Diadem Day 1: Grounding

The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you.
— Robert Louis Stevenson

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Today your task is to check in with yourself and assess your basic needs. You probably know what they are. But do you get so caught up in daily life that you forget? Think how you’d answer these questions:

• Do you get enough sleep?
• Do you drink enough water?
• Do you eat some fresh and unprocessed foods every day?
• Do you get some exercise regularly that you enjoy?
• Do you feel safe?
• Do you allow time in your week to be in touch with nature and sunlight?
• Do you make time for and nurture your caring relationships & friendships?
• Is there abundant beauty in your life?
• Do you do things that give you a sense of joy, fulfillment, or purpose?
• Do you get daily or weekly spiritual nourishment or solitude?

Jennifer Louden* suggests asking yourself the following question regularly, especially when you feel tense, overloaded, or crummy:

“What do I need to help me better care for myself right now?”

Write this on a Post-it or slip of paper, and put it on your bathroom mirror, refrigerator, computer screen, or steering wheel. All day, check in with yourself and think about how you’d answer the question at this moment.

*The Women’s Comfort Book by Jennifer Louden (Harper, 1992) inspired many of this week’s ideas.

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For today:

1. Eat something natural and raw, like a ripe peach or a luscious strawberry. Eat as slowly as you can, concentrating on the taste, texture, and color. Sense this food’s life energy. Be grateful.


2. Sit or lie someplace quiet (even if you have to shut yourself in the bathroom). Close your eyes. Inhale and hold your breath for a moment. Exhale completely. When you inhale again, imagine you are breathing in pure relaxation. Exhale and imagine you are breathing out all the tension of your day or week. Do this a few more times.


3. Try to spend some time today in an outdoor place you enjoy. Go to a public garden, walking trail, or body of water. If it’s your own garden, don’t think about the weeding you need to do. If you don’t live near green places, at least stand under a tree and look into the leaf canopy.


4. Stand barefoot (you can do this indoors or out). With your feet shoulder length apart, bend your knees slightly and sink your attention to your solar plexus (the area around and above your naval). This is a basic t'ai chi stance. Feel the four corners of your feet connecting with the ground. Imagine roots growing down into the earth. Draw energy through your legs, up and through your body, all the way to the top of your head. This energy makes a shining crown. Picture it; wear it all day.


5. Do some stretching. Lying on your back, hug your knees into your chest and stay there for at least five breaths. Or from a standing position, bend forward and hang loose like a rag doll for a minute or two. If you like yoga, do child’s pose and forward folds.

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Today’s prize is the book Lavish Lace: Knitting with Hand-Painted Yarns by Carol Rasmussen Noble and Cheryl Potter. The yarns used in the projects aren’t necessarily laceweight, and the projects start with simple patterns and progress to more complex ones.

Have a great day, Ravenclaws!