Grounding: An absolutely essential spiritual practice that has, unfortunately, been either glossed over, or made to be more complicated than it needs to be.

In regards to actual practice, grounding is your “Step One”. Before Reiki, ground. Before setting up your Crystal Grid, ground. Before interacting with your client, ground. Before meditating, ground. Before channeling, ground, ground, GROUND.

  Grounding is also your Step One when it comes to FEELING BETTER. If you've ever taken a deep breath in the midst of an anxious moment, you've unconsciously taken action to ground yourself, simply by using your breath to bring you into the moment.

You Know You're UN-grounded When...

Perhaps you know what I’m talking about? When you’re not grounded, you may experience any or all of the following:

• Disconnected from your body
• Stuck in analysis paralysis
• Unable to take action
• Bored, but unwilling to do anything
• Dizzy or lightheaded
• Lost - as if you’ve forgotten your life purpose
• Lost - literally, like while driving in spite of GPS
• Fatigued, drained, more tired than usual
• Forgetful (missing appointments, being late or too early)
• Constantly losing your train of thought
• Daydreaming ALL THE TIME

Clearly, not a good place to be.

What Does It Mean to "Be Grounded"?

So what does it mean to be grounded? Many people relate being grounded to your connection with the energy of Mother Earth or Gaia, and this is certainly true; however, I have a simpler definition which points right to the root of the issue: Being grounded is simply being in your body. As humans, we are multidimensional beings, comprised of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies. We experience life and interact with others on both the physical and energetic planes. When you’re grounded, your mind, body, and soul are in alignment, that is, your desires (energetic plane) naturally initiate action (physical plane), and your experience (physical plane) is in alignment with what you want to attract for yourself (energetic plane). When you are UNgrounded, there is a disconnect between your desires and what you’re manifesting, because your soul is disconnected from your body; therefore, your physical efforts will not result in true fulfillment because they are not connected to your soul purpose! Warning: This is the dark side of deep focus on psychic development. Don’t get me wrong, psychic development is a GOOD thing, heck, it’s what I’m all about… But if you don’t balance it with grounding techniques and a healthy lifestyle, you will eventually find yourself feeling spaced out and unable to progress. Not to worry though! If you ever find yourself feeling ungrounded (and we’ve all been there), the following techniques will help bring you back down to Earth.  

4 Simple Ways to Ground Yourself

Breath Awareness

This is the simplest, yet most effective, technique for grounding yourself that I’ve ever come across. Simply bring your awareness back to your breath - try it now, in fact. Simply watch your current breathing pattern, without editing it in any way. Inhale, and notice; exhale, just notice. When you’re watching your breath, you are in your body. If you’re watching your breath, truly, then your mind cannot be anywhere else. Bringing yourself back to your breath is a quick way for you to mentally reconnect with your physical body, and that is what it means to be GROUNDED. Quick Fix: If you find yourself unable to act, paralyzed by a messy mind, see if you can take a moment to bring your awareness into your breath. Continue until you can viscerally feel yourself embodying your physical self. You may actually be able to FEEL the alignment happening. From there, act. Long Term Management: Practice breath awareness meditation daily. Start with 5 minutes, build up to 20. You can choose to either watch your natural breathing pattern, or to lengthen your breath (inhale to a count of 5, exhale to a count of 5, etc). Simply watch your breath.

Grounding Crystals

Red and black crystals and stones are great for grounding, protection, and balancing the Root Chakra, which affects our ability to feel stable, secure, and - you guessed it - grounded. My personal favourites to use are Red Jasper and Black Tourmaline, but other great stones include:

• Jet
• Black Obsidian
• Smoky Quartz
• Petrified Wood
• Black Kyanite
• Ruby
• Tiger’s Eye
• Pyrite (Fool’s Gold)
• Apache Tears
• Moss Agate
• Black Garnet
• Fire Agate

To ground yourself, sit in meditation with one of these stones in your receptive hand (left hand if right-handed, and vice-versa), and allow yourself to absorb the healing energy of the stone. You can also wear the stone on your body (as jewelry or in your bra), or keep it close to you for most of the day (at your desk or under your pillow at night). To really hone in on your Root Chakra, lie in Savasana for a few minutes, with a stone on the floor just below your feet (not touching). You can also place some stones on your thighs, or between your legs. Remember, since ALL crystals and stones are Earth-based, technically any stone can help you ground yourself if you set the intention for it to do so. Always rely your intuition when working with crystal energy above all else :)

Reiki

Self-Reiki treatment will help to ground you in a pinch. To really target the healing toward grounding, you could place your hands on your knees, feet, or lower back. You may also choose to visualize Reiki flowing in through the crown of your head and out through the soles of your feet, rooting you into the Earth. If you can, treat yourself to a professional Reiki session! 60 minutes under the hands of a professional Reiki Practitioner, either in-person or remotely, is sure to give you the energetic tune-up you need.

Move Your Body

Take a class - dance, bootcamp, Yoga, anything. Hit the gym. Head out the door and walk, run, jump - anything! Just move. This, for me, is also one of the quickest ways to get grounded. Really, when you’re focused on your physical body and are moving with purpose, you don’t really have much choice but to be in IN your body, which, as we discussed, is what being grounded is all about.   These four techniques are my go-to methods for grounding, and I hope you find them useful! If you have any questions, leave a comment or email me any time.