How are you supposed to ground yourself if you’re searching in the branches for something that can only be found in the roots?

Grounding exercise when you're feeling stressed

Wouldn’t it be nice to go through life with a deep sense of calm and rarely think about the “what ifs”?

To have a sense of being fully embodied, whole, centred and balanced in yourself and your relationships and having a deeper connection to your authentic self?

Be in complete control of your mental and emotional self and not be easily influenced by other ideas and individuals?

Life repeats itself mindlessly and unless you become mindful, it will go on repeating like a wheel.

Birth is followed by death, death is followed by birth; love is followed by hate, hate is followed by love; success is followed by failure, failure is followed by success.

If you cling to the edge of the wheel you can get dizzy!

Move toward the center of the cyclone and relax, knowing that this too will pass.

In the Native American cultures the wheel represents the four directions in the physical world and each direction symbolises a part of you.

The north represents the mind.

The south the heart.

The east the place of spirit.

And the west represents the body.

Knowing how to get back to the centre and balance yourself again is an essential life skill.

When you’re grounded, you’re in complete control of your mental and emotional self, and not easily influenced by other ideas or individuals.

When you’re grounded life’s small mishaps tend to just roll off you like water off a duck.

This achieving the centre, being grounded in one’s self, is about the lightest state a human being can achieve.

Grounding exercises for empaths

We are energy

Despite physical appearances, everything has a subtle energy field (energy signature) surrounding it that penetrates and extends beyond it.

These fields of energy communicate information, such as emotions and physical well-being or distress.

Every day as we interact with other people and other living things, their energy fields interact, mingle and overlap with ours.

This mixing of energies can replete or deplete you – interacting with some people will invigorate you and interacting with others will tire you out.

Empaths usually love spending time out in nature absorbing the peace and quiet life, while extroverts are often energized by life in the city and the constant flow of social interaction.

To take control of your mental construct (a.k.a. your life) and to balance yourself after (and during!) a day of swimming in this sea of energies, is one of the basic skills of a happy empath.

Think of it this way; when electricians wire a house for electrical energy, they must ground the system to protect it from the improper flow of energy.

Since we generate and channel energy all day long, it is also beneficial to ground ourselves for optimal flow.

However, unlike electrical grounding, grounding for people means that we are connected to the earth and energy that comes from the ground.

Earth energy is like medicine for stressed out humans.

Grounding exercises are a way for you to firmly anchor yourself in the present and in yourself

There are many different ways to ground yourself, all with the end result of you feeling connected to the earth.

You can use earth energy for balancing and centring.

The more you practice grounding and channelling energy, the easier it will become.

Grounding exercises are helpful for anyone, but especially for empaths.

Grounding exercises will help bring you back “to earth” when you:

  • become overwhelmed
  • become overstimulated
  • are distracted by distressing thoughts, feelings or memories
  • get caught up in strong emotions (anxiety, anger)
  • catch yourself engaging in stressful or detrimental circling thoughts
  • experience a strong memory or flashback
  • wake up from a nightmare with a pounding heart
  • feel restless or unsettled
  • experience emotional contagion

Beginner’s grounding exercise

Stand with your feet parallel and shoulder-width apart.

Tuck your chin in and keep your head floating above your body, lengthen your spine.

Rest your hands at your side or place your palms on your stomach or palms together in front of your chest.

Let all of your body’s weight sink into your feet but without collapsing your posture.

Keep your knees soft and be aware of your feet on the floor, the floor pushing back up through your soles and your legs holding you up.

Breathe and become aware of your breath moving in and out of your body, every in-breath filling you with clarity, every out-breath emptying you of clutter.

Let all your tension sink into your feet and allow it to be absorbed into the ground.

Imagine that your feet become heavy and begin to slowly sink through the floor and into the earth below.

Imagine that you are a tree growing roots down into the earth.

Let your roots sink deep into the earth, through layers of soil and rock and down into the core of the earth.

Once your roots reach the vibrant molten centre, imagine that your roots form an anchor in the centre of the earth.

An anchor that allows you to move freely while still keeping you connected to the earth.

With each breath, imagine the energy from the centre of the earth flowing up your roots, up along your spine, allowing it to fill your entire body and flowing out through the top of your head, spilling over you like a fountain.

Imagine that this fountain of energy extends outwards, like a tree growing branches and filling them with leaves.

Let the energy fill your chest, move down your arms and flow out of your hands.

Once you feel the energy flowing freely up your spine and out of your hands, place your hands flat on the floor and channel the energy back into the earth, creating an endless loop along which the energy flows effortlessly.

When you feel the energy flowing freely and that you have achieved balance, you can end the exercise.

If you are unable to stand, this grounding exercise can also be performed sitting or lying down.

If you don’t want to do the whole exercise but wish to reconnect to your earth anchor, you can do so by simply becoming aware of the soles of your feet.

A way to maintain your grounding is to be aware of the bottoms of your feet, particularly of the beginning of the kidney meridian (the KD1 point).

You can simply become aware of how your feet are in contact with the floor or you can massage your feet.

You can also engage in a more direct, physical act of grounding yourself by going barefoot in the grass or on the beach.

Walk as if you are embracing the earth with your feet because love is the best thing you can bring today.

Tree hugging is also an option, although it isn’t really my cup of tea.

However, I do love to sit and read a nice book or draw with my back leaning against the solid trunk of an old tree – or lying down to watch the clouds go by.

Napping in the hammock on a sunny day is about the best thing I know!

Why grounding is especially important for empaths

Being an empath means being an emotional sponge that absorbs the stress and the joy of the world around you.

As an empath you are highly sensitive to excessive stimulation and are prone to exhaustion and sensory overload.

You have an extremely sensitive nervous system and often lack strong filters that automatically filter out the energy from other people and your surroundings.

One of the most important things you can do as an empath is to learn how to ground yourself.

And to practice it often.

Earth energy is a soothing balm for when you’re feeling stressed.

Grounding yourself will give you a comforting sense of solidity and provide you with an inner strength that will keep you centred and protected when life gets overwhelming.