5 ways to center yourself when you’re feeling off-kilter

 

In an ideal world we would all feel calm, at ease and totally centered.

But we don’t live in an ideal world.

We live in a reality, where we encounter frustrations, deadlines, losses, illness, and more.

There is so much of life that destabilizes and makes us feel ungrounded.

And those of us who tend to use food as a way to cope with feelings often use food as a way to feel grounded.

Food is a common strategy to get more in our body and connected to the moment. The act of eating and drinking is very corporeal, it makes us feel our body and connect to our senses, but sometimes it backfires. We end up regretting what we ate, or eating quickly in an attempt to numb our feelings.

To be clear, there’s no “wrong” in eating to cope with feeling frazzled, but sometimes it leaves us actually feeling less centered and connected to ourselves.

So what else can we do?

Here are 5 steps that can help you feel centered, or at least closer to center:

1. BREATHE:

Always start with a really full, long, breath. Breathing slowly and with intention has a powerful calming impact on our nervous system.

2. REMIND YOURSELF THAT YOU ARE HUMAN:

Life isn’t a perfect science and we aren’t perfect either. Remind yourself that your life is about the process not perfection. The more we can flex this self-compassion muscle, the stronger it gets and the kinder we are with ourselves.

3. CONNECT TO A  PERSON:

Feeling off-kilter can often lead us to feelings of isolation. Get out of the isolation by telling someone how you feel. Speak your state, say out loud what you feel, there is amazing power in saying what you feel to someone else. Women often find that in the process of talking to someone else about their experience, they discover more about themselves and feel less alone.

4. ASK YOURSELF:   WHAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO ME IN THIS MOMENT?

When we feel off center, we often lose focus of what we really want and what’s important. We get a bit lost and start sweating the small stuff. Reconnecting yourself to what’s truly important puts you back on your path.

5. ASK YOURSELF: WHAT WOULD NOURISH ME NOW?

Coming back to self-care and nourishment is a fool-proof way to reconnect to your center, your innate wisdom, and your experience of inner peace.

A TIP: The tricky bit is not actually ASKING “what would nourish me now” but LISTENING to the answer and taking the self-care action.

Practice these steps and let me know how they impact you!

If you’d like support in feeling more centered and nourished in your life, I hope you’ll join me in our free Nourished Woman Nation group on Facebook. It’s a wonderful group of women!

 

 

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Nina Manolson, MA, NBC-HWC, board certified Health Coach and Psychology of Eating Coach believes that every woman deserves to feel good in her own body. She helps women create a healthy and positive relationship with their food and body so they can love their body and life!  She’s the founder of NinaManolson.com and NourishedWomanNation.com 

She helps busy women look and feel their best. She specializes in working with women over 40 who have tried other diets and approaches but are still struggling with their body and food. She helps women step into a new wellness paradigm that makes self-care real and do-able and turns it into sustainable healthy habits that

She’s the author of “Feed Your Kids Well In A World That Doesn’t: an everyday guide to make healthy food happen in your home and beyond”. She’s also the recipient of the prestigious Health Leadership Award from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.

To get your F.R.E.E. Video Series “What to do now, when everything you’ve done hasn’t worked” by mail and receive her healthy recipes and wellness tips click here.