I Am Grounded & Guided — A Living Practice Guide

I Am Grounded & Guided — A Living Practice Guide | Story'd With Love
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STORY'D WITH LOVE  ·  A LIVING PRACTICE GUIDE

I Am Grounded & Guided.

For the woman who is learning
to trust herself again

ENTER
STORYDWITHLOVE.COM

This journal is not a habit tracker. It is not a productivity tool.

It is a conversation you have been needing to have — with the part of yourself that knows exactly what you need, and has been waiting, patiently, for you to sit down and listen.

What follows are practices for your mind, your body, and your table. Use one at a time. Return when the world gets loud.

SECTION ONE
The Mind
Writing rituals to root, reflect, and reclaim your inner knowing

The journal begins with the mind — not because your thoughts are the problem, but because they are the doorway. When we learn to witness what we think without being ruled by it, we find the stillness underneath. The practices here are designed to be done slowly, with no goal other than presence.

How to Begin Your Ritual

Before you open to a blank page, create the conditions for honesty. These four steps take under three minutes and change everything about what follows.

STEP 01
Light something
A diya. A candle. Even a match held for a moment. In Indian tradition, the flame is not decoration — it is a witness. It signals to the body that ordinary time has paused, and sacred time has begun. One minute before a flame changes the quality of what comes through the pen.
STEP 02
Protect the time
Morning, just after waking, is when the mind is most unguarded and honest — before the performances of the day begin. Evening, just before sleep, is when the day can be metabolised and released. Choose one window. Put it in your calendar like a meeting you cannot cancel. Because you cannot.
STEP 03
Three breaths. Exactly three.
Not four, not ten. Three slow, deliberate breaths — inhale for four counts, exhale for eight. Feel the difference between your first breath and your third. Then write the very first word that arrives. Do not choose it. Let it arrive. That word is always true, and it is always the beginning of something.
STEP 04
Write without looking back
For the first five minutes, do not re-read. Do not edit. Do not pause to assess whether what you have written is interesting or coherent or good. The inner editor is the enemy of truth. Keep the pen moving. If you do not know what to write, write that — exactly that — until something else arrives. It always does.
THE PROMPTS

One prompt per session. No rushing. A single question, written into for ten minutes,
can shift what months of thinking could not.

01
What am I pretending not to know right now?
The mind loves to protect us from what it fears we cannot handle. This question calls its bluff. Sit with it. The answer usually arrives in the second paragraph.
02
Where in my life am I waiting for permission that only I can give?
We are trained to wait — for approval, for readiness, for the right moment. This prompt asks you to locate the specific place where you are the only door, and you have not yet turned the handle.
03
What story about myself have I told so long I forgot it was a choice?
The stories we carry about who we are — "I am not the type who…", "I have always been…" — are almost always inherited, not chosen. Name one. Then ask: does it still serve me?
04
What is the difference between the life I am living and the life I actually want?
Not a dramatic question. A precise one. Write the gap down in specific language — not "I want to be happier" but what happiness would look like on a Tuesday morning.
05
Where is fear disguising itself as logic in my life right now?
Fear is clever. It wears the costume of practicality, of responsibility, of "being realistic." Write about the decisions you are calling sensible that may actually be safe. There is a difference.
06
What would I do this week if I stopped waiting to feel ready?
Readiness is largely a myth. It arrives after the action, not before it. Write one specific thing. Then write the smallest possible version of that thing you could begin today.
07
What is the wisest part of me trying to say that the noisy part keeps interrupting?
Give the quiet voice a chance to speak. Let it use full sentences. Do not let the louder, more anxious voice edit it. This is the prompt to return to when nothing else is working.
08
Write a letter from the version of you who is already whole.
Not the healed future self — she is vague and distant. The already-whole self who exists right now, underneath the noise and the unfinished business. What does she want you to know? Begin with: "Dear one, you do not need to earn this."
09
What am I most grateful for that I have never once written down?
Gratitude lists have become performative. This prompt asks for the thing that has never made it onto a list — the quiet, unglamorous gift that is so woven into your life you have stopped seeing it. Write it slowly. Let it land.
10
If this chapter of my life were a book, what would I title it — and what would the next chapter be called?
Naming the chapter you are in creates perspective. Naming the next one creates direction. Both are acts of authorship. You are not the character. You are the writer.
Writing by Moonlight

The I Am Grounded & Guided journal is rooted in lunar wisdom. Match your writing to the current moon phase. The alignment is surprisingly natural — as if some part of you already knew.

PHASE
ENERGY & INVITATION
WRITE ABOUT
New Moon ☽ PLANT · BEGIN
The slate is clean. Possibility is highest. This is the time to plant seeds in language — to name, with specificity, what you are calling into being. The mind is most receptive to new belief tonight.
What I am choosing to believe this cycle. The intention I am setting — not as a goal, but as a decision. What I am no longer willing to carry forward.
Waxing ◓ BUILD · ACT
Energy is building. Momentum wants to be harnessed. This is the time for action-oriented writing — mapping, planning, noticing where aliveness lives in the body. What is gathering momentum?
The specific steps I am taking. Where my energy feels most alive. What is expanding in me. The belief that is quietly getting stronger.
Full Moon ○ ILLUMINATE · RELEASE
What was hidden becomes visible. The full moon illuminates — including the things we preferred not to see. This is the most emotionally charged writing of the cycle. Do not skip it. Bring a candle.
What the light has revealed. What I am celebrating — without minimising it. What I am consciously releasing. What I am ready to leave in this cycle.
Waning ◔ REST · INTEGRATE
The pace slows. The body asks for rest. This is not a failure of productivity — this is the integration phase. The learning lands here. What we write in the waning moon becomes the wisdom we carry into the next cycle.
What I learned this cycle that I want to carry forward. What I am grateful I tried. What wisdom arrived disguised as difficulty. What I am ready to receive next.
SECTION TWO
The Body
Breathwork and yoga to open what the pen cannot reach alone

You cannot write your deepest truths from a body that is held tight. These practices are offered as gentle preparation for your journaling session — not as a fitness routine, but as a way of unlocking the doors that thinking alone cannot open. Move slowly. There is nowhere to arrive.

Breathwork

Choose one practice per session. Each one opens a different door. The Sama Vritti clears. The Nadi Shodhana balances. The Bhramari processes. Learn to feel which one you need.

5 MINUTES · FOR SCATTERED MORNINGS
"Equal movement. Equal breath. The mind, given a simple task, grows quiet."
  • 01Sit with your spine long — cross-legged on the floor, or upright in a chair with both feet on the ground. Let your hands rest open on your knees, palms facing upward. This is a gesture of receiving.
  • 02Inhale slowly through your nose for a count of four. Let the breath fill the lower belly first, then the chest.
  • 03Hold the breath in for four counts. Stay relaxed. There is no tension in the hold.
  • 04Exhale through the nose for four counts. Let the breath leave completely — the last drop of air.
  • 05Hold the breath out for four counts. Notice the absolute stillness here. This is one complete round.
  • 06Complete six to eight rounds without force. When you are done, sit for one more breath in silence — then open your journal and write the first word that arrives without thought.
7 MINUTES · BEST BEFORE MORNING WRITING
"Balance the two hemispheres of the brain. Arrive at the page without a dominant side."
  • 01Form Vishnu Mudra with your right hand: curl your index and middle fingers into your palm, leaving the thumb, ring finger, and pinky extended.
  • 02Close your right nostril with your thumb. Inhale slowly through the left nostril for four counts.
  • 03Close both nostrils gently with your thumb and ring finger. Hold for four counts.
  • 04Release the right nostril. Exhale fully for eight counts. Let it be slow. Let it be complete.
  • 05Inhale through the right nostril for four counts. Close both nostrils. Hold for four counts. Release left nostril. Exhale for eight counts. This is one full cycle.
  • 06Complete eight to ten cycles. Notice afterward: the mind has two sides, and for once, neither is louder than the other. Write from that place.
5 MINUTES · FOR GRIEF, OVERWHELM, EMOTIONAL PROCESSING
"The sound that lives inside the body is the oldest language. Let it move through you before you ask the pen to carry it."
  • 01Sit comfortably. Close your eyes. Gently close your ears with your thumbs — block the outside world completely.
  • 02Rest your index fingers lightly over your closed eyelids. Middle and ring fingers over your nose. Pinky fingers at the corners of your lips. You are held.
  • 03Inhale deeply through the nose.
  • 04As you exhale, make a continuous humming sound — mmmmmmm — from the back of the throat, not the nose. Let the vibration be felt in the skull, the chest, the heart space.
  • 05Do not control the pitch. Let the sound be what it wants to be. Some sessions it is low. Some sessions it wavers. Both are correct.
  • 06Repeat seven to ten times. When you lower your hands and open your eyes, go directly to your journal. Write whatever surfaces — without filter, without apology.
A 15-Minute Yoga Sequence

These five poses form a complete practice — beginning in surrender, moving through awakening and opening, arriving at deep rest. Do them before writing in the morning, or as an evening closing ritual. Each pose carries an intention for your session.

"You are already safe. You are already home. This pose is a bow to that truth."
  • 01Kneel on the floor. Bring your big toes together, knees wide — as wide as feels comfortable.
  • 02Fold forward slowly until your forehead rests on the floor or a folded blanket. Let the earth hold the weight of your skull. You do not need to hold your head up here.
  • 03Extend your arms forward, palms flat and heavy. Or bring them back alongside the body, palms facing up — the gesture of complete release.
  • 04Breathe deeply into the back body. Feel the back ribs expand with each inhale. With each exhale, soften something — the jaw, the belly, the grip on whatever the day has already asked of you.
BEGINNING POSTURE · DO NOT SKIP THIS ONE
"The spine holds the stories the mind has forgotten. Let it move. Let it speak."
  • 01Come to all fours. Wrists directly below the shoulders, knees below the hips. Spine in its natural neutral position.
  • 02Inhale: let the belly drop toward the earth, lift the chest, lift the tailbone. This is Cow — warm, generous, open-hearted. Look softly forward.
  • 03Exhale: press the floor away, round the spine toward the ceiling, tuck the chin and the tailbone. This is Cat — protective, inward, releasing. Draw the navel toward the spine.
  • 04Move through eight to ten rounds, letting each movement grow slower and more deliberate than the last. Feel every degree of the spine's arc. This is not a stretch — it is an awakening.
"Fear lives in the hip flexors. This is not metaphor — it is physiology. Stay here. Breathe into it. It will soften."
  • 01From all fours, step your right foot forward to land between your hands. Lower the left knee to the ground and slide it back until you feel a deep stretch in the front of the left hip.
  • 02Rise up slowly, bringing your arms overhead, palms facing each other. Feel the whole front body open. Do not force the hips lower — let gravity do the work over time.
  • 03Option: bring your hands to anjali mudra at your heart. Close your eyes. Breathe. Set your intention for the writing session here — one word, one feeling, one question you are bringing to the page.
  • 04Hold for six full breath cycles — slow, complete breaths. Then switch sides. Move between them with intention, not speed.
"The forehead bows toward the knees. This is not defeat — it is reverence for what you are about to write."
  • 01Sit on the floor with both legs extended. Flex your feet, pressing out through the heels as if pushing against a wall.
  • 02Inhale to grow tall through the spine — feel the crown of the head lift. Then exhale and fold forward from the hips, not the waist. The fold begins deep in the pelvis.
  • 03Reach your hands toward your shins, ankles, or the soles of the feet — wherever they land without strain. Do not force the stretch. Allow it. Let gravity be the teacher.
  • 04Stay for eight slow breaths. Let each exhale offer the fold a fraction more depth. Let the forehead move toward the knees without arriving. The journey is the pose.
    • "What rises in this stillness belongs in your journal. This is where the session truly begins."
    • 01Sit sideways with your hip against a wall. As you lie back, swing both legs up so they rest vertically against the wall. Your back is flat on the floor.
    • 02Let the legs be completely heavy. Let the back soften into the floor. If you need support, place a folded blanket under the hips.
    • 03Place one hand over your heart and one over your belly. Close your eyes. Breathe naturally — you do not need to control the breath here.
    • 04Stay for three to five minutes. When you are ready to rise, roll gently to one side. Stay there for a moment before sitting up. Then go directly to your journal — without your phone, without checking anything. The state you are in right now is what you have been trying to arrive at.
    CLOSING POSTURE · REVERSES BLOOD FLOW · SIGNALS DEEPEST REST
    SECTION THREE
    Nourishment
    Ayurvedic food wisdom for a grounded, clear, and deeply fed life

    In Ayurveda, the ancient Indian science of life, food is not separate from consciousness. What we eat affects the quality of our thoughts, the texture of our sleep, and our capacity to feel rooted in our own bodies. These suggestions are drawn from traditional wisdom and offered as inspiration — not prescription. Your body knows more than any guide. Trust it.

    Foods That Ground

    When we feel scattered, anxious, or unmoored — the states that most often bring us to the journal — Ayurveda recommends warming, cooked, and nourishing foods to settle Vata energy. These are the foods of coming home to yourself.

    "In Ayurveda, ghee is a carrier — it takes what it is cooked with deeper into the body and the mind."

    Considered a rasayana in Ayurveda — a substance that rejuvenates at the deepest level. Ghee nourishes the nervous system, lubricates the joints and the mind, and is associated with building ojas — the subtle essence of vitality. It is the most sattvic fat in Indian cooking.

    Add a generous teaspoon to warm dal, rice, or khichdi. Stir it into warm milk with turmeric before bed. Cook your morning eggs in it instead of oil. Ghee is available and beneficial year-round, for most constitutions.

    ALL YEAR  ·  VATA BALANCING  ·  SATTVIC  ·  BUILDS OJAS
    "When in doubt, make khichdi. It has been the answer in India for five thousand years."

    The most sattvic complete meal in Indian tradition. Moong dal and rice cooked together create a perfectly balanced protein, are extraordinarily easy to digest, and produce a feeling of settled warmth that is unlike any other food. When the mind is overworked, the body depleted, the nervous system frayed — khichdi is the prescription.

    Cook with a teaspoon of ghee, half a teaspoon of turmeric, a pinch of cumin and coriander. Add salt. Eat slowly, without distraction. Do not underestimate how much this simple meal can shift a difficult day.

    ALL YEAR  ·  MOST DIGESTIBLE MEAL  ·  NERVOUS SYSTEM RESET
    "It does not sedate. It adapts. There is a difference — and that difference is wisdom."

    One of the most revered herbs in Ayurveda for nervous system resilience. Ashwagandha does not make you sleepy — it helps your body find its own equilibrium under stress. It is an adaptogen, which means it responds to what your system needs.

    Those who use it traditionally add a quarter teaspoon to warm milk with honey before bed — this is the classical preparation. The herb has a slightly bitter, earthy taste that softens with milk and sweetener.

    Please consult an Ayurvedic practitioner or doctor before use. Not recommended during pregnancy. Individual suitability varies.

    AUTUMN / WINTER  ·  STRESS RESILIENCE  ·  CONSULT PRACTITIONER
    "Four strands in warm milk. Ten minutes. The colour alone is medicine for the eyes."

    Kesar has been used in Indian tradition for centuries as a nervine tonic and mood-elevating herb. It is warming, slightly bitter, and in small doses profoundly luxurious. Modern research has begun to explore its traditional reputation for emotional wellbeing.

    Steep four to five strands in a small cup of warm (not boiling) milk for ten minutes. Drink before your evening journaling session. The golden colour is not incidental — in Ayurveda, colour carries its own medicine. Let your eyes rest on it before you drink.

    WINTER  ·  MOOD ELEVATING  ·  USE IN MODERATION
    "A fruit so potent that Ayurveda called it the gift of the gods to the human nervous system."

    Indian gooseberry is one of the richest natural sources of Vitamin C of any food on earth. In Ayurveda, it is considered a fruit of intelligence — meaning it clears the channels of perception, strengthens the sense organs, and supports the kind of clear seeing that good writing requires.

    Eat fresh amla in winter when it is available — it has a complex taste, sour and astringent and slightly sweet all at once. Or take it as churna (dried powder) mixed with raw honey in the morning before food. If you are on medication, particularly blood thinners, check with your doctor — amla is high in Vitamin C and may interact.

    WINTER  ·  CLARITY & VITALITY  ·  CHECK FOR INTERACTIONS
    The Art of Eating with the Seasons

    In Indian tradition, what we eat changes with the season — and this is not a constraint but a liberation. The body's needs shift with the light, the temperature, and the particular wisdom each season carries. Eating in alignment with nature is one of the most grounding practices available to us, and it costs nothing.

    🌸 SPRING
    VASANT March to May Eat: bitter greens, neem, light lentils, honey, ginger, sprouts. Spring is the body's great clearing. What accumulated over winter — the heaviness, the stored warmth — wants to move and release. The digestive fire is returning. Eat light, pungent, and bitter foods that support this natural purge. Avoid heavy dairy and sweets this season. Your journal this season: write about what you are ready to shed. The new growth waiting underneath.
    ☀ SUMMER
    GRISHMA June to August Eat: coconut water, rose water, cucumber, fennel, coriander, sweet fruits, rice. The body runs hot. The mind runs fast. Cool it from the inside. Avoid spicy food, alcohol, and anything that increases internal heat. Favour sweet, cooling, and hydrating foods. Journal in the early morning before the heat arrives — before 8am, if you can. Your writing this season: what are you creating? What vision is expanding in the light?
    🌧 MONSOON
    VARSHA July to September Eat: khichdi, ginger tea, light soups, steamed vegetables, old rice, warm water. Ayurveda says the digestive fire is at its lowest during monsoon. Do not fight this. Eat warm, simple, light meals. Avoid raw salads, cold drinks, and heavy proteins. Let the body be modest. The rain is teaching surrender — let your journal practice do the same. Your writing this season: what are you learning to release control of? Where is trust the deeper wisdom?
    🍂 AUTUMN
    SHARAD October to November Eat: pomegranate, pears, leafy greens, cardamom, coriander, coconut, sweet foods. The light changes. The pace slows. This is harvest — not only in the fields but inside you. What has grown this year? What has come to fruition? Eat sweet and slightly cooling foods to balance the residual heat of summer leaving. The Sharad Purnima (full moon in autumn) is considered one of the most auspicious nights of the year for journaling and intention-setting in Indian tradition.
    ❄ WINTER
    HEMANT · SHISHIR December to February Eat: ghee, sesame, root vegetables, dates, almonds, spiced milk, warming grains. The digestive fire is strongest in winter — the body can receive more, absorb more, process more. This is the season of deep nourishment and deep inner work. The nights are long and the writing goes deepest. Protect your evening ritual fiercely. Winter journal pages are where the most important breakthroughs live. Eat warming, grounding food. Light a diya. Write long.
    The Journaling Cup

    Prepare this before your morning writing session. It takes three minutes and signals to the body — before a single word is written — that what follows is sacred time.

    Warm one cup of good water or oat milk until steaming but not boiling. Then add each ingredient in order, stirring between each one.

    Hold the cup in both hands before drinking. Breathe in the steam. Let your eyes soften. This is already a practice — before the pen touches the page.

    Please check suitability for your individual health needs, especially if pregnant, on medication, or managing a health condition.

    • ✦
      ¼ tsp turmeric
      WARMING · TRADITIONALLY FOR CLARITY & INFLAMMATION
    • ✦
      ¼ tsp ashwagandha
      OMIT IF PREGNANT · CONSULT YOUR PRACTITIONER FIRST
    • ✦
      A pinch of cardamom
      DIGESTIVE · GROUNDING · SWEETLY WARMING
    • ✦
      A pinch of black pepper
      ACTIVATES THE TURMERIC · ESSENTIAL PAIRING
    • ✦
      1 tsp raw honey
      ADD AFTER HEATING — NEVER HEAT HONEY DIRECTLY
    ✦   STORY'D WITH LOVE   ✦

    "You started over a hundred times.
    This time, you started from within."

    — Not because you are not disciplined. Because none of it was yours.

    STORYDWITHLOVE.COM

    These practices are shared as cultural wisdom and gentle inspiration. Please seek guidance from your doctor or Ayurvedic practitioner for advice personal to you.