Grounding
A grounding cord is one way to hold and claim space for yourself as you bring yourself closer to your center.
With the intensity of energy and emotions in fast-moving events, it is easy to get swept up, feel a sense of insecurity, and unable to distinguish what is your energy and what belongs to an outside (or foreign) source. This outside energy is sometimes called ‘foreign energy’.
In order to clear your space, and be more effective in your daily life, grounding is a very helpful tool. Grounding is also integral to creating boundaries that prevent the negative energies of other people and events from permeating your space.
What is Grounding?
When we feel anxious, stressed, depressed, or a sense that our bodies don’t feel familiar, it may be an indication that you need to ground and release energy to the earth. Grounding is when you visualize your connection to the earth and release excess or foreign energy Grounding allows you to clear your energetic space and gain a firmer hold of your surroundings. It is meant to be exactly as the word suggests, a way to deeply connect with the energies of the earth and create a sense of being firmly rooted in it.
Think of an electrical grounding cord grounds and how it is used to move and ground energy. An energetic grounding cord can be used in the same way. It can ground energy in a person, thing, or even a situation or event. Energetic grounding cords may be used to ground yourself, others, animals, homes, workspaces, your vehicle, and even your personal technology.
One of the most simple ways to ground is to visualize a cord out in front of you, any image will do. It could be a thick golden chain, a golden cord of light, a rope, a tree, a mountain, or a waterfall. In fact, a grounding cord can be anything you wish that has meaning to you and creates a sense of being connected to the earth.
You may ground the body using a grounding cord. When your energy or someone else’s energy needs to be cleared out, grounding is a way to feel more firmly rooted in the earth and centered in your own awareness and energetic spaces.
Ways to Use a Grounding Cord
Ground yourself in the morning, during the day, and before you go to bed
Ground your physical space, home, apartment or workspace
Ground your technology, such as a computer or phone
Ground a vehicle, motorbike, or when you travel by subway, train, boat, or plane
Ground a situation where there may be a conflict or a lot of fast-moving energy
You can ground almost anything to create space for you and a sense of calm and connectedness
Signs of Being Ungrounded
You are ungrounded if you:
Get distracted easily
Space out
Over-think or ruminate
Engage in personal drama
Experience anxiety and perpetual worrying
You are also ungrounded if you are:
Possessed by desire for material things
Easily deceived by yourself or others
Obsessed with your personal image
Physical signs of being ungrounded include:
Inflammation
Chronic pain
Fatigue
Poor circulation
Grounding in the Body
The first part of grounding is to get rooted in your physical body.
Grounding is a similar concept to centering. The center is expansive, including your body as well as your mind, heart, and spirit.
Once you learn how to ground yourself, it’s easier to find your Center. Grounding techniques are designed to redistribute the energy from your head or mind into your body. Doing so has an almost instant calming effect.
Most of our stress and anxiety results from a disconnection from our bodies. The more rooted you are in your body, the less stress and anxiety you experience.
Cover Your Crown
When you are ungrounded, place one hand over the crown your head. That’s it. If it helps, close your eyes to avoid distractions.
Time: 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Feel Your Feet
Sitting or standing, place all of your awareness on the bottom of your feet. Pay attention to any sensations.
Time: 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Follow Your Breath
Close your eyes and as you inhale, trace the air as it enters your nose and goes into your lungs. On the exhale, follow the air leaving your lungs and exiting your nose or mouth.
This grounding technique gets more effective with practice. The key is to observe the breath instead of forcing it with your mind. Let your body lead and your mind will follow.
Time: 1 minute to 10 minutes.
Stand Like a Tree
Stand with your feet parallel and at least shoulder’s width apart. Keep your head floating above your body, chin tucked, and spine straight. Rest your hands at your side or place them over your navel.
Sink all of your body’s weight and tension into your feet (without collapsing your posture), allowing it to be absorbed into the ground. To support this grounding process, imagine roots growing out the bottom of your feet, extending deep into the ground beneath you.
Time: 1 minute to 10 minutes.
Take a Cold Shower
This grounding technique has many health benefits. Cold exposure has shown to increase immunity, reduce fat, and elevate mood (by triggering dopamine). If you’re not accustomed to cold showers, at the end of your hot shower, make the water warm/cool for 30 seconds.
Over the course of the next three weeks, make the water slightly cooler and stay under it for longer. By the end of the three weeks, your body will get used to the cold temperature. It’s an invigorating and grounding experience. I recommend it unless you have high blood pressure.
Time: 30 seconds to 5 minutes.
Grounding to the Earth
The Health Benefits of Earthing
The theory is that earthing allows a transfer of negatively charged electrons from the Earth’s surface into the body. These electrons neutralize positively charged free radicals that cause chronic inflammation.
An excess of free radicals damages our cell membranes and DNA, leading to cancer and other diseases. Because earthing has shown to reduce blood viscosity (thickness) and inflammation, it has the potential to support cardiovascular health.
Most of us have an overactive sympathetic nervous system (excessive emotional stress). Preliminary studies show that earthing has a calming and balancing effect on the nervous system.
Biophysicist James Oschman explains:
The moment your foot touches the Earth, or you connect to the Earth through a wire, your physiology changes. An immediate normalization begins. And an anti-inflammatory switch is turned on. People stay inflamed because they never connect with the Earth, the source of free electrons which can neutralize the free radicals in the body that cause disease and cellular destruction. Earthing is the easiest and most profound lifestyle change anyone can make.
A growing body of research suggests that earthing helps naturally heal humans from a wide variety of ailments.
The Bioelectrical Body
Humans are beings of energy. Electrical currents and their associated magnetic fields fill and surround the human organism.
These currents make up a web or system of interactive energy fields that govern the body’s functioning. In energy medicine, it’s called the human biofield.
Reconnect to the Earth
Taken from a modern perspective, walking barefoot on the ground might seem primitive. From an instinctual perspective, however, walking barefoot is how we are meant to travel.
How to Ground Yourself to the Earth:
Grounding Exercises
Grounding exercises to connect you to the Earth are straightforward: just take off your shoes and socks and get outside.
Stand on the Earth: grass, stone, sand, or dirt work best. You can stand in one place, walk, or lay down.
As in any electrical circuit, you only need one point of contact to establish a ground connection.
One foot alone on the Earth will ground you, but I’ve found that two feet on the ground provide a stronger grounding effect.
For healing, the researchers behind the Earthing movement recommend staying barefoot on the Earth for at least 20 minutes, twice a day.
If you can’t be barefoot, I recommend grounding mats, sheets or pillowcases available on Amazon.
Here are 2 grounding techniques to help you reconnect to the Earth:
Mindful Walking
Simply walk and stay present with your environment.
Be sure to use your whole foot when you walk: heel, ball, toes.
Time: 10 to 20 minutes.
Roll Around Like a Cat
Have you ever noticed how cats and some dogs roll around on the Earth?
I’ve often wondered if they instinctually know how to discharge negative energy. Try getting dirty and rolling around on the Earth. You’ll understand why cats do it. It feels good.
Time: However long you want.
Grounding Practices:
Yoga, dancing
Walking in Nature
Eating fresh vegetables and fruits
Deep breathing
Bodywork
Listening to drumming or lower frequency sound like the gong or thunder
Any activity or practices that helps you feel connected with your body and the earth energies.