Living Lighter

If you are human like me, then chances are you could benefit from letting go of old emotions, things and people so you can begin living lighter!

I know it can feel like a hefty task that is easy to avoid, but you, and only you, are the one who is living with all that weight.  You owe it to yourself to live your best life, don’t you?

So How Can You Live Lighter?

Slow Down. Breathe. Meditate. 

It may sound counter productive to slow down when the world around you is hectic and busy. But when you take time to pause, breathe and meditate, you can begin to create moments in your day that are filled with peace, joy and gratitude.

Living in the vibration of gratitude is the key to shifting your life as you know it. The more you change your daily dialogue, the more your thoughts, and your brain begins to rewire. 

The more you get into this habit, the more you begin to maintain peace, joy and gratitude throughout the day. Eventually you get so good at it that when life get tough, you know how to bring yourself back to peace more and more quickly. 

“Remember, it’s a muscle. You need to practice and do a little bit every day in order to get good at it so that muscle can build. It’s like going to the gym. You don’t just do it for a week and get the results you want. It takes time and dedication. And once you get your results, you need to continue to keep it up. The same goes when learning to meditate or program new thoughts.”

As you retrain the mind you begin to strengthen your connection to your body, keeping you  in the present moment. When we get caught up in the stories of the mind, we leave the present immediately and lose our connection to the body and to love, and fear, worry or anxiety creeps in. 

When you’re present in your life, there are miracles, gifts and magic all around. But if your mind is too busy you miss the gifts, synchronicities and magic. When you’re in the body, life becomes play. 

Living Lighter Through Minimalism

Minimalism might sound scary to lots of people, but really it’s an amazing practice to get into especially as the seasons change.

“When you clear clutter from your home and spaces, you create more space in your mind. Your external world is a direct reflection of your internal world.”

I have been doing a minimalist challenge for nearly a month and it has been life changing in so many ways. I feel great letting go of old items, donating my old belongings and getting rid of things that are broken or just taking up space. Not only has minimalism been great for clearing my space, it has also provided me with a powerful emotional purge. It’s like the most epic shed you can go through both physically and emotionally. 

But how does getting rid of stuff help you feel lighter emotionally? 

Well, your things carry energy. And often we relate our things to memories, experiences and people. So as you let go, declutter and purge your belongings there is actually an emotional purge happening too. 

So as you embark on this minimalism journey, which I recommend doing a few times a year, it’s going to be important for you to be in the body and get grounded so you can process all the emotions and thoughts that could come up. 

Remember to take time as you continue to live lighter by grounding yourself and meditating on the daily if you can.

How To Get Grounded and Be In The Body

Grounding your body and your mind is super important to bring you back to center, literally back down to Earth. (By that I mean, out of your head, in the body, with your breath and connected to the Earth.). 

The best (and most obvious) way to get grounded is to literally plant your bare feet on the ground, grass, beach, whatever Earth is near you. Stay standing there for a few minutes while you’re meditating, breathing or listening to nature, and voila, you’re grounding! You can make it a whole lot more intentional if you imagine seeing roots growing from your feet into the Earth.

For most of us living in Eastern Canada, we don’t have the option to place our feet on the ground during those cold winter months, or sometimes we just don’t find the time to get there when we need the grounding. 

So what else can you do? 

Meditating to get grounded is powerful and effective with the use of visualization in guided meditations. I’ve found that leading this mediation for myself and others creates a deeper connection to Pacha Mama and allows me to drop into my body to really ground.

A Meditation for Grounding

Lead yourself through this guided meditation (or click the link at the end of the meditation to watch a free video from our studio space). 

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Inhale deeply into the body. 
Exhale everything out. 

Taking time to connect to the earth and ground your energy. 
Allow yourself to be supported and nurtured by the earth. 

Keep breathing in and breathing out deeply. 

Create a channel of connection with your breath. 
Inhale your energy into the crown of your head.
Exhale your energy down into the earth. 

Watch it leave the body and go into the earth.

Inhale the earth’s energy up and into the body. 
Exhale your energy down and into the earth.

Keep breathing. 

As you continue this cyclical breath, solidifying your connection with the earth. Begin to feel and sense roots growing from your entire body growing into the earth. Letting yourself become one with the earth. 

Every exhale your roots grow deeper into the soil. You watch your roots begin to grow into the roots of the trees, the grass, the plant kingdom. A network of community beneath the soil – letting it energize and nurture you. 

Keep breathing.

As your roots continue to grow, send your GRATITUDE into the earth. Thanking the planet. 

Keep breathing. 

Slowly come back to the breath, breathing into the body. Bringing your roots back to you. Gently wiggle the fingers and toes. 

And when you’re ready, return to space by slowly opening your eyes.

Take a moment to reflect and take in your present emotions and surroundings. 

How do you feel? 

If you’d prefer the experience of being guided through this meditation, you can check out my guided meditation here on NÜLOVE Studio.

With Love,

Luciana Santaguida

Ps. Get unlimited access to my yoga, meditation, and sound bath videos. Connect with your body from the inside out.