Today’s Find Your Flow message is all about building your awareness of your energy. 

Noticing whether you’re connected or disconnected is one of the necessary first steps to being in your flow. 

If grounded, connected, open, grateful and clear-minded is how you choose to live, you will create that more often as your reality. 

If you end up being in whatever energy is around you or getting overwhelmed by life and others—you will often find yourself in a state of distress and disconnection. 

However large or small your imbalanced energetic state is, most people live without realizing how guarded and ungrounded they are.  

The goal here isn’t judgment for yourself or others…it’s to move from managing your circumstances, settling and scarcity to creating what it is you truly want. 

Remember, when you’re connected, you feel lighter, you’re more present, available for opportunities, you trust your timing, you pause and respond rather than react. 

When you’re disconnected, you’re contracted, tense, irritable, numb, nervous, you tend to rush, make things happen as a have to vs. connecting to your emotional body, needs and what you’d really love. You push for outcomes, you’re afraid to stop, and you seek outside validation and guidance before you gain your own clarity. 

I’m not just talking all things woo-woo or spiritual. There is a direct benefit to your physical well-being as well. 

When you’re in your flow and connected, you feel safe.

In safety you enter “rest and digest” and your body increases its parasympathetic nervous system response. This is helpful for sleep, cellular repair, digestion, hormonal balance, sustainable productivity and your capacity to expand your life and handle challenges and upsets along the way. 

When you feel threatened — emotionally or physically — your system shifts into a heightened sympathetic response often known as your flight, fight or freeze. This can lead to burnout, inflammation, sleep, hormone and gut imbalances when overactive. 

One isn’t better than the other—you NEED both. You need eustress and inspired challenges for your sense of purpose, and you need to rejuvenate for clarity, well-being and access to your flow and knowing.

The key is WHEN to engage with both your parasympathetic and sympathetic in a healthy way so neither takes over your system. Either one in a heightened overactive state will create physical challenges and imbalances.

Here are 5 tips for bringing your system into balance: 

1.  Lengthen Your Exhale. The more disconnected you are, the shorter and shallower your breath. 

Try inhaling for a count of 4 seconds, hold the breath for 2 and exhale for 6-8 seconds. With each exhale, soften somewhere. 

Longer exhales stimulates your vagus nerve and activates parasympathetic regulation. You can’t be grounded without a connected breath.

2.  Somatic check-in. Where does your tension live in your body? Get curious, dig deeper. You can sit for 3-5 minutes while focusing solely on your physical body. Notice what emotions and thoughts arise. Allow them space to just be, no need to change them, make them better or worse than they are. Allow this to transform your energy and body into connection. This is a practice.

3.  Shift from Proving to Pausing. There is no need to defend yourself, over-explain, control or rush your life. 

Ask yourself: Is there something you’re not seeing or trusting based on your timeline right now? How can you tune into your authentic knowing? 

4.  Focus on Your Heart. Before reacting, jumping, saying yes, correcting, controlling…take a deep breath, feel your heart and/or place a hand there. Allow yourself space to breathe and fill up with what you love. This will help you shift into connection rather than protection. Move or communicate from your heart space rather than your identity, scarcity or fears.

5.  Choose to Connect. It really is that simple. You can start with one simple action and allow your momentum to build. Take a walk, put your phone down and go into nature, activate your sense of touch or smell, take care of a small task you’ve been putting off that will help you feel accomplished, say no or start an open dialogue with someone you’ve been wanting to connect with…the options are endless. The only important part is that you connect to something or someone.

Being grounded and connected are not passive, they happen through regulation, consistency and choice. 

Connection and flow ARE a practice. Every time you choose them, you train yourself to like, love and trust yourself and your life just a little bit more. 

I invite you take inventory of your energy today and throughout your next week.

With love,

Laurin