Have you ever been told to ground by a yoga or meditation teacher and wondered what the heck that meant exactly, or how to do it?  Have you ever felt like grounding into the earth was just as inconceivable for you as flying through the sky with skinny, featherless human arms?  Yeah, me too.  It’s been a bit of a curiosity for me, and I’ve explored it very creatively and practically for a while now.  So, I thought I would pass on my musings and maybe even help get your creative juices flowing so you can explore what is just right for you.  Here’s a little sneak peek of what is to come.  You are invited to explore what is familiar or captivating to you and given some insights on how you can commune with those things as a place to energetically ground and find stability and steadiness.  Finally, I’ll add a tad about grounding from an entrainment point of view and explore some other gifts that come from energetically grounding into these “places” before I wrap this thing up.  This ain’t your mother’s grounding technique…or if it is, I want to meet her!

Before we begin, I just want to acknowledge that this, as you may notice, is a long article.  You may find it very enjoyable and worth your time if you like thinking outside the box, exploring the realm of energy, deeply relating with the world around you (non-human that is), or communing with energy signatures of unique sources.  If you are someone who just hasn’t found a way to do this “grounding” thing and really want to enjoy the benefits that it brings (e.g. regulating your emotions, centering, being able to hear the subtle whisperings of wisdom), you may also get something useful from my musings here.  For whatever reason you may be drawn to read on, I think it could change the way you see your world.

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What is “grounding”?
Let’s start at the beginning just to make sure we are talking the same language.  What is grounding?  I’m going to tackle this question from more of a traditional viewpoint; you know the one where you help your nervous system out a bit and, as a result, can be more centered and present.  Let me tell you what I am not going to talk about.  Grounding is often used synonymously with “earthing” or connecting the physical body to the earth.  My friend uses the term to speak to discharging one’s emotions into a grounding source.  Neither of these is the slant I am taking in this article.  

Let me use grounding into the Earth as both an example of and an analogy for the concept of grounding. When people talk about grounding into the Earth, they often say things like “imagine your feet sinking into the earth” or “imagine growing roots into the earth”.  What they are really saying is that by sinking into or deeply connecting our energy and consciousness with the earth, it provides stability and steadiness just as the earth does for deeply rooted trees. Hence, when we talk about grounding, there is a concept of finding a portal into being steady and stable, yet, there’s more to it than that. There’s also a concept of having a “touch point” or a reference point to something that’s holding that steadiness and stability; something that can hold a level of stability that is much greater and more consistent than we can currently hold for ourselves. Hence, there is something that we can connect to as a way to help us come to know a higher level of steadiness and stability in our body, mind, emotions, energetic system, and consciousness. With practice, our systems will start to hold more stability and steadiness as an integrated part of us.

Now that we have a concept of grounding as a “touch point” for steadiness and stability, let’s expand the list of words that help us find this sense of grounding.  We want to make the target as big as we can so it is easy to find, even in unusual places.  We may use the following words to describe something that is grounding and how grounding feels to us:  calm, silent, still, tranquil, peaceful, undisturbed, settled, or unwavering.  If you consider things that are moving as a place to ground, you may also consider words such as harmony, balance, cohesiveness, and flowing as additional ways to connect with these things to experience grounding.  Please do add your own synonyms to this list so that it comes alive for you.  You may be noting that some of these words that we are using to cast a wide net are not going to be exactly synonymous with stability and steadiness.  Yes, indeed, this is true, yet if we can connect with such similar ideas, we may find we can easily slip into stability and steadiness when we “shoot for nearby targets”.  For example, if we energetically spend time connecting with a smoothly flowing river, we may feel its harmonious flow.  As we connect more deeply with the river, it may reveal a steadiness and stability in that harmony over time, which may ultimately bring us into a feeling of being grounded.  Ultimately, experiences like grounding, centering, and presence do often flow into and through one another; sometimes the experiences are distinct, and sometimes they dissolve together.  I’ll add a quick note here requesting that you please insert your synonym anywhere I mention stability and/or steadiness; I won’t make this article any longer by trying to insert all the words each time I’m pointing to that target feeling.  Don’t you like my thriftiness <asking as I chuckle at myself>?

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Different people need different things
It’s not very surprising to suggest that we can have unique orientations and aspects of our constitution.  What works for one person may not work for another.  Some people can be fully of this earth and the physical plane.  Some can be vast and connected to the cosmos.  Some can be denizens of the spiritual nature of the Sacred Source.  Others may orient more towards energy and the energetic experience of one’s life. Some people may orient to intellect and wisdom or even to ideas and concepts such as truth and justice.  People can be different based on where their awareness typically “hangs out”.  Some can be deep within and internal, while others are external and expansive. We all have places where our consciousness likes to land, where we are more comfortable and capable, and places with which we feel a little bit at odds.

As we explore the “secret sauce” for our own grounding recipe, it is of service to be curious about our orientations and constitution.  This could be anything.  Just to name a few, it could be internal vs. external, still vs active, slow vs fast, fluid vs structured, wildly free vs cozy, yin vs yang, receptive vs radiant, feeling vs visualizing vs thinking, detailed oriented vs a wholistic view, or physical vs energetic vs spiritual.  For some, grounding is tactile and sensory; for others, it is relational, energetic, or even cosmic.  Hence, as you read along, keep your curiosity about your orientations and constitution fully participating in the forefront of your mind.

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What ingredients might be featured in your signature “secret sauce” for grounding?
Okay, so we’ve recognized that the Earth may not provide the best place for someone to ground into.  Great!  Let’s figure out what is best for you or even discover multiple portals into stability and steadiness for you.  Let’s have some fun and open our minds a bit!  I’ll invite you to explore this before I give some examples that I have come up with or personally explored.

Let’s start with considering things that you have a fondness for, attraction to, connection to, or relationship with.  You may also want to explore things that feel familiar even if you don’t think you have ever experienced them before; imagination is very powerful.  Are any of those things particularly stable, still, or match the description of some of the synonyms we’ve uncovered?  Good sources of grounding hold more stability and steadiness than you can currently hold in your system; in fact, that source is unflinching in its ability to do this!  Don’t hesitate to get really “out there” in your exploration!  Let’s get even more specific.  We want things, concepts, places, energies, and such, that to you, feel like they hold and/or radiate a stability that feels resonant with your system.  We are looking intuitively at those things to find their inherent stability and steadiness, their calmness, tranquility, etc.  For instance, many mountain ranges are steady and still.  If you imagine they can “watch” considerable amounts of time pass, animals are born, grow, and die; the surface of the surrounding land moves from grassy fields to shrubland to forests back to grassy fields; and the mountains’ bulk remains constant.  But even something that moves can be very steady and stable.  Consider a perfectly balanced top spinning on a perfectly aligned axis…steady and stable, balanced, and in harmony.  You may also explore ideas that are beyond your experience.  For example, you might easily be able to imagine that you had a life on another planet or in another dimension...something about that may feel like home.  “Mine the gold” from that feeling.

Now, take a moment and explore this invitation with your mind, your imagination, your kinesthetic feelings, your emotions, intuition, and spirit.  Let me give one more pointer.  I suggest that you don’t consider specific people, animals, or groups.  Our opinions of or connection with them can change or their stability can be fleeting.  We want to find things that have a timeless stability to them so we can reach out and connect to them over and over and over again, regardless of how we change and grow.  For example, you may want to connect with a specific bird and listen to its song.  Instead, hold its song as a representation of the greater concept of birdsong, which can be a more enduring source.

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Grounding examples a-plenty
Now that you may have a few ideas that you want to “kick around” in ye’ old proverbial (meditation) “cushion” time, let me offer some additional ideas to really get your creative juices flowing.  I’ll start with giving you some wild and woolly examples.  Okay, so maybe it would be best to start more simply…I can do that!  We’ve talked about the Earth but let’s talk about other aspects of our natural world.  Trees can provide a transmission of both stability and flow.  Feeling them deeply rooted in the earth can foster the feeling of rootedness in you.  Rocks and crystals are the epitome of constant and stable.  The sun and moon rise and set consistently, day after day, present and steady, always there even if they are not visible in a given moment.  Consider a pride of lions resting in the sun together with nary a care in the world.  There is something very stable about their resting in connection.  Now, let’s stretch this to more conceptual aspects of nature.  You may feel peaceful while walking in the woods, listening to the birds, feeling the wind in your hair, or hearing the trees as they rustle and creak in the wind.  This may calm you and make you feel relaxed and ultimately still, quiet, and stable.  What about the smell of rich, wet soil, the taste of something earthy, or feeling something with your skin?  Consider the vision of the moonlight falling on a still pond, the relative silence of a starry night, a lazy river gently making its way to the ocean, or a warm fire in the hearth of a cozy cabin.  Do these things put you in a state of ease that takes hold and becomes a beautiful steadiness?

Now, for the wild and woolly…my absolute favorites.  These may be intriguing for those with external systems that like to go vast and expansive.  If you are someone who connects with the cosmos, you may want to ground into a star, a galaxy, or a faraway planet. You may find that it’s easy to imagine sitting on another planet that has different energy about it, and in that energy, you may find a respite and that which you need for your touch point into steadiness.  If you tend to easily connect with things that are far outside of you, you might consider what it would be like if you were sitting on a different planet looking through space at the Earth.  If you see it as a celestial body, you may find it easier to ground into.  How about the elements:  earth, fire, water, metal, wood, and air?  You might consider these as energies that are central to some traditional teachings (e.g. Chinese medicine, yoga, Ayurveda, and esoteric Buddhism) or actual, physical elements.  You could also feel into celestial elements that are not found on Earth. Some folks might find great relief when they feel into connecting with and grounding into these non-local elements.

Let’s consider other concepts, ideas, and more ephemeral things.  This may be a good exploration for those who are more spiritual in their inclinations.  One can connect with the all-pervasive stillness and silence that is the bedrock of all creation, that exists before creation, is between all activity, and exists underneath sound.  You can go straight to the stillness; no need to “pass go and collect $200”.  Feel for it; it’s there.  You can also explore the aethers, whatever that inspires in you.  What about Divine sacred consciousness itself?  Pure consciousness has a still point, a steadiness, and an abiding presence.  Light and sound as concepts could also bring an experience of stability.  How about partnering with spiritual values or concepts such as Love, Truth, Justice, Humility, Unity, Freedom, or Wisdom?  When I ground in sacred Love, for me, there’s a softness, a receptivity, and a holding that makes that particular kind of stillness and steadiness more alluring and easier for me to connect with.  You could also feel into the concept of Presence as a consciousness.  I have found that just being curious about and receptive to these high consciousnesses, they infuse me with their energy and I go right into the state that I was exploring.

For the movers and the shakers, they may find moving and dancing to music very grounding; they may even find a flow-like state that brings their nervous system into great peace and harmony.  Active meditations like walking meditation or Sufi whirling may bring a feeling of stability and steadiness.  Some outdoor activity-oriented folks may find they flow into a deep harmony and unity when rushing down a mountain on a bike or skis.  Getting into a flow state may not be exactly the same as grounding but such a doorway is an invitation to cascade into other deep states of stabilizing consciousness.  It’s a wonderful exploration to undertake and see where it takes you.

Phew!  That was a lot but wasn’t it fun?!?!?

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Let’s explore the practice of grounding
Before I talk about grounding with your selected source, I’d like to explore a practice to give you some idea of what grounding feels like for you.  There are times in your life when you will feel steadiness and stability, regardless of whether you were trying to ground or find this state.  When you are experiencing it, really pay attention to how it feels.  Explore your entire experience of it and “put a pin in” this experience so you will intimately remember how it feels even when you are not in it.  Explore the experience on many different fronts: how your body feels, your mind, your emotions, your heart, your energy, and your spirit.  I have found that by doing this, I can get back to that feeling more easily.  In fact, this deep exploration may provide a portal right back to that space or to someplace adjacent that offers a great start for a practice of cultivating the state of groundedness.  This may also help so that you don’t need to have an extended time of preparation before you attempt to ground.

Now it’s time to give grounding a try. The method that I will describe will be through relating.  As I experience it, grounding is about deeply connecting with a source that is stable and steady.  I could even describe it as communion with that source to such a degree that you come into resonance with it.  There are many other ways that you can approach grounding that you may also want to experiment with.  I’ll leave this exploration up to you.

Before you start your exploration, be clear what you want to ground with.  If your source is more complex, you may want to choose something that is clear and simpler so you have a chance to experience how that source affects you.  You don’t want to set up your experiment so that it encourages confusion instead of clarity.  

To set yourself up for success, I suggest you do a few things to prepare.  Some of these things may come easily and some of these things may be why you want to ground in the first place.  I invite you to do what feels “in your wheelhouse” so your exploration can be as supported as possible.  You may find that being still helps you become available for this type of connection; others may need to be moving with some sort of fluidity instead of chaotically.  Getting comfortable in a way that aids your awareness can be quite supportive.  To prepare you for your experimentation, it is most helpful to have “your senses about you” in order to have an awake type of awareness instead of a sleepy, dreamy, swirly sort.  You want to be relaxed, but if lying down makes you feel overly so, you may want to try sitting up.  Taking a minute to breathe deeply can help with relaxation and bring you into more presence.  One thing I like to do is just sit and feel what it is like to be in a body; some may find this to be very helpful and others may be triggered by it, so be gentle with yourself in all of your explorations.  Play around and see what helps you come into as much of a relaxed state of wakeful awareness as you can in the moment.

Given that my pointers for grounding are through relating to your selected source, increasing the likelihood of relating to that source can be very helpful.  One way you could increase the connection is to spend time exploring that source.  You may have to be creative to explore some sources but other sources lend themselves to easy exploration.  For example, if it is a physical object that you have access to, you can sit with it and explore it.  You can put your hand on it and just notice what you notice both in yourself and on (or in) the source.  Touch it with one hand at a time and then with both hands.  Touch different places on your selected source.  I suggest this because each of your hands has different energetic qualities and the source you are exploring may also have different qualities in different places of its surface.  You can also explore with your other senses such as smell and hearing.  I did this type of exploration with a tree in my backyard.  I learned so much about it that I never knew, and afterwards, I felt a deep connection with it.  For example, the living main trunk was cool to the touch, unlike a dead portion, which was hot like the environmental temperature.  I could practically feel the water being circulated just by communing with it through touch.

Once you have done a bit of prep work, it’s time to give this grounding exploration a go.  With your awareness, come into contact with your selected source.  You may want to use your hands or feel it with your energy, your heart, and/or your spirit.  You want to come into a relationship with it if you can.  Seeing it as your ally and partner can help with that.  Can you feel its spirit?  Can you feel its innate wisdom?  Can you connect with how it may experience the world?  What happens if you invite yourself to become more open and receptive, more still (or flowing), or let your thoughts go?  Does your source have a particular “flavor” or frequency?  You may need to spend more time than less in these initial explorations, so not feeling rushed is often supportive.  At some point, do you find yourself coming into sacred communion with it?  The more experiential your connection is with that source, the more likely you will be to experience deep, energetic communion with it.  At different points in your exploration, try “listening” for or “feeling” into your selected source for its steadiness and stability.  You are more likely to find it by intending to connect with that particular characteristic.

As you explore, I ask you to remember there is no pressure for you to do it in a prescriptive way, have a particular experience, or come to a certain conclusion.  This is about your freedom to explore and see what happens.  Regardless of whether you come to feel connected with your selected source, sense something in relation to it, or experience grounding for yourself, trust that your experience is valid because there’s no right way to do it.  If you don’t experience anything, please don’t fret; relationships take time, especially when we are connecting to things that are typically outside of what we consider interactive.

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The gifts of grounding
Grounding can be an entry into many other wonderful and fulfilling states.  Grounding can lead to a deep centeredness and a profound stillness.  It can even provide us a place to anchor so that we can move with the flow and be very flexible without becoming unmoored.  You may also find that your experience of groundedness may cascade into other experiences which may include: emotional regulation, quieting of the mind, peace, safety, relaxation, presence, embodiment, alignment, coherence, openness, receptivity, connection with others, connection with the sacred, belonging, intuition, and even expressing our special “super powers” and essential nature.  When we are stable, we can become quiet so that which whispers can be heard.  Grounding is the start of many transformations.

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A tad more unexpected energetic goodness offered to us from our grounding sources
There is more to grounding than just having a portal into stability and steadiness.  There are additional gifts that we may receive from our selected source.  As we entrain with the source that we are grounding into, it may have other energetic characteristics that get us “humming” and resonating with these nourishing characteristics.  For instance, when we ground into the earth, there is an energy and frequency that the earth shares with us.  As earth creatures, they are vital nutrients for health, wellness, and harmony.  Additionally, these grounding sources may even share wisdom with us.  For example, if we connect with grasses that grow in shallow water (such as rice), we may come into a deep kinesthetic understanding of what it means to be rooted, absolutely fluid and flexible, and to soak up the nutrients that we are steeped in every day.

For some, this may seem outlandish.  I will share an experience that I had that really brought this lesson home.  I was doing qigong regularly for a spell and, in one exercise, I was partnering with my internal image of a beautiful cherry tree in full bloom.  In this particular exercise, as I received the energy of the cherry tree and offered it my energy, I could feel my system entrain to its energy.  It was a soft, gentle energy, just like the soft pink of its petals.  In my system, I associated the blossoming cherry tree with Kwan Yin, both the Buddhist Bodhisattva of compassion and the much beloved Chinese goddess of mercy.  My system melted into more compassion and I felt close to Kwan Yin’s consciousness.  It was a very embodied and heartfelt experience.  What ultimately relaxed my questioning of my system absorbing the gifts of this energetic connection was that multiple folks whom I know as energetically savvy would tell me that they could see “pink pedals” in my energy system, yet I had never mentioned my connection to the cherry tree blossoms.  I have had enough experiences like this to rest in my belief that we do actually gain from these beautiful collaborations.  I have an instinctual suspicion that our energetic blueprint can be “righted” with these sorts of energetic connections and collaborations so that it makes fundamental changes in our systems.  I do believe that we have to have a conscious intention of working with the right energetic “partner” for these changes to take root and have to commit to ongoing collaboration with it until it is fully integrated into our system.  This may be something that you want to explore for yourself.

As you explore grounding, you may want to foster your relationships with many things that you can ground into, as this variability will give you access to many types of nourishment and wisdom.  Even if it seems difficult, you may want to invest in a connection to and a relationship with the Earth so that your physical self gets its earthly nourishment.  

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Grounding may transform you into a radiant source
Based on my own experience, we can use our source(s) of grounding to entrain our system so that we know this stability so well that it becomes integrated into our system.  With a great deal of practice, we may find that we can actually ground into our own selves.  Yes, you read that right — we can become so stable that when things get chaotic outside of us, we can go inward and find the stability in our bedrock so that we become still in the storm.  What one may find at this point is that we become impactful to others’ systems and that others calm when we are around them.  Other people’s systems begin to entrain with ours and, silently and subtly, their systems are taught to know stability.  At high levels of cultivation, one can walk through the world and their energetic body becomes their service.

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Go forth and prosper
The ideas in this article are offered as a starting point for your own exploration.  It’s a jumping off point to hopefully inspire you to get really creative about what grounding means to you so that it becomes personal and absolutely useful in your life and on your journey.  If the concepts in this article still feel abstract but you are up to exploring anyway, remember that simply noticing even a subtle shift, like a tad bit more steadiness or deepening of breath, is a great start.  I have played around with these ideas for years, so I wouldn’t expect that anyone would “stick the landing” on their first try.  Let me underscore the value of returning, again and again, to the “living experiment” of grounding.  What steadies us today may evolve and that’s part of the journey of discovery and cultivation.  I heartily wish you inspiration and discovery as you explore ways to find a steady and stable “footing” for yourself.

In an upcoming blog, I will create a meditation where we can explore this together.