Roots & Rhythm: Grounding Myself, One Beat at a Time
- Thrive
- November 13, 2025
This Week's Theme
Theme: Roots & Rhythm
Crystal: Red Jasper — for grounding, motivation, and structure.
Affirmation: “I ground myself in the rhythm of each day, steady and strong.”
A Moment of Reflection
After posting my first blog two weeks ago, I was really proud that I hit “publish” by my deadline, but if I’m being honest…I didn’t want to share it.
Why? Because I’m not a writer. I’ve never built a website. What if people think this it’s dumb? What if I fail publicly?
Because…I still wasn’t ready to fully step out of my comfort zone.
Part of me figured I could just post it quietly, meet my own deadline, and never say anything about it again. It felt safer to let it fade away than to face the “now what?” that comes next. I know myself. I start hobbies and I “drop ‘em like it’s hot” before they really stick.
It actually took me a week to post about it. I tend to hit the peak of enjoyment and then lose steam when I don’t know what to do next. I move on to the next thing, chasing the high of something new.
One of the reasons I end up dropping things so easily is because I’ve always struggled to balance all the parts of my life. I’ll get hyper-focused on one thing: a person, a project, a habit; and it ends up taking over everything else. I’ve gone through phases where I only exercised, or only isolated, or only worked. I’d keep doing something until I got sick of it, decided I wasn’t good at it, or just found something new to fill the time.
But for the past last year, I’ve really been working on maintaining balance. I set weekly intentions to help ground me, motivate me, keep me calm, and sometimes, just to remind myself not to take life so seriously.
What intentions are for me
This week, my theme is “Roots & Rhythm”.
I’ve set the intention to maintain my daily rhythms, ground myself in structure, and acknowledge the changes to come. “Roots & Rhythm” is my reminder to slow down and reconnect with what grounds me.
What makes me, me? It’s more than just where I come from. It’s my values, my truth, the foundation I am building for myself. It’s learning to move with intention, in harmony with life’s tempo. Just like the playlists on my phone, life’s tempo is always changing. How we dance to it, that’s how we thrive.
Roots
Your “roots” represent your stability. To really know yourself at your roots, you have to dig deep into self-awareness.
You know the scene in Shrek where he says “ogres have layers, like onions?” That’s how I picture it. You have to peel back those layers you’ve built around yourself, the ones you think you need for protection.
Some layers are necessary; they keep us steady when everything around us shifts. But other layers? They just hide us. Our roots are what actually hold us in place. The part of us that doesn’t move, even when life does.
Rhythm
Your “rhythm” is the flow. The pulse of your day, the heartbeat that carriers you through. For me, it’s literally music. It helps me find my own pace; it sets the tone for where I want to be.
Sometimes it’s my favorite song while I clean. Sometimes it’s chill lo-fi beats while I work. Sometimes it’s just the sound of my breath during medication. Rhythm reminds me that grounding doesn’t always mean stillness; it means presence.
Grounding looks different for everyone. To feel grounded is to be present, stable, and connected, both physically and mentally.
As someone juggling ADHD, anxiety, and OCD, grounding is something I have to practice, I’m learning to break the cycle of being inattentive, then over-worrying, then overcompensating, until I burn out and start over again.
That’s why I value grounding routines.
Sometimes grounding is quiet. Turning off the noise in my head, tuning into my breath, feeling my lungs move in rhythm, that’s enough for a few minutes of peace.
Other times, it’s not that calm. Some days I’m not ready for stillness, and that’s okay. On those days, I throw in my headphones, belt out an off-key song, and clean or craft until I feel more like myself again.
Once I’m grounded, then I can reflect. If I try to reflect too soon, I usually just hear noise. Connecting back to my roots helps me understand what’s really going on beneath the surface.
Growth
Life is hard sometimes. That’s why taking care of your roots, caring for yourself, matter so much.
Water. Sunlight. Food. Rest.
It’s simple, but we forget.
When you are true to yourself, your life starts to fill with the things and people that belong there. When you’re truly yourself, you also learn who’s not meant to stay. As Donkey told Shrek, “Not everyone likes onions”, and that’s okay. You can’t be true to yourself and make everyone like you.
Without roots, life can feel chaotic; like you’re skipping through songs on your playlist, not sure what you want to hear.
For me, my go-to grounding routine is what I call my “nightly reset”. Cozy clothes. Skincare with an affirmation. A few minutes to reflect on what went well, what I want to work on, and most importantly, a chance to mute the noise in my head.
Once I realized this routine wasn’t part of a façade, but something really for me, I started to love it. My routines became rituals, or in this week’s case, my rhythm of calmness.
Grounding is a mental state, but sometimes tangible items help. This week, I am working with a couple pieces of Red Jasper. In holistic healing, crystals are believed to carry different vibrations that connect to the body’s seven chakras. (I’ll dive deeper into that in future posts.)
Red Jasper corresponds with the Root Chakra, grounding, structure, and motivation.
If you’re like me, routines can feel boring or restrictive. But they don’t have to be. Grounding is just the tool to help us show up as our truest selves. It’s not rigid, it’s whatever we need in the moment.
Grounding looks different all the time. Sometimes it’s crafting. Sometimes it’s a walk outside. Sometimes it’s just sitting still with my breath, re-setting before the next day.
As I set my intentions for this week, I’m building structure to accept the change ahead. I’m grounding myself in motivation, in truth, and in vulnerability. Sharing this journey with you, one beat at a time.
A Mini “Roots & Rhythm” Practice.
Stillness Challenge:
- Find a comfortable spot
- Play some quiet and calming music
- Set an intention and say it out loud
- Set a 5-minute timer
- Breathe and just be present with your body.
Active Challenge:
If you can’t sit still, ask yourself why. What’s on your mind? Is there something you can do about it?
Set a 5–10-minute timer and start. Once the timer goes off. Stop.
Take a breath, and decide your next step with intention. If you don’t have the physical or mental capacity to do more, then don’t. Your next step is what you need in that moment to show up as your best self, for you.