Grounding

Grounding. I would have to say that the cornerstone, the absolute essential thing in my spiritual growth and my spiritual path, is grounding. Being grounded. Here on Earth, feeling at one, knowing I belong here and that this is my home, for now.

Being grounded is when your lower chakras as strong. When your base, sacral and solar plexus chakras are strong, energised and spinning the way they're supposed to. I know for me, and for many many other people, there is a tendency to easily connect to the higher chakras, the third eye and crown, which is wonderful and amazing, but it is so important that the lower chakras be strong to provide a counter-balance to the higher energies. If they're not, if the higher chakras are strong and the lower chakras are weak, that's when you become 'ungrounded' and that's a problem. It's not the nicest thing to experience. But possibly quite common. It is helpful to think of the chakras in a pyramid form - the bigger, or stronger the base, the higher the top (crown chakra) can go. Conversely, if there's a narrow base and a really tall tower (weak lower chakras and strong higher chakras), things can be a little unstable.

There are many 'symptoms' of being ungrounded. It can be simple things like feeling a bit spaced out or dazed, bumping into things often, not being focused on 'real-world' things - physical things, taking care of daily life.  It can be having difficulty finishing sentences when speaking, being easily distracted and finding it hard to get to where you want to be in life. It can be not even knowing where you want to be in life. It can be having difficulty meeting your material needs. It can get serious and manifest as depression, unwanted out of body experiences and feelings of wanting to leave the earth. It can show up as exhaustion and an inability to get enough rest, despite getting plenty of sleep. Funny to think that all these things can have a basis in spiritual stuff, isn't it? *

I've had more than my own fair share of feeling ungrounded, especially over the past few years. For me, most of the lesser 'symptoms' were all present and I had no idea, absolutely no idea, that there was a spiritual basis to any of it. That was a while ago. And in fact I probably still experience some of them more often than not (that not finishing sentences thing..). And in my worst moments, when there was way too much higher chakra stuff going on and not enough strength in my lower chakras, I would look longingly up at the sky and just want to be there, or I would have thoughts about wondering whether I had actually died already, but my soul hadn't realised and was just hanging about on Earth (I'm sure there's movies about stuff like that, isn't there?). Not the most pleasant thoughts to be sitting with. Being grounded really truly is an important consideration.

The thing is, grounding is a continual thing - it needs doing, and doing, and doing. It's not like you can do it once and say 'ok, that's it, I'm grounded now' and forget about it. It's a daily practice. An hourly practice, sometimes. A minute by minute, moment by moment practice, sometimes.

So, how do you get grounded? There are so many ways to ground yourself, but one of the best is to be outside, in nature, feeling the Earth energy. Preferably away from the hustle and bustle of city life, but even if that's not possible, just being outside, connecting to the Earth. Bare feet on the Earth, hands in the dirt. So things like gardening, heading to the beach, heading out for a hike are all perfect things. Listening to the birds sing, watching the trees dance and sway, and knowing that you are as much a part of nature as the trees and the birds. There are crystals that are excellent to carry for grounding (black tourmaline, smoky quartz, garnet to name a few) and there are crystals to avoid as they can be highly ungrounding (selenite and moldavite were always my worst offenders). You can do a grounding meditation - any meditation where you see and feel yourself 'connect' with the energy of the Earth. You can breathe - deeply, into the Hara (a major energy centre, located about 3-5cm below the navel), letting your tummy move in and out with it (rather than the lungs). You can focus yourself intently on tasks that you are doing in the moment - like washing each dish with care, watching every movement, being conscious of what your body is doing. You could call a friend just to have a chat, you could make yourself a healthy meal or snack and eat something grounding (proteins), you could tidy up and declutter your house slowly and mindfully. You can look at your feet and imagine the energy of the Earth coming up to meet them, flowing into them and holding you here. There are so many ways to be grounded.

The hardest part is awareness - becoming aware of when you are feeling ungrounded, so you can do something about it. Once you become aware, you can return yourself to a more grounded state in literally minutes with some of the techniques I've listed above. The trick is just knowing when you're feeling ungrounded, and having a favourite thing, a go-to thing, that helps you bring your energy back down. And if you're someone who tends to feel ungrounded regularly, then you must work, work and work some more on those lower chakras, to strengthen them and bring back some balance to your energetic system. At the end of the day, we are simply creatures of the Earth living in a time when we are so disconnected from her and from our natural rhythms. No wonder so many of us feel ungrounded.

Ahh, there is so much to say on this topic. More another time!


* These are typical things that someone may experience due to being ungrounded. In no way should you take this as any form of medical advice. If you're unwell, obviously see your doctor.