Sometimes it's just dancing. Full body, sweaty, head-shaking, eyes-closed, heart-filled movement.

The daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal practices are what help keep my mind from spinning out or help bring me back a bit sooner if I'm already racing.

Begin to feel the ease, the calm, the peace that you feel when you are in this space bubble up.

A bit of a choose your own adventure today.

Balance does not mean that there is perfection in all of the pieces. It requires negotiation. It requires a dance of shifting priorities.

I let the plans, the dreams, the challenges, the fears evaporate with the summer humidity. I experienced a feeling of deep contentment. I felt secure, safe and whole.

It didn’t matter so much about what the practice looked like, it was more about practicing consistently.

My attention becomes so focused on the breath that the worrying thoughts slip out of my awareness for a moment. It is the way I have found to step out of the spin of anxiety.

It was then I began my relationship with restoration. Relaxation does not come from effort, from trying, from force. I’ve found that the body doesn’t respond as readily to instructions to relax. Rather, it takes time.

Rather than focusing on the discomfort, the stress, the uncertainty that might be present for you, what about bringing attention to the reality that whatever may be arising is temporary?

Rituals can be anything. Rituals don’t require stuff. They can be simple actions. The possibilities are truly endless.

In the last few years I’ve learned its helpful for me to develop a relationship with my anxiety, recognizing it’s not something that will disappear. By approaching anxiety in this way I’m able to ease some of the resistance I feel in my mind and instead find acceptance.

Calm can be cultivated through small daily practices. It’s easier on our nervous system to introduce these incremental changes vs. a dramatic shift. A very simple way to begin to make those changes is through the breath.

Take a moment to notice this moment. This can be a quick exercise or an extended practice. You get to do what you need and you can come back to this any time.