The importance of grounding

It is not surprising that we loose our sense of being grounded in our modern world, working indoors, driving cars, wearing shoes & focusing on screens. The earths surfaces contain negatively charged particles, while modern devices; phones, wifi, computers give off positively charged particles which are generally detrimental to our health & wellbeing. Disconnecting from phones and reconnecting to the earth for a while neutralises the amount of charge the body has and leads to greater min-body health and a feeling of being grounded.

Take a walk in nature & notice the sounds & smells around you & then explore how you feel, maybe sit for a while in nature (forest bathing). Grounding brings feelings of security in identity, purpose, stability, safety, confidence, flexibility, fertility & patience. Conversely when you are ungrounded you can feel anxious, paranoid, fragile, moody, forgetful, materialistic & have problems with your skin, bones, nails teeth & hair. More than that grounding lowers inflammation, enhances immunity, heals wounds, calms the nervous system, lowers pain & treats chronic inflammatory conditions. Walking barefoot in nature (where there are no pesticides) is a great way to improve groundedness so if you have a lawn make use of it!

In yoga practice we ground ourselves by drawing all the points of the feet into the floor, or breathing into the belly & grounding through the Muladhara / Root Chakra at the base of the spine. We focus on balance & pranayama to breathe into the root chakra, bringing us out of our heads & into focusing on the present. It is suggested in Ayeveda we eat sweet & sour foods, not processed sugar but rice, basil, cashew, dates, banana, milk, melon, beetroot, sweet potato, cardamon & cinnamon plus citrus fruits, pickles, tomatoes, bread, vinegar, garlic.