I need right now. Like right now, Not in, You know, An hour or two hours, Just sort of like in the next few minutes, Maybe. And right now. So notice maybe what. Your emotions and feelings are sort of telling you, Sort of suggesting or. . . Want you to know about what you might need right now. Mine maybe my my sort of melancholy feeling It's kind of telling me. . . I need maybe a few moments to myself. Maybe even You know, Kind of. I don't know, Sit in a warm bath for just a few minutes and just sort of like breathe. And maybe I need to just sort of listen. And be present with the feeling. Not really do anything with it, But maybe it needs to be heard a little bit. So I think that's what I might sort of experiment with after I finish my time with you today. It was wonderful being with you. And sharing this time and this exploration and just kind of sharing my check-in with you, Which I'll probably do maybe a few more times today. And just sort of getting to be natural and be me. Just talk to you. I know I can't see you, But I really feel like you're just sitting here right here with me. And. . . I hope this. . . Helps you remember also that you're not alone. Let alone on what you're experiencing and that everything you're experiencing is so valid. And so, Okay. That we're all human and we all have all kinds of different traits. You know, Thoughts and feelings. Experiences inside of us. I wish you all the best. I'll talk to you soon. Bye.