Have you ever heard someone say they need to ‘ground themselves’? Or they find something very ‘grounding’? There are both energetic and scientific benefits to grounding.

What does it mean?

The term grounding refers to bringing yourself back into your body and into the here and now. It brings you into the present so that you feel stable and safe and experience more peace and calm. It helps you to focus on your reality at the present moment, reconnect to nature and improve your energy.

What does ungrounded look like?

Being ungrounded can leave you feeling uncertain, anxious, lost, spacey and generally uncomfortable and unsure. It can take many forms but some examples would be:

• Constantly ruminating about the past

• Catastrophising

• Problem solving for future events which may or may not happen

• Perpetual worry or anxiety

• Feeling spacey

• Feeling unfocused

• Easily distracted

• Constantly emotionally drained

• Feeling out of control

It can also affect you physically and may show up as:

• Poor sleep

• Chronic pain

• Fatigue

• Poor circulation

Scientific evidence

There have been studies in the last 15 years that have shown that grounding has positive effects on our bodies. It improves our ability to heal faster, reduce inflammation, increase our energy, decrease pain and restore balance to the body.

In a nutshell, we humans hold a positive electrical charge. In fact the electrical charge from our heart can be measured up to one metre away, and this is what is measured by an ECG (electrocardiogram).

Our beautiful Mother Earth holds a negative charge, so when we connect our skin to the earth we can discharge our excess energy into the earth which then has positive effects for our whole body, even down to a cellular level.

Best ways to ground

If you notice that you are constantly living in the future (planning, problem solving, inventing scenarios) or stuck in the past (ruminating, rehashing events, reliving scenarios), or have sleep issues, fatigue or chronic pain, try some of these tactics to ground yourself.

1. Walk barefoot
   This is the quickest, easiest way to ground yourself. Take off your shoes and socks and get your feet onto the ground. Areas of grass, sand, stone or dirt work best. Avoid asphalt as it is a petrochemical product that is naturally insulating. This is best done daily if possible.

2. Lie down on the ground
   Allow your skin to connect with the Earth. If you don’t want to just lie around and cloud gaze (but honestly, who wouldn’t want to take time out to do that?) then try practicing yoga on the grass without a mat.

3. Put down roots
   Breath deeply into your body and then take your energy down to your feet. Imagine tree roots coming out of your feet and going down into the ground. Take them deep and wide so that you feel strong and centred. You may find you feel heavier or more pulled to the Earth once you have completed this.

4. Connect with the Earth Crystal
   Imagine a crystal right at the heart of the Earth (there actually is one). Focus your energy on your Root Chakra (also known as your Base Chakra) and its red colouring. Send a cord from your Root Chakra down to the centre of the Earth and wrap it around the crystal. This will hold you to the surface of the Earth and stop the spaciness or feelings of floating away.

5. Use grounding crystals
   Crystals come from the Earth and there are several that are excellent for grounding. Below is a short list of crystals for you to investigate and find the one that works best for you. You can hold them, put them in your pockets, meditate with them or simply have them by your bed.

   1. Hematite - the best one for grounding, it clears confusion and brings in balance

   2. Black tourmaline - clears out negative emotions, thoughts and patterns

   3. Shungite - clears out unwanted emotions, thoughts and patterns from you and your environment

   4. Smokey quartz - stimulates and balances all chakras, particularly the root chakra

   5. Black jasper - great for reducing spaciness

   6. Black obsidian - made from earth, fire and water this has great grounding energies.

6. Breathe
   Focus on your breath - the feeling of it coming into your body and the feeling of it going out of your body. Feel it in your nostrils, in your lungs, and as you exhale through your mouth. Focusing on your breath stops you from thinking about other things.

7. Meditate
   It doesn’t matter whether you use a guided meditation, meditate to music or simply sit in stillness. Calming your mind and bringing yourself back to the present moment is what is important. If I’m feeling particularly unfocused, I’ll choose a guided meditation so that I can focus on the imagery that is suggested.

8. Attend a sound bath
   Like meditation for the body, a sound bath washes your body with sound frequencies, helping to re-centre you into your body. You come away feeling relaxed and grounded, and more able to tackle the daily onslaught of energies and attention sappers that surround us all the time.

9. Swim in the sea, lakes or rivers
   Apart from the fact that water cleanses your energy (especially salt water), it also brings you into the moment - especially if it’s cold. It’s very hard to think about what may or may not happen next week when you are inching your way into cold water, debating whether or not to plunge directly in or take the cautious approach.

10. Buy shoes with natural soles
    Some people believe that our modern day shoes are the worst invention ever as they insulate us from the earth. They are generally made from rubber, polyurethane or PVC. By wearing these we are naturally insulating ourselves from the Earth. Shoes with leather soles or those made from sugar cane (see Allbirds shoes) will allow you to stay grounded.

Grounding is such a quick and easy way to bring us back into the present moment, reduce anxiety, and provide us with health benefits. If you are finding your thoughts getting away on you, take a walk on the grass with your shoes off for 20 minutes and notice the difference it makes to how you are feeling.

Stay grounded team!

Karen