In the world of today – with a million things going on at once – oftentimes we feel overwhelmed, ungrounded and slightly frazzled, here are a few learned tips on how to ground your-elf.
If you work a lot, use many different social networks, travel a lot, socialize, party, drink alcohol, take drugs, don’t sleep enough, feel unfocused, drink loads of caffeine, get anxious easily, have confused energy, worry too much, feel run-down, are going through a stressful time, are moody quite a lot, craving foods bad for you and generally feeling you are not in your body or on this earth, chances are, you need some grounding of your energies.
At one stage or another, I have partaken in of all of the above, and have learned tips over the years on how to ground my-elf back to earth. I remember the first time I was conscious that I was ungrounded was when I was 20. I had been living in London for a year and was working an intense fast-paced job in dance music PR. I worked a lot, I went out a lot, was very ‘frazzled’ and had no idea where or how to channel energies back to the earth, or how to get energies back in my body (apart from sleep). My friend Trish recommended I try a Reiki healing session and it totally changed my energy, and life! Trish took me to visit her Reiki healer, Angie. In the session I remember feeling huge energy surges run up my body when she touched my feet, I asked her why afterwards and she told me it was because I was ungrounded and my energy was flying around all over the place. I still have energy that flies all over the place, but I now try to put into practice the wisdom I have learned along the way to bring it down into focus. Here I pass to you so that you can honour and work with your energy to live and experience life to its fullest potential.
1. Take your shoes off and connect to the earth.
I will use this one first as this is what Angie told me to do if I felt ungrounded. She taught me that you take in energy through your bare feet and if you ever feel tired and rundown, this is a great way to connect back to the earth. Through bare feet connection you bring nurturing and supporting Gaia earth energies into your body. Go to a park, switch your phone off, find a quiet space, take your shoes off, close your eyes and breathe. Slow down and listen to your breath and the sounds of nature. Focus on being, not doing. You can also hug trees why you are at it! I love hugging these wisdom-full species, it’s better to do it with someone else as you don’t look as crazy. My favourite reaction was with my little sisters; they hugged a tree without question and one of them kissed it! Listen to what nature is saying to you.
2. Breathe.
Use your breath to slow down and focus. Breathing is the best thing to bring you back into your body. If you are feeling really ungrounded, it may take a while to do it, so I would suggest doing a few other things on the list first (yet consciously breathing whilst you do them!). Inhale and let your tummy expand, exhale, let your tummy fall. Slow, deep breaths. Breathe in love, breathe out everything that you don’t need. Just let it go.
3. Eat root vegetables.
Grown inside the womb of the earth, they are nourished by the earth’s soil, ready to nourish our bodies. Always try and go organic if you can, the non organic ones have been sprayed with goodness knows what (more on that when I learn enough) and go GMO free for sure – I have been finding out some really dark stuff on GMOs! Nurture yourself over supermarket price. Think about the energy that went into making it and what you need for your body. Your body is your temple. Root vegetables include: potatoes, carrots, turnips, onions, garlic, ginger. find more here and you can check a nice recipe from The Panthers Whiskers here.
4. Wear red.
Red is the colour of the root chakra. Chakras are the ‘energy centres’ of the body, we have seven main chakras for our human body. Everything is energy and you need to think beyond the physical manifestation of energy to work with chakras. The root / red chakra is the first chakra of the body and known as the base chakra. It is linked to survival and is where we feel safe and secure in our beings. It represents the earth and a harmonious root chakra means you will feel safe and grounded. Brown and black are also grounding colours. I used notice everyone in the rave scene wearing black and I asked some people why. I got answers from ‘there aren’t so many sweat patches‘, to ‘it doesn’t look dirty‘, to ‘I look thinner in black‘. I am now reading a powerful book for healers and it tells that black is an earthy current and a beautiful way of grounding and working with the earth’s energies. Which makes sense in the rave: there is loads of wild energy flying around that needs to be earthed! I (personally) like to mix it up and work with the vibrations of the other colours too.
5. Get a crystal.
I love crystals. I am currently on a ‘cosmic quest’ around the Americas and have over 5 kilos of crystals with me, and I keep finding more! I like to think I have one (or a few) for every occasion. Some great grounding crystals, which are good for drawing negative energies from inside and bringing you back to earth, include black touramaline, jasper, smokey quartz, hematite and black calcite. Check Cici’s feature here on her love for crystals, and more behind them! The image below is black touramaline.
6. Do some gardening.
Not everyone has this opportunity, living in cities (get a window box or plant pot in this case), but it is a wonderful thing! I learnt a little on plants (there is a lot to learn!) whilst doing a work study programme at Esalen in the Big Sur. It’s great to consciously connect with nature and the plant spirits to bring you back down. And it is really satisfying when you don’t kill your house plant, and it actually grows! I also love weeding, as it feels like I am weeding out all the thoughts I don’t need inside.
7. Have a chat.
There is nothing like a good moan to a loved one. I have delivered many and have been on the other end to many too. Sometimes all you need is a compassionate ear to the thoughts and feelings you have inside. And to be told you are behaving like an idiot if you need to be told that also. I have great friends for all of this and am very grateful!
8. Write it down.
Write down everything that is making you feel up in the air and needs to be let out. I read a book called ‘The Artist’s Way‘, and my favourite part was the morning pages. When you first get up (or can be any time you need, but best is when you wake up), write down everything that is flowing through your head for ten minutes. Don’t let the pen stop, if you can’t think of anything to write at any point, then write ‘I can’t think what to write’ and you will soon get some space inside.
9. Art it out.
I usually just do random squiggles when I feel ungrounded or upset in anyway. And I love drawing in charcoal when things get crazy and dark! I went to a lecture recently and one of the things the teacher said was that squiggles help when you have too much order going on (I.E. too many things to do) and if you have too much chaos, do a list! She also said that lines help focus, get clear and stabalise and that circles help to open, relax and come home to yourself. It really doesn’t matter if you think you can’t draw (everyone can), just do the process and don’t think about it.
10. Connect with animals.
Contact with animals can be incredibly grounding and make you feel safe. Horses especially have a magical connection to bring you back to your-elf.
11. Do yoga.
Move your body so that you are in your body. Awareness is the key. Feel your body as you move it.
12. Do another sporting activity.
Move stuck and stagnant energy – get the energy moving and flowing.
13. Practice awareness and being present.
I do a thing, sometimes, to help myself get more present. I keep checking on myself. “I am driving, I am aware that I am driving.” / “I am in the park, I am aware that I am in the park“/ “I am thinking a negative thought, I am aware I am thinking a negative thought” (these are not good for you or anyone else!). So often, we just ‘do‘ and we are not present to what we are doing. It helps also if you become detached from what is happening quite easily. I do this quite a lot and spiral off to other places, this helps me bring myself back down. Yoga and meditation helps with being present, sometimes it is good just to do a little check in to see what you are doing.
14. Sleep.
Heal the body and mind.
15. Have an epsom sea salt bath.
These are great for drawing out impurities from your system. A good sea salt bath relieves stress and, honestly, if you get in to a nice deep bath with some epsom salts, you will do an ‘ahhhh’ sound as you close your eyes and relax. For added bonus, light some candles, put some essential oils in your bath – like lavender or sandalwood – (only a couple drops – test on your skin first) and put on some nice calming music – what feels good for you. I love a bit of Kate Bush or Brian Eno, or you can go classical. And chanting vibes from Deva Premal and Snatam Kaur lift you up.
16. Get in the sea (or ocean, depending on where you are).
The sea / ocean is nature’s cleanser. There is nothing like a fresh dip for a little reset.
17. Get a massage.
I love massage! It is a great way to get your energy flowing again. This teaches you to get out of your head and really be in your body. When we get tense, we store a lot of things in our body and a massage is one of the best ways to shift them.
18. Step away from electronics.
Try a day, or even an hour would be good. We are always available and sometimes it is so needed to switch off and be off the radar. And there are the EMFs to think about. Go for a walk and forget everything else.
19. Get a Reiki healing session!
This is a great way to balance your chakras and bring you back to mamma earth. I can recommend Reiki healers in England and Ibiza (Trish is now a Reiki master and lives in Ibiza). If you want to get in touch, please let me know! There are also other forms of energy work that can help balance and ground you.
Find what works for you, we are all unique little beings.
This post was written by Kim Booth
Hello cosmic pineapple
I am so proud of you! this blog is so innocent and full of life. Keep writing from the heart.
thank you lovely! xxx