by Beth

A core quality is a specific characteristic, like a strength or a skill. Examples of these are clarity, contentment, endurance, and resilience. In this post we’ll explore the core quality of grounding.

In many yoga classes we are reminded to ground ourselves through the sitting bones if we’re sitting or the soles of the feet if standing. Energetically, the quality of grounding is related to our Root Chakra (see Stand Your Ground with Muladhara (Root) Chakra). And in terms of human physiology, the ability to feel safe and secure points to a connection with the adrenal glands, which mediate our stress response. When we work with the core quality of grounding, our goal is to remain strong within our own process while interacting appropriately with others and our environment.

We can think of grounding in two ways. The first is grounding as a core quality or a value that connects us to all our layers of being: body, breath and mind. The second is grounding as a practice, which refers to making direct contact on the earth, preferably with bare feet. Now it’s not always possible to stand on the ground with bare feet—think winter—brrr! Or due to a health condition or disability this may not be accessible. Thankfully, there are other ways to experience the direct benefits of grounding, which help you:

  • Manage other people’s energy (OPE) and how it affects you, especially when it’s toxic
  • Feel more stable, secure, relaxed, and self-aware
  • Be centered in your body and able to notice with clarity what is happening within and around you
  • Be able to witness your thoughts and emotions
  • Be able to calm your nervous system, reducing and managing your stress levels
  • Make better decisions from a place of self-awareness and self-actualization

To successfully ground and connect with ourselves and the earth we first need to inhabit our bodies—no matter our condition or ability. Feeling at home and relaxed in your body can be an indication that you are grounded. However, many of us may not feel at home in our own skin because we:

  • Have not made peace with our body (too fat, too thin, too tall, too short, too ill, etc.)
  • Deal with a disability that limits our movement and our ability to be active
  • Have lost touch with parts of our body due to a past or present trauma

Here’s a personal story. While recovering from an emergency hysterectomy, I had trouble feeling and being ‘in’ my lower body. I lost touch with it. It was there, it functioned and was fully operational with the exception of my missing uterus and ovaries, but I couldn’t ‘feel’ it. On the suggestion of my naturopathic doctor, I made an appointment to see an acupuncturist. Instead of inserting needles, he hooked me up to a computer with a series of sensors. The printout and his explanation stunned me.

He explained that the surgeon had expertly sewed my physical body back together but my energy body was misaligned and this was why I couldn’t ‘feel’ my lower half. The graph showed this clearly even as my rational mind told me BS and ‘no way.’ Then he inserted needles all over my body (upper and lower) and left me to rest on his table for 20 minutes. During that time, I experienced fits of giggles and laughter at nothing in particular. After 20 minutes, he came back, removed the needles and hooked me up to the computer again. This time the graph showed alignment between top and bottom, and I was able to ‘feel’ and fully inhabit my lower body for the first time since the operation. Wow! was all I could think as I drove home.

Here’s a suggestion for a yoga practice to establish, sense, feel, and enhance your ability to embody the quality of grounding.

Practicing Tadasana (Mountain Pose) for Grounding

This pose benefits grounding, stability, and balance.  Here are a few ways to practice that also include breath and affirmation.

Physical Posture

  1. Stand with your feet parallel and hip-width apart.
  2. Rest your arms comfortably alongside your body with palms facing toward the thighs.
  3. Draw your chin slightly back and in to align your head over your torso with the chin parallel to the floor.
  4. Relax your shoulders and lengthen upward through your spine.
  5. Feel the connection between your feet and the surface they stand on.

Variations

  1. Standing or sitting in a chair: place a block between your thighs and gently press inward against the block.
  2. Lying on the floor (or in bed): place a block between your thighs and flex your feet.

Breath Awareness

  1. As you comfortably hold Tadasana shift your awareness to your breath.
  2. With each inhalation allow the upward flow of energy to lift  and expand your chest.
  3. With each exhalation allow the downward flow of energy to enhance the sense of grounding though your legs and feet.

Affirmation

In his Yoga Toolbox, Joseph Le Page offers this affirmation to use as you ground through body, breath, and mind in Tadasana:

I stand in the Mountain’s stability as a reflection of my true being.

Placing focus on core qualities offers us an opportunity to move ourselves a bit further along on the path to self-awareness. In my book Enlighten Up! Finding Clarity, Contentment and Resilience in a Complicated World, I offer a down-to-earth, relatable, and often humorous look at the five layers of self-awareness and how to use this model to understand and embody core qualities in positive and helpful ways in your everyday life.

 

Beth’s self-awareness newsletter is published six times a year. It features informative, inspiring and entertaining tips for finding clarity, contentment, and resilience in a complicated world. For more information and to sign up for the newsletter go to www.bethgibbs.com.

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