Find your Ground
grounding from a personal perspective.
What is grounding?
In conversations with others interested in spirituality and the metaphysical, I notice that even those who practice frequently gloss over grounding and centering. I am guilty of this. Often, I come in contact with people who struggle with grounding. I quickly ask, “What method are you using?” and immediately try to suggest an opposite approach. I never stop to ask how experienced the individual is or how long they’ve been looking into various ways to achieve this goal. The concept is sometimes lost on the novice, and because so many of us get used to doing those exercises, they can become very mundane. To those just starting, grounding can seem a daunting task. Centering sounds like gibberish. How-to-guides are everywhere. There is plenty of material on technique without anyone discussing how it feels.
Grounding has a sensation. There is a noticeable change in how we think internally before and after grounding. The sensation is more than just a sense of calm. Grounding leaves you with a profound sense of belonging, peace, oneness, and being deeply connected to the source. One word does not appropriately describe all that grounding gives back to you. There are so many sources of information that knowing where to start becomes difficult. I find that reading up on one or two techniques at a time is helpful without being overwhelming. The mind has time to digest the technique step by step and compare it to the other one being considered. Giving yourself time to decide what will and won't work for you is valuable. Grounding is different for everyone. There is no technique that is “one size fits all.”
Grounding is something that needs to be worked on daily. Sitting down to ground your first time may seem odd. I am sure part of your brain will tell you nothing is happening. Something is happening, however. My first time sitting down and attempting to ground was awkward. I felt so out of place. Sitting in the dirt with my eyes closed, my mind didn’t want to quiet itself. So I focused on going over the steps. I didn’t know how to tell my body or my mind to pull or push energy. Really, being able to do so at all sounded remotely insane, if not downright impossible. I kept turning it over in my head. Even in those minutes, sitting there, going over the steps when it was new, and the act didn’t feel normal, I kept thinking it over. Finally, it clicked. Pushing and pulling energy, directing it, is a function similar to breathing and other bodily functions. The body itself manages to know to accomplish the task without conscious thought. Intention is the definable difference. You only need to decide you want to take control of the energy you interact with and come into contact with.
The conscious decision paired with the will of intention makes directing energy possible. The intention is this multi-purpose tool. Universal and necessary but in sleep mode unless we make an effort to wake that power up within us consciously. Even your first time, you are doing the work. Your mind hasn’t cemented the process for you yet, but the intention is there, and that starts the circuit. Energy begins to move, and even if the first grounding attempt is only slightly successful, it will have done something. The first attempt is the start of the reprogramming. I had to keep at it for a week before the energy really had color, and I could see it moving throughout my body. It took a long time to hold those images for longer than a few minutes. I’ve worked at grounding consistently for years; that was the only way to find multiple methods that worked for me. Having variety gives me the option of grounding no matter where I am. I can ground and recharge anywhere and everywhere.
No witch’s arsenal is complete without grounding techniques. Grounding is one of the cornerstones in energy work. Grounding is turning within yourself, gathering all the absorbed energy or built-up energy our bodies, emotions, and thoughts create, and giving it all back to the earth and sending that energy through the body, down through the feet, and into the ground. The earth is dual in nature, making it uniquely capable of simultaneously being both a battery and sponge. Perfect to ground our energies with. When looking for a method to help you practice, think about what speaks to you. Is it music? Is it exercise? Do mantras work for you? Sound, in my opinion, is one of the most overlooked sources to help us ground and rebalance. The energy flowing through us has a frequency. Sound is all about frequency. That is how we hear and process sound. This is why I said earlier: Our bodies know how to ground; we are simply turning on a switch and making a conscious choice to do it more often and with purpose. If music is one of those things you can’t function without, work that into your unique method. Turn on music that makes you feel happy, secure, safe, comfortable, joyous, and understood. Use that to help generate positive intention and energy. Accompany the music with breathing exercises so that you can use those to help release the energy you deemed no longer of purpose within you and your aura. Bringing the positive energy in on the inhale, letting the negative go with the exhale as the music elevates your mood and the emotions create higher vibrations. Creating your ritual for grounding is a perfect way to conceptualize the process for yourself. It is a beautiful journey, and I want to help take the stress out of the learning curve. Enjoy the adventure and take time to rediscover what makes you who you are. Understanding how you filter energy, take it in, get rid of it, and how your aura, body, and mind do that most efficiently is part of the fun. This is supposed to be fun. Don’t forget that.
Techniques
As I stated earlier, no one-size-fits-all method or approach to grounding will work for everyone. We are not all made the same. Our minds, especially, do not all think or work the same. Grounding is a mental exercise and a physical exercise in energy work. That ability to shift, gather, pull, push, and direct energy starts with our minds. Our energy plays a significant role in how we feel. Our mental state ties in directly to the state of our natural energy. This is why the two go hand in hand. There are so many different ways to ground, yet the purpose is the same. Every recommended method to ground energy within our bodies has the same goal: rebalancing our internal aura. This helps promote a sense of peace and calm while connecting us with the source. We allow our minds to open our auras to the universal energy flow. In this way, we are rebalancing ourselves with the divine frequencies and returning to alignment.
Dancing is an excellent way to do this, especially for those who love chaos magic. The movements in the dances can be unpredictable, different every time, with no pattern or thought lent toward sequence. The motion is the signal the body and mind need to do the work of releasing and drawing in. Dancing is an exertion of energy, but the act can also help fill us with that radiant energy that promotes a feeling of optimism and balance. Dancing is a great way to ground for people who actively work with chaos magic due to the fluid nature of the act. In its primal form, dancing is more about a fluid connection between sound movement and spirit than a beautiful display. So dance chaos witches, dance and ground and cleanse your heart if that will help you achieve a more complete and successful grounding.
Earthing
Grounding is most effective done outside if possible. Sitting flat on the earth, walking barefoot in the grass, or at least sitting with feet flat on the ground. Allowing our bodies to connect with the Earth directly helps to balance the energy within us and send the erratic energy back to the Earth to be neutralized. This process, in its simplest form, is called earthing or grounding. Being direct, as it is named, earthing is the process of directly touching or being in contact with the earth for at least thirty minutes a day to allow our natural aura and energy to realign itself with that of the divine source. I prefer to see grounding as the active step that goes further than just a primary connection.
Grounding involves the mental process of directing the energies within us through our bodies and then pulling energy back up from the earth to refill or recharge our bodies and better align with purpose and goals. This means a mental picture of the energy within us must be formed during the connection to the Earth. Picturing the energy swirling through our limbs and pooling together at our center or solar plexus. Allowing energy to gather until we feel we have collected all of the unbalanced energy within ourselves and then pushing that energy down, through our bodies, past our feet, and deep into the earth. It gets pushed down all the way, and then it is released. After the negative or unbalanced energy is released, we can start pulling back from the earth, pulling the positively charged energy up from the earth, up through our feet, and into the rest of our bodies. Filling up with balanced energy once more aligned with divinity and divine purpose. There are mental and physical health benefits associated with earthing. Reducing inflammation in the body, just to name one such benefit, and a more precise state of mind to name another. A half-hour a day is recommended to connect with the earth directly or as close to it as possible. Even fifteen minutes a day has benefits, though. I know lives are busy, and adapting routines is difficult. Change, even when it's good, is hard to implement.
Grounding can also be done in water or with a house plant. I ground in the shower in the mornings. I let the energy run down through the drain with the water as it flows over and down my body. I push my energy into the water and then pull from the energy in my surroundings to replenish what I move out. I restored the power within me, bringing it in through my crown as the energy I pushed out exited through my feet and left through the drain. Water can be very helpful in realigning ourselves. Especially when our energy feels too intense, releasing that energy into the water in a shower connects us with the calming nature of water. Cools down our internal energies and helps us flow better with peace and retake control. The concept is the same with a house plant as it is with walking or being in direct contact with the earth. Instead of sending the energy down through our feet, the energy exits the body through the hands. Taking hold of the house plant or resting hands in the soil, gathering the energy within, and sending it back out through the hands. When doing this, it is essential to remember to pull energy back into ourselves through the crown. When using a house plant or water, there isn’t a large enough source to pull in from, so the energy that replaces what we send out must come from the other neutral spaces around us. The air is the most abundant source.
Taproot or Root method
The taproot, or root method, is my favorite way to ground. I have tried to find the original source for this method without any luck. However, I first came across this method years ago in one of my many internet searches, and I have never forgotten about it. I was struggling with visualization at the time. Holding mental images in my mind was difficult, and I couldn’t visualize color well. I was still practicing so much then and relatively new to energy work. I was looking for new ways to stretch my mind that would work better than I was already trying. I found this method that involved imagining a root that extended past the spinal column in the body and down into the earth. It was a fascinating approach to earthing/grounding.
With the taproot method, being directly in contact with the earth or as close to the earth as you can be helps tremendously. Sitting with your back straight, and butt close to the ground as possible, visualize a root system that extends down from your spine and into the earth, down as far as you can imagine. Firmly in the ground, now color that root. The root can be any color. Whatever feels right to you, and let the color of the root become vibrant. You can visualize this with your eyes open or closed. When I use this method, I close my eyes. I can’t seem to imagine as well with my eyes open. Once the color in the root is vibrant, allow it to begin to glow. Start funneling energy into it and give the root a living quality. Feel the root extending from you, as an extension of yourself reaching into the earth's essence. Starting at your crown/head, start gathering your energy up slowly, working your way down through the body, pulling from the neck and shoulders, arms, hands, feet, and legs, and bringing all that energy to a central point at the base of your spine. Feel it begin to pool there and grow. When you feel you have all the power within pooled into that spot, imagine that ball of energy flowing down the root down through the base of the spine, into the root, and down into the earth, where it goes to be released. Mentally release that energy and give it back to the planet.
After the energy that was gathered up and sent back down into the earth is released, you can start to pull energy back up through the root and into your body from the earth. To do this, visualize the power coming back up through the root as white or yellow; this tells the mind it is positive energy being brought back to replace the energy we sent out into the universe to be neutralized and rebalanced. Visualize that white or yellow-colored energy flowing up through your body and filling you up all the way, all the way back up to the top of your head, balancing your internal energy and realigning your body and mind once more with the frequency of the earth. Once you sense you are “full,” you can imagine the root retreating from the planet. Once more, it exists within the body and not externally. The grounding exercise is complete now, and you can complete your day.
Bottom Line
What matters in all this is that you take away the point that grounding is essential. It helps balance energy within ourselves and clear and refocus the mind. Grounding is an opportunity to get well acquainted with your energy. It’s color, its nature, how it looks, moves, and feels to you. Identifying your unique signature helps determine what signatures are not yours when coming in contact with various energies around us. This is an essential tool for empaths especially. Empaths are sensitive to the frequencies around them, especially those that stem from emotion. Emotions carry powerful energy with them, and grounding regularly helps dispose of unwanted clutter, so to speak. Grounding can help with anxiety and anger issues if you let it. One of the most apparent cues to me that I need to ground and stop myself from acting is when my anger starts to get out of control. Connecting directly with the earth and using earthing as your primary method provided many health benefits. I have some websites linked below with additional information on the subject. It is a sound practice regardless of why you look into getting started.
I will say this a lot in my writing; I can promise that there is NO WRONG WAY. Think of surroundings or activities that help you relax and let your guard down naturally. Try starting in those environments. Gardening is a beautiful way to practice earthing. Your hands are in direct contact with soil and living plants. Grounding does not have to be an idle exercise. It can be done during an activity. What matters is replenishing negative energy or energy that has otherwise been impacted in a way that no longer serves our greater good. Sit with mantras in the morning if you feel most at ease speaking out loud. Ground while working out in the morning or meditating in a designated position and area. Consider the time of day you usually are casting spells or conducting rituals. Grounding before and after those periods of the day will boost your success rate in your work and provide more unique benefits to you directly. Grounding is meant to be beneficial, and you want to work it into a period of your day where you can extract the maximum results from such exercises.
Sources and Additional Information
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4378297/