By Amanda Hainline
Do you run around looking for your phone while you are talking on it? Do people move slower than you but get more done? Are you in a constant frantic rush and wish you could just chill? If this sounds like you, you need to get grounded, says Amanda Hainline. If you are frustrated, exhausted, and burned out, try these techniques to let the energy flow through so you don’t get zapped.
Years ago, I was a frantic mess. It didn’t take much to get me into “stress case” mode. The smallest thing going wrong could ruin my whole day, leaving me tapped and weeping. Back then, I didn’t know why. All I knew was I seemed to be less stable than most people.
I watched in awe as coworkers and friends moved through their lives, getting everything done with seeming ease. They didn’t get flustered and throw up their hands on a regular basis. They were just, as I would say, chill. And I felt like a trembling Chihuahua.
If this sounds like you, you’re not alone. Lots of people struggle with this fundamental energetic wiring. But the good thing is, you can change it. The difference between calmly, productively moving through life, and feeling like a hot mess is energetic grounding.
Energetic grounding is similar to the principle of grounding a building with a lightning rod. The rod goes into the ground and connects with metal parts of the building. When lightning strikes, the electricity goes through the rod into the ground, rather than damaging the building, electronics, or people inside.
When we aren’t grounded, it can feel like we are getting “struck” by all the stuff that life throws at us. Unexpected problems, unwelcome news, distractions, and emotional outbursts from others can trigger an emotional reaction in us. Like lightning hitting an ungrounded building, these experiences fry and frazzle us and may prompt us to react in ways that trigger emotional reactions in others.
To stop this kind of chain reaction before it begins, I teach people to get energetically grounded. This involves consciously redirecting the emotional energy that swirls around us each day into the place that can harmlessly absorb it — the earth beneath our feet.
When we are properly grounded, we are more effective in our lives overall. Being grounded keeps us from ‘toppling over emotionally’ if something in life goes awry and allows us to keep a clear head when those around us get upset.
Are You Grounded or Not? Take This Quiz.
Consider the following scenarios and choose A or B for how you would likely respond.
1. Your alarm doesn’t go off, and you are running late, again!
A. Frantic, you jump up out of bed and get in the shower. In your frenzied state, you accidentally put shower gel in your hair instead of shampoo. You wonder what you were thinking even getting in the shower because now you are even later.
B. You get up, realize you are late and think up a quick strategy. You comb through your hair and pull it back. Messy is the new neat. Throw on an easy dress and a little blush, and you are out the door in 15 minutes.
2. You have to give a big presentation at work.
A. You go over it in your mind a million times and dwell on all the things that could possibly go wrong, even though you are over-prepared. Once you are in the meeting, you keep dropping everything and talk so fast your boss has to tell you to slow down.
B. You prepare for the meeting and list any questions that you think might come up. During the presentation, you are calm and speak articulately. Some questions come up that you don’t anticipate, but you calmly explain that you don’t know the answer and tell them you will find out and get back to them.
3. You just mopped the floor after being up until 3 a.m. You feel so accomplished until your two-year-old starts dumping a gallon of apple juice on the floor five minutes later.
A. You start screaming at the two-year-old, and they drop the juice, smashing the bottle. All this wakes the baby up from its nap. Then you start crying and just sit down in the apple juice.
B. You manage to keep your wits and calmly walk over to the two-year-old, taking the glass jug and saving half of the juice. You lift them out of the puddle of juice. You throw some towels on the floor and take a break to watch a video with your toddler, letting the towels do most of the work. Later you toss the towels in the wash and mop. Again. Mom life!
If you see yourself mainly in the A group, you tend to be ungrounded. This is usually due to a combination of nature and experience. We are each born with a particular energy makeup. As we go through life, experiences cause certain energy system habits to form. Some of these habits are due to imprints from traumatic events. If we are initially wired to be ungrounded and have traumatic imprints, too, we will tend to default to an ungrounded state when things get rough. We tend to “pull up our roots” and flee, either emotionally, physically, or both. We simply don’t feel safe. We must train our energy system to be grounded.
Suppose you are in group B, congratulations! Chances are, you stay pretty calm most of the time, and things don’t rattle you that much. It’s not that you don’t experience stress, but you tend to handle it well, keeping your wits about you. Yet even if you are grounded by nature, traumatic imprints may prompt you to pull up your roots, making it harder for you to function. But no matter which group you fall into, you can train yourself to stay grounded with some simple exercises.
Energy System Anatomy: Your Roots
What are these roots I’m talking about? Our energetic system is made up of chakras, points through which energy flows that affect our physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing. In addition to seven main chakras, we have chakras located in our feet.
The chakras connect us to the earth through energetic “roots.” Think of them as your own personal lightning rods!
When your energy system is functioning correctly, your roots penetrate and draw energy from the earth, helping you to feel confident, clear, and strong. But when your roots are very shallow or don’t connect to the earth at all, your energy system is ungrounded. In this state, you may overthink things, freeze, or take erratic action. You may rush and make mistakes. People who are ungrounded tend to be nervous and often complain of anxiety and sleeplessness.
When you are in a hurry, the best thing you can do is take a moment to make sure you are grounded before taking any action. Doing this may seem counterintuitive because it takes a little time, but it can help you avoid even more time-consuming mistakes and move forward with a clear head. Here are some simple exercises to try:
Grounding Your Roots
1. Ask yourself: “Do I feel grounded right now? Am I calm or nervous? Am I overthinking things, or is my mind clear?” Observe how you feel overall and assign a number from 1-10 in your mind, with one being ungrounded and ten being very grounded.
2. Use your intuition and envision roots coming out of the bottoms of your feet. How far in the ground are they? What color are they? Are they bright and looking healthy? If they are fairly shallow, envision pushing them further into the ground. Focus on them going deeper instead of just spreading out. How do you feel?
Grounded Root Breathing
1. Perform the technique above and get your roots into the ground.
2. Take a deep belly breath through your nose and breathe up through your roots.
Hold it for about eight seconds. Feel the energy coming into your body and calming you down.
3. Now, breathe the nervous energy out through your mouth. Repeat this a few times until you feel calm and your thinking is more clear and rational.
Observe how you feel before and after these techniques. To retrain yourself to be grounded, it’s best to practice these exercises first thing in the morning, at night before bed (it helps you sleep), and during the day when you feel yourself holding your breath or running around frantically.
Grounding is a key piece of the puzzle when it comes to emotional stability and getting things done. By learning to ground, you can better withstand the winds of life while maintaining a level head and being more productive. You can become one of those seemingly slow-moving people who accomplish it all. Sound good? Give it a try.
