Grounding is an essential tool for energy work and meditation but also for anyone that deals with stress or anxiety. It is especially beneficial for anyone that considers themselves an empath. It has become more popular recently, but not many people know that there is actual science behind it.
Grounding in its simplest form, is putting your bare feet on the ground (specifically the Earth). Doing this provides your body with much needed electrons, and those electrons induce a sense of balanced energy within you. Using a grounding mat like the one here can also provide you with those electrons. This physical component to grounding is crucial for your health but I also wanted to bring a spiritual aspect to this process for mental health benefits.
In today’s world, people often live in their top 3 chakras (throat, third eye & crown). This is because being attuned to other people is almost essential to survival, aka, being an empath. Or should I say, an unhealed empath. We focus so heavily on being able to sense other people’s emotions that we often neglect our own. Some of us even take on these emotions as our own.
This can look like being a people pleaser, feeling emotions out of nowhere (because they belong to someone else), or having strong emotional responses to other people’s emotions. Where your emotions start and other’s begin gets confusing. And to make matters worse, we feel all of these emotions and then simply store them because no one has taught us how to process them. Grounding out these emotions not only releases you of these emotions but it can also give you clarity on which emotions belong to you and which emotions belong to other people. If an emotion returns after grounding, it may belong to you and you can start doing shadow work to address it.
So how do you ground it all out? What we really want to do, is begin activating our lower chakras so that those emotions can move through us and be grounded. This can be done with physical grounding techniques, energy work/Reiki, or breathing into your lower chakras to activate them. Follow some of the techniques I’ve provided below to discover which method works best for you.
1. Barefoot Grounding: As discussed earlier, this is simply putting your bare feet on the Earth. To amplify this and activate your lower chakras, stand strong and firm, unwavering. Visualize roots coming out of your feet, connecting you to the Earth, allowing you to receive all that Mother Gaia has to offer. And allow all the tension, stress and emotions to drain out of you, back into the Earth for Mother Gaia to transmute (transmuting isn’t always your job). Do this for as long as you feel called to do so, giving thanks to the Earth when you are finished.
2. Energy Work/Reiki: You can have this done by a professional or do it yourself (keep an eye out for a future post on Energy Work). Essentially this process moves energy through your body that may have been stuck. It can also activate your chakras. Water is typically used in the process to ground out the energy through the fingers. As you or the practitioner move this energy, you can dip your fingers in water to allow the water to absorb that energy. A simple process is bringing your hands above your head and slowly dragging them down with the intention of collecting any unwanted energy attached to you. Don't actually touch your body, as you are interacting with your energy field, not your physical body.
3. Breathing: This technique is great for anxiety and for those moments when you don’t have much time or access to physical grounding. Breathe into your belly and follow your breath from your belly, up into your diaphragm, and into your chest. Hold it at the top and as you exhale through your mouth, follow the breath back down into your belly, allowing it to empty completely. Practice this a few times and then add a mantra to the exhale such as, “I Am Safe.” This process brings your breath into your lower chakras, helping to activate them and ground emotions through them.
When you’ve mastered these methods, try combining methods 1 & 3 to get extra powerful results. Happy grounding Dear Ones!