Having recently returned from Post Grad studies in Body Psychotherapy I’m feeling back in my flow again and grateful for what really matters to me in my life, and this is simply being present, with body, mind, emotions and spirit energised and integrated. Fundamental to this is being grounded. This is a term which is used widely these days, so here is my take on what it means to be grounded.
Grounding is our ability to connect to and feel the ground. To let the ground receive us so we feel stable, supported and safe. Groundedness connects us to the resource of Mother Earth’s energy and our strength and vitality. It enables us to feel at home, here and now.
Emotional Grounding involves allowing and accepting whatever feelings are present within us. This includes the ability to deeply relax and rest in Mother Earth. As we let our feelings connect down into the earth and feel her tremendous support, we can allow ourselves to be mothered by the earth.
As a Body Psychotherapist with 37 years of experience teaching internal martial arts, my path includes methods of relaxation for sinking Qi, physically, mentally and emotionally, and sharing these in my teaching of Tai Chi, Qigong, martial arts and meditation. While the flowing moves and spaciousness of these systems develop our awareness of energy, their grounding techniques help us cultivate our relationship to the earth.
Practically applied, in a vertically aligned posture we relax, focus within, feel and sink our bodyweight and mind down through our legs and feet, into the ground. This activates natural rising and sinking currents of energy. The more we can relax in our upright posture the deeper we connect, and the stronger the feedback of energy from the earth, to both soothe and enliven us.
As we ground our energy, we also have time to sink and ground whatever vulnerable feelings may arise, particularly when we stop doing and simply be. Grounding helps us bring attention to the sensations of these feelings in our body, which allows them to better metabolise and integrate.
We may resist feeling these underlying feelings and be compelled to keeping running, toward and away from experiences. But through remembering to ground and embody our real feelings we can come back to ourselves and the healing embrace of Mother Earth. These essential skills help us drop into stillness and bring us home to our true nature.