Grounding: The Art of Recentering

Dreamersbeautyy Dreamersbeautyy
Jan 21, 2022
3 min read

The mind is like water. When its turbulent, it's difficult to see. When it's calm, everything becomes clear. - Siddhārtha Gautama

What is grounding?

Grounding also known as Earthing is being skin to skin with Mother Nature; planting your feet in the grass, dirt, or sand, sitting with the trees, touching the flowing waters, whatever relationship you prefer to have with nature. Earthing is done to recenter the mind, body, soul, and more as our positive charge and natures negative charge balance out creating healing on a cellular level.

In a spiritual sense grounding is returning connection to source energy. It consists of quieting and releasing the excess we have picked up day to day that oftentimes are nothing of our own, or just no longer serve us. This recentering of mind, body, and soul allows access to one's own energy as well as that of Nature and Source, gifting us a deeper connection to ourselves and all that we are.

Why is grounding so important?

When we take time to sit and bond with nature a beautiful energy exchange occurs, not only do we absorb electrons and the electromagnetic field energy straight from the planet, but our energy helps the Earth as well. We see evidence of this with the carbon dioxide we breathe out being absorbed and transformed into useful energy for trees and other plant life. In a study done by The Journal of Environmental and Public Health, grounding has been proven to improve sleep, enhance wound healing, strengthen the heart rate, reduce pain and stress levels, and even regulate circadian rhythm! Not only does Earthing increase blood flow, but it has also been proven to put the body in a more parasympathetic state as opposed to that of a sympathetic, these states govern the body's nervous system when it comes to relaxation, being in a more "rest and digest" mind vs being in a sharper "fight or flight" mind.

Many in today's society suffer from feelings of anxiety, overthinking, low self-esteem, depression, resentment, frequent agitation, lack of energy, focus, and more. A lot of the time these emotions come from an unbalanced root chakra that may be due to diet, past traumas such as abuse, financial instability, unhealthy family dynamics, etc., and of course being "ungrounded". Having this connection with nature and yourself is both beautiful and vital as it heals the root chakra dealing with our stability, our foundation, our literal roots and ability to feel safe in the world in which we live.

Feeling ungrounded?

These are a few signs and symptoms shown when grounding is needed.

Fearfulness
Un present/Spacing out
Excessive agitation
Strong lack of energy
Restlessness

Tips to ground!

Although I highly recommend literal grounding as it is essential to our vitality and has so many great benefits, there are so many other ways to ground and re center! The truth is grounding can be whatever gets you back to your true self whether it be going outside, painting, or even just taking the time to be present and in your current moment.

Prayer! Praying, especially aloud, all releases the built-up dialogue that crowds the mind. Intentionally praying is a great grounding technique and natural healing aid as it puts the bodies in a place to be able to receive divine love. Love free of judgement is fertile ground for openly expressing and releasing excess energy, cleaning and opening up awareness to what needs to stay, what needs to go, what's yours and what's not.

Write it out! Journaling and many other art forms are such great grounding methods because they put us in a place of active meditation! Active meditation can be described as being "lost in time" while being occupied in an action that is usually repetitive, requiring little to no effort. In this state just like the more traditional close eyed meditation, it brings you into the world of YOU leaving you with realizations and a lot of epiphanies.

Breathing exercises! Breathing assists the bodies alignment tremendously, not only is it calming, but it makes us become present and in the moment! Visualize breathing in all that you need and what's for you, then breathe out all of those things that are blocking you from it.

Gratitude! Creating a gratitude list in physical form or even in your head is another great Earthing aid that can be used daily! Being aware of all that you have to be thankful for grounds you to what you are actually experiencing in your life, clearing your perspective especially during times of uncertainty.