The Cure-All....

Let me start out with a typical day at the 3 story consignment shop I work at a few times a month...

I'm running late, as usual, and peel into the parking lot, grab my lunch sack, keys, and purse and run to the front door. I jam the keys into the lock, wrench the old door open, toss out the OPEN sign and dash inside flipping lightswitches as I go. I run to the computer/cash register to begin cashing out from the day before. It is here I come to a screeching halt. There is a blank screen. There is no hum of electronics. There are no lights on on the tower or credit card machine. I jab at the power button but there is no response from the machine. There it sits-deader than dead.
   Panic is now setting in because in a consignment shop that hosts close to 800 individual consignors and upwards of 40 thousand items we live and die by this computer and its amazing system made just for this type of business. Around me sits approx 15 boxes full of items that were brought in and need to be entered into the system. The system that is now inaccessable to me.
   When I panic I call my husband (Lucky man, huh?). Husband instructs me to find the breaker box in a calm and controlled way. In the exact opposite tone I wail that I have no idea where that would be! But then I remember a vague discussion about it being under the stairs and head that way.. and there it is! yay! Very calmly (he is SO used to this!) my husband tells me to open the box and look for any reference to cash register, computer, or front end of store. There in bright red capital letters next to breaker number 27 is CHECK OUT. But of course it can't be that simple can it? So I keep reading over and over again and panicing some more before I say to my husband "Check out?" To which he says 'I don't know, flip it and see". Again I'm positive it cannot be this simple and again--Viola! It is. I thank my husband profusely and run like a crazy woman back to the sales floor to cash out from the last days' sales so that I can begin the current days' sales...
   And so the day progresses in a manner something like this:
(from a Facebook post that day)....." and that wasn't all--oh no! A lady who had an apt. to bring in a 'few boxes' actually had 12, 4 chairs, and a plane propeller! I also learned that if one (hypothetically, of course) accidentally enters 28 items of consignor B's items into consignor A's account there are exactly 4 key strokes, a few tears, and a DQ mint Oreo blizzard that will fix it. I'm really tired..."

The clock finally hit 5:30 and I locked up and headed to my car. I inserted the key into the ignition, turned, it and....... NOTHING! Deader than dead battery from having left the lights on this morning.
can you guess who I call?

So, dear Readers , are you seeing a pattern here? Your blog-mistress is a crazy woman who runs around like a chicken with her head cut off from the moment she awakens until the second her head hits the pillow.
The worst part of this? I KNOW BETTER.The cure-all referenced in the title?

GROUNDING AND CENTERING.

For those of you not aware of what this is , in layman's terms it might be called 'stepping back, taking a breather, calming down'. But it is really so much more than this and it completely rights a bad day, settles a frazzled mind, and quiets a fluttering tummy.

  Grounding and centering is energy work. Its purpose it to gather all of one's out of control personal energy, pull it back to the self, and ground out whatever excess amount is not needed for the time begining.  And, with practice, it takes very little time and can be done at any time, in any place, and with very positive results.

 I'm sharing this because--as perfect as this practice is for maintaining a smoothly running life and keeping a calm demeanor-- if you are like me it is very easy to NOT do it? Why? My personal thought on this is because when our personal energy ratchets up a notch (or 25!) it gives us a rush, a high. Adrenaline dumps, our bodies react with more energy and we feel 'pumped'. Of course this is not energy conducive to effective work ,but being caught up in the high of it all its easy to not step back. Until, of course, we burn out completely. Grounding and Centering prevents that burn out--the physical and mental exhaustion from repeated adrenaline dumps and energy over-load.

  So how does one Ground and Center? There are many ways to do this--infinite ways, really. But being a literal, Taurus type my technique is based on the words--GROUND and CENTER. This is my fast, simple way to a better day EVERY TIME. Ready?

 1.) Plant your feet firmly on the ground and really dig them in there.

2.) Breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth--closing your eyes is optional

3.) Visualize your personal energy as sparkling silver threads waving all around you

4.) On your next inhale BREATHE those threads back into your body and into your solar plexus.

5.) At the exhale visualize those threads settling into a glowing ball of yarn right in the center of your body. There! Now you have gathered the errant parts of you back 'home'--you have 'centered'.

6.) It is now time to become aware of your feet and the firm connection they have with the earth under you.

7.) On this inhale breathe in rich brown or deep green (whichever appeals to you) 'threads' from the earth through the soles of your feet.

8.) at each inhale see this earth energy moving up your body until it mixes with your personal energy at the solar plexus.

9.) Exhale and release what is not needed trusting that your body will know what this is. Any excess energy will be released back down through your feet into the earth.

10.) One more deep cleansing breath in and out and you're done!

With practice this 10 step exercise can be done in a matter of seconds and can be done anywhere, at anytime. Conversely this can be expanded into a full mediation if that suits you too.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this--let me know what you think!

Have a Fantabulous Day~~

Annie