How to Ground Yourself. The Practice of Grounding

What is Grounding?

Grounding, also know known as Earthing, is the process of connecting yourself to the Earth to become fully present in your physical body. Before I explain how to ground yourself, let’s have a look at why grounding is important.

What are the Benefits of Grounding?

Many spiritually open people can benefit from grounding since their energy frequency can be very high and they can have a tendency to “fly away”. Grounding helps you to connect body, mind, and spirit to become fully focused and present in the body. Empaths can also benefit since they easily get affected by other people’s energy. Grounding will help them find their center again.

It can also be beneficial for people that have experienced trauma or abuse. These people can suffer from flashbacks or intense memories of what happened making it difficult to stay in the present moment. Grounding helps them stay present, get their thoughts under control, and maybe relieve some of their symptoms.

But grounding can also serve as a general tool to find balance when feeling:

Stressed
Drained
Confused
Overwhelmed
Overworked
Angry
Etc.

Positive Effects of Grounding

Grounding has many documented positive effects¹ and is known to:

– Reduce stress and pain
– Improve blood flow, energy, and sleep
– Reduce inflammation and improve healing of wounds
– Improve overall well-being and vitality

How to Ground Yourself? The Practice of Grounding

Many techniques can be applied to ground yourself. Below I have listed some of the more effective you can include in your grounding practice.

1) Walking Barefoot on the Ground

Walking or standing on the ground barefoot gives you direct contact with Earth’s energy. And it just feels good! Try walking barefoot on the grass or in the forest. Or simply lay flat on the ground and sense the Earth’s energy.

2) A Simple Exercise to Ground Yourself Fast

Here comes a simple exercise to use in any situation where you feel the need to ground yourself.

Sit down and close your eyes. Keep your feet flat on the ground. You can do it outdoors with bare feet if possible. But this exercise is about visualization and energy so not mandatory.

Sitting like this, you start visualizing roots coming out of your feet. Roots that penetrate deep into the ground. See how they spread out in the ground and grow bigger and go deeper. Feel how you connect to the Earth. Sense how you become grounded as unwanted or excess energy is absorbed by the Earth. Feel how Earth’s grounding energy revitalizes you.

You can do the visualization for as long as you like. If you are in a stressed situation you can choose just to take out a minute to perform the exercise. Or, if you have the time, you can spend 5-10 minutes or longer.

3) Using Crystals and Stones for Grounding

Holding a grounding crystal or stone can help bring you back to Earth and stay grounded. Crystals and stones hold certain frequencies and can thereby affect our bodies. They can have many properties but some stones and crystals are useful for grounding. Below is a list of stones and crystals with grounding properties:

Black Jasper
Black Onyx
Black Obsidian
Black Tourmaline
Hematite
Jet
Smokey Quarts
Tigers Eye

Many of the stones are associated with and work with the Root Chakra, the chakra responsible for feeling grounded. If it is a general problem for you to stay grounded during the day, you can carry one or more crystals in your pocket. Crystals can be found in many sizes and some fit very well in the pocket.

4) Eat Grounding Foods

Some vegetables are very much aligned with the Earth’s energy since they grow in the ground. You can eat these grounding foods to become grounded yourself. Examples of such vegetables are:

Potatoes
Sweet potatoes
Carrots
Radishes
Beetroot
Etc.

5) Gardening

When you spend time in the garden you are in close contact with the Earth’s energy which helps to ground you. At the same time gardening is a very mindful activity and you spend time with Nature. You can even consider growing your own grounding vegetables as mentioned above.

6) Feeling Your Body means Being Present in Your Body

Everything that moves your focus to your body has a grounding effect. Below are some examples:

Sauna
Swimming in the sea
Cold showering
Mindfulness meditation where you scan your body step by step
Massage
Yoga

The Lost Connection to Nature

Grounding is not a new thing. Back in time when we lived in nature, our grounding practice was an integrated part of life. Our ancestors in many cases walked barefooted when hunting, slept on the ground, or very in very close proximity to. They showered in the rivers and were in general very connected to nature. We did not watch TV but watched the bonfire or the sunset. Reflect a bit about what you believe is most healing for the nervous system.

In our modern-day society, we are in many cases living in tall buildings, far away from the grounding energy of Earth. Access to nature is also often limited in big cities.

During the last 50 years, we have seen an increase in chronic diseases, immune disorders, and inflammation in the body. The lack of the above factors, might not be the full explanation but the lack of grounding and connection to nature definitely could be a part of the explanation.

The positive effects of grounding have however started to find their way back into our lives. Today some of these practices have started to reemerge but this time solely because we realized it feels good and has health benefits.

Here are some examples of practices that have grown increasingly popular in recent years:
– Forest bathing (in Japanese Shinrin-Yoku)
– Swimming in the sea in winter
– Stress gardens

Grounding and the Root Chakra

Grounding is closely related to the Root Chakra. The name itself indicates it. The Root chakra is the first of our chakras and is located at the base of the spine. The chakra is the driving force that gives us the power to live our lives and achieve things. But it is also responsible for our feelings of security, safety, belonging, feeling grounded and connected. By grounding yourself you also take care of your root chakra.

Guided Meditation to Ground Yourself

Below is a guided meditation you can use for grounding yourself. If you want to jump straight to the meditation go to 1:40 min. The sound of the video is a bit low so you might need to adjust it up for best experience.