Positive Energy Guide

During verbal communication we share many subtle messages: postural, tonal, pitch, voice modulation, energetic, atmospheric, and thought-to-thought. Whether or not we are able to “read” that subtle communication, we all know that it exists. 

Non-verbal communication includes the list above, and also what we “read” intuitively.

The greater our rapport and the more intuitively open we are, the more we are aware of that which is NOT said. This includes things that are understood already, clearly implied, and about to be said, as well as context and content we expect one another to read between the lines.

In this exploration I am referring to two distinct types of thought-to-thought or mind-to-mind communication, one clear and direct, and the other muffled and less direct. I am calling direct thought that one is willing to or about to share “text,” because it is easy to read, and calling thought that one circles about inside without necessarily intending to share “subtext.”

“Text” is available to be read clearly. “Subtext,” in this domain, is like inference or innuendo in speech. It is simultaneously communicated yet to some extent withheld.

“Text” is congruent, meaning body signals, emotional tone, and voice tone all match. “Subtext” is prevalent when someone is not internally congruent, or is unwilling to be clear and direct.

Note that I am not referring to all thought as either text or subtext. We are discussing thought which is taking place within the context of a conversation with another person. Personal internal thought occurs outside of conversation, without reference to communication with someone else. I am not drawn to track someone’s personal internal thought, and consider it none of my business.

Text exists in “Shared Space”. By Shared Space I mean the open place where meet mind-to-mind—to the extent we are able. Text may come across directly, mind-to-mind, as clear but unspoken communication.

Subtext is not fully in the shared domain. For this reason it comes across like a footnote in writing. Like text, subtext often occurs just before or after someone speaks—if they do indeed share. Subtext may contain information they do not intend to share, or are not sure whether they are willing to share. Subtext often expresses either some kind of self-protective worry, or a concern that the other person cannot deal with what one has to say. Subtext is not intimate. It often indicates a wall, hesitation, and perhaps even a negative judgment, of self or of the other person.

Within the most intimate friendships we convene at least some of the the time in Shared Space, where our thoughts are available within our shared domain, without separation, blocking or guarding. We may or may not ‘hear’ these thoughts, but the way they charge our shared atmosphere—their energy—influences what comes to mind and our direction of conversation. We may weave in and out of a number of conversations, leaving them all ongoing over an extended course of time, without losing any of the threads. We know what our friend is talking about without a new preamble or introduction to the topic.

Sometimes I say, “I heard you the first time,” when a friend clearly transmits a thought she is about to verbalize and then says it aloud. I can say how many seconds passed between thinking it and saying it, and they laugh with the fun of that intimacy. We are laying ourselves open to one another and the energy in the atmosphere usually stays very clear.

Subtext generates white noise or static in the mindspace. I sometimes experience subtext like a subtle pressure. Perhaps this experience reflects the pressure of the thought that is arising in the other person, or their conflict about bringing it out through speech. A thought may have arisen, yet s/he holds it back. Part of them wants to say it while another part does not. Subtext comes across without the clarity and definition of directed thought—but it comes across none the less. The energy this kind of subtext puts out is like static. It can cloud the atmosphere like unfinished business.

I find frequent and habitual subtext irritating. It draws my attention without satisfying my interest. The person is thinking something TOWARD or AT or ABOUT me or something else but isn’t sharing it WITH me. Excessive subtext is like muttering under one’s breath so it gets the person’s attention without them actually being able to discern the words. When habitual, this behavior can be distracting, draining or even passive-aggressive.

This reminds me of something the computer, Holly, said in the British SciFi Comedy, Red Dwarf: “If you have something to say, say it straight out! No innuendo or hyperbole.” I posted that on my door about twenty years ago when dealing with too much subtext.

Do YOU sense a difference between text and subtext?

How do you notice them and what do you experience?

The more light we bring in, the more we need to ground. To bring spiritual light onto the Earth, we need to be able to move the energy that comes in through the crown center, down through our bodies into the ground.

Spiritual light transforms whatever it encounters. It ‘lights up’ any unresolved issues that reside—as issues do—in our bodies. When we work with light or grow spiritually, old patterns and obstacles generally arise.

Self awareness requires noticing our issues. When we bring the light of awareness into the body areas where our issues reside, the process may temporarily produce symptoms or pain. These symptoms pass as we give up resistance to the changes that are occurring in our energy systems.

As we accept our issues and stabilize self awareness, we become able to get energy, attention and sensation fully into our bodies. We can also receive and pass along more light.

Circumstances that bring up our issues can stimulate us to clear out old energy and emotional patterns. This Work is effective to the extent that we can clear out stuck energy from the past.

Old patterns arise in layers, as we become more and more able to confront them. The ability to release the past is a positive sign of growth, even though the process of coming into that growth may be challenging. Symptoms and distress often arise as an indication that growth is occurring, rather than because we are ‘having a problem.’

Clearing out old energy and anchoring light widen our ability to express our unique essence.

Bringing in spiritual light gradually confers an unfolding freedom of Being. The more we can bring in and anchor spiritual energy, as a clear vessel, the happier we become, and the more connected to all of life.

Learning to contain our own energy is essential to bringing in light. If we cannot keep our contents inside, bringing in light is likely to throw us out of balance when it lights up our issues. Leaking does not support grounding our energy. When we leak energy out this is an automatic behavior, based on issues. It is not empowered choice.

Cultivation and concentration of energy increase power, mastery and healthy choice. Building and containing energy invites transformation.

The following experience speaks to the importance of containing energy during expansive spiritual practice:

During a retreat, I was practicing cultivation of universal Love, expanding a field of Love outward into the universe. In the middle of the practice I became disjointed and confused. I consulted with my Teacher. He asked whether I had “jumped.”

I had begun the practice with Love within me, then expanded it gradually outward. Just outside the cluster of inner planets in the solar system, my focus ‘jumped’ to contain a larger sector of the universe. I apparently had lost my continuity of experience at this point,. Then I became uncomfortable and felt quite strange.

My Teacher suggested that I expand only as far and as fast as I was able to maintain connection between the expanding field of energy and my Self.

Highly intuitive or sensitive people often need to learn to contain energy before doing practices that dissolve or expand boundaries. In contrast, people who are dense or solid, who create walls and rigid structures, benefit from practices that help to open and dissolve these structures. Different practices serve different people at different times.

Whenever we work with expansive energy such as light or Love, it is important to be able to go as far DOWN and IN as we can go UP and OUT. Practices that assist with grounding, sensing inside the body, and deep self awareness support healthy and balanced spiritual expansion.

How do YOU feel shortly after strong exposure to highly spiritual energy?

Are you able to move your energy down and in as easily as you can move it up and out?

Grounding your spiritual practice or energy practice means allowing it to impact your body and making it a part of your life; giving it impact and influence. NOTICING changes that occur helps to stabilize them.

Building from our current context of grounding: Grounding your practice relies primarily on SENSING, following light suggestions of mental intention, without mental pressure or force of will.

SENSING and FEELING create the internal receptivity that ALLOWS changes to occur—and assist us to notice these changes. Trying to MAKE something happen with the Mental Center creates resistance.

FEELING enhances experience. To enhance feeling you might bring in appreciation, love, gratitude, longing, desire for connection, or a sense of wonder. Emulation of anything or anyone divine is another excellent way to enhance feeling.

Here is the gist of grounding any energy practice:

Instead of trying to DO something TO yourself, using the practice as a tool, allow the practice to do its magic. Call in its vibration and be receptive to it, allowing it to shift your energy.

Ask yourself to allow your energy to be imprinted by your practice, so the effects are allowed to linger or recur, changing you.

INVITING yourself to spiritual practice or energy practice, so you get to receive the benefits, works better than trying to MAKE yourself do it because you “should.” The former is a yin or receptive approach. It works much better than any type of force.

Effort often originates from old opinions of ourselves, or ideas about how we THINK we “should be.” That type of effort is a very subtle type of violence. It conveys that something is ‘wrong’ and must be corrected. “Come sit on the meditation pillow so I criticize you and tell you you’re doing it wrong’ isn’t motivating.

Practicing Sensing your body and exploring Feeling is experiential and engaging. It’s easier to be open and enter a process with wonder when it’s about having an experience instead of “doing it right.”

One of the primary obstacles to sinking in to experience is fear of encountering ugliness, pain, or darkness.

Starting a meditation several days ago I was in a crappy mood. Fortunately I had gained enough regularity and courage to sit anyhow.

When meditation is contingent on feeling good or being in the mood we don’t get the great benefits of stabilization, which accrue through consistency.

My energy felt like muddy water. I was releasing an old emotional construct, heading into a life change I’ve been building toward for many months. In the past I might have said, “I can’t meditate with this dirty energy feeling bad and distracting me.” This time I said, “This is what it is right now, and I’m just going to sit with it.”

After fully grounding myself, I began to SENSE my energy as it was, without recoiling from it or judging it, and bringing in clear, sweet energy. It felt like a clear stream flowing into a muddy river. I opened to allow myself to fully feel this gradual purification, with patience and acceptance. I did not try to make the muddy energy go away or get into internal conflict about it. Soon my awareness gravitated to the practice I do regularly. I had one of the most pleasant meditations ever.

BEING WITH WHAT IS is essential to meditation. We can ACCESS and empower more profound states by intentionally using the yin skills of receptivity, feeling, sensing, and allowing.

The yang skills of doing, acting, structuring, thinking, intending and visualizing are used to establish a container for practice, and for setting up the direction and intention. Within that container, holding your focus lightly, directly experiencing energy and sensation allow real magic to occur.

Do you under-use yin or over-use yang energy when you practice with energy or meditate?

What skills, behaviors, intentions or techniques help you (or do you think might help you) to deepen your connection with energy or meditation practice?

The most effective way for an individual to address grounding may vary during different stages of personal development. Various approaches produce somewhat different qualities of experience and types of awareness.

In practicing grounding, visualization can be used as a guide to enhance Sensing, keeping Sensing primary. A gentle suggestion via imagery works better than overemphasizing visualization and running the risk of substituting images for actual experience. Do not allow suggestions you give yourself to become a stand-in for actual sensory experience.

Energy is your guide: Notice whether your energy responds and changes as you focus your attention using a particular technique. If your energy is not responding, do not push with your mind. Try a different approach, and emphasize Sensing.

One more point before we move on from the important topic of mental interference: A mental filter of the known can block or distort direct perception of energy and events. Filtering experience through the lens of what we have experienced previously and already know prevents one from experiencing what has hitherto been unknown, impeding both learning and perception.

Feeling like one does not belong on planet Earth can interfere with grounding. This feeling is intensified by being unable to ground. More people than you might imagine feel they do not belong here. Their experience is often viewed as social or emotional isolation. This sense of alienation is not always social or emotional–although feeling one does not belong here can certainly impact our interactions with others. Feeling disconnected can be a cause, an effect, or a vicious circle of alienation.

The following strange experience speaks to questions about belonging and grounding. I am not saying I believe in the implications of this experience. I will say that I do not disbelieve either. I call this sort of thing “an experiential reality.” A dream, for example, is an actual experience. It has a reality as an experience. A powerful dream can influence how we live.

In Egypt, I unintentionally ‘downloaded’ a technique that has worked well for grounding people who feel they are from other planets. When this occurred, I was standing between the feet of the sphinx, in the middle of one of a series of shamanic initiations. I was not fully engaged, let alone expecting anything. Then I ‘saw’ energy spiraling down from what could only be a wormhole in space, from another galaxy, off to my right. This small, twisting cyclone of energy entered the top of my head, went through me into the Earth, ran through the planet like a bead, wrapped up around Earth’s sphere, and simultaneously anchored from the core of Earth to a planet below the Earth and off to my left.

I am not often a seer. I do receive direct guidance in fully formed concepts, and sometimes in words. Sometimes I translate from feeling to imagery, to communicate more easily. This experience was primarily visual. I have only had a handful of primarily visual experiences.

Before the Egypt trip my Guidance had announced, in words, that the trip was going would make a permanent change in my grounding. I had no idea what that meant, and was not looking for anything.

While I did not believe I was from another planet, I have felt that way from time to time, and joked about it with friends.

After this odd initiation I have been consistently able to ground. Initially I had to use a technique that accompanied the experience I just shared. Within a year I became able to use more direct techniques as well. This was a transitional or remedial technique. A modified version has worked with most of the people I have met who were unable to ground before that. They have been able to repeat it on their own after being shown just once.

The commonly-used tree image still doesn’t work for me. In my opinion it works much better to tap into to the molten core of the Earth. The energetics are powerfully magnetic and the experience is deeper. One can also access any other point on the globe from its core.

Does visualization assist or overpower your experience when you Sense energy or ground yourself?

Have you had a interesting experience that changed the way you ground?

Our energy systems (fields, chakras, meridians) reflect personal issues. Imbalances reveal our issues to those who perceive energy. Working with our energy helps us to recognize and address our issues.

The base or root chakra at the bottom of the spine becomes weak and misshapen when one has chronic safety issues. Safety issues interfere with the natural connection between the base chakra and the earth, impacting grounding. Safety issues tend to keep us out of touch with the sensations in our lower bodies, also making it more difficult to ground.

Most of us pull our energy up and out when we become afraid. Fear telegraphs ‘loud’ or strong sensations and energies. Fear sensations easily overwhelm and distract us from other input, including grounding. If we hear a sound in the house and feel afraid, it is more difficult to Sense whether or not an actual intruder is in the house.

Relaxing fear increases our ability to Sense, turning down the intensity and quantity of sensory ‘noise’. When we are calm, we are more able to Sense the origins of sounds and energies, to distinguish the presence of a person from that of an animal or of the wind. We more easily Sense subtle input, including grounding.

Chronic fear can disable ones ability to ground. The opposite is also true: Learning to ground can help considerably with fear issues. Grounding assists us to Sense what is real. Sensing reduces disturbing conjecture and speculation, and supports empowered, reality-based action.

Addressing safety issues may be necessary to learning to ground. Addressing them means learning to: identify them, sense when they arise, feel how they impact body sensation, self-soothe, make appropriate self care decisions in the moment, and stay present with body sensations as they arise and subside from a useful response. Developing the base chakra assists with most of these steps.

Overactivity of the Mental Center can seriously interfere with grounding. We touched on this in the last post when I said, Grounding is a SENSING experience–it is not accessed with the mind.

Habitual overuse of the Mental Center is quite often an attempt to think things out in order to avoid fearful consequences. This habit is an expression of fear. The attempt to avoid fear by anticipating backfires because fearful thinking exacerbates fear.

Giving a busy mind a related job can keep it involved with grounding so that it does not interfere. FOCUS and INTENTION are constructive ways for Mind to participate with grounding. Focusing and actively extending the intention to ground holds the space open for having the actual experience of grounding. SENSING is essential. You cannot think grounding into occurring.

A balance of about five or ten percent INTENDING and ninety plus percent SENSING works well. Bringing in a little bit of related Feeling can enhance the experience, like noticing the way your heart feels more open when you are grounded, longing to feel grounded, or remembering how good it felt to be grounded.

Projecting an image of reality as an overlay onto reality itself is counterproductive. To ground we need to attend to energetics and sensations–not imagining, fantasizing, believing, conjecturing, trying, postulating, expecting, theorizing or rationalizing. These activities of mind interfere with actual experience. So can excessive intending or excessive Feeling. Trying too much becomes TRYING (as in irritating). Get mind out of the way and Sense it.

The above applies not only to Sensing but to accessing intuition.

Excessive mental involvement is an obstacle to satisfying engagement with life.

A client skilled in Tai Chi had high blood pressure. She noticed that whenever she did Tai Chi or meditated, hoping to bring down her blood pressure, that it increased instead. Watching her practice, I discovered that instead of being One with her body, she held a rigid image of exactly how each position should look, striving to impose this image onto her Tai Chi form to get it right. She was Thinking the practice and trying to make her body conform to a mental image. When she meditated, she was “trying not to think” instead of allowing her thoughts to pass by without engaging them. She was using mental force and will instead of Presence.

What makes YOU feel more grounded?

Does fear impact your relationship with the ground?
If so, what percentage of your time is this going on?
Chronic fear can be subliminal and constant.
Can you Sense whether or not you can allow yourself to feel safe?

Trying to ground by using the mind or a set of preconceptions is the most obfuscating block to being able to ground.

Let me set the stage for my following commentary by creating a context:

One model of exploring human experience describes life from the perspective of three centers of experience: The thinking/mental center, the feeling/emotional center, and the sensing/body center.

Grounding is a SENSING experience–we do not access it with Mind. Using Mind to “try” and ground is using the wrong tool for the job.

The sensation of grounding may be subtle–but there is nothing abstract about it. One does not think it into being. One senses it.

Mental busyness interferes with grounding. It’s distracting. So is emotional ‘noise’ from personal issues kicking around inside. Grounding requires a shift of focus onto Body.

This is slightly grizzly but clarifies the point: If you were a corpse on the ground, your body would naturally be grounded. The circuits might have less energy in them, so the energy exchange would be minimal, but internal activity like mentation and emotion would not be rerouting the electrical flow between body and ground.

Look around at people. Body awareness and grounding show up together. People who are aware of their bodies are more likely to be grounded. They Sense. Being scattered, distraught, obsessed, distracted, beside one’s self and thinking about all sorts of things– especially in the past and the future–decrease direct Sensing and reduce grounding. You can see it when someone is not grounded.

Grounding reflects internal State. Some can ground their energy fully while wearing rubber soles on a plastic floor. The energy around the body is grounded. Others can be barefoot outside and remain ungrounded–although this requires more internal interference. Grounding through our energy fields and State apparently impact our personal experience at least as much and perhaps more than the natural grounding that comes from being in contact with the ground itself.

Interference from the Feeling Center often impedes grounding. Part of this is straightforward. Feelings and reactive emotion in particular can distract us and get us all wrapped up in inner worlds. Of course, there are always circumstances that do not apply to the rule. For example, if our emotional content is from past events, or we are speculating about the future, we are not likely be grounded. If, on the other hand, we stay totally present with our feelings and Sense their attendant sensations, accepting them, we may well be able to ground and feel at the same time.

Let’s look briefly at the relationship between Feeling and Sensing:

Feeling discharges through Sensing–through embodied expression. Sensory information from the body gives us information about what we feel. The more we resist and suppress Feeling the more likely we are to shut down Sensing.

When we spin in emotion or shut it down inside, Sensing is compromised. Shutting down is a defense. Like all defenses, it limits awareness and creates blind spots. Any emotion we shut down limits self awareness. Since grounding is a form of sensory awareness, if we shut down Sensing or Feeling we block information and we have trouble grounding.

There are always details that vary from individual to individual. Not everyone who shuts down emotion is continuously ungrounded. It depends in part on how powerful the emotion is, whether it has any chance of surfacing into awareness at the given moment, and the person’s style of shutting down. For example, some people use running or sports to avoid Feeling. If they do this all the time and their emotions are nowhere to be found, they might still have a great deal of Body awareness/Sensing, and perhaps less Heart awareness/Feeling, and expression. They might be grounded until a strong emotion breaks into awareness, and then spin inside until they run or train to suppress it again. We have different patterns. This is why I do not support one-size-fits-all approaches.

Which of the three centers of experience–Mental, Feeling, or Sensing–is most active in you? Right now, or habitually?

Does one of the three centers over-influence the others, or is one center less developed than the other two? Which one/s?

Getting regular with energy practice or spiritual practice may not seem like a sexy topic. Actually learning to make regular practice appealing is rewarding and alive as we begin to engage more and more completely, and reap results in our lives.

If you do not practice some form of energy work, Inner Work, meditation, inspirational reading, Qi Gong, or martial art, most of the same processes apply to any type of health practice or personal discipline. Practicing regularly helps to cultivate all forms of success.

Strategies to increase and enhance regular practice:

• Start now. Start now. If you’re lousy at it, start with just a few seconds. You will build over time.
• Pick a spot to practice where the energy and conditions support your desired focus. When possible, always practice in the same spot. Energy builds up here over time and assists you.
• Practice at the same time of day when you can. You may soon find your body heading to your spot at that time.
• Get clear about exactly what you are going to do during your practice time. Lack of clear intention dilutes results.
• Do one set of practices over time until you get results. Consistency builds neurological circuitry and focus.
• Dial in an energy connection to your sources of inspiration, whether these are people, teachers, places, deities, elements, Nature, or Spirit. Allow their energy to enhance your focus.
• Shift “I have to . . .” to an attitude of loving invitation. Invite and allow without pushing yourself.
• Shift from ‘I missed my time to do it’ or ‘I don’t have time,” to “Something is better than nothing,” “Even a minute builds momentum,” and “I will at least find small windows of opportunity throughout my day.”
• Cultivate your own trust by following through on promises to yourself.
• Don’t say “I should do more.” Either motivate yourself and DO more or stop aggravating yourself with this type of litany.
• Reinforce motivation to practice by noticing results: at the time you practice, throughout your day, and cumulatively.
• View this Work as a karma account or bucket of holy water that accumulates as you put in a drop of practice.
• Understand that sometimes you may feel nothing as you practice, or for periods of time, and then suddenly find yourself in the energy of the practice when you aren’t focused on it. Notice when this happens.
• Keep bringing the fundamentals of your practice into direct expression throughout your day.
• Intentionally enjoy the good feelings you get from practice. Remind yourself you prefer feeling this way to the way you feel when you are resistive or negligent.
• Identify and speak kindly to your points of resistance.
• Notice the vague disappointment you feel when your practice is flat. Seek to recapture the next moments by coming fully into what you are doing. Keep coming back.
• USE your practice time well: Avoid vain repetition, going through motions, or empty ritual. Bring yourself wholeheartedly to the moment.
• Catch yourself practicing when it feels good and tell yourself, “I enjoy this and want more of it!”
• Get past thinking that things are important just because they are urgent. Deadlines increase urgency but not importance. Practice is very important even if it lacks urgency or deadlines.
• Increase your urgency to practice by remembering that you could die without its fruits.
• Notice the difference between wholehearted engagement and doing something because you ‘should.’
• Notice how practicing being wholehearted begins to impact other aspects of your life.
• Notice how practice impacts your sense of life purpose.
• Notice what it feels like to take a fully-aware breath.
• Bring the fragrance of successful practice into your day, to make your day more enjoyable.
• If you flake out, come back. No blame. No recriminations. Just come back. Keep returning, keep returning, keep returning. . .
• Think of practice as watering a garden in which you are cultivating joy.
• Use your relationship with practice as a venue for being kind to yourself.

What works for YOU?

How do you feel when your resistance ‘wins’?

What Interferes with grounding?

Just as headaches can originate from a numerous different sources, such as neck tension, toxicity, blocked emotion, eyestrain, allergy, etc., inability to ground can express a number of internal or physical states and conditions.

When speaking of scientific or electromagnetic grounding, interference comes from: Having metal, plastic, rubber between us and the Earth, and from electromagnetic pollution from appliances, computers, cell phones, high intensity power lines, hair dryers, air travel, etc. Those who are sensitive to electromagnetic influence become ungrounded during exposure. Since we live in a sea electrical influence, we may not identify the issue. If you feel or sleep a lot better out in nature or on the ground, electromagnetic pollution may be an issue for you.

A number of different types of issues interfere with “grounding” with respect to our ability to get into our bodies and allow energy transfer, and sensing connection with the Earth.

Sensing subtle energy requires concentration. One may have trouble grounding due to health issues, postural or structural problems such as upper neck misalignment, or exhaustion. Anything that interferes with concentration can interfere with grounding. In addition to exposure to electromagnetic pollution, this includes nutritional or chemical issues. Deficiency in stomach acid, for example, makes uptake of minerals difficult. Inadequate supply of minerals weakens the body’s electromagnetic fields, making the person more susceptible to external influences.

Following digestive issues, I struggled with grounding for years. After trying my best to follow various people’s advise I eventually became annoyed when people told me “just ground yourself,” or “grounding will take care of that,” as if it were something I could simply DO. If I inquired, they’d tell me to visualize tree roots going into the ground. That did nothing for me. I started to feel shamed and frustrated and quit asking.

Since then I have seen quite a number of people who were unable to ground. I have seen some of them become frustrated, confounded, and even ashamed around people who ground themselves as easy as falling off a log. Those who find grounding obvious and natural find it easy to return to or accentuate with simple visualization–like the typical tree roots into the earth meditation. For those with issues related to grounding, trying to do this can be vexing–and what it really IS may become something of a mystery.

Over time I have received, through my healer and through intuitive direction, various methods of grounding that usually work with people who haven’t been able to ground. Some techniques work immediately. Other take practice. How energy works with an individual depends not only on the technique, but on what the exact issue is, the person’s physical and energetic condition, and their aptitude at working with energy.

Over the next few posts we will explore in detail issues with grounding that I have experienced or observed in my practice. Even if you ground easily yourself, understanding these issues can provide a window into other people’s experience, increasing your understanding about how energy works. Exploring grounding issues illuminate a number of important energy dynamics.

Is there a grounding practice that works well for you? If so, what is it?

If you have difficulty grounding, what do you think it is that interferes?

Grounding is foundational to managing our energy. Our relationship to the earth is so fundamental that we refer to it in a whole spectrum of contexts. Since this can cause confusion, I will start with some basics before moving into more practical and more esoteric applications.

The word “grounding” is used literally, as in physics, experientially, as in standing barefoot on the ground, figuratively, as being grounded in a tradition, and to refer to a kind of actualization, such as in grounding an idea through direct physical action that expresses the idea.

In electromagnetics: “Grounding is the process of removing the excess charge on an object by means of the transfer of electrons between it and another object of substantial size.”

In the Merriem-Webster dictionary, to be grounded means: “mentally and emotionally stable: admirably sensible, realistic, and unpretentious.”

In the context of healing, grounding means being able to sense our connection with the energy of the earth, so we fully feel and are in present time in our bodies. Grounding expresses confluence between our energy fields and our physical experience.

There is overlap and blur between using the word “grounding” in different contexts. Colloquially, the word is used without much concern about this. Most of my comments about grounding from here on will be in the context of healing.

Advantages of grounding our energy and bodies:

• Allows us to discharge unwholesome energy into the earth
• Without grounding a build up of this energy causes issues– whether the energy is sourced from ourselves, other people, world events, or atmospheric influences
• Helps anchor us in our sense of our selves
• Creates safety, stability and reliability
• Counterbalances the intensity of change, transition or transformation
• Reduces overwhelm
• Helps keep new skills and positive energies in place
• Creates focus and reduces scattering or disorganization
• Contains our energy so we do not dissipate it
• Helps us to revitalize
• Brings our spiritual energy all the way through us to the Earth, where it can be of practical benefit through action

According to Dr. Mercola, a leader in the field of natural health, grounding causes “improvement in blood viscosity, heart rate variability, inflammation, cortisol dynamics, sleep, autonomic nervous system (ANS) balance, and reduced effects of stress.”

Mercola goes on to say: “The Earth is a natural source of electrons and subtle electrical fields, which are essential for proper functioning of immune systems, circulation, synchronization of biorhythms and other physiological processes and may actually be the most effective, essential, least expensive, and easiest to attain antioxidant.”

Grounding actually reduces inflammation!

Here is Mercola’s complete article on grounding if it interests you.

Individuals have totally different experiences with grounding. For some, grounding is simple, natural and automatic. Others have no direct experience of grounding and simply become confused when somebody else says to just do it. I was one of the people who could see that other people could do it but found actually doing it impossible for a number of years. Learning how to do it despite these initial challenges, and working with clients who have been grounding challenged has given me insight into issues with grounding.
In the following posts we will explore issues with being able to ground, and related experiences.

What benefits do YOU experience from grounding?

Is grounding easy and natural for YOU or have you had to work at it?

As you will have observed, I don’t sugarcoat things or use excessively positive language. I reserve words like “awesome,” and other choice superlatives to describe the sublime. I will share and comment on an experience I had that was delicious–and truly awesome:

Toward the end of a spiritual camp and an evening of intentionally cultivating our energy and shared atmosphere with singing, breath, and synchronized movement, the group achieved what I would call a Holy Silence.

Consider the majesty of heartfelt love and deep connection between 250 people, feeling safe, accepted, open, at peace, loving, and quiet of mind. We stood awash in this beauty. This had nothing to do with concepts, beliefs, being good, or acting something out. Struck by a magical silence, we remained suspended in the atmosphere we just generated, unwilling and almost unable to move.

This type of experience takes attention, intention, great leadership, and practice. Gently at first and with growing momentum one person turns aside from the circle, then another. The silence that kept us spellbound began to peel away with these gentle, solo movements. Even a whisper shifts the energy. The circle rolls slowly apart as we step away from moving as One, fractionating into selfhood, some hoping to retain a whiff of the perfume of Unity.

Even after such lovely moments the busy mind, the personality, our urges and bodily needs reassert themselves, and our stories about ourselves and others kick in too quickly. Yet going about life having had experienced this–even once–changes something vital. Our hearts can open like a rose unfolding in the sun, and still we may fall right back into the aspects of personality that feed on feeling separate and alone. Feeling the painful contrast between these states, it is understandable that some feel a need to protect their hearts, or feel ‘down’ reentering daily life.

It takes courage, but practicing keeping our hearts open proves to be more satisfying. This Work includes compassionately addressing the issues that cause us to close down. Heading into instead of away from this inner territory expands our ability to remain open to Love.

Achieving a sublime silence in a large group is a wonder–and a minor miracle.Unlike the quiet of simply not talking, the atmosphere becomes refined, harmonious, and expansive. Sitting spellbound after a transporting performance has similarities. The Silence I am talking about holds no division between performer and audience. After invoking this state of Unity, one is fully a part of the beauty. Whether or not we have the skills to bring this about ourselves, since we are united with it, something of the experience sticks with us. An experience with a large group cannot easily be dismissed as imagination, a passing sentiment, or a private response. It is real; it lives and breathes within a culture of acceptance. Knowing that it is possible to feel totally inclusive can change what it means to us to be human. We know what loving community feels like. This shared sense of unity and love dispels alienation and inspires hope.

Group experience can free our hearts from the constraints of believing that love, intimacy, and safety exist exclusively in highly conditional personal relationships. So many feel alone if we are not happily partnered, with close friendships. We may feel a sense of scarcity about Love. Freedom of heart invites us to let our love flow more naturally, including but not limited to partnerships and friendships. Without scarcity, we love because loving is fulfilling. We need not grasp our loved ones tightly when we ourselves generate and participate with Love.

Within those precious moments of shared silence, the seeds of this freedom of heart took nourishment.

Have YOU ever experienced a powerful sense of Love and safety in a large group?

If so, how did your experience carry over into the way you feel connected to others when you are by yourself?

If not, what does hearing about it bring up for you?

What do you do to free your heart?