No, I’m not referring to being grounded as being locked in your room and losing privileges. The type of “grounded” I am referring to is the process of becoming more aware of the present moment by taking in the senses and connecting with earth and the life force energy or “chi”. Dictionary.com does not provide a definition of “grounding” itself but of “ground”. Its definition is, “A connection between an electrical conductor and the Earth. Grounds are used to establish a common zero-voltage reference for electric devices in order to prevent potentially dangerous voltages from arising between them and other objects. ” While this is a very literal definition and one that is traditionally used when working with electricity, it definitely applies to people as well. We are electrical conductors and electrical beings. If you don’t believe me, think back to times when you’ve gotten static electricity and shocked someone else that you touched, or when you’ve put your hands on a plasma ball (All 90’s kids should know what this is) and the electricity inside connected to wherever you touched the ball with your hands.

When children aren’t grounded, this is much more physically evident than when adults aren’t grounded. The biggest red flags for children is having little control over their body and “bouncing off the walls”. They are touching everything, pushing their bodies up against objects or people (“hanging on mom”), talking incessantly, difficult to get to focus on the moment and what you are trying to tell them, and difficult to reason with. Not so obvious signs are anxiety, digestive issues, sleep difficulties, difficulty learning, getting in trouble in school, and many more. I often describe kids that aren’t grounded to parents as a helium balloon that doesn’t have a weight on it. The weight is earth and its magnetic field that keeps us “grounded”, without it we just float away into space without a clear path or purpose. When the balloon weight disappears, it is usually related to individuals who are empathic and feel everything around them which causes their personal boundaries to disappear because they do not know what is theirs and what is those around them (see my blog post about empaths for more understanding on this).

All of the symptoms are the same for adults, but generally adults have learned more impulse control and are better able to internalize and hide how they are feeling. They are more likely to be unfocused, scattered, irritable, anxious, and lack clarity. They may also have inflammation, poor sleep, chronic fatigue, chronic pain, and suffer from a variety of diseases.

The best way to address these issues is to help re-ground using the strategies listed below. They help bring you back into your body and out of your head and into the present moment. These are general and you may find that there are others that are really helpful for you or your child- whatever works, do it! Make it a habit to do whatever grounding strategies work on a daily basis, and do extra when spending time around lots of people or just around people that have negative energy or that you notice drain your energy. While there are people we don’t generally like that fall into this category, often those that we love the most fit here too (parents, siblings, friends, etc).  Children will intuitively do some of these things and will find their own strategies, so it’s important to allow them to do what works for them, as well as purposefully incorporating these strategies into their lives.

10 Ways to Ground Your Body

1. Time outside in nature. Being out in nature is very grounding and brings much clarity. In general, it brings much more awareness to the present moment as you are more aware of all of the sensations of nature. It is usually much more rich of sensation than man-made environments. Think of the way a breeze or rain drops touch your skin, the smell of the trees or fresh cut grass, the sounds of birds or a waterfall, the way the ground feels beneath your feet.

2. Earthing/grounding- walking outside with bare feet. The theory of earthing is that the earth’s surface transfers negatively charged electrons into the body, which binds with the positively charged free radicals in our bodies that cause inflammation and disease. This is the same concept as Himalayan salt lamps. Scientific research has proven that walking outside barefoot in nature helps to reduce inflammation, improve immune response, reduce emotional stress, improve blood flow, calms the nervous system, and elevates mood. When you’re doing this, pay attention to the bottom of your feet and really feel them touching the earth and notice all of the points of contact. Imagine roots coming from the bottom of your feet and digging into the earth’s core, recharging your body like a battery. You can do this anywhere to feel your connection to the earth and re-ground. It works best to do this barefooted on the earth, but you can do this anywhere with visualization and imagining the roots digging down.

3. Epsom salt baths- these are a God-send, especially when you notice your energy shift after being around someone or something that made you feel anxious or irritable from taking on their negative energy. Epsom salt baths are very detoxifying which is essential for empaths and sensitive individuals- we are more prone to the negative effects of poor diet, toxins in our household cleaners and environment, pesticides on our food, and stress/negative thoughts and epsom salt baths helps the body to eliminate those toxins.

4. Healthy diet. The fewer the steps to get from the earth (ground) to your mouth, the better. Best case scenario would be organic fruits and veggies picked fresh from the garden and eaten raw as they contain the most life force energy having been fresh picked from mother earth. Raw fruits and veggies from the grocery store that were picked weeks prior and sprayed with chemicals to keep them fresh are still better than highly processed foods, but they have significantly less life to them than the previous example. Worst case scenario are foods from a bag or a box that contain more ingredients that are actually chemicals and unnatural substances and that you cannot pronounce. You can use this same process with meat products. For example, consider a cow that was raised on a factory farm with highly processed feed- look at how many steps it took to get the feed from the ground to the cows mouth, and then look at all of the steps that it took from that cow to get from the farm to you (farm to large processing facility and all of the steps to get to the grocery store and then finally home to you). Now consider a free range cow that grazes directly from the ground, is butchered by the farmer or outsourced a different butcher and then directly to you. Bottom line is the fewer steps taken from ground to mouth, the more grounding and healthy they are. It’s as simple as that.

5. Getting the adrenaline-fueled energy out – We can often act as a sponge and soak up the energy around us if we don’t have proper boundaries (and most of us don’t- this is especially true of empaths). Doing a rigorous exercise or movement will help to get it out. Turning music way up and dancing it out however feels good to the body is wonderful- this works best if you are by yourself and nobody can see you because it’s easier to let it all out without fear of judgement. Another activity that is great for this is running- it’s also excellent for feeling your feet on the earth and provides a strong connection with the ground. This has been my go-to since I was 6 years old and I quickly become un-grounded when I go a few weeks without running. You can also go for a walk, do some yard work, dig in the garden, or any other activity that gets you sweating. It’s important for whatever activity works best for you to be incorporated into your life daily- it doesn’t need to be very long, just get your body moving.

6. Time alone – this is ESSENTIAL for empaths, both adults and children. This allows the individual to get clarity on their own feelings and thoughts and not to be influenced by others’ thoughts, feelings, and energy. This helps to re-establish boundaries and awareness of self.

7. Breath- this is the single easiest way to calm your nervous system and bring you back to the present moment. We are always breathing, or we are dead. However, the quality of breath is key. Slow, deep breathing encourages parasympathetic nervous system activation, which is responsible for rest & digest and allows for more clarity and enhanced brain processes. Quick and/or shallow breathing leads to sympathetic nervous system activation, which is the fight/fright/flight system that causes stress to the entire body. Most of us are not aware of our breathing patterns but it is the single most simple and effective way to change every process in your body. Focus on taking deep, slow breaths and watch how much it changes your perception of the world and how you feel in your own skin.

8. Attention to sensations will bring you back to the current moment and help you to practice mindfulness. Sit comfortably somewhere that you can relax. I love to do this exercise outside because there are a lot more natural sensations you can connect with, as well as the fact you are spending time in nature and you can be earthing (while seated) at the same time. Start by closing your eyes, taking some deep breaths to clear your head (you can use the breathing strategies listed above), and then begin to name:

• 5 things you can see – you’ll need to open your eyes and look around for this but close them when finished

• 4 things you can feel – it’s best to notice more than just what you feel outside of your body (i.e. whatever you’re sitting on and touching) but to use this to scan your body and notice internal sensations. Are you hungry, do you have pain or discomfort somewhere, are there areas of tension? Notice these things without judgement.

• 3 things you can hear – try to pay attention to things you hear that are close to you, but also expand your hearing and see what the furthest thing you can hear is

• 2 things you can smell – you can use what is already existent in the environment or you can incorporate essential oils or other fragrance in this exercise

• 1 thing you can taste – you may want to keep a favorite treat around for this and rather than simply chewing a few times and then swallowing like we often do in our busy lives, just sit and enjoy the taste and feel of whatever it is in your mouth

9. Meditation – watch your thoughts come and go. Bonus if you have a journal next to you and you write down every thought, image, and feeling that pops through your head, EVEN if it makes no sense. Do not over think this (this is the hardest part). Over time you may start to see patterns that your subconscious is trying to tell you.

10. Engage in a body-oriented physical activity such as yoga, tai chi, qigong, karate, dance, etc. Any activity that involved being very aware of where all of your body parts at any given time is fantastic for creating boundaries because it really helps you to understand where you start and end and will help you to know what is and isn’t your energy, thoughts, and feelings.

I promise that if you start to take time to establish even one of these activities into your daily life that you will feel more grounded, have more clarity, and make more heart-directed decisions that will lead to a more joyful life!