The Week My Plans Went Pear Shaped

I disappeared for a week. Not intentionally or in a someone kidnapped me kind of way. Life simply had other ideas than what was on my to-do list!

It started with my dog becoming poorly. If you’ve ever cared for an unwell animal (or child), you’ll know there’s something about those middle-of-the-night trips into the garden, standing in your pyjamas in the early hours, and operating on only a few hours of sleep. Sleep became a luxury and my productivity disappeared.

Then came a hospital appointment in Edinburgh as part of the medical trial I’m still involved in following cancer treatment. It was actually a lovely day because I caught up with my wonderful friend Sandra, but by the time I came home I was already mentally rearranging everything I’d hoped to get done because the wifi signal on the train is RU-BISH.

Then my parents arrived earlier than expected to look after the dog while Bob and I escaped for a few days away. There was another 3 hours lost.

The carefully planned week of bossing my business, making progress on my to-do list and creating traction in my membership went in the bin with far too many poo bags (iykyk).

Suddenly there wasn’t enough time for any of it.

Or so I thought.

Funny how life has a way of teaching exactly what we most need to remember. During this week of having to scrap everything I’d planned, the reminder that the only constant in life is change itself came across my social feed. Timely indeed.

One of the things I’ve been exploring recently in my Unstuck Embodiment sessions is grounding. Not the Instagram version with perfectly positioned crystals and aesthetic barefoot photographs. The real version that your nervous system understands - the one that says:

• “I am here.”
• “I am safe.”
• “I can deal with one thing at a time.”

I’ve realised that when I’m grounded, I speak to myself differently. Instead of criticising myself because something isn’t perfect, I become curious. What can I learn here? What if this is simply an experiment? What if good enough really is good enough today?  Curiosity is surprisingly compassionate. It creates space for learning instead of judgement. And boy, did I lean on this last week!

The more I work with people, the more I notice that feeling “stuck” often isn’t because we don’t know what to do. It’s because our nervous system is quietly convinced we’re not safe. Safe enough to slow down, to rest, to make a decision, to begin what your heart is calling for.

Grounding isn’t about controlling life. It’s about creating enough steadiness inside ourselves that we don’t need life to be perfectly controlled.

Some days grounding looks like breathwork. Some days it looks like placing your hands on your body and remembering you’re here. Some days it looks like walking without headphones and really noticing your feet meeting the earth. And, some days it looks like hugging a tree (I’m a wholehearted advocate of tree hugs).

What I do know is this:

The weeks when life falls apart are often the weeks that reveal which practices actually support us.

Anyone can feel calm when everything is going according to plan. The real practice begins when the plan disappears.

So this week I’d love to leave you with a few journaling questions that I shared in The Unstuck Embodiment membership to support integration of a grounding somatic practice:

✨ Where in your life do you currently feel most grounded?

✨ What drives your actions right now: fear, desire, necessity or something else?

✨ What are you avoiding because you don’t yet feel safe enough?

✨ What grounding ritual could you commit to for the next seven days?

The last one is particularly juicy because tiny rituals repeated consistently have a wonderful habit of changing much bigger things than we first imagine.

Let me know how you get on. If you feel like learning more about grounding, you can watch the full episode of The Unstuck Edit on YouTube or on Spotify. I’d love you to join me on the mat where I can support you coming back to your body, releasing any stuck emotions or energy, and connecting to your intuition and clarity. You can find out more here.

Until next time pals, stay in the light.

Gail x

PS - If this has resonated with you, please do drop me an email and let me know.