Ground Yourself!

Being grounded or grounding yourself have many different meanings. If you have ever done any kind of emotional, body, or spiritual work in the last couple of decades you would most certainly have heard of “grounding” or “being grounded”.

Being grounded means being fully conscious and aware of the present moment and being fully aware of being in your body. You would often hear phrases like, take a deep breath.. feel your chest rise and fall as you breathe… or feel your feet on the ground… feel yourself sitting in the chair…

In today’s busy world so many people suffer from “burn out” or just lose connection with themselves by being so super connected to everyone and everything! At a click of a button we can broadcast to the remotest part of the world or even to outer space, but sadly we have lost connection with ourselves in many ways.

On a daily basis, I encounter clients that are so busy in their lives and minds that they forget they have a body… Living outside of our bodies can be for many reasons… It can be due to past physical or emotional traumas, living in cities or places that are disconnected from nature, doing “out of body” meditations, excessive use of alcohol or other drugs, over-use of digital devices like computers, mobile phones, televisions etc.

What does being ungrounded look like?

• You might feel a bit “spacey” or a bit dizzy
• You head might feel really busy, and you do not feel connected to your body.
• You might find it hard to concentrate on one task
• You might be “absent-minded” and misplace things or forget things that happened just minutes ago.
• You might physically walk into things or feel a little clumsy
• You might feel incoherent in your delivery of things that you say.

If you feel any of these or all of these during your day, it could indicate that you are feeling ungrounded – for whatever reason. Including a few simple daily practices could help you to become more grounded, connected to yourself and those around you.

How to become more grounded

Follow a daily Mindfulness Practice

Being mindful means that you are aware and attentive to the present moment and there are many ways you could do this. You could follow this simple meditation that helps you connect to your breath and to your body. You can spend some time out in nature, walking with your bare feet on the ground. This is a lovely exercise to do, whether on some grass in a park or field or on the sand near the ocean. Wherever your favourite place in nature might be.

Do some Physical Exercise

This can be just about anything form of exercise that you like to do. Exercises that I have found helpful in keeping me grounded are: Yoga, Running, Rebounding, Tai-Chi, Planking, Hiking or Hill-Walking, Swimming. The list is endless! The trick is that when you find something you enjoy, you are going to want to do it and can become part of your daily grounding exercise.

Apart from doing physical exercise, something I love to treat myself to is a full-body massage. Finding a well reputable masseuse is always a bonus to have on your contact list. I find massage to be very grounding, and helps me to stay connected to my body.

A Grounding Diet

Incorporating root vegetables and greens into your diet can help with efforts to get grounded. Root vegetables are grounding purely because of their earthy properties – they grow underneath the ground and greens are grounding due to their mineral content. I love looking towards nature if we are looking for answers! So let mother nature nurture you with the bounty of what she has on offer. Make sure you fuel your body with “heavier” foods also that has a high protein content – these have a natural grounding effect on the body as they are higher in calories.

Spiritual Practice for Grounding

A spiritual practice is anything that disconnects you from your busy day and all the events, schedules and to-do-lists that you carry around in your mind and reconnects you to your heart. That in itself will be grounding! The list of spiritual practices is endless… But the commonality is this: the thoughts going on in your mind must stop for long enough so that you start to feel your body, feel your emotions, and
come home to yourself, and help you to open towards life, to feel free to express yourself and enjoy healthy relationships. If you would like a spiritual practice to start with, why not try out this following meditation that will help you connect to your heart.

Here is to being grounded in your body, mind, and spirit.