Year of You: Week Two (The Root Chakra)

Chakra Therapy: The Root Chakra
The intention of this week is to bring healing to the root chakra through grounding, identity work, and unlearning family burdens while being grateful for family blessings. 

This post is coming a little later than planned as I've been catching up from a weekend of travel! My best friend's daughter turned one and when she extended the offer for me to join the celebrations, it was a full body yes. 

Yes, I also see what the universe did there. A week where my intention was to focus on grounding, security, and my connection to earth and I somehow end up thousands of feet above ground flying in an airplane.

This little trip taught me so much about grounding and the root chakra in a way that I didn't expect. When we think of grounding, many of us get an image in our minds of us standing barefoot in the forest with nothing but the trees and grass. On this trip, I got to  practice grounding in the presence of others.

How I grounded on a weekend trip in a home with my best friend, her husband, baby, plus her mom, sister, and grandmother: 
1) Said YES to being outside when it made sense to. Whether it was going to cut fresh flowers for the birthday party with my best friend or sitting with her husband on the patio. Letting the fresh air recalibrate my energy without too much effort on my part. 
2) Stayed tapped into my intention of loving, relaxed connection and celebration. When we have an intention we can return to, it grounds our perception into the flow of energy that we actually desire to be in. 
3) Slept. The first night we got in, I was exhausted from waking up early and the flight. Without any guilt, I excused myself and fell asleep around 9:00 PM. In the past, I would have talked myself into staying awake because it was such a short trip and I wanted to make the most out of the time that we had. Understanding how my body works, I now know that I require sleep in order to *truly* make the most out of our time together. It's become about quality over quantity which feels WAY better. 

My favorite small identity shift 

When I fly, I am the type of person who... 

Before this weekend, my answer to this would have been: 
When I fly, I am the type of person who gets to the airport at least one hour before boarding time and crams everything into a carry-on bag. I get tunnel vision throughout the entire security process and pray for it to be as quick as possible. Once I've found my gate, I will take a walk around to find a snack and something to drink. I've definitely paid for priority boarding because the idea of baggage claim makes my sense of urgency want to pull my hair out.  My anxiety is clenching my jaw until the moment I place my baggage in the overhead bin. I'd get my take-off song cued up on my phone and sit and read while the rest of the plane boarded for the next 45 minutes.

Since I was traveling with my friend's family, I didn't have the same level of control over the travel process as I do if it's just me or me and my husband. This lack of control was an invitation to be even more tense than usual or lean into not having to be the one in charge. 

I made the choice to lean in. I challenged almost every thought I had about the type of person I am when I fly. I was the LAST person to board the plane on the flight home. I literally took a minute to go to the bathroom when they called my zone up. Me even a couple months ago would NEVER. I would have it in my head that I would miss boarding and the flight would take off without me.

But I remembered these beliefs were choices that I kept choosing. These were beliefs about myself and I was really, really tired of choosing them. I didn't want to be up-tight. I don't want to have to always be the responsible one. I don't have to always be assuming the worst and playing it all out in my mind.

When I sat there watching everyone stand in a chaotic line, I felt so calm. I used to be one of those people, but I didn't need to be in this situation. I didn't need to be in a rush, so I wasn't. I thought that it would have made me so anxious to do that, but it didn't. 

If I could shift this, what else about my identity could I have fun with? 

The universe even rewarded my willingness to try new ways of being with an OPEN MIDDLE SEAT in the row I was in! 

For now, my flying answer looks like this: 
When I fly, I am the type of person who checks a bag when necessary, gets to the airport at a reasonable time, and waits to be one of the last ones boarding. ​

My takeaway from the week 

Identity work can be fun. When we decide to play around with perception and ways of being, we create the space for miracles to occur. 

​

Your turn to answer the prompt... 

When I travel, I'm the type of person who...