In this fourth Healing is Living live, I had the honour of being joined by Grace Grossmann - a writer, yoga teacher, wellbeing coach and a kindergarten teacher.
Together, we explored how healing isn’t something far away — it’s in the tiny, everyday moments we often rush past.
Highlights From The Live
❗️Reminder: This is the written ripple. The full wave, the real energy, emotion, and aha moments — is all in the live. Come sit with us.
How do we stay with ourselves when the past pulls us back and the future overwhelms us?
We often get caught in loops of remembering or forecasting — ruminating over old stories or anxiously anticipating what could go wrong. But something shifts when we allow ourselves to simply be with what is, right now.
“When you hit that pause… when you truly be present, what’s happening to you in that moment is when you realize: this was something of the past that is not needed now. Maybe I can try and change this relationship and make a different choice.”
That’s where healing happens. In the moment. Not in theory. In practice.
Can we redefine healing as something we return to, not something we chase?
Grace said it beautifully:
You become more present in the moment when you notice the power of how these small things can make you feel whole again.
There’s a rhythm to healing that doesn’t shout. It whispers. It invites us to notice the moment we’re in, even if it’s while doing laundry or cooking. “Laundry has become kind of my favorite thing to do… all my senses are active. Even for cooking, for that matter. These small joys in the day ground me.”
The transformation lies in attention, not aesthetics.
What if instead of taking time out to do something, we convert something we’re already doing into a ritual? With intention. With presence. With fun.
How do we begin seeing the rituals hidden inside our routines?
“Vacuuming, I love… I just dance and sing. All the senses are active, so you’re way more present.”
Presence doesn’t demand a mountain. It just asks that you show up to what’s already here — with your body, your breath, your senses. “Cooking used to feel like a chore… it came with a lot of gendered stereotypes,” I said. “But I asked myself - how can I change my relationship with this?”
So I danced. I lit the stove with music playing. I cooked as if it were ceremony.
“Inducing my food with love and fun allowed me to create a ritual out of it.”
These are not distractions. These are doorways.
What do we take for granted that is already proof of abundance?
Your health is a privilege. That you can move is a privilege.
We spoke about redefining success, wealth, and richness — not in metrics, but in meaning.
When you have those privileges — a full fridge, a home, food on your plate you’re already among the richest people in the world.
And yet, we forget. “We take so much for granted because we’re told we can have more and be more… but we forget what we already have.”
That’s where the small things come in — not as consolation prizes, but as the true currency of a rich life.
Grace read a passage from her book that struck a deep chord in me:
Why bypass what the world has to offer? Don’t dismiss the delight that simple moments behold… You’ve just forgotten to look up.
What brings us back when the world feels overwhelming and our minds feel restless?
There’s a simple answer Grace offered that felt like a prayer: “Look up. Look around.”
Notice what’s here. What do you see? What do you smell? What do you hear?
When you activate all your senses… anxiety has no power over you anymore.
Our bodies teach us what our minds forget — the natural rhythm of expansion and contraction.
Even in yoga, some postures allow you to open… to inhale more. Others help you exhale and let go. This expansion and contraction mirrors the seasons of life. Some days are big inhales. Others, deep exhales.
We are not broken when we contract. We are breathing.
How do the “big little things” shift our entire state of being?
I shared how one simple ritual changed my days: “Around 4:30 or 5pm, I sit on our beanbag by the window and watch the birds return home. It’s magical… the patterns they form, the light in the sky. I missed it for so long.”
Now I sit almost every evening. Just to be there. No improvement. No agenda. Just being part of something bigger than me.
Grace mirrored this with her daily walks. “Now that I’m leaving soon, I appreciate everything more. The birds, the fields… I walk with no phone or on flight mode. And I notice the smallest things. The kids I teach notice it too. Like, ‘Oh! A squirrel!’”
This awareness stays with you. It doesn’t end with the walk.
It’s not about being present in only one moment. It’s about carrying that presence into the next.
How do we listen to the day, not just our to-do list?
When we observe the world around us, we begin to live more intuitively. We ask: What season am I in? Not just in life, but today? What does this moment want from me? What do I need? Not what should I do.
That shift from should to want changes everything. “Some shoulds are urgent. But many can be let go, to give your body what it needs.”
Are you willing to return to yourself, again and again?
Grace offered something simple and powerful: “There are two big ingredients: willingness and consistency.”
Because healing is not a one-time decision. It’s a repetition. You’ll have to bring your awareness back again and again. But the more you do, the more natural it becomes. Just like a muscle.
“You won’t get pulled back once you open the door to awareness because the beauty of life won’t let you go.”
The real question is: Do you believe you deserve a life like that?
Do you believe you’re worthy of peace, slowness, presence, love?
If not, start there.
Because the smallest thing when done with presence can be the beginning of everything.
Big little things.
That's where the healing lives.
The Journey Goes On
We continue to explore the last live in learning how healing can be woven into our everyday lives.
💛 With — Akanksha Priyadarshini
🗓️ Friday, May 30th, 2025
🕰️ 5pm BST, 6pm CET, 12pm EST, 9.30pm IST, 6am HST
🗣️ How living for others sets us up for emotional burnout — and how can we begin to reclaim our own lives.
Tiny pauses. True connection. Real presence.
Let’s walk each other home.
Light and life,
Janki 🌻
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