APRIL IS FOR AWE!!

HAPPY APRIL! I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS MONTH’S PRACTICE, SEEKING AWE AND WONDER!!

Welcome to April is for AWE! This month we’ll be seeking to be amazed every day! We did a sampling of this practice in our January and February gratitude practice, and I had so much fun with it that I decided to make it the focus for April! Not only is it fun to seek awe and amazement daily, but awe-inspiring moments have also been found to benefit our mental and physical health. I’ve included some snippets from recent research on the benefits of awe-inspiring moments below. If you’re thinking of ways to seek out awe each day during this challenge, it’s simple! Look around your environment daily and find something that amazes and inspires you. One example of something that filled me with awe recently is refrigeration! It came as I was listening to a story on The Splendid Table about the hundred years of cooling advancement that led us to the refrigeration of the foods that we enjoy today and that we now all have this awesomeness in our house and don’t think of how much work it took to get here amazes me!

Another way to find awe is to look up! This month we have numerous planets in our sky, and to see a planet like Jupiter as a bright “star” in our evening sky while knowing that it is a planet that is more than ten times the size of earth amazes me every time I see it. Additionally, any time you’re seeking awe outdoors, you’ll not only find plenty of things to be inspired by (i.e., a flower blooming, a bird next building, ants working together…), you’ll get the added benefit of being in nature and the boost of goodness it provides to your health. So let’s be inspired this April with this awe and wonder practice! See below for recent studies highlighting the greatness of awe and being in nature!

A final note of goodness, as you seek awe this month and experience the wonder of witnessing a beautiful sunset or standing in a forest of towering trees, know that your body will also be releasing hormones to support your health. So not only will you get the fun of being surprised, inspired, and filled with wonder for our world this month, but you also will be participating in a practice that is incredibly impactful on your physical and mental health, making it a great practice to continue well past April!

I’d also love to see what is inspiring you! Please share your pictures of awe-filled moments with the hashtag #aprilisforawe and tag me @groundedpractice on Instagram. I can’t wait to be inspired by you!

A FEW RECENT STUDIES ON THE BENEFITS OF AWE:

1. Awe Motivates Authentic-Self Pursuit. (Jiang & Sedikides 2022)

2. "The Awe-Self Theory" suggests that experiencing awe can promote a self-transcendent mindset, which leads to greater well-being and pro-social behavior. (Shiota et al., 2021)

3. Awe-inducing experiences can decrease feelings of entitlement and increase generosity toward others. (Piff et al., 2015)

4. Exposure to awe-inspiring nature scenes can reduce anxiety symptoms and increase positive emotions. (Sturm et al., 2021)

5. Awe can enhance creativity by broadening our perspective and increasing our openness to new ideas. (Shiota et al., 2017)

6. Experiencing awe can promote a sense of meaning and purpose in life, which can lead to greater resilience and well-being. (Stellar et al., 2017)

Week 3! Minding our Money

Welcome to our third and final week of “Minding Your Money and Making it Multiply!” March challenge! This week is all about setting yourself up to continue the clarity you’ve built upon! We will set up our budget this week based on what we’ve learned in the last three weeks. Take out your Clarity and Expense Tracker pdfs and follow the steps below!

Review your expense tracker and answer the following questions. You can use THIS REFLECTION FORM or jot your notes down on paper.

• REFLECTION + QUESTIONS:

• How you spend your money demonstrates what you prioritize.

• What does your spending say about your priorities?

• Is your spending in alignment with your true priorities?

• If not, what can you change to make your spending more reflective of who you are/want to be?

• Review your assets and debts.

• Do your debts and assets reflect your priorities?

• If you have debt:

• How and where can you reduce spending and shift those dollars to reduce your debt?

• What are the action steps in your Clarity form are you ready to take?

• CREATE YOUR MONTHLY BUDGET

• Utilizing what you have learned from your reflection, use the forms/spreadsheet linked below to complete your monthly budget. Include the following information::

• INCOME: Calculate your total monthly receivables from all sources to determine your income.

• EXPENSES:

• TRACK: Keep track of all your monthly expenses, including fixed costs like rent and variable expenses like groceries.

• CATEGORIZE: Divide your expenses into categories like housing, transportation, food, entertainment, etc.

• REVIEW FOR ALIGNMENT: Continue to check how your expenses align with your priorities and adjust as needed.

• PRIORITIZE BASED ON THE FUTURE YOU! Set priorities based on where you are headed: Reread your notes on your Clarity form about the future you, and prioritize your expenses by focusing on where you are going. Cut back on anything that aligns differently with where you are headed.

• MONITOR: monitor your progress: Keep track of your spending regularly and adjust your budget as needed. Use the tools from this challenge or other apps or spreadsheets to help you stay on track.

• KEEP GOING! It is incredible how we can change our trajectory for the positive when we pay attention to where we are and act as if we are already where we are going!

YOUR TOOLS

CLARITY - MONTHLY BUDGET PDF

CLARITY - MONTHLY BUDGET FILLABLE PDF

CLARITY - MONTHLY BUDGET PRINTABLE PDF

MONTHLY BUDGET SPREADSHEET

March is for Minding Your Money and Making it Multiply Week 2!

Welcome to Week 2 of our Mind Your Money and Make it Multiply Challenge!

Last week we focused on being clear on our full financial picture with acceptance and enthusiasm. This week we are going to do the same with our spending! All the details below!

WEEK 2

BE CLEAR ON HOW YOU ARE PRIORITIZING YOUR EXPENSES (and how you can tweak your spending to honor the future you!)

You can use one of the tracking sheets below or get a small notebook and record everything you spend. This week is really about being clear on exactly where your dollars are going. No matter the price ($0.50 loan to a colleague needing a vending machine snack?), record it all!

You'll note on the expense tracking sheet that there is an option to note feelings when purchasing. You can do this right after spending or how you feel when you get home. It can be interesting to see if certain purchases occur during certain feelings and how you feel about certain purchases—for example, bills or other necessary costs. An idea of this will be helpful next week when you begin prioritizing how you will spend going forward. This week is also a great chance to continue to review last week's template. Please take a look at the March 19th blog post for more information.

This week’s resources:

EXPENSE TRACKER PDF

FILLABLE EXPENSE TRACKER PDF

PRINTABLE EXPENSE TRACKER PDF

Connecting to your future self

As part of this week’s challenge, we’re envisioning where we’re going and working to embody that version of us now. I originally learned about this type of goal setting from Dr. Joe Dispenza. I highly recommend listening to his work and trying some of his strategies. If you are completing this week’s tool/pdf and working to understand how to better connect with or envision your future self, here are some of the steps I have learned from Dr. Joe Dispenza:

1. CREATE YOUR VISION: Be clear on your vision: Spend time clarifying where you want to go, what you want to achieve, and how you want to/will feel when you get there. Write it down and make it as specific as possible.

2. VISUALIZE YOUR FUTURE DAILY: Create a daily visualization practice: Set aside time each day to visualize your future self as if you have already achieved your goals. Use all your senses to make it feel as real as possible. Really picture it and focus on the FEELING of embodying future you.

3. AFFIRM YOUR BELIEF IN THIS FUTURE: Use affirmations: Incorporate positive affirmations into your day to keep your mind focused on what is possible and achieving your vision..

4. LET GO OF BELIEFS THAT KEEP YOU FROM GETTING WHERE YOU ARE GOING: Let go of limiting beliefs: Identify and let go of any limiting beliefs or negative self-talk that may be holding you back. Replace them with positive affirmations and visualization of the future you.

5. ACT: Take inspired action: Use your visualization practice to inspire action towards your goals. Take small steps each day towards your vision and celebrate your progress along the way.

March is for Minding Our Money and making it multiply!

Between St. Patrick's Day's Rainbows with their Pots of Gold to my affinity for alliteration, the next three weeks are devoted to money! And we're starting today! This week our focus is CLARITY. And the best way to have clarity around our money is to know what exactly what we have and where. Once we clearly understand where we are with our finances, our goals and growth can continue to be identified and improved upon. Please note that I am not a financial advisor nor a money expert! But as someone who wants to utilize money in powerful and beneficial ways, I love to dive deep into how to manage and bring in money!

So, let's get real and focus on what we currently have!

This week's challenge: CLARITY - BEING CLEAR ON WHERE I AM CURRENTLY WITH MY FINANCES (and where I want to go)

Again, the best way to have clarity around your money is to understand your finances. This "understanding" means knowing exactly how much money is in each account (checking, savings, your accounts), how much you owe to others (debt), and where you want to go in the future (investments). This week is just about getting honest with everything, and the pdf below will help you do just that! (without fear or doom!) I'm excited for us to get after this and have financial freedom and abundance in 2023!

Where I am Right Now; Where I am Going

THIS WEEK’S RESOURCES FOR YOU!

CLARITY PDF

FILLABLE - CLARITY PDF

PRINTABLE - CLARITY PDF

Joy is the simplest form of gratitude!

What an 8 weeks! Thank you for joining me on this journey. Below you will find all of our gratitude prompts, affirmations, and quotes for our challenge. Revisit them anytime! Let’s stay in touch! I am so happy that so many of you will continue to join on March’s grounded practice - of March is for Money Management! Over three weeks we’ll review our thoughts around money and receive practical practices to manage it effectively. I will share resources from money experts in my life as well as other resources I’ve enjoyed. Like this challenge, those that join us for the March challenge/practice will receive a digital money management journal! For more info on this, click here. But back to our gratitude. I am so, so grateful for you!! Sending you so much love!

Gratitude

This month’s Grounded Practice: GRATITUDE

For January and February GRATITUDE is the focus. Gratitude nourishes our body and mind while also connecting us to the positive flow of our life and connections. Numerous studies (I have linked a few below) highlight the benefits of focusing on things you are grateful for each day. I love this practice because it can be done anywhere at any time and takes hardly any time at all. For example you can commit to waking up and thinking of one thing you are grateful for, or you can spend time journaling gratitude. Both accomplish the connection and positive emotions that are supportive of our body and spirit. Sincere gratitude is the focus, this article from NPR highlights the many benefits of a gratitude practice. It also notes that at times individuals can struggle with finding gratitude and seeking it creates feelings of guilt and/or imitation. It is important to remember with all of the practices shared here, and with life in general, that each of us navigates our life in the way that best resonates with us and finding what truly brings us motivation, contentment and hope is the best practice.  My hope is that some of these practices resonate with you and support you in finding peace and ease in your life. In lovingkindness, Emily @groundedpractice 

A few articles highlighting the scientific benefits of gratitude:

• Harvard Health: Giving Thanks Can Make You Happier

• NPR: If You Feel Thankful Write it Down

• Greater Good | Berkley: How Gratitude Changes Your Brain

• Research,com: 35 Scientific Benefits of Gratitude: Mental Health Research Findings

GROUNDED GRATITUDE | A MEDITATION

GROUNDED GRATITUDE | A MEDITATION

Sit on the earth and feel yourself connected to the ground. Breathe in and out three times deeply and gently close your eyes. Keep breathing and envision a golden g circling your abdomen and going down through you to the earth, collecting all the earth’s grounded nourishment for you while also distributing your golden gratitude back to it in thanks. At the same time picture a bright white light coming down through your head to the top of the g, and then down to the earth. As it moves all the way through you it comes back up around you, encompassing you like a bright white shell. Continue to sit and be wrapped in this glow of protection, sustenance, and nourishment; feel your connection to both below and above. Stay grounded in your gratitude for as long as you are able and/or feel the benefit in your body. When ready, take three more deep breaths, feel all the gold and white light pull within you, filling you with radiance, love and peace. Breathe in and feel this radiant love generate so much glow within your body that it creates a pressure to push out and release all that is not serving you.  As you exhale, it exits, absorbed by the earth to be turned back into nourishment. Feel the g still yoking you to the earth bathed in your bright white light and burned clean. As you breathe in see the base of your g collecting all the nutrients of the earth needed in your body. Observe it spinning into a golden ball collecting and holding all the goodness of the earth within your sacral. Exhale in gratitude. As you breathe in and out anew, let this goodness radiate out to all of your cells. As you stand, and as you continue to place your feet to the earth, step slowly and intentionally with the knowledge of your symbiotic connection. In each step, you can practice and acknowledge this connection, this co-nourishment and existence. Relax into your grounded gratitude. 

NOTE: If you are in a freezing cold, snow covered earth climate like I am, or anywhere where you do not have easy access to the earth, sit comfortably in your space and picture your g reaching through the space all the way to the earth below you and continue. 

What is Grounded Practice?

GROUNDED PRACTICE is any practice that supports you in connecting to your body, environment, and spirit  in a loving and tangible way. As I begin this new year and new blog series my intent is to share practices that have supported me in getting out of my head and into my body via words, offerings, and resources. In reflection, each practice is connected through three primary practices; movement, nourishment and flow. Over on instagram I will also be focusing specifically on a practice to incorporate for each month (or two) in the new year.  You can follow along on instagram @groundedpractice and also here on the blog, where I will continue to share the months’ focus as well as other reflections connected to grounded practices and grounded energy (more on that soon).  Thank you for being here! x, Emily