What Is Grounding: A Beginners Guide

The saying “you have got your head in the clouds” means someone who isn’t able to see clearly as their perspective is not taking the physical reality into account. It can mean someone who is daydreaming and not grounded.

Grounding Basics

Grounding techniques symbolically and physically connect your feet back to the earth. It provides healing for the entire chakra system as it creates a strong foundation.

This is especially true for the root chakra, which is related to the earth element and physical plane. There many techniques and approaches you can take to become grounded. These range from earthing to techniques such as visualization or even gardening.

Earthing

Earthing is when the human body is in contact with the electrons of the earth. This can be done through electrically conductive materials as well such as earthing mats.

Although some holistic practitioners perceive this as possibly reducing the emotional effects as one is connecting less intimately with nature through a conductive material. There have been many studies proving that earthing actually has powerful health benefits on the physical body.

One study, in particular, followed a 33-year-old woman who injured her right knee in gymnastics 18 years prior. The chronic pain residing in her knee was agitated in simple actions such as standing for long periods of time and driving.

She even found that she needed to sleep within a pillow in between her knees to provide pain relief. Minimal relief was found with periodic medical treatments including physical therapy.

Infrared images of her knee were taken at different stages of the study. 30 minutes after being grounded with an electrode patch, she reported slight pain reduction and showed a significant reduction in inflammation.

She began sleeping with a grounding mat and after 6 days found a whopping 50% decrease in pain. She no longer needed to sleep with the pillow between her legs either!

For the first time in years following 4 weeks of treatment, she found herself playing soccer. 6 months of the treatment she had announced to the office she had just finished a half-marathon which previously was unfathomable to her!

The study discusses that “Electrons from the Earth may in fact be the best antioxidants, with zero negative secondary effects, because our body evolved to use them over eons of physical contact with the ground. Our immune systems work beautifully as long as electrons are available to balance the ROS and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) used when dealing with infection and tissue injury.”

Related article: How Meditation Can Actually Ease Pain

Spiritual and Emotional Grounding

By connecting to the earth you also connect deeper to the true nature of reality as well as this physical plane. Grounding brings mental clarity and emotional stability.

If you think of your emotions as a strong wind, when they blow and you do not have a strong foundation or root system, you will be blown around at the whims of your emotions. Although, if you are grounded within your root system the winds of change will simply cause you to gently sway.

Emotionally becoming grounded has the effect of giving you an anchor, a sense of stability, assuredness, and increased awareness. This correlates to letting negativity roll off of you, to be less prone to distraction, and to easily let go of what no longer serves you.

This is because grounding connects you back to what is truly important as well as provides you with a better understanding of how to interact with the physical plane.

Grounding reconnects you to be in with the present moment as well as your physical body including sensations. To learn more about arriving in the present moment

This can help to stop one from overeating as sometimes the craving behind chronic overeating is to feel your feet on the ground.

It can work to bring one’s awareness into the present moment and into their body through the many sensual perceptions eating can bring. Simple grounding techniques can help chronic overeaters come back to their body fully without needing to use food as their anchor.