Do you ever feel like life is just passing you by? The lives we live are so busy and fast paced, we lose ourselves in the madness. This is why it is important to learn how to ground yourself. To reconnect with ourselves and to nature, as well as recharge our body and our mind.
What is Grounding?
Grounding is a way to energize and reconnect with nature. The earth has energy running through it, and we can harness that energy and recharge ourselves just by being outside.
Doing this, even for only a few minutes a day can reduce stress, combat negative energies, and better your mood.
How to Ground Yourself
Grounding yourself can be as quick and as easy as you want it to be. We’re all super busy, juggling all of the things. This is why grounding is so important. We lose track of ourselves, and sometimes we can begin to feel disconnected.
Go Outside
Walk outside in the grass barefoot. That’s it! Just stand there and feel the earth under your feet.
You can take it a step further if you wish by doing a visualization meditation.
Imagine you are a tree. Your feet are the roots. Feel your roots growing downwards into the ground. Weaving in between the dirt and rocks, slowly working its way down to the heart of the earth. Reach your arms up, like branches. Feel the air, is the wind blowing? Harness it. Is it sunny out? Let the warmth of the sun energize you. Feel one with the natural world around you.
Not everyone has access to grass, dirt or nature at all. But that is ok. You still have the ability to ground yourself. (Read the how to ground yourself during winter section to learn how)
Eating Healthy
Nutrition is one of the most important things we can do for our bodies. It impacts our mood as well as keeping our bodies energized. When eating a lot of processed foods and junk foods, we tend to feel lethargic. When our body feels good, our mind feels good.
Drinking Water
Our bodies are made almost entirely of water, so it’s no surprise that we need water. Staying hydrated is not only the best thing we can do for our bodies, but it is also a way to connect with the water element. Nature flowing through nature.
Exercise
Move your body! It is important to stay in tuned with our body. It is the main indicator when something is wrong, and it will tell us. Stretch, do some yoga, or go for a walk. Move your body in any way. This gets the blood pumping and allows us to learn what our body needs.
Hygiene
Having good hygiene is not only good for the body, but for the mind as well. When we are dirty, our mind set tends to be low. We do not think highly of ourselves, and depression can begin to set in. When we feel clean, we feel cleansed, refreshed, and feeling better mentally than we did before.
Sleep
Make sure you are getting enough sleep. Our bodies need sleep. We need it to think clearly. And when we do not get enough sleep, it can drastically affect our overall health. Getting 5 hours of sleep or less, our immune system drops significantly. This can lead us to getting sick more and not having the energy to do the things we have to and want to do.
Clean Your Space
This may not seem like it would fall under the basic need category, but having a tidy environment believe it or not has a massive impact on our minds. A cluttered and messy environment means that our minds are cluttered and messy.
It is hard to think or even relax in an environment where physical clutter and mess can make us feel anxious, unaccomplished, and just downright awful about ourselves.
Cleaning your environment, even just small things can make a big difference. I recommend starting with dishes or laundry. These tasks in my opinion make the biggest impact.
Why is Grounding Important?
It is important for our mind and body to ground. The earth affects our bodies and our minds, even though we don’t always see it.
We are made from nature, and it isn’t natural for us to be so disconnected from it. The most unnatural thing we do is stay inside all day. Being surrounded by 4 walls and electronics all day every day is not only unnatural, but it is also unhealthy for us.
Ever wonder why people act strange before, during or shortly after a full moon? We are made up of mainly water, and the moon controls the flows of the oceans. So why wouldn’t it have an effect on us?
When Should You Ground Yourself?
EVERYDAY!
Try to incorporate grounding into your daily routine. It doesn’t have to be long. You can do whatever works for your schedule. You might be able to do 5 minutes one day and only 20 seconds the next. That’s ok. It’s better to do a little than none at all.
You should also ground yourself before and after any spiritual practices or rituals. Grounding before doing any spell workings helps you energize and center yourself to begin your working. Once your spell, ritual, or whatever practice you are doing is over, take a moment to ground yourself again, to regain and reconnect.
Any time you feel tired, high emotions, or just mentally drained from the day-to-day grind. Grounding yourself during these times may help regulate emotions, increase your energy and your mood and help you to center and focus, which sometimes is all we need to help us finish out the day.
How to Ground Yourself During Winter
Like those of us who do not have access to nature outside of our front doors, those who live in areas where the land freezes and gets covered in a blanket of snow, grounding can be a challenge. However, there are ways you can ground yourself, even in these environments.
- Household Plants: when using a household plant, sit with it. Put your hands in the dirt (without disturbing the plant). That plant holds its own energy. Energy it draws from the water you give it and the sunlight it receives. You can tap into this energy to ground yourself.
- Go Outside: OK, hear me out, even in cold climates, walking outside (even barefoot), even for 10 seconds can be enough to ground you.
- If you live in a city environment, even being outside, standing on the sidewalk, you can ground yourself. The sidewalk is made up of natural materials, so why couldn’t you tap into that energy?
- Gently high-five plants and hug a tree
- Harness the sun and wind to reconnect. There is all of this energy around us all the time, and we don’t even notice it. Take the time to notice it. How does it make you feel? Energized by the sun? Power from the wind? Strength from the ground?
- Travel. This doesn’t necessarily mean traveling far. Go to a hiking trail or to a park.
- Bring in Natural Materials: Bring natural elements into your home. We can’t always go outside, nor do we want too sometimes. Bring in some natural elements that you can connect to. Set them up in your home as decor or display them and use them on your altar. Sit and meditate with these items. Tap into their energies to fill yours.
- Dirt/ Sand
- Shells
- Sticks
- Leaves
- Rocks/ Crystals
- Acorns
- Pinecones
- Flowers
- Clean Your Space
- Clean Yourself
Grounding Affirmations
Sometimes it’s hard to connect by feeling. Some days, you might not have the bandwidth for visualization. That is ok! Here are some affirmations you can repeat to yourself as you are grounding.
- I am grounded
- I am energized
- I am connected
- I am filled with light
- I am the universe, and the universe is me
- I am rooted
- I let go of things that are not serving me
- I release any and all negativity within and around me
- I am exactly where I need to be
- I feel at peace
- I trust the universe to guide me
- I trust my instincts
- I nourish my body and mind
- I harness the energies of the elements
- I feel recharged
- My spirit is grounded
- I am calm
- I am centered
- I am stable
Do you have any affirmations you use in your grounding practices? Comment below and let me know. I would LOVE to hear your ideas, and I’m sure others would appreciate it as well! 🙂