Grounding yourself has all kinds of benefits — some scientifically proven and others suggested through numerous anecdotal reports. I love grounding because it connects me to the planet and reminds me to be in my body — otherwise, I tend to spend a lot of time in my head and sometimes even off floating in the ethers.
There are lots of great ways to ground yourself. Some of my favorite methods are grounding meditations, which are usually simple visualizations that only take a few minutes. Try one or more of our grounding meditations each day, and it could make a huge difference in how you feel.
Grounding Meditation #1 - Roots
This is one of the most common and easy-to-perform grounding meditations. It takes less than five minutes. I like to do it first thing in the morning, sitting on the side of my bed before I get up and start my day. I also do it while I'm seated on my mat or lying in savasana (corpse pose) at the end of a yoga session.
- Sit comfortably on the floor (or a yoga mat) or on a chair (or the edge of your bed) with your bare feet flat on the floor.
- Close your eyes and find your breath. Notice your breathing without trying to control it.
- After a few breaths, begin breathing deeply into your belly.
- Now, bring your focus to your root chakra, which is at the base of your spine. Imagine you are breathing air in and out of this area.
- Visualize roots growing from the area, extending down into the Earth, traveling all the way to the center of the Earth.
- Return your focus to your body and open your eyes.
This is a great visualization to try throughout the day anytime you notice you feel spacey or lack focus. It's so quick and easy that you can even do it with your eyes open, and nobody will be the wiser. I've used it in business meetings before when I felt myself starting to drift.
Meditation for Grounding #2 - Into the Earth
This is a longer, more involved version of the previous meditation. I typically do this to close out a meditation session to help bring me back into my body from my meditation space. It takes 5-10 minutes.
- Sit comfortably on the floor (or a yoga mat) or on a chair with your bare feet flat on the floor.
- Close your eyes and find your breath. Notice your breathing without trying to control it.
- After a few breaths, begin breathing deeply into your belly.
- Now, bring your focus to your root chakra, which is at the base of your spine. Imagine you are breathing air in and out of this area.
- Visualize a beam of light growing from the area, extending down into the Earth, traveling all the way to the center of the Earth.
- Once the light has reached the center of the planet, visualize it widening so it's wider than your body.
- See yourself stepping into the beam and riding it like an elevator to the center of the Earth.
- Remain in the Earth's energy for as long as you like.
- When you're ready, ride the beam back up and into your body. Open your eyes when you're ready.
Here's a neat grounding trick for people experiencing jet lag. When you get on the plane to head to your destination, before the plane takes off, visualize yourself pulling your roots out of the Earth. When you arrive at your destination, visualize your roots extending to the center of the Earth in the new location.
Grounding Meditation #3 - Earth Energy
I love this meditation because it involves getting outdoors and soaking up the Earth's energy.
- Sit comfortably on the ground with your back against a tree. Close your eyes.
- Notice your breathing without trying to control it.
- After a few breaths, begin breathing deeply into your belly.
- Focus where your back connects to the tree and your bottom to the Earth.
- If your focus wanders, bring your attention back to these two focus points.
- Do this for as long as you like.
- When you're ready, open your eyes.
Other quick grounding techniques include going barefoot on grass, sitting or lying on the grass, gardening, touching the grass or Earth with your bare hands, lying in corpse pose (savasana), and running your hands under cold water.
Grounding Meditation #4 - Crystal Energy
If you love crystals (guilty!), you can also meditate with a crystal to ground yourself. Choose a black crystal. My current favorite is shungite, but other crystals like black tourmaline, hematite, and obsidian work well, too.
- Sit or lie comfortably with a grounding crystal in your non-dominant hand.
- Close your eyes and become aware of your breathing without trying to control it.
- After a few breaths, begin breathing deeply into your belly.
- Focus your energy on the crystal in your hand.
- Feel it filling you with Earth energy, flowing up your arm from your hand and throughout your entire body.
- Sit with the crystal as long as you like.
- When you're ready, open your eyes.
You should cleanse your crystal every couple of days to make sure it continues to vibrate with grounding energy. To do this, use incense smoke (I like Nag Champa or sandalwood). Hold the crystal in the smoke for about 30 seconds.
Why You Should Ground Yourself Daily
So here's the truth: I used to love not being in my body. For a lot of reasons (mostly trauma-related), it felt safer and more comfortable for me to be out of it. So, I never grounded or did any grounding work. The problem with that was that when I was disconnected from Earth energy and my body, I wasn't really living in the here and now. I was always somewhere else. It also led to a lot of chronic health issues, most of which I would ignore (which is never a good idea) because I wasn't really in my body anyway.
Grounding changed a lot for me. It has helped me be more present and joyful in my life, and it has helped me start to chip away at the health issues I've struggled with for most of my life. It also feels good. But enough about me. Here are some ways grounding can benefit you.
Benefits of Grounding According to Science
Let's start with the sciencey stuff since there's some good, concrete evidence of the benefits of grounding.
- It reduces blood viscosity, which can help prevent cardiovascular disease.
- It has been shown to reduce muscle damage and pain after workouts.
- It has been shown to help reduce fatigue, pain, and depression and improve mood.
- It may help lower blood pressure.
- It has been shown to help reduce chronic inflammation.
Grounding Benefits According to Anecdotal Evidence
While a few small-scale studies (above) have been conducted on grounding, a lot of the buzz comes from anecdotal reports from people (like me!) who have noticed positive results. Some of these reported benefits include:
- Improved mood
- Better sleep
- Improved quality of life
- Reduced stress
- Faster healing
- Better immune function
- Reduced pain
- Better connection with body-mind-spirit
- Reduced anxiety
- Balanced energy field
How to Tell if You're Not Grounded
So, how do you know if you need grounding? Everyone should ground themselves regularly, and some people more frequently. Here are some signs it's time to ground.
- You feel overwhelmed.
- You feel scattered.
- You have trouble focusing.
- You feel anxious or stressed.
- You lack executive function.
- You lack resilience.
- You can't sleep.
- You multi-task all the time.
- You're clumsy.
- You lose stuff all the time.
- You daydream or space out a lot.
- You forget stuff.
- Your thoughts race or loop.
- You're always late or running behind.
- You're chronically exhausted.
- You lose your train of thought.
Related: 35 Quotes & Affirmations for When You Feel Overwhelmed
Ground Yourself Daily for Best Results
As someone who spent a lot of time not really living in my body, I find that it's easy for me to sort of slip away unless I ground myself regularly. And it's so fast and easy that you can do a quick grounding visualization any time you notice yourself feeling out of sorts. It's a small thing you can do that can have many positive effects on your life.
