Grounding and Centering

You've probably heard the term "grounding"  or "earthing" before and wondered what it means and why is it necessary to ground.  "Grounding is a process that helps the body to connect to life sustaining earth energies via its root chakra. Because we are first and foremost spiritual beings the physical body sometimes is ignored or gets neglected. It is important to respect and care for the "container" that houses our spirit during our incarnate lifetime. " (from About.com Holistic Healing).   In many books on to ground  and center before doing any healing work.  In a dowsing class I took recently, we were taught to ground and center before dowsing (as well as connect to Father Sky).  There are many ways to ground, and I'll give you a few examples,  I suggest you experiment with several or all of them, check out other forms of grounding and see which ones feels the best for you!.

Grounding can be as simple as wearing or carrying in your pocket, a particular crystal/stone that is known for it's grounding properties like hematite (hematite has poverty consciousness according to my Crystal Healing teacher Ashley Leavy so I am not a fan of it) or black tourmaline, jet or smoky quartz.

Or you can try sitting in yoga lotus position on the floor and imagining a large root growing out of the base of your spine and going down into the earth about 250 feet (how far varies from book to book, teacher to teacher). I have included a picture of the seated position you would need to be in if lotus position doesn't work for you.  Spine straight, sitting bones on chair, chin parallel to the floor, and hands facing up in your lap or on your thighs.  I have also given you an image of what Mother Earth looks like inside so you can visualize your root/s going down past the crust, etc.  Some people say you should not send your root into the molten, hot lava-like center of the earth, but instead imagine some cool, quiet place in her center, like a crystal cave or an area of large boulders to wrap your roots around.   Send your consciousness down the root and into the earth, asking Mother Earth to take all that is not serving you and transform it into whatever she needs it for.  Breathe in earth energy up from your root/s and breathe out and release negative, stagnant, dirty energy down the root/s and into Mother Earth, who is always ready and willing to assist us in this way.  Do this until you feel fresh and clear and don't forget to thank Mother Earth for this service before you get up.   Get up slowly and drink some water, before returning to normal activities.

In her book "Reiki For Children" Kytka Hilmar-Jesek, ND has a whole section called "Grounding to the Earth" on page 51-53.  "Grounding and centering are probably the most important exercixes you will ever learn.  Grounding allows you to connect with Universal Life Force Energy and to find your own center. It as at your own center where you connect directly with the spirit and the Universal Life Force Energies. "   Kytka first walks you through a whole body relaxation meditation, similar to the one I do in my Reiki classes before I give the attunements.  I instruct the students to sit as I have described above, close their eyes and breathe in relaxation into the body starting at the toes and working your way up to the crown, and breathe out any stress, tension, tightness, discomfort or pain out through the bottom of the feet (soles of the feet where the minor chakras are) and release it into Mother Earth, where she will transform it for her purposes.

There are also foods you can eat, clothes you can wear and exercises you can do to ground.