Grounding
"Get yourself grounded and you can navigate even the stormiest roads in peace."
- Steve Goodier
What is Grounding?
Grounding (aka earthing) is that sense of settling, coming back to yourself, engaging or surrendering to the present. It is when we allow ourselves to just ‘be’ and mindfully arrive into the present moment without judgement, commentary or a story.
When we ground an object, we remove the excess charge by transferring electrons to the ground – the excess charge is balanced thus the object is grounded. The same analogy can be applied to our over active mind, when we feel anxious, overwhelmed, or have excessive energy. We ground to balance and calm ourselves. For e.g. when we practice yoga, we ground. We connect to our physical body, focus our energy on the practice, connect to the ground (noticing the areas of contact that we have with the floor); we synchronise movement with breath to connect to our present.
It has been a long time since I have blogged. Finally having the space to be creative and my mind clear enough to write. It has been a whirlwind of a couple of months; being away, Spain retreat (which was incredible – needs a blog of its own), passport being stolen, South Korea family trip, then settling back into routine and getting back on top of everything. So grounding has been a key message that I have been reminding myself to do!
It is no wonder that I have been feeling caught up in a scattered whirlwind. I have been finding myself creeping back into an old habit of constantly keeping myself busy, to then burn myself out! Exhausted and not feeling like I can stop as I allow my mind to relentlessly overthink about everything. Bored and restless, constantly seeking to do something, too busy that I am distracting myself of what is really important – TOO MUCH MIND CLUTTER.
I have found that grounding is so very important, no matter what the mindspace, whether cluttered, scattered or not. Don’t let the excess build up. A wise friend reminded me that you don’t need to practice just because you feel stagnant in something or ‘bad’. You practice even when you feel good – that is really where we proceed to explore ourselves and evolve too! So TRUE – I wouldn’t advise people to just do yoga once they’ve become injured. But the opposite – practice, maintain the health of your body, mind and soul all the time!
So when I feel this way, I know it is time for a sit down, a digital detox, a no phone zone, distraction free ‘me time’. I thought I would share what helps me other than practicing yoga, as sometimes we don’t have the time to roll out a yoga mat – so here are a few convenient grounding practices (can be practiced anywhere)!
Grounding Techniques:
1. Breath – Focus on the journey of your breath. Watch the air flowing IN through your nose, through throat, through to expand your lungs. Exhale watching the warm air flow out through lungs, throat and nose. Then start to feel the rhythm of your breath. Inhale a wave flowing up. Exhale a wave flowing down.
2. 5 things – The poster above.
Repeat to yourself … “ I AM PRESENT.”
Look around to find:
5 things you can see
4 things you can hear
3 things you can touch
2 things you can smell
1 thing you can taste
3. Body scan – Find a comfortable seated position or lie down. Settling in and close your eyes. Visualise and mentally scan through your body, from feet to legs to torso to hands to head.
Click here for a guided body scan
We are on a journey of experience, good or bad we are here to learn and grow. Be present for it. Be patient. Practice makes perfect!
#MentalHealthAwareness #YogaOffTheMat #SelCare #Meditation #Wellbeing #Mindfulness #Grounding
