Hello Beautiful Souls,
I thought I wouldn’t put anything out this week, and I had so much fun honing this tool for quickly regaining equilibrium when things get hairy, that I want to share it with you. In the vein of “there are no new messages, only new messengers,” this tool was first passed to me by a woman who it’d been passed to… and I played with it to make it my own (she probably did, too)… and then realized that I’d turned it into a Heart Math tool… heh. Fun.

Anyway, obviously, take this and make it yours… put your spin on it so that it fits you and your proclivities.

Breathe, Straighten, Center/Ground, Love

Connecting to Your Core OR the Earth Beneath You (choose your own adventure)

There are 4 steps to this tool (step by step instructions below):

• Breathe: Gently inhale (to softly reset your nervous system)
• Straighten: Align your spine.
• Center/Ground: Focus on your center (your internal calm) or ground (connect with Gaia)
• Love: Feel your Love (for yourself & exhale it out for others)

This Moves Through Many Levels:

autonomic (breathing) – Spirit (L. spiritus)*
structural (straightening) – Body
mental (focusing on, bringing consciousness to centering, grounding) – Mind
emotional (loving) – Heart

*For your inner G(r)eek:
spiritus (Latin) – (n) breath or spirit
inspirare (Latin) – (n) to breathe in(to), to inspire.
inspiritus (Latin) – (v) to breathe in and be filled with spirit, courage, strength

Mnemonics to Quickly Remember the Steps…

I played with an LLM (a Large Language Model) to come up with fun mnemonics to remember the 4 steps…

For Centering, my favorite is ‘Basic Self-Care List’ (variants: ‘Best Self-Care List,’ ‘Basic Self-Care Love‘). You might like: ‘Banish Stress, Choose Love’ (which has stick: Banish Stress and carrot: Choose Love); or ‘The “B.S.” Cure (+Love).’

For Grounding, ‘Be Still, Grow Love,’ which has cause: Be Still, and effect: Grow Love. It’s also what a tree does: being still (and tall), rooting down, blooming love.

---

Instructions (Tips on Ways to Play):

Multi-breath, ‘The Shit Is Hitting the Fan’ Version (Start here to get it into your body-mind):

1. Breathe in, feel your breath coming in and allow it to straighten you up and out. Exhale and soften in that shape.
2. Breathe in, feel your breath coming in and allow it to straighten you up and out,
   • Centering: follow your breath into your center, focus there, find the calm there. Exhale, softening, letting the calm flow out infusing your body.
   • Grounding: follow your breath into your body and down to the ground. Feel your feet pressing into the ground. Exhale, softening, letting that connection anchor your body.
3. Breathe in, straighten,
   • C: focus on your calm center, deepen into the love there. Exhale, softening, letting your consciousness of your love expand into your whole body.*
   • G: following breath to feet, to ground; and letting that connection root into Love. Exhale, softening, letting the Love rise like sap up your trunk with the out breath.
4. Breathe in, straighten,
   • C: focus on your calm center, feel the love. Exhale it softly towards others.
   • G: following breath to feet, to ground; root deeply into Love. Exhale, softening, letting Love rise to fill every cell, solid, fortified with Love.

*When doing this, I’m probably not calm throughout my whole body, so the calm I expand.
I AM already Love everywhere, even if I’m not noticing that in the moment, so that part is more letting my consciousness, my awareness, of what’s already here expand. If that doesn’t make any sense or feels irrelevant, leave it. Whatever makes sense or feels relevant to you is way more important!

Two Breath Version (Once you’ve got the Multi-breath down):

Centering

• Breathe in softly, towards your center, gently letting your breath straighten you up and out.
• When your breath reaches your center, focus there and keep going in until you find the calm there.
• Exhale, softening into the calm.
• Breathe in softly, towards your center, gently letting your breath straighten you up and out, and let the central calm deepen into Love.
• Let your breath fan the flame of your Love as it flows in, spreading your love, filling your body until you reach the top of your breath.
• Exhale, softening, sharing your love with the out breath.

Grounding

• Breathe in gently, letting your breath softly straighten you up and out.
• Follow your breath in and down your body to the ground, feeling your feet root into the ground when your attention gets there.
• Let your connection to the Earth root into Love.
• Exhale, softening, anchoring.
• Breathe in softly, straightening, following your breath in, then down to feet, to ground; root deeply into Love.
• Exhale, softening, letting Love rise to fill every cell, solid, fortified with Love.

All in One Breath Version (Once you’ve got the Two-breath down):

Centering

• Breathe in softly, towards your center, gently letting your breath straighten you up and out.
• When your breath hits your center, focus on your center, finding the calm and Love there.
• As your breath continues to gently flow in, let it softly fan the flame of your Love, spreading it, filling your body until you reach the top of your breath.
• Exhale and share your love with the out breath.

Grounding

• Breathe in softly, straightening, following your breath in, then down to feet, to ground; root deeply into Love.
• Exhale, softening, letting Love rise to fill every cell, solid, fortified with Love.

Enjoy!

…and I’d love to know if you use this what your experience is. Feel free to share.