Do you ever feel out of control, overwhelmed or disconnected with yourself? This post might be the nifty answer to get you back on solid ground.
Grounding yourself means to reconnect energetically to the earth, to come home or to centre yourself. It builds a supportive foundation for you to land and take stock. I ground myself daily as a way to clear my thoughts, revisit boundaries, start fresh and to consciously celebrate the Earth. Grounding is very much linked to mindfulness practise as it is a tool to help you to refocus on the present moment. By starting from a fresh clear place your creativity, problem solving and planning capabilities are increased resulting in a stronger ability to realise your future aspirations.
Imagine this familiar scenario: head filled with all the things to do for that day including unsent emails, shopping, family needs, home and work commitments and this is not even considering emotional, psychological or physical trauma. How are you supposed to function at your optimum level? How do you even have the head space to ask the question 'What are my future aspirations?"
Grounding yourself helps you to regain confidence in your abilities to cope, to calm your emotional state, recharge your energy levels and of course clear your head space.
What are the signs of being Ungrounded?
Well, as mentioned above you might feel overwhelmed, spaced out, you might be running loops of worrying thoughts or create and engage in your own personal drama. Other ways one could be seen to be ungrounded is having an unhealthy desire for material possessions, obsession with your looks and being easily deceived by others.
What are the affects of being Ungrounded?
Apart from anxiety, stress and other emotional traumas, not being grounded can take its toll on your physical body too including poor sleep, inflammation, fatigue, chronic pain and poor circulation.
How can we ground ourselves?
It can be as simple as walking barefoot on the bare earth or feeling your feet with full focus on the touch and sensations. One of my favourite ways to ground myself is by taking a bath with scented salts (bath ritual blog post coming soon!).
I also love to use visualisations to grow my roots deep into the Earth, this is known as Earthing, as with mindfulness try and focus on the finer details of what they look like including colour, texture, shape and then move through the senses to get a vivid image of your roots connecting deep within the Earth. I also like to guide people to stand back from their body and root system and look down on themselves and their roots, viewing the eagles perspective on how supported and strong they are.
Other ways to ground yourself include a taking cold shower, brrr! following your breath and standing tall like a tree. I believe Yoga and other Eastern forms of exercise will promote a feeling of being grounded. Which one will you try first?
