Often, we think that connecting with ourselves requires a large, uninterrupted block of time. We imagine we need an entire weekend away, a complete change of scenery, or hours of perfect silence to find out how we are truly doing. In reality, waiting for these massive windows of time often means we spend most of our days entirely disconnected from our bodies. We move from one task to the next, ignoring the subtle whispers of fatigue or tightness until they become too loud to ignore.
When we live with this constant forward rush, we naturally lose touch with the present moment. True connection does not have to be a grand gesture or a complicated practice. The most sustainable shifts happen in the quiet, ordinary spaces of our day. It is simply about learning how to check in with your system before the overwhelm takes over completely.
When our attention is always focused outwards
On an everyday basis we typically pay attention to everything outside of ourselves (the screen you’re looking at, your friends/colleagues/strangers you are listening to, your calendar, and any other things that you have to do). As a result, we have very little awareness of our physical body. You may find yourself holding your breath while reading your email or crossing your legs in a way that will allow you to maintain your posture for hours. While this response is quite normal in a busy environment, what we are actually doing is allowing our brains to adapt to whatever is going on.
However, when we live solely in our heads, we lose the point of connection (grounding) to the nervous system. Accumulated stress can occur throughout the morning and afternoon in very small increments—a tiny bit of shoulder elevation or a tiny tight jaw can compound throughout the day, and by evening time we can feel completely drained, but for some reason we cannot recognise the full extent of what happened.
The path back to feeling good and relaxed doesn’t have to be complex; it is simply the first step to connecting back to your body through deep breaths and mindful pauses.
We recommend that you see: When the day starts before you do
What the herd teaches us about checking in
When you spend time on the land watching the herd, you begin to see a very different way of operating. Horses are constantly checking in with themselves and their surroundings, but they do so without effort, drama, or judgment. A horse does not wait for a major crisis to regulate her nervous system; she does it continually throughout the day.
If a sudden noise startles our mare Ria, she will lift her head, alert and focused, gathering information about her environment. Once she determines the space is safe, she does not carry that residual anxiety around for the rest of the afternoon. Instead, you will see her take a deep, shuddering breath, shake her entire body from head to tail, and lower her muzzle back to the grass. She has checked in, allowed the energy to move through her, and returned to a state of ease.
Similarly, our gelding Baba might stand quietly in the paddock, shifting his weight gently from one hind leg to another. He is completely aware of his physical weight, his connection to the ground, and the rhythm of his breathing. He does not struggle with his thoughts or wish he was somewhere else; he simply allows himself to occupy his current state fully. By observing them, we learn that checking in is not an administrative task to tick off a list. It is a natural, ongoing loop of returning home to yourself.
At Tula Vida, we hold the space for you to simply be and truly rest in nature. Learn more here.
Grounded practices for your daily routine
Bringing this gentle awareness into your daily life does not require you to leave your desk, buy special tools, or alter your schedule. It simply requires you to drop your attention downwards for a few seconds at a time. Here are a few small, simple ways to check in, inspired by the steady rhythm of the land:
- The grounding check: Wherever you are sitting or standing at this moment, notice the weight of yourself resting on the ground beneath your feet, whatever form that takes: carpet, wood, tile—imagine you are standing on open earth, surrendering your weight to the ground completely for three breaths, letting go of the need to hold yourself up.
- The jaw and shoulder release: Loads of unexpressed tension is stored in our facial muscles. Let your lower jaw drop away for just a moment and separate your teeth a little. Move your tongue. At the same time, let your shoulders glide down away from your ears. See if a natural sigh wants to follow.
- The external anchor: When your thoughts are spinning too fast, take your eyes off your work and draw them to one natural thing right near you. A plant on the windowsill, the shape of the clouds outside, the pattern of wood grain on a desk. Let your eyes rest on it for a moment, pulling your mind into the present, physical moment with the texture and sensation of nature.
Allowing the moment to be enough
Little as they are, over time they soak into the nervous system—quite like a horse shaking off a moment of stiffness—it is in these tiny resets that daily stress is prevented from piling up into a mountain of fatigue.
You don’t have to fix whatever you find when you check in. If you find you’re tired, anxious, frustrated, you don’t have to trick yourself into being fine or do anything to “shift the energy.” Noticing honestly, being curious about what is happening in your body, and genuinely breathing into that are truly the quiet beginnings of our path to calm.