When I was a kid, getting grounded was a form of punishment. It meant you had to stay home and couldn’t see your friends.
Nowadays, grounding has a different meaning. Its more about getting out of your head, calming down and getting in touch with your center. And connecting with the earth, our home.
Many of us can find ourselves ungrounded from time to time. Symptoms include being easily distracted, over thinking and succumbing to worry and anxiety. If you’re lacking focus, feeling irritable and or scattered, it can’t hurt to look into getting grounded.
One simple way to ground yourself is to take your shoes and socks off, go outside and stand in some dirt, grass or atop a big rock. Note: this might not be so fun to do in the cold winter months.
I’ve preferred being barefoot ever since I was a small child, so this form of “grounding” has been an easy habit for me to cultivate. Imagine my surprise when I read Human Heart, Cosmic Heart by Thomas Cowan MD. He recommends barefoot walking whenever possible for heart health. Makes total sense to me that connecting with the earth would help decrease stress hormones that drive chronic disease.
As to be expected, there are companies looking to make a buck on grounding and earthing, selling pads and other devices. Are they legit? Time will tell. But I’m not going to spend money on new fangled products to ground me, I’ll happily get my feet dirty instead!
Trees are super grounded. Being the treehugger that I am, I appreciate trees on deep level. That quality has rubbed off on my kids. My youngest daughter has an ongoing relationship with an American Sycamore tree overlooking the Hudson River in Rockwood Park. She visits it whenever she is home. Sometimes the family tags along, including our dog Walter.
Here’s a simple tree based meditation. Stand like a tree is also known as Zhan Zhuang, a form of QiGong that is surprisingly strengthening. Try it for a few minutes each day and build up to more.
- Stand barefoot with parallel feet shoulder width apart.
- Knees slightly bent, hips slightly forward.
- Shoulders relaxed, arms comfy at your side.
- Imagine an invisible string pulling the crown of your head up to the sky. Your head floats effortlessly above your neck, with your chin slightly inward.
You may find that standing still like a tree can strengthen, relax and ground you. Consider it non-caloric nourishment. A form of good medicine that is free of cost and harmful side effects.
