Last year I found a large round stone on Lake Michigan that I took home with me.

It sits on my nightstand, and on nights when I feel anxious or ungrounded, I hold it as I fall asleep to invite some weight + groundedness into my space.

This stone has soothed my inner toddler many times through restlessness, fear, and overwhelm.

As an adult, I have lots more resources + capacities for self-soothing than I did as a child, but I’ve learned to return to what worked with my little self:

- Healthy attachments to safe people + soothing objects,

- Safe spaces to tantrum when my emotions get too big,

- Plenty of transition time + spaciousness,

- Gentleness + patience when the world is moving too fast.

Because that toddler is still a real + alive part of me that sometimes gets activated.

And when I treat her with care + gentleness -- when I don’t dismiss her feelings, or rush her, or push her to be more mature, or ridicule her for things like finding comfort in a rock -- everything seems to work better.

So what soothed + comforted you as a child? What wisdom exists in those memories? And what practices + tools might you return to now to ground your nervous system + give yourself care?