Cold Feet
Written by: Melanie Groves; Metamorphosis Healing
Whether in the throes of the holiday hustle or swimming in the post holiday wind-down, stress is rearing its head and the antidote is to get grounded. Some folks might be surprised to hear that the wind-down stresses people out too. It does. I had a client worried about the slow down because she admitted that each year she went so hard that inevitably when she would slow down, let her guard down, she would get sick. I’ve definitely been there. Getting grounded has been my secret weapon for avoiding that post holiday sick in the last few years though. Woohoo for grounding!
While there are a number of ways to help you get grounded I’ve recently re-discovered using cold to help you get grounded. If you live in a cold climate like a do (or have access to really cold water) here are a few ways to kickstart that grounding and capitalize on a number of other health benefits too:
While I had used all these methods before for other benefits I’d never connected it, until recently, to also helping me ground and get centered. Years ago, to help get me out of a depression, I had used cold showers for its reported mood enhancement and with great success. Later on, while training for a half marathon, I’d sit in ice baths after the really long runs and amazingly had hardly any muscle soreness the next day vs. if I skipped the ice bath I’d be limping for days after. And barefoot in the snow, well that I discovered when I was pregnant and having hot flashes and it seemed the fastest way to bring relief of those uncomfortable symptoms. So now how awesome to connect added benefits of grounding to these practices. And, much to this geek’s researcher delight, in addition to grounding, these practices have also been shown to boost your immune system which we know is taxed harder when we are in stress. So I’d call that a gift with purchase! A win-win if you will!
Try out the cold! Do one or all three! I promise once you get past the initial shock you’ll feel great! And if you try and you really can’t, not to worry, you can also get grounded with this meditation. Be well this holiday season!
La’akea
