What to do with all this chaos?

I was talking with a very wise woman recently about how unsettled I felt with all of the chaos in D.C.  She shared with me how important it is that we look at what's going on, at the forces and agendas playing out on the national and world scene and  our thoughts and feelings around it all...as much as we want to turn away and look elsewhere.

We can't heal what's not seen and known to us. 

She also stressed the importance of  staying grounded; connected to both Earth and the heavens, aligning with the heart as we ground.  It was a wonderful reminder of how I can choose to be in this world.

Here's what I've been doing when I'm feeling unsettled and anxious these days: 

Sit in a chair with feet firmly planted on the ground, closing your eyes or gazing softly at the floor in front of you.  Sit up straight and take a few deep breaths in and out of your nose as you roll your shoulders up, back and down.  Inhale shoulders draw up, exhale shoulders roll back and down.  

Feel the soles of your feet touching the floor beneath you. Then breathe into the center of your chest: your heart center. As you're breathing, say to yourself three times:  " Inhale, heart expands. Exhale, heart softens. "

Imagine roots sprouting from your heart center and reaching down through your body, though your legs and out through your feet and into the floor beneath you. The roots reach down, down, down and into the earth.  Send those roots deep and wide into the earth. 

Now imagine a beautiful red ball of light at the base of your spine/at your tailbone.  Send a beam of red light from the base of your spine down, down, down through the many levels of the earth until you reach the center of the earth with that beam of light. 

Next,  imagine a golden, sparkling beam of light flowing down to you from the heavens and flowing into the top of your head.  This golden light flows into your heart center and cleanses you of anything that doesn't serve you, surrounding you with love and compassion. 

Imagine the roots in your heart reaching up to the heavens as well as down into the earth.  

Come back to focusing once more on your heart; that place where earth and the heavens meet and unite.  Set an intention to move from your day grounded with earth and the heavens, anchored in your heart center.  Awake and aligned. 

May your days be easeful as we ride the waves of 2017. Know that you are not alone on this wild ride.