There are many types of meditation out there that you can choose from. One of the terms you may hear when looking into meditation is grounding exercises.
But what exactly does grounding mean when it comes to meditation? First, the process of grounding during meditation is intended to help put you back into the present moment.
This is done by focusing on the world around you and within. But there’s so much more to this term, and we’re going to take a quick look at that right now!
How to Do it?
Grounding is intended to help you prepare for meditation practice. Ideally, this is you reconnecting your body with the earth and the energies that come from it. There are multiple steps to doing this:
- You have to notice your body and the way it feels. Shifting your weight back and forth can help you manage your balance and get attuned to your body.
- Then it’s about releasing the tension within your muscles. You need to find a way to soften yourself to relax in your meditation practice.
- Many practitioners finish this process by visualizing themselves as a tree and roots growing from them into the earth. This helps them visualize the connection between their energies and that of the earth.
Once you’ve done this, you should be connected with the energies and ready to start your meditation practice. Skipping this step could make getting into a meditational frame of mind very hard as you will be fighting the tension and the mind-body connection.
When Should You Do it?
The truth is you can ground yourself at any point during the day. You don’t have to do it just because you’re stepping into a meditation session. But ideally, when it comes to meditation, before the meditation begins is the right time to do it.
Much like stretching before you get into exercise, grounding is a way to stretch your spiritual and physical mind to become more in tune with the energies around you.
Being more in tune with the energies around you will allow you a clear mind and a more intense focus on the purpose of your meditation.
Why is it Necessary to Do it?
When you’re in meditation, you have to be in balance with the world around you. After all, the main purpose of doing meditation is to allow yourself to release some of the stress and anxiety from the hectic world to find a way to live in the present.
Without being grounded, there’s no way that your spiritual and physical energy can be balanced, and that will affect everything in your life. Grounding allows your energies to start melding into the earth, making meditation much more effective.
It’ll give you more focus and remove some of the anxiety so that you can see the full results of your meditation.
What Happens During Grounding?
There are many techniques you can utilize to ground yourself before your meditation. But all of them have the same results. In the end, your body, mind. Spirit and the energies from the earth will be balanced, and you’ll feel calm.
During grounding, there are a lot of different sensations that can go on. On top of the release of tension out of your muscles and your mind comes other things.
Many people feel warm sensations as they begin to ground themselves. Others feel chills or a sense of calm wash over them.
In the end, all of these are physical or mental reactions to the energies from the earth and within yourself, becoming in tune with each other. This is the perfect preparation for a good meditation session.
What are the Three Types of Grounding?
There are a lot of great techniques that one can use for grounding, but they can be broken up into three types- spiritual, physical, and mental.
Each of these has different techniques that reside within them and can be beneficial when used together on what you’re trying to achieve.
Spiritual grounding is more about tuning yourself to the energies. This can be done through the five senses techniques. Though this may seem like a physical technique attuning your body to the energy around it can be spiritual.
Physical grounding is more about your breathwork or releasing the tension within your muscles. By focusing on your breath work and releasing this tension, you are freeing up your body to accept the energies and become in tune with both yourself and the world around you.
Mental grounding is done through the use of thought. This is more of the technique of noticing distracting thoughts or when your mind starts to wander. Doing this will allow you to train your brain to stay in the moment.
Final Thoughts on What Does Grounding Mean in Meditation
As we said above, you’d never start an exercise routine without a set of good stretches. Just like that, you should never start a meditation practice without a grounding ceremony. Being grounded will allow you to be better in tune and see much greater results.