It was ten years ago, on the streets of Chicago, when a couple of friends and I stumbled upon a sandwich board: Palm Reading - $10 Walk-in Special.

Well duh. We had nothing better to do on our weekend in the city, so we rang the bell and excitedly we were buzzed into the psychic’s second-story pad. It was just as you would imagine, being my first visit to an official fortune-teller; everything was carpeted, the lights were red, any surface, including the ceiling, that was not carpeted had colorful batik cloths pinned up and draped over. The couch was not that comfortable, I remember sinking into it, while I waited for my best friend to have her palm read. The brave one, and with a mom who taught her to trust all psychic’s, she went first.

My BFF went into a big office, where she sat across from the woman who’s name I have no idea. But she, once again, had all the signs of a good psychic; long, black hair, stick straight, of course. She was made up, with just the right amount of heavy black eye-liner and deep, dark red lips. She wore a blazer and matching skirt, it might have been purple. I sat on the couch waiting for my friend, waiting for my turn, not really knowing what I was expecting, but whatever it was, my expectations were vastly off. Another friend was along for the ride, but after years of living in New Orleans, and countless interactions with fortune tellers of all types, to my surprise, she declined the $10 walk-in special, and chose to just sit on the couch and wait for both of our sure to be mind-blowing experiences.

My Bestie arrived from the office all smiles, her visit was the 10-minute, as advertised, palm reading. Plain and simple. You could tell she couldn’t wait to talk about it, but you could also tell her life was not dramatically altered from 10 minutes prior.

It was my turn, I walked into the office. Miss Plum Lips was clearly intuitive. She read my like a book, before even looking at my hand. She most likely read me the minute the three of us walked in the door. She did a short palm reading, nothing major to note, since I have no memory of it. Then she looked straight at me and said “there is something missing ... I see blue, but I do not see any red or purple.” Um, what? At the time I certainly knew what auras were, but I didn’t know what they had to do with me. Then she launched in to her sweet reading skills, and told me how I was at a major transition in my life, I lost my boyfriend, because I wasn’t grounded. All true. Then she went on to tell me that she can do a chakra purification ceremony, the candles that are needed are expensive, but she is sure that she can reconnect me to my soul mate. Telling me I need this process or I will be alone forever.

OK. Wait a minute. She missed something in her reading of me, that I know all about sales, and I am no mark. And that the ex was not my soul-mate, though my heart clearly still clung to him. But she did not miss, the fact that I was dreadfully un-grounded. And it was the reason why my boyfriend broke up with me. I always wanted to move somewhere else, I couldn’t tell people I was actually staying where I was. I was always making plans for the next step. That very weekend in Chicago was in fact, my transition from Florida to Wisconsin, my big move back (well at least my first go at it). After about 30 minutes of telling me why no-one will love me, and really telling me how it is, and trying to sell me a crazy-expensive candle chakra cleansing that could be done from anywhere ... “just give me your name, and your boyfriend’s name and I take care of it.” I left. I paid my $10 + $10 tip, and walked out towards my friends who were having a grand-old time on that sunken couch under the sea of batiks. I held back my sobbing tears until about halfway down the stairs, when after several inquiries from my friends about why it took so long, I croaked “I don’t want to talk about it.” I am sure the psychic heard me.

I was in tears for the next hour, we walked from bar to bar trying to wrap my head around what just happened. Of course by then, I had hashed the whole thing out with my pals several times. Was she just trying to sell me something? I know that when it comes to sales, the easy to convince or weak are often easy to spot. But I didn't feel weak, until after she had her way with me. I know now, that her message was good and clear. And even if she was trying to sell me some stupid candle detox for hundreds of dollars, she also opened a can of worms that needed to be opened.

10 years later, I teach yoga. I focus on grounding and energy centers (no auras though). I have lived in the same apartment for going on 7 years. I have a boyfriend that I am confident loves me. I had the same job for 6 and now have been teaching at the same studio for 5 years, the same studio I have come to manage, and am more tied to my hometown than I have ever been. Including as a kid.

So how did all that grounding happen?

It started like everything should: simply. I bought some chakra cards. I got a couple stones. All because of what the woman had said about my lack of red. I took a meditation class. I practiced yoga at home. I also continued a lot of things to prevent grounding, drugs, alcohol, sleeping with people that suck, dreaming, planning and expecting to be on the move as soon as I could. Not thinking of where I was as home.

A few years pass just like this, and I move back to Wisconsin and start taking yoga classes. Every week. Then twice a week. The next thing I know, I am signing up for teacher training. Well that is all good, but there are plenty of un-grounded yoga teachers and practitioners.

What else did I do. I created a home. I rented a place myself. It sounds silly for a 28 year old, but I had not officially been on a lease since the one I ditched out on at 21, as I decided to hop a train to NYC. I always lived with other people. I always used other people’s stuff. All my belongings fit into a small station wagon.

We are a society that is always on the move. We work a lot, we play a lot, we spend a lot of time on the internet. There is nothing wrong with this, but re-connecting to the earth, slowing things down, even just once a day, can bring balance into the entirety of who you are.

So once you have a home, what else. Well you have to live in that home. Be there. Eat there. Look forward to getting back there.

Cook food. Healthy, local food. Prepared by you. Eat it sitting down at a table.

Be happy where you are. Make long-terms plans for your current situation. People are not attracted to people who cant say they are happy where they are. Would you be?

Spend time alone. For real. Whether you are a parent of three or a single person who loves to hang out with friends... Make time in your day to be alone. Sit, relax, read, listen to music. Make yourself a fancy meal, not one you take to the couch, but one that looks beautiful and is lit by candlelight.

Make peace with your origins. Whether you live near your hometown, or far from it, find the beauty in the place that made you who you are. Connect to family and friends who are there, and make a point to visit.

Just like in yoga, we need to set the foundation for the rest of our life. We need to make sure we feel settled on the ground to grow into challenges. We must feel supported to be free to be creative and self expressive. This is true even in my daily practice. I need to practice standing poses (like the Warrior poses and Mountain poses) before I can balance on one foot. In long term practice, the foundation must be set, coming back to the basics to build a practice towards the more challenging poses. The time is now to create the foundation for tomorrow.