GROUNDING
Over the last week, we explored the concept of grounding in class.
G R O U N D I N G:
Grounding down
Getting connected
Rooting down
Planting
Plugging In
…to what?
The surface and everything beneath it, the ground itself, Earth.
A practice of remembering how to reconnect and stay connected while we move, explore the realms, figure things out, and do all the things. Cultivating both an internal and external sense of grounded-ness that steadies us as life twists, turns, spins and whirls often taking us with it. Like being swirled and sucked up into a tornado. It’s hard to know where the ground is and how to get back down to it.
The to-do lists, the obligations, and the plans. The further aspirations, goals, dreams, and desires. The sudden shifts and unexpected happenstances. Situations that uproot us or make us feel less connected in mind or body or spirit. The moments of getting “caught up” and “swept up”. The times of rush and business - busy-ness. Heightened experiences. Flighty, flurried, whirlwind-like times. The types of experiences we all end up having that make it feel like we have somehow lost our own footing and leave us hungry for a sense of connection back down to Earth.
The forgetting that the Earth is always beneath us and is, for us, the ultimate source of grounded-ness is a continuous loop we experience in life warranting the often needed reminder that Nature guides us back to that sense of knowing what we are, who we are. It steadies our senses, our minds and heals our bodies. We are and always will be rooted to the Earth and the Earth will always provide as a charging station for our biological, physiological & spiritual needs. Bringing our awareness back down. Turning toward what is most basic, simple, fundamental and below the other layers of movement and existence. Not so we can avoid being swept up again, but so we only continue to stay more and more grounded as we look to reach new heights and get the most out of our lives.
In the yoga practice there is a common phrase and cue:
Root To Rise
It's a truth and an instruction we come back to when we gather on our mats every single time which invites us to ground down before anything else. Root down. Why? To rise up. Establish our footing- whether it actually be on foot, hand, head or any other part of the body. Getting grounded is therefore a practice of remembering and honoring where and what we come from and remembering that ground we are building life on top of. It is becoming conscious of how we plant with our physical bodies and tuning in to how we connect through our minds and hearts. It is a a practice of remembering to visit our base and always know where the energy is coming from. We take a closer look at how we plug into our mats, the floor, the ground, the Earth. Our foundation. How is it set? Is it grounded or is it beginning on bad footing. Are we truly established as our hands meet the mat. Are we digging in or are we already building a shape that is slightly aloft?
As we find what connects us and how we plug ourselves into the “ground” we begin to cultivate a steadiness within ourselves as we grow and prepare to reach and rise further and further. We connect to the element of the Earth, the Earth itself by planting ourselves intentionally and then we simply receive the benefit of the support the ground beneath your provides. Literally and figuratively. We form our tactile sense of touch through connecting to our environment and from those connections we receive and process information and learn through our functional and mutual relationship with what is around us.
The further we go, the better we feel as we continue to stay informed and connected, on a deep physiological level, to our world and the things in it that make us feel steady and calm, supported, and rooted. Our world, our environment, Nature, offers us a connection to our deepest, fullest selves and continuously serves as the incredible foundation from which to grow.
During my classes last week I referred to a practice called ‘Earthing’. A real practice that goes a step further in getting to the ‘root’ of the issue of general human disconnection and all of the different side effects that has continued to cause.
In class we discussed how we connect to our mats both generally and in each pose as a way of bringing awareness to what it is we ground down with in the first place. We reflected on the common way we as humans make our physical grounding connection in our daily lives- our feet. With every step we connect to the Earth in some way, even if it is separated from the truest form of earth by a few degrees. You know… fabricated floors, concrete, shoes and all of those things that get our skin and the actual ground further away from each other. And so was I digging into this theme for class I remembered this Earthing practice and couldn’t help but bring it up in class as a thing that is now proving to bring us back to our healthy, human Nature. It’s something I think we all do in one way or another without thinking about it, but most of us don’t do enough of consciously or fully.
So here is an easy resource to read through about the practice of Grounding, also known as Earthing! May it inspire you to get out into Nature, even if it’s somewhere close by, just to get your fix of dirty feet and the complete recharging that comes with that!
https://chopra.com/articles/grounding-the-human-body-the-healing-benefits-of-earthing
