03. Grounding
In the previous post (02. Reiki & Remedies) I celebrate the woven practices of Usui Reiki Ryoho (Usui Spiritual Energy Healing Method) and Herbal remedy making, for their ability to support grounding for spiritual connection - that is - connection with yourself and universal life energy.
They are practices which bring you out of your ‘head’ and into ‘being’. Being in the moment, starts with grounding.
So give your brain a break!
Take time out of your busy thinking-mind and bring the energy down out of your head and into your whole being.
Energy follows the mind: when we think of making an energetic connection with the earth, energy flows where thinking goes.
Grounding is a vital element of holistic wellbeing, and a foundational practice in Usui Reiki. I would like to share in this post a few reflections, and two practices to help keep you grounded. Lean into these when conscious mind takes over, and along with it overthinking, worry, stress, anger and tension.
I love these words (below) from Thich Nhat Hanh, remembering that the Earth is also within us. That we are not separate. And so by healing ourselves we are healing Earth. This is useful for those who find the self-healing practice difficult to focus on, maybe because of how our minds work, or our relationship with our own mind-body connection.
If we find it difficult to think about healing ourselves, maybe we can start by just breathing into Earth, and allowing it to be in us and be restored by her.
Time in nature, for me sea swimming and walks in the woods, eases you out of your busy thinking mind and bring your attention - your energy - down the body and allows energy to flow.
Safe and grounded. Stable and strong. In this way you can re-connect your body with your surroundings, with your self, with you being.
This is Reiki self-healing practice too.
I would like to share a resource I find so helpful, and it’s taken from Frans Stiene’s Grounding Techniques. I have included these here because they are practices which really prepare your mind and body to enter the moment, so perhaps to be used before your Reiki practice or working on herbal remedy making.
Grounding Technique 1
Lie with your back flat on the floor, feet against the wall.
Your legs aren’t on the floor: your knees are slightly bent, feet against the wall at a level that feels comfortable.
Place your hands above your head and consciously and slowly push the energy all the way down with your hands to just below your navel (hara).
Place the hands below the navel on the abdomen and apply slight pressure to the feet against the wall. This helps your mind go to the feet, and then your energy will go to your feet as energy follows the mind.
Release the slight pressure on the feet, bringing the hands back above the head again.
Slowly repeat the whole technique again 10 times.
Grounding Technique 2
If you find you’re still feeling light-headed after a Reiki treatment (after drinking water and sitting down for a few minutes), and wish to ground your energy, try this exercise:
Visualize a large ball of energy in your head moving down through you to your hara center (just below your navel),
Then imagine it moving down through your legs and into the Earth. Focus on your feet connecting to the earth.
Breathe the ball of energy out through your feet and into the Earth.
This simple exercise will ground your energy enabling you to feel calm, clear, and aware. Again -
Where attention goes, energy flows.
Bonus: Ball up your fists and gently bounce them in a pummeling action against the bottoms of your bare feet for 30 seconds. This brings energy and focus to the feet, rather than the head, helping you feel more grounded.
And if you need some further grounding, you can ALWAYS turn to nature. A tree, the earth, the sea, a hive of honeybees, all will help bring you to the moment, out of your busy active thinking-mind and into connection with your life energy flow.
Herbalism, and Reiki: grounding practices for all ages.
