2 Practices to Balance & Strengthen Your Boundaries (and Core)

Determination has a home in the body. It’s in your core.

When you’re strong in your center, you know who you are and tend to your needs.

You have boundaries and drive.

You get things done because you know what’s yours to do and what’s not. You don’t get tied up waiting for approval or second-guessing your role. 

But most of us aren’t fully integrated in the core.

We carry extra weight as a protective barrier instead of learning how to create healthy boundaries.

We feel exhausted and drained instead of learning to put ourselves first.

We get paralyzed by inaction – afraid of what others will think – instead of taking charge and following our own gut instinct.

We’re weak at the core.

You may notice it in your life as physical weakness – your lower back hurts, you can’t lift your legs off the floor lying down, etc.

Or it may show up as energetic weakness – you feel like your battery is drained around certain people – they literally deplete you.

I even find myself covering my belly when I feel overwhelmed – my hands unconsciously block my core to help me stay connected to my own desires and not get caught up in others.

So you try to compensate.

To make up for this deep internal and energetic imbalance, you might over-react to the opposite extreme.

You create strict codes of rules for your diet, schedule, or relationships because you don’t know how to easefully care for yourself – or trust yourself to follow-through.

You shut certain people out of your life entirely because you don’t have the tools to navigate feeling hurt or betrayed or create boundaries to ensure a different dynamic.

Personally, I mastered door-slamming and walking away as my signature way to resolve feeling overwhelmed and challenged. Because I didn’t trust my own judgement, I didn’t know how to speak up for my needs, so I just left the situation.

But there’s another way.

You can develop your energetic strength at your core, so that you can live in integrity with what matters to you.

Here are two great practices to balance your energetic boundaries and strength:

1. Balance

Place both hands on your belly with your middle fingers close to touching. Soften under your palms and imagine your belly is having a gentle conversation with your hands.

You’re not forcing the belly to rise and fall – you’re using your hands to bear witness to the natural movement of the breath in the body.

The goal is to soften and open through the abdomen. When you feel weak in your boundaries, you may compensate by bracing and tightening your muscles.

This practice will help you find ease and return to a more balanced state.

2. Strength

With an empty stomach, stand with your legs wider than your hips, bend your knees, and bring your hands to your mid-thighs. You’ll be bent slightly forward in a standing squat-like pose with your arms propped against your legs to support your torso.

Take a big breath in then exhale fully.

Hold the breath out and draw your naval towards your spine in a pumping motion 5 times. Release the belly and take a full inhale and exhale.

Depending on your breath and abdominal strength, you may pump 5-20 times after each exhale. Repeat the sequence 3 times.

The idea is to pump the belly to activate your solar plexus chakra energy, strengthen your abdominal muscles, and massage your organs – releasing any stored energy.

Try this practice before you eat every morning for a week.

You should feel more energized, focused, and able to express your desires!

Be free. Be brave. Be YOU!

Love,
Alexis