You’ve probably heard the term grounding. It’s in common parlance among the new age community, holistic healers, energy workers, herbalists, yogis, astrologers, and pagans, among others. Grounding is part of a larger body of techniques for energetic hygiene techniques that help people stay energetically clear and avoid illness. Typically, grounding is verbal shorthand for feeling whole and present in the body. It can mean anything from having a balanced root chakra to feeling an energetic connection to the planet, depending on who’s saying it. Also called earthing, grounding means many things to many people. For me, grounding, in essence, connecting to nature and feeling, present, centered, and at home in your body within the greater world. When you’re grounded, you feel:
- Calm
- A sense of well-being
- Present
- At home in your body
- Solid
- Content
- Centered
- Harmonious
There’s a contemporary movement of people who are scientifically studying the impacts of grounding or earthing on the body, and the results are no surprise to energy workers and healers, but still validate with data experiences we’ve all been aware of for ages. The research demonstrates that the Earth has a mildly negative electromagnetic charge, and making direct contact enables you to change your charge. This change in charge has a profound impact on the body. Connecting with the Earth’s electromagnetic field can:
- Help reduce inflammation
- Support healing
- Shift (and boost) your mood and recalibrate emotions
- Give a sense of calm and well-being
Years ago, I read an account in a book by the shamanic practitioner and teacher Sandra Ingerman, in which she had a client suffering from a chronic illness, lie flat on the ground, every day for a set period. Daily contact with the ground healed the client’s body. At the time, I knew nature to be a powerful healer and energy balancer but hadn’t ever considered such a simple solution. I’ve carried that story with me as anecdotal evidence of what science is now proving; connecting with the natural world brings us back to balance.
Recognizing the need to ground
So, what does it feel like when you’re ungrounded? When you are ungrounded, you feel:
- Anxious
- Scattered and jittery
- Restless, unable to sleep
- Untethered
- Unfocused with roaming thoughts and jumbled words
- Fumbling or clumsy
- Indecisive
I need to ground, but how?
The fastest, easiest way to ground is to sit, stand, lay, on the earth. Your skin should make direct contact or contact through natural fibers like cotton. Rubber shoes or polyester fibers block the energetic flow (your goal is electrically conductive contact). We are part of nature, but we often separate ourselves from it. Reconnecting to the ground, the trees, the outside air, lakes and streams, and animals, is grounding.
Ground the body, ground your energy
What if earth is not your primary element, can you ground with air, fire, or water? Indeed you can. When I first learned it was possible to ground in your dominant element, it was a revelation. I’d always counted on baths to make me feel like myself at the end of the day, and realizing that I was grounding in water made all the sense in the world. While I love grounding with earth energy, for me, a salt bath is the best way to reset energetically. The practices of grounding with other elements (or grounding with meditation) don’t have the scientific backing that earthing does, but I have tried many of them and can assure you that they make me feel similarly calm and centered. Grounding exercises powered by visualization and intention can be just as beneficial as physical action-oriented grounding exercises. These practices chill you out and boost your mood. Meditation employs visualization and intention to move the energy of earth or one of the other elements into your body, getting you connected and stabilized. The best part about grounding exercises is that these practices can dramatically improve your well-being in as little as 10-15 minutes per day.
Element grounding: Earth
- Contact with the Earth is the best way to ground. You can lay on the earth, walk barefoot, or even garden. Research shows that getting your hands dirty is excellent for mental health. Getting into nature is a quick way to reconnect. Forest bathing and gazing also work.
- Eat a wholesome meal. This may sound too simple, but what is more stabilizing than a warm bowl of lentil soup or some fragrant brown rice? Food is of the Earth, and eating engages your senses, bringing you home to the body. After Reiki attunements, a simple nourishing will ground everyone, those giving and receiving the attunement. Likewise, after a sweat lodge, there is usually a shared meal. Spiritual work can take you out of the body, and wholesome food is a quick way to center.
- Try a rooting meditation. There are as many variations on this meditation as there are guides. In essence, you imagine yourself as a tree, with your roots reaching deep into the earth. Feel the roots stretching and pushing deep into the dirt. Recognize how stabilizing those deep roots feel. You can also imagine your branches outstretched and warmed by the sun. It’s really that simple, but take your time with it and feel the sensations, the roots pushing against dirt and rock, the warmth of sunlight on your leaves.
- Another quick meditation that can bring you back to yourself is a quick body scan. Take your awareness from your feet, up your legs, over your torso and shoulders. Scan your arms and shoulders, neck, and head. Again, take your time and feel your body as you scan it.
- Pet an animal. I there anything more excellent than a perfectly content cat purring on your lap? Instant grounding!
- Hold or meditate with crystals, minerals, gemstones, or rock. The power of crystals and gems is well-documented. I learned from a healer and jewelry maker that you’re drawn to gems with the properties you need. Let your attraction be your guide.
Element grounding: Air
- Burn incense or herbs like cedar, sage, palo santo, rosemary, mullein, lavender, or sweetgrass. Burning herbs engages your senses and clears or boosts energy.
- Ground with sound. Use bells, drums, rattles, singing bowls, tuning forks, or vocal toning to center yourself. Each of these tools has a subtly different impact, but all will recalibrate your energy.
- Deep breathing is a quick way to ground yourself. Draw in the clean, fresh air and hold it, imagining all the anxious, frazzled energy getting embedded in the breath. Now exhale, sending the excess energy out. Let nature transmute and neutralize it. Continue to breathe deeply, drawing in the fresh air. Repeat until you feel calm. If you struggle with visualization, you can simply breathe in for four seconds, hold it for four seconds, and exhale for four seconds. Do this until you feel calm and centered.
- Meditate on air. Think about the way it feeds the leaves and the squirrels and you. Are it is everywhere. It’s so ubiquitous we take it for granted—Medite on air’s eternal nature. Like water, the air on this planet has witnessed every age. It has gathered information from all the people, plants, and animals on the planet and holds deep knowledge.
Element grounding: Fire
- Candle gazing is a quick way to connect with the element of fire. To do this, simply light a candle, a taper works best. Sit comfortably and gaze at the flame, as you do, let your gaze unfocus. You can add intention; for example, you can make it your intention to connect with the element of fire. You’ll know when you’re finished.
- Build a bonfire. Obviously, this isn’t possible for everyone, but there is truly nothing more satisfyingly human than sitting around a fire talking with friends. Tapping into this deep ancestral pattern will ground you deeply. If you can’t build a literal bonfire, try meditating about sitting beside one. Imagine the flames licking the sky and feel the heat on your face and shins.
- Work with Sunlight. Get outside and soak up some rays. If that is not possible, try visualizing sunlight.
Element grounding: Water
- Drink water or herbal tea and feel it in your body. After any Reiki session, I set aside time for the receiver and me to have a cup of tea together. Reiki (or any energy healing) can be intense, taking the time for a cup of tea grounds us back in our bodies. As with gems, I am a big believer that you’re often drawn to what you need with herbs. Visit your local health food store, and peruse the teas, see what appeals to you. (If you have any serious health conditions, check with your physician before consuming herbs.)
- Take an Epsom salt bath (and add essential oils). This is the one thing I do almost every day. I consider it necessary for good energetic hygiene. Oils are optional, but the saltwater clears away any stray energy I’ve picked up throughout the day. When I let the water out of the tub, I envision all the energy that isn’t mine whirling away to be neutralized. Nothing makes me feel more grounded.
- Dance in the rain. That’s it. There is something so joyous and delightful about running around in a warm summer rainstorm. It’s sure to put you in your body.
- Meditate on water. Water carries the memory of all that is and all that has been. We’re made of water, and it keeps us alive and connects us to everything—the same water’s recycled, age after age. Meditate on the ageless and essential nature of this element.
Many of the techniques employ various elements. I included several different grounding variations that have worked for my clients and me. I’ve been working as an energy healer for a long time, read many books, and taken lots of classes; I’ve collected many methods. Some of these will call to you; others may not. These are my suggestions but use your intuition. What’s most important is that you learn to recognize your body (physical & energetic) and it’s needs. Being able to address ungroundedness with a quick grounding exercise will keep you calm and focused.