Why should you care about grounding?

Grounding creates the foundation to:

·      Respond rather than react

·      Reside solidly in your mind, body and spirit

·      Resonate with awareness, balance and centering

People are dynamic, magnetic and electrical beings, with unique hearts, minds and spirits, given free will to choose, to impact and be impacted upon by the environment and others. We function at our best when we are grounded, which means being mentally and emotionally stable, sensible and realistic. To be grounded in mind and body is to be well-centered and well-balanced (Merriam-Webster, 2013).

Learn how grounding...

·      appears in daily life physically, psychologically and energetically

·      is found in theory and research from body psychotherapy approaches, and

·      works with easy-to-follow exercises, based on a variety of conventional and energetically based wisdom traditions.

Grounding, the basics

Ideally, our energies circulate in balance with the earth’s energies - through soil, air, light, plants and more. When grounded, our body systems are being fed vital information to seek harmony with the world. Once grounded, you are available for other possibilities, operating firmly from central command. When ungrounded, you may become lethargic, overly excited, or even ill. Being ungrounded is like trying to drive a car from the passenger seat, or conducting an orchestra from the balcony.

On a physical plane, earth’s gravity pulls down upon the body, while the body counteracts this force by activating resistance up, out and around. This occurs whether standing, leaning, walking, or crawling. On a metaphoric level, common expressions of being down to earth, or having your feet on the ground illustrate these qualities of stability, maturity, and realistic practicality in daily life. To be grounded as a punishment, first associated with pilots who were “grounded” as unfit to fly due to their own actions or unfavorable flight conditions, was meant to restrict freedom of movement. To be grounded as a healthy wellbeing practice is to be given tools for effective processing of life’s dynamic patterns.
 
 

Grounding in wellness practices

Alexander Lowen, creator of bioenergetic analysis, first introduced the term grounding in the field of body psychotherapy. He proposed that vital personal experiences are preserved in body posture, movement, and breathing patterns which are intimately related to mind and emotion. Grounding is thought of as a “here and now” perspective based upon psychological and physical presence, functioning as a natural prescription to maintain physical and emotional wellbeing. Englehard, Pitluk & Elboim-Gabyzon (2021), who created an objective observational measurement for grounding, define it is a “stable physical and emotional presence – supported by the ground.”

Contemporary expanded definitions of grounding recognize physical aspects of verticality or contact with the ground, and contact with one’s own body.

Physical grounding:

balancing with gravity while shifting weight from the center of the body or pelvis, as well as moving at will. If there is not enough balance, the body succumbs to gravity with passive weight. Too much force against gravity tires the body with active weight. Neutral weight allows gravity to support muscles and body in a balanced fashion (Bartenieff, 2002).

Psychological grounding:

the capacity for emotional holding, and being able to understand the self, while connecting with and understanding others. This includes grounding in the relationship between clients and wellness practitioners.

Energetic grounding:

involves the discharge of energy into the ground (which may have both physical and etheric components) as well as “energetic and psychic processes by which a person perceives and comprehends reality” (Baum, 2011, p. 265).
 
 

Theory and research on the benefits of grounding

How a body is held in space is seen by grounding experts as a record of life experiences and relationship to the earth, as well as defining personal reality. The degree of grounding changes from moment to moment, such as losing balance physically and psychologically, or being solidly planted and stable. Overall, the body and its grounding tendencies express and reveal emotional knowledge and personal records from life (Englehard, Pitluk & Elboim-Gabyzon, 2021). Likewise, healthy grounding is thought to aid in the regulation of emotions, emotional awareness and global functioning.

Research literature finds that grounding techniques are used by body psychotherapy and dance movement therapists to treat depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and somatoform disorders. In one study, compared to controls, depressed patients showed improvement when using grounding techniques with bioenergetic analysis. In another study, somatoform patients showed reduced anxiety, depression and better regulated anger intensity compared to controls receiving physical exercise classes (Englehard, Pitluk & Elboim-Gabyzon, 2021).

In an effort to objectively measure grounding, the Grounding Assessment Tool (GAT) (Englehard, Pitluk & Elboim-Gabyzon, 2021), was created as a reliable and valid measurement for assessment, research and clinical applications, based on a healthy adult population. The GAT is a 13 item, 10-minute observation method which measures four factors related to grounding: fluid and rhythmic movement, emotional expression in movement, pattern of foot placement, lack of stability and weightiness. There is no need for verbal interaction between the rater and the subject, nor any physical measurement tools.
 
 

How to ground

According to Lowen, when a person is standing with the body’s muscles relaxed without tension, an energetic flow and discharge of energy into the ground is made possible. The movement is thought to behave like the swing of a pendulum, or pulsating wave which flows from the body. In turn, the body responds to the ground with degrees of support, balance and rooting, similar to a tree or plant.

Grounding is perceived as a bi-directional communication, extending from the head through the pelvis and down through the feet into the ground, as well as from the ground up through the body to the head. This circular process has emotional and physical components aimed to increase the flow of movement. The legs and feet hold the energy of foundation and support for the ego structure, allowing for emotional stability (deTord & Brauninger, 2015).

Grounding techniques have been developing using breath work, bodily sound production, awareness of boundaries in and around the body, and somatic experiences such as providing force from the foot to the floor. If there are experiences of disorientation, confusion, or forgetfulness, these may be alleviated or lessened by becoming aware of the surface of the floor or ground and by deliberately moving upon it.

There are several types of grounding

1. Gentle upright grounding

·      Deliberately moving the body by bouncing on heels

·      Walking or standing barefoot

·      Standing with knees slightly bent.
 
 

2. Active grounding

·      Jumping, bending, or transferring weight from one leg to the other

·      Weeding

·      Planting vegetation and flowers
 
 

3. Passive grounding

·      Standing relatively still while gently swaying

·      Lying prone on the earth

·      Lying on a large flat stone, boulder or rock
 

4. Non-movement based grounding

·      Directing the breath into the earth

·      Visualizing energy from head to earth and back up through the spine
 
 

How grounding relates to energy practices

Energy practices universally recognize the vital role of grounding, often teaching this practice as foundational for beginning students. Even among adepts, when out of balance, a common question asked of the person is, “Are you grounded?” Although each energy practice tradition has its own set of theories about how grounding works, similar techniques are found across many traditions. Breathwork, imagery, physical touch, words and concepts link the human system to the ground of being.

The Chinese medicine system

The Chinese medicine system views grounding as a whole body, mind and spirit endeavor. It places supreme influence upon the central and governing meridians, or energy pathways which connect the front and back sides of the body, and interpenetrate the internal organs, sending messages to the entire body. When central and governing meridians are connected and stable, energy flows are able to communicate optimally, like when a battery is connected, with negative and positive charges engaged with one another.

Energy grounding practices which connect the central and governing meridians are like placing a phone call between two parties so they can converse and exchange information. These energy medicine, acupressure-based techniques tell the body to pay attention to the two main meridians. Here are some practices you can use.

·       Place the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth behind the teeth while breathing
·      Tap a finger below your nose above your upper lip, and another finger below your lower lip on the chin.
·      Gently tapping on the ridge of your eye socket, directly under the pupil of each eye, on the occipital       ridge, activates the stomach meridian. 

Energy is sent from the head through the body and legs into the earth, creating a stable ground. Not only is physical grounding achieved, but clarity of mental state, emotional balance, and spiritual guidance are more easily accessed. Not all people will feel grounded at once using these methods, but with practice over time, a subtle message is sent to the mind and body to keep these pathways open and engaged. This makes it more likely that grounding can happen.
 
 

The Ayurvedic system from ancient India 
The Ayurvedic system from ancient India points to the chakras, or wheels in Sanskrit, as the storehouses of energy and information associated with glands and organs, connecting the internal and external realities with the physical and subtle layers of life. To be grounded in the root chakra, at the base of the spine or perineum, places a personal identity within the frame of the earth and ground. There are also chakras in the feet which are designed to fit like a hand in a glove with earth energies.

Here's a practice you can use.

·      Whether standing or seated, deep breathing and mental focus of healthy energy flowing from the root and feet into the earth and from the earth back to the feet and root may enhance the grounding experience.

Many energy practices utilize the notion of manifestation, or creating reality, which is brought to life when intention, focus, and outcome are wedded to positive emotional states. Spoken or imagined words create reality, activating the throat chakra based in communication, and the third eye chakra, seeing future possibility. The crown chakra opens to the universe, allowing for divine guidance, even as focus is placed on the root and feet. 

Your grounding practice

Try using some of the practices outlined above and see which works best for you. You can also combine them with statements of affirmations, or use affirmations by themselves.
 

Here are some affirmations you can try.

·      “I am grounded.”

·      “I am optimally connected to the earth.”

·      “Grounding happens naturally and gracefully for me.”

Energy psychology practices often combine such statements while tapping with acupressure on endpoints of meridians or activating and clearing chakras to achieve desired states.

If objections or obstacles arise when thinking about grounding, explore further to see what lessons they bring. If challenges to becoming grounded seem fruitless or impossible, or lack of grounding is leading to serious symptoms, seek out professional guidance, as there may be important reasons to consider, identify and treat the core of why consistent grounding is elusive.

No matter where you start, or which approaches you use, find a way to ground each day. In the morning before you put your feet down on the ground, take a moment to establish your relationship with the earth and your clear intentions for the day. You can do the same as you go to bed at night, offering gratitude for the grounding you received during the day. By staying present in the here and now you can more deeply capture the vastness of life, and be available from the fullness of who you are to interact with what arises.

Want to learn more?

Access this free guide about clearing blocks with energy psychology. You can customize it for removing blocks to grounding.

Find an energy psychology practitioner who can help you from ACEP’s website.

Author

Lori Chortkoff Hops, PhD, DCEP is a licensed psychologist in Westlake Village, California, USA. She is certified in Comprehensive Energy Psychology and Logosynthesis. Lori is president of ACEP (www.energypsych.org), and is a Reiki master. Learn more about Lori at www.drlorihops.com. Lori teaches online developing intuition classes and offers personal intuition consultation.

Photo by PNW Production