Mindful Eating and Inner Healing

If you're looking to be in the best health of your life, cultivating a strong connection with the language of your body is paramount.


By honing our ability to listen to the subtle whispers and cues of our physical and emotional selves, we empower ourselves to make informed decisions that support our overall well-being.


Through the practice of connecting scattered parts, we lay the foundation for this profound dialogue with our bodies, enabling us to tap into our innate wisdom and intuition.


Welcome to the third installment of our grounding series, where we delve into the art of reconnecting scattered parts to reclaim our inner balance, presence and connection with felt sense in the body. In this session, I invite you to join me in a beautiful guided practice.


Picture yourself like a flock of birds suddenly startled into flight, their once harmonious grounded formation scattered across the sky. Similarly, parts of ourselves often feel fragmented amidst the hustle and bustle of daily life. But just as those birds seek to realign and find their way back together, we too yearn for a sense of wholeness and alignment.


Grab your headphones, find a comfortable place to sit or lie down and immerse yourself into this practice.


Feel free to share this practice with anyone who may need it. It's a great tool to use when feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or in need of a moment to feel present and connected.


Check out the show notes page HERE


From my heart to yours


Enjoy


Larissa

Many of us have a low tolerance for discomfort in our lives and a high affliction for distraction. We are constantly being pulled away from ourselves like a flock of birds suddenly startled into flight, their once grounded harmonious formation dispersing chaotically across the sky. Our own minds and authentic selves can really feel scattered and fragmented amidst the distractions of daily life. We often feel lost and seeking direction like those startled birds, yet we yearn for a sense of alignment, connection, and wholeness. Today, I'm sharing another beautiful grounding practice, which is actually part 3 of this three-part grounding


series. It's called connecting scattered parts. As we strive to connect our scattered parts we embark on this transformative journey of inner exploration Seeking to reclaim our focus we center ourselves and find solace in the present moment. So grab your headphones and find a comfortable seated or lying posture. Somewhere where you feel at ease and somewhere that you won't be distracted for a little while. This guided practice will start as soon as the podcast intro finishes. Enjoy my friends. Begin by finding a relaxed seated position. Allowing your body to soften by unclenching the jaw. Gliding the shoulders


down, allowing them to nestle comfortably into the frame of the body, and opening up any rigidness or contracted muscles around the belly. Whenever you feel ready, close down the eyes gently, turning towards the rhythm of your breath as it flows in and out of the body like a beautiful tide. Feel free to adjust the rhythm and the pace of your breath to evoke a profound, comforting sense of connection with yourself and your physical body. As I count from 5 to 1, start to envision yourself stepping away from the noise and the chaos of the outside world


and entering into a serene sanctuary within. Firstly, picture yourself lying in a tranquil garden space or secluded forest clearing. Somewhere, anywhere, where you can find a sense of solace and connection with your inner self, and also the earth around and beneath you. Feel yourself becoming more and more immersed in this peaceful environment, letting go of external distractions and embracing the tranquility of your inner sanctuary. As I count from 5 to 1, this gentle retraction from the outer world gets deeper and deeper. 5. Continuing to connect with your chosen comfortable place in nature. Comfortable place in nature.


4. Start to sense or visualize yourself lying down, feeling like your body is being deeply immersed and connected to the earth or the surface below you. 3, on the next out breath completely let go of all the happenings of the outer world. Allow your image or your visualization to become brighter and brighter. 2. Sink further and further into your body, allowing the parts of your body connected to the surface below to become heavy and grounded. 1. Grounded. 1. Invite a warm comforting embrace to delicately envelop you like the softest, most luxurious blanket imaginable, cocooning you in


a serene sense of security. As you lay grounded and comfortable in your scene, start to visualize the sun, slowly but gracefully descending on the horizon. It casts a golden glow of warmth gently across your face and your body. Feel this warmth. Feel the comfort of this warmth. And allow yourself just to let go sinking deeper and deeper into this warming comfort. As the body lies connected and grounded to the earth. Start to imagine yourself looking up at the brazen depths of darkness of the vast night sky. Focusing in on the glimmering force of the shimmering light


of the stars above. Observe their scattered arrangement. Light bursting between the deep indigo expanse of the night. And become aware of how some flicker, brighter and lighter than others. Each of these stars in the night sky represents a different aspect of yourself scattered across the expanse of the lunar landscape of the cosmos. Just as the stars in the night sky are scattered across the heavens, So too are the various thoughts, emotions and aspects of yourself scattered within and around your being. Some parts of ourselves have been splintered away into the depths many, many years ago, and


some more recent. Yet this is the time right now to bring yourself back to a sense of wholeness, alignment and oneness. Alignment and oneness. Although the stars are physically thousands of kilometres away from your current grounded aspect, In your visualisation you are able to reach up and connect with their light, drawing them closer and closer to you whenever you like. So take a moment now to draw your attention towards 1 particular star. Notice what brings your awareness to it. Is it brighter than the others? Is it the iridescent colours? Is it the iridescent colors? Or is


it just a feeling that's drawing you towards this 1 particular star? If this star were to symbolize a fragmented aspect of yourself, what would it be? This aspect could be something that you've lost or has diminished within you. Let your intuition be the guide here as you explore the depths of your consciousness. The answer could manifest as a flicker of energy you've given away, a dormant trait waiting to resurface, or even a long forgotten dream or goal that you still desire that's simply become clouded by the distractions, worry or happenings of life. Whatever it may be,


simply trust that it holds significance for you and your journey of self-discovery and grounding within. Even if nothing surfaces in the moment, trust that this star that you have chosen represents a piece of you. Represents a piece of you. Now as you allow this realisation to surface, reach out to this star. Reach out like you're picking an apple off a tree. And start to gently guide the light of this star towards the depths of your being, towards any part of your body, it could be your heart, it could be your belly, it could be your mind,


wherever you feel guided to draw this light, this fragmented aspect of yourself back towards your being. As it draws closer and closer, let it illuminate the shadows within, shedding light on your own path towards integration and wholeness. Once this light, this star has reconnected with the whole, you might take a moment to scan back over the sky and notice another star, another piece of yourself that has splintered or scattered away, reaching out and lovingly drawing it back to your heart, back to your wholeness. Once this star has been gathered, you might like to cast your awareness


across the sky again. And this time choose as many stars as you wish. As many stars that draw your awareness and your attention to them so you can gently bring them back to you. Bringing them back and reuniting them with yourself, with your wholeness, with your own magnificence. With each welcoming back, feel a sense of completeness and unity wash over you as you integrate all aspects of your being, grounding yourself into wholeness with your true self. Take a moment to reacquaint yourself in this brilliance of the newfound wholeness, knowing that you are a luminous constellation of


infinite potential yourself. Really start to notice any subtle shifts or transformations in your energy, the rhythm of your breath or sensations in your body, or it could even be in the emotions that are present or arise within you. Allowing yourself to really linger in this state of heightened awareness, savoring the sensations and insights that arise within you. With each guiding breath, deepen your connection to the present experience, anchoring yourself in the richness of the here and now. Now that you've welcomed back your scattered parts and opened up to any little subtle shifts within you, once this


practice is over, I invite you to explore how this newfound grounded sense of wholeness influences your perceptions and interactions with the world around you, including your decisions and self-care actions. Start to embrace the infinite possibilities that unfold before you, knowing that you possess the inner strength and the resilience to navigate life's journey with grace and purpose. Just as each star contributes to the beauty of the night sky, so do every part of you. Your thoughts, your emotions, your experiences, they all contribute to the richness of who you are and life around you. Slowly starting to ground


into the sensations of the breath. Knowing that you can come back to this beautiful scene, this guided experience, any time you wish, any time you feel you're pulled in many different directions, anytime you feel scattered or overwhelmed, just simply come back to this scene, gazing across the vast expanse of the night sky, and drawing 1 by 1 the scattered aspects of yourself slowly back into your being. But for now, whenever you feel ready, we slowly come back into sensation of the body connected to the earth below you. Now as I count from 5 to 1, slowly


start to reconnect to the world around you, as well as staying grounded to the world within you. 54321... 2... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... And Whenever you feel ready, you might like to stretch or wiggle your fingers and toes. Gently open your eyes, carrying with you this sense of alignment, wholeness and unity that you've cultivated within yourself today. And allow the benefits to wash in and through your whole entire being and your whole entire life. Revisit this practice often, even every day if you wish. I look forward to sharing with you

00:01 - 00:40

Speaker 1: Welcome to part 2 of the power of grounding. Today is a really special practice for you to bring together all of the information that I shared last week in part 1, Which was called the power of grounding and why it's crucial for mind-body connection What we'll be doing is I will share a quick recap now about what is grounding or you can go back and listen To part 1 if you missed out on that last week, there will be the show intro and then we're moving on to the beautiful grounding practice. I'll pop in the show


00:40 - 01:29

Speaker 1: notes below the time that the practice starts. So if you want to come back to this practice often, which I of course recommend you do, you can always just fast forward to the part where the grounding practice starts. Grounding is really being able to come into your body, feeling present in the body, and being able to clearly identify sensations going on inside the body. So having an interoceptive awareness and also sensations going on outside of the body. It really is this beautiful connection between mind and body and now there's so many reasons why we lose that


01:29 - 02:13

Speaker 1: connection which I went into in depth in our last episode, but they could be things like pain, generalized stress, or even trauma. Now the benefits of grounding, they really give us this beautiful foundation to navigate and balance our stress. And it allows us to be fully and completely aware of what's going on within. Our minds tend to lie to us often. I remember I was on the brink of burnout and people were saying, are you okay Larissa? And I'm like, yeah, I'm totally fine. I'm fine. Sometimes our minds like to lie to us and we lie


02:13 - 02:58

Speaker 1: to ourselves. But understanding this beautiful practice of grounding allows us to create deep, authentic connection with ourselves. Now, grounding when it comes to mindful eating is really important because we wanna start to navigate and understand the language of our body. In particular different cues and triggers to eat. Some cues and triggers to eat are because we're hungry but there's many cues and triggers to eat that don't involve hunger at all. And this is where the real magic happens when it comes to mindful eating. It's really starting to understand our behaviors and the sensations that happen internally


02:58 - 03:44

Speaker 1: and also externally that are some of our cues or triggers that drive us to eat or overeat certain foods. When we understand ourselves at an ever greater deeper level, then we have a platform to create lasting change instead of just getting wrapped up in the next fad diet thinking that that's the answer to all of our problems when we actually have a lot of internal and also external cues and triggers to eat. Now that you have a greater understanding about the art of grounding, no doubt you will see how important it is to create that connection


03:44 - 04:41

Speaker 1: between mind and body. To prepare yourself for this grounding meditation, find a comfortable seated or lying position, somewhere where you won't be distracted for about the next 10 minutes, somewhere where you feel safe. And if you choose to, you can close your eyes or keep them open. So next up is our show intro and then your beautiful grounding practice. Once you've settled into your seated or lying position, choose to either gently close your eyes or soften your gaze at a particular point, starting to invite a sense of calmness to wash over you. Lengthen the spine with


04:41 - 05:53

Speaker 1: a graceful stretch, and with a slow audible sigh, let go of any lingering tension in your body, allowing the shoulder blades to gently release into the frame of the body. If comfortable, gently close the mouth, feeling the upper and lower lip touching ever so slightly together. And then start to notice your breath moving in and out through the nose. Taking awareness to the body, and opening up to the points of contact between your body and the surface below you. On the next out breath, Sink into these points of contact, like you're relaxing into a warm bath.


05:55 - 07:03

Speaker 1: Feel the stability and the strength of the surface below you caressing your body. If you're seated, it might be your feet pressing against the floor, the underneath of the thighs pressing against the seat. If you're lying, it could be the back of the heels, the back of the pelvis or the shoulder blades pressing firmly into the surface below. Rest here for a moment, really finding that connection between the physical body and the surface below. With every exhale, sinking the mind and the body into these anchor points. Noticing any subtle sensations in or around these anchor points.


07:10 - 08:20

Speaker 1: Gently drawing breath in through the nostrils and becoming aware of which nostril feels more open and accepting of the breath. Tracking the journey of the breath as it moves through the nostrils, gliding down the back gliding down the back of the throat and moving into the lower lobes of the lungs. Being aware of that gentle rise of the belly on the in-breath, and the softening of the belly on the out-breath, Enjoying the awareness of the body with curiosity and acceptance. And gently take the mind, Guiding it through the body, starting at the top of the head


08:20 - 09:50

Speaker 1: and gently sweeping it through the body, opening up to any particular sensations that draw your awareness to them. Gently sweeping awareness down through the neck and over the shoulders. Gliding down the front and the back of the torso, creating connection, mind and body, allowing the awareness to cascade over the legs, to the heels or the soles of the feet, bringing loving attention to any parts of the body that are delivering sensation. It could be constriction or softness. The effects of gravity grounding the body into the earth below. There could be pain or peacefulness. Allow the in-breath


09:50 - 11:05

Speaker 1: to open up awareness of the body as a whole, gently drawing the breath in. You might even like to feel as though you're sending energetic roots from the points of contact of your body to the earth down into the earth, and on the breath, drawing up grounding earth energy. Exhale, sinking down, sending your energetic roots into the earth, connecting mind, body and matter. And gently inhale, drawing up grounding earth energy. Exhale, sinking down, sending your energetic roots into the earth, connecting mind, body and matter. Simply allow yourself to be present with the body right here, right


11:05 - 12:36

Speaker 1: now, in the moment. Noticing if the mind wanders off, and gently come back to the body. Releasing down into the earth, into the earth. Opening up a channel of communication between the mind and the body. Honoring any sensation that arises in the moment. And then allowing yourself to take 3 more gentle flowing breaths in through the nose, following the journey of the breath into the body, opening up to sensation, and the expansion on the in-breath, exhaling and just sinking into the body, and allowing the body to sink into the anchor points below you. Continue with this


12:36 - 14:19

Speaker 1: gentle expansion and softening. Rise and fall. You Allow the body to be a home base for the mind. Wherever the mind goes, the body stays grounded and anchored. And whenever you notice the mind wandering off, allow the body to guide it back to the here and now. Tune in and check in any time you need to during your days, and return to this practice often. And whenever you feel ready, you may like to reopen or focus your eyes. Gently looking around in your surrounds and noticing something that feels comforting or visually pleasing to your eyes. You


14:19 - 15:24

Speaker 1: might even like to take 1 hand over the middle of your chest, and 1 hand over your belly button. And feel the gentle pressure of your hands on the body. That sense of grounding, connection and love. Enjoy a stretch and return to your day. Feel free to share this practice with anyone you think may need it. It's great to come back to this grounding practice if you feel stressed, scattered, overwhelmed, anxious, on autopilot, or if you just need a moment to yourself to feel present, grounded and connected. So I hope you enjoyed this practice today, in


15:24 - 15:52

Speaker 1: next week's podcast I'll be sharing another grounding practice but a slightly different practice for you, so you can have some tools you can use in your daily life to start to befriend and open up to the language and sensations of your body. So thank you for listening, from my heart to yours, Have the most beautiful week and I look forward to sharing again with you next week. Bye for now.

The Power of Grounding: Part 2


Today, is beautiful grounding practice that will help you connect your mind and body. If you missed part 1 of our Grouding 3 part series, don't worry, I'll give you a quick recap of what grounding is all about before we dive into the practice. Once you've listened to the episode and would like to come back to enjoy the practice only then start the episode at 5 minutes 50 seconds. This is where the grounding practice starts.


What is Grounding?


Grounding is the practice of coming into your body, feeling present, and being able to identify sensations inside and outside of your body. It's a way to create a deep, authentic connection with yourself and understand the language of your body.


Benefits of Grounding



Provides a foundation to navigate and balance stress

Allows you to be fully aware of what's going on within

Helps create lasting change in behaviuors and triggers related to eating



Grounding Meditation Practice


To prepare for the grounding meditation, find a comfortable seated or lying position where you won't be distracted for the next 10 minutes. You can choose to close your eyes or keep them open. Here's a step-by-step guide to the practice:



Settle into Your Position: Close your eyes or soften your gaze, lengthen your spine, and let go of any tension in your body.

Connect with Your Breath: Notice the breath moving in and out through your nose, and become aware of the rise and fall of your belly with each breath.

Sweep Awareness Through Your Body: Gently guide your mind through your body, paying attention to any sensations that arise.

Grounding Earth Energy: Imagine sending energetic roots from your body into the earth, drawing up grounding earth energy with each breath.

Stay Present with Your Body: Allow your body to be a home base for your mind, and return to this practice whenever you need to feel grounded and connected.

Closing the Practice: When you're ready, gently open or focus your eyes, take a comforting look around, and feel the grounding connection and love within you.



Conclusion


I hope you enjoyed this grounding practice today. In next week's podcast, I'll be sharing another grounding practice to help you befriend and open up to the language and sensations of your body. Thank you for listening, and have a beautiful week ahead.


From my heart to yours, Larissa


Feel free to share this practice with anyone who may need it. It's a great tool to use when feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or in need of a moment to feel present and connected. See you next week!


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The Power of Grounding: Reclaiming Your Inner Wisdom


Have you ever felt like you're floating through life, disconnected from your body and the world around you? You're just being pulled along in this endless sea of distractions and obligations. If so, you're definitely not alone. But what if I told you there is a way to anchor yourself amidst the chaos to find solace in the present moment and reclaim the connection to your inner wisdom, your inner compass, and individual sense of self?


What is Grounding?



Grounding is really coming into the body, feeling present in the body and being able to clearly identify sensations inside the body and sensations outside the body.

It involves understanding the interoceptive and proprioceptive system, which help identify inner sensations and physical structure, respectively.

Grounding is a state of being, akin to anchoring oneself firmly in the present moment and being rooted in a profound connection to the physical body and surrounding environment.



The Benefits of Grounding



Provides a stable foundation to navigate and balance stress, anxiousness, disconnection, overwhelm, burnout, physical and emotional pain, and more.

Heightens awareness of sensations, emotions, and thoughts as they arise in the present moment.

Allows for a deep sense of presence, inner stability, and alignment with yourself and intuition



Grounding and Mindful Eating



Mindful eating involves being present and engaged with the experience of eating, paying attention to taste, texture, aromas, fullness, and hunger cues.

Grounding helps reduce distraction and external stimuli, allowing for a more satisfying and enjoyable eating experience.

Cultivating a body connection through grounding is a profound journey of self-discovery and empowerment.



Next Steps


Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing some grounding practices in our podcast episodes. If you found today's discussion valuable, feel free to share it with someone who might benefit from it. Stay tuned for more valuable information on grounding practices and mindful eating.


Your commitment to your wellbeing is a powerful force, and I'm here to help you every step of the way. Until next time, take a nourishing breath, savor the journey, and embrace the opportunity to live with everyday inspiration.


From my heart to yours, thank you for listening, and I look forward to sharing grounding practices with you in the upcoming episodes. Bye for now.


Subscribe to our Podcast | Free training: What's Mindful Eating and How Can It Help Me? | Show notes for this episode