Let's find our firm footing, to stay rooted and uplifted.

During seasonal transitions and periods during the full moon, the energy around you tends to feel chaotic and abuzz full of movement. Here are some tips to find stillness and a sense of ease amidst all the bustle.

1. Detoxify and nourish the body on the inside out.

Drink LOTS of water - hydrate the body before and after sleep. Get 7-8 hours of deep sleep - this is the prime time for your body to detoxify and repair old cells and tissues, removing tons of toxins to be secreted through sweat, lymph, and excreted waste products.

I'm not a firm believer in any elimination diets or fads/trends, however I will be taking on the Whole30 nutrition plan, as of May 1st for 30 days. That's Whole Foods (nothing processed or refined) for a month! Totally doable as long as you are willing to put in the weekly meal prep hours!

2. Clean, Donate, Purge

Photo courtesy of Best of Home and Garden — *Photo courtesy of* **Best of Home and Garden**

Cleaning the physical living space creates a mental clearing to make room for the new. If you can't part with certain items, try donating them to a charitable organization, trading them for something of higher necessity, or try purging duplicates of a particular item by just keeping the best one. Creating naturopathic cleaning agents using essential oils such as lavender, tea tree oil, eucalyptus, lemon, water and a splash of white vinegar can also help in creating a sense of ease in your living and work space.

3. Meditate & Take deep belly breaths

While seated, ground down with both sitting bones, making the feet contact the earth either with the heels or tops of the feet. Imagine your pubic bone rooting down, and two sitting bones creating a pyramidal foundation (three points of contact with the ground) to support you underneath. Stack each vertebra on top of one another. Keep the chest wide, heart soft, throat clear, and reach the crown of the head up to the ceiling, with a gentle tuck of the chin down towards the chest. Keep the arms resting in your lap effortlessly, with the palms facing down on the thighs.

*Option: Place one hand on your chest and the other hand on your lower belly. Breathe deeply into your chest for 5 seconds, hold for 1 second. Without letting out the breath, breathe all the way down into the lower belly for an additional 5 seconds, hold for 1 second. Release the entire breath through a sign of the mouth. Repeat 5-10 times.

4. Exfoliate and Dry-Brush.

Photo courtesy of The Body Shop — *Photo courtesy of* **The Body Shop**

By clearing away dead skin cells, and promoting cellular growth and repair, dry-brushing and exfoliation has been a century-long ayurvedic tradition of feeling refreshed, and making way for the physical repair of the new day.

Dry-brushing in circular motions can be done for 10-20 minutes each day first thing in the morning or before entering the shower. It promotes blood and lymph flow as it enhances circulation and helps to boost mood.

5. Consider Reiki or Restorative classes.

When we are feeling flighty and escaping to the never-ending thoughts in our head, it helps to ground when hands-on touch, especially from another party is apparent and focused on the lower body (feet, calves, knees, thighs, hips).

Look for a Restorative class that uses tons of props to help you feel supported and comfortable with an instructor or assistant that is aware of your bodily needs and pays attention to any injuries or sensitivities.

Reiki, as a private treatment or in addition to a hands-on adjustment in a class setting can help alleviate stress, promote a sense of peace, and free up any stagnant energy and built up emotional tension.

(I also provide private Reiki treatments - if you are interested or have questions, please feel free to contact me for more details!)

6. Try limiting caffeine and avoiding refined sugar.

Photo courtesy of Kitchen Sanity — *Photo courtesy of* **Kitchen Sanity**

Like the Whole30 mealplan suggests, avoid highly caffeinated products (especially coffee and black tea) and opt for oolong tea (see photo) and pu-erh if you're seeking a digestive and detoxifying option. The body already expends a lot of energy to digest food and beverage, especially those that spike our blood glucose. Once recognized in the body, the digestive and endocrine system work on overdrive to make sure the caffeinated products are carefully absorbed in the bloodstream and the rest is sent out as waste.

7. Continuously remind yourself to stay present.

This point may seem like a given, but try and catch yourself the next time you are focused in a business meeting, at a workout, or in the library, trying to settle your mental thoughts on one topic at hand. Maybe it is the quality of your breath, maybe it is the state of calm or anxiety you are in. Whatever you choose to focus on, choose wisely and remind yourself what your intention is for spending time in a particular place for a set amount of hours that day.

8. Squat! with both feet planted on the ground.

This may seem like a strange position at first, but for people on the move and those that sit in office chair all day, any hip-openers and stabilizers with both feet firmly on the ground, help to ground and firm up the foundation that as bipeds, we rely on in order to stand upright, move around and move into other positions, such as sitting and sleeping. Being able to have all the blood and lymph flow smoothly throughout the lower limbs is important to establish that feeling of being grounded.

9. Write down your to-do list thoroughly.

There is something so grounding and committed about writing down your list of priorities and tasks to follow through with at the end of the day, week, month and year! It's great to write down weekly and monthly goals, passion pursuits, but also to minimize the daily task list to something under five per day to stay realistic within your realms of productivity. It is also very important to prioritize how much time you spend on each tasks and the order in which you attend to each task throughout the day to avoid burnout or feelings of overstimulation.

That being said, being assertiveness in your allotted schedule and being selective to what you say "Yes!" to is incredibly pertinent and crucial to maintain your sense of ease and prouctivity.