Grounding
Grounding is a vital step to most spiritual, psychic, and healing exercises and promotes mindfulness, peace, focus, and a strong connection to your intuition and discernment. Many of us struggle with an overactive mind, especially with worrying about the past, present, and future, which can pull our energy all over the place. Grounding practices help you recall your energy and awareness back to the present moment and allows you to anchor your energy back into your body which benefits you on a mental, physical, and spiritual level. Most importantly, grounding promotes a strong connection to yourself and the love, truth, and strength found within your spirit which can help you overcome your fears, insecurities, and anxieties. For those who engage in different spiritual and healing practices, grounding practices can be the key to sustainability. Without grounding, we run the risk of falling into spiritual psychosis which I describe as a loss of rational thought and a disconnection from reality which can feel a lot like real spiritual experiences in early development. Outside of spiritual/psychic work, grounding is especially helpful after healing practices like shadow work and diving into your inner child wounds because it will help you call your awareness back to the present moment and help you settle any emotional distress caused by the healing work you’re doing.
WHEN TO GROUND
Grounding practices settle the mind, heart, and spirit and concentrate your energy and awareness of the present moment which is why it’s a helpful first step to many practices. Due to the benefits of grounding, it’s one of the only practices I suggest to do daily, even if it’s for a couple of minutes, especially at the start of the day to start the day off strong and at the end of the day to help you settle before going to sleep. Some important moments where grounding can be beneficial is:
Before and after any spiritual work like card readings, psychic medium work, spell work, energy healing, etc. for a clearer connection and disconnection from the energy
Before and after any spiritual or healing practices like cleansing, protection, shadow work, etc.
When you need to settle any anxiety or emotional dysregulation
When you feel to open or overwhelmed by the energy around you - best paired with a protection practice to create stronger energetic barriers.
Making it a habit to ground intentionally daily and even working towards living a more grounded life helps you avoid some of the negative effects of being ungrounded, but to know what being grounded feels like, you’ll also need to recognize what being ungrounded looks and feels like as well.
SIGNS OF NEEDING TO GROUND
Hyperactive or Muffled Intuition
Hyperactive/Impulsive Behavior (rambling, can’t settle, etc.)
Emotionally Imbalanced (to much and to little)
Anxious/Intrusive Thoughts/Paranoia (overthinking past, present, future)
Feeling disconnected from body or present moment (viewing life like a movie)
Loss of rational thought/Disconnected from reality (Mainly associated with spiritual psychosis)
Disclaimer: Spiritual health practices are intended to be in addition to standard mental/physical health care. Please tend to your physical/mental health, first and foremost.
GROUNDING PRACTICES
The goal with grounding is to shift our focus from analyzing to observing so we are able to settle the mind and reconnect with ourselves and the moment in front of us. A common misconception about grounding is that it’s more of a physical practice than an energy to embody which I believe leads people to overcomplicating or overthinking the practice, therefore counteracting the practice itself. We are all capable of embodying different energies like groundedness and peace as a way of manipulating our energy and use as an energetic or spiritual medicine of sorts. By using different grounding tools and practices, you learn what this energy feels like within you which you can then learn to embody whenever you need it without anything besides your own energy and power. Here are some ways to practice grounding:
MINDFULNESS PRACTICES
Mindfulness is the practice of being fully present and aware of yourself, including your thoughts, feelings, and surrounding moment without judgment or criticism and is a vital practice to living a grounded, present life. The intention of this practice is to approach life with radical acceptance of your reality on a moment to moment basis so you can remain present and observe your thoughts and emotions from a more detached and understanding point of view. This allows you to connect with your body and mind more deeply, helps you to flow with your emotions more easily, and supports you in overcoming toxic habits, coping mechanisms, and other behaviors that aren't serving you.
You can begin practicing mindfulness with meditations where you can practice important skills like connecting with your breath, releasing your thoughts, and calling your awareness back onto yourself which you can can then practice this throughout your day like when you tend to your daily responsibilities to begin integrating this practice on a deeper level as well.
CLICK HERE FOR A QUICK GUIDED MINDFULNESS MEDITATION
CONNECT WITH & MOVE YOUR BODY
Similar to mindfulness, one of the ways to ground our energy is by bringing our awareness away from our mind and into our bodies by moving it or using it intentionally. This can include dancing, singing, or exercising without judgement and being mindful of releasing any thoughts that may arise. This practice has a way of highlighting the beliefs and judgments we have about our bodies that keep us from fully living in them which tends to be a matter of healing the ego. Another issue that arises when trying to ground is how accustom we’ve become to living in an anxious state so when we try to ground our energy and reconnect a state of peace or calmness, it feels unfamiliar which can actually amplify anxiety or feeling unsafe in some way. Both of the circumstances involve actively affirming a new belief that we are safe, loved, and accepted by ourselves, which allows us to connect with ourselves more deeply and allows efforts to ground ourselves to be more effective.
EARTHING
Getting outside and connecting with nature is an easy way to ground yourself and connect with the present moment. It's important to remove any distractions, like your phone, and do your best to get out of your head for it to truly help you ground. If you catch yourself getting stuck in your head, bring your attention back to the present moment by naming off things you see, hear, smell, etc., and really lean into what your experiencing. Feel the air around you, listen to the way the tree's leaves brushing together in the wind, feel the ground around you, etc..
Earthing is the act of connecting with the earth beneath you through your bare feet. Outside of being very grounding, there have also been studies that show it's positive affects on sleep, inflammation, and stress among other things. Both of these practices are great opportunities to practice mindfulness.
ROOTING/ANCHORING MEDITATIONS
Rooting and anchoring are simple methods to ground your energy and can be done anywhere at any point. You can do this inside or in addition to being outside as well. This is a great practice when you feel uncentered and are struggling to settle into your present moment, whether that be due to stress or just being generally ungrounded.
For this practice, you'll want to get into the most comfortable position your circumstances offer. This could be standing, sitting, or laying down. Once as your comfortable, take a couple deep, clearing breaths. With each breath in, you are recalling your energy, and with each breath out, you are anchoring this energy deeper and deeper into your vessel. Do this 3-5 times or until you feel centered and then ground this energy deeper by visualizing this energy as roots, moving through you and down into the earth, far past the ground or floor underneath you. Each breath these roots move deeper and deeper into this earth until you feel balanced, centered, and present. Sit in the energy for a moment before you slowly open your eyes and bring yourself back to the moment around you.
-
As stated before, you don't need anything outside of your own power for really anything, grounding included, but sometimes it can be helpful to lean on different tools and resources to support your intention.
Here is a list of my recommendations to support your grounding practices:
Crystals
Obsidian
Carnelian
Black Tourmaline
Shungite
Herbs & Flowers (Loose/Bundles/Incense/Tea)
Lemon Balm
Chamomile
Lavender
St. John's Wort
Frankincense
