The Grounding Thread, Put all your strategies and meditations here! Options

Everyone alludes to grounding as a smart thing to do in various threads, and as such, the strategies are splayed throughout the forums.

Well, this time, I want to do something different. I want to start a thread with all our grounding meditations, strategies, herbs, potions, or whatever in the world (or out) you can think of to be posted here!!

Please post:
The title (if applicable)
The method type (Meditation, exercise, potion, herb, smoke, music, whatever, etc.)
The what-for (what this grounding is geared towards helping what kind of work)
The specifics
The how-to
and finally, the expected effects ("You know you have done it right if you feel...blahblahblah")

Ready, Set... GO!

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/wheelchair.gif) - "..."

This post has been edited by Xenomancer: Oct 28 2008, 07:59 AM

We call it 'rooting' more than grounding. It does have several uses, but I will talk about it as a method of clearing out old stale or 'sick' energy. But I use it at work or after work. I do energy work as part of my massage therapy practice. When you do any form of body work there is an exchange of energy, but especially when focusing on energy work. Without properly clearing myself regularly I would probably become sick also.

I have a quick way that I use to clear out 'sick' energy, and a slow more thorough way. I do a quick clear between clients. Essentially, I go up on my toes and put my arms overhead, then come down on my heels and push my arms down to my body. I do it so quickly and with power enough that my feet bang on the floor loudly. I generally bounce a couple of times. I use this downwards motion with an outbreath to drive the energy into the earth. It is a technique called the 'trembling horse'. Its actually taken from Wing Chun style Kungfu.

For slow thorough cleansing I use something called kwan shi fa. Again the hands are brought above the head, but slowly this time and brought down outward widely as wide as your hands can reach. You visualize scooping the energy and pushing it down. As your hands go down very very slowly you command that the central parts of your body push out the old energy. Everything from the level of your hands is pushed downwards. You divide the body into sections for clearing. Picture seeing the top of your head from directly above. It is a round shape approximately. Think of it as a pie shape when seen from above. Divide the pie shape into four parts. The cuts in the pie are at 10 o'clock, two o'clock, four o'clock and eight o'clock like on a timepiece (analogue, not digital). So you have a front section a back section, and a right and left section. You clear out the crown of your head. You push the old stale energy downward. You clear out to the level of your eyes when your hands reach the level of your eyes. As you push downwards on the old stale energy, new fresh energy flows in to replace it. You visualize clearing out all of that wedge shaped section of the front of your body beginning from the crown. You visualize clearing all of the layers from the skin, the bone of the skull, into all the whorls and crevices of the brain. You take it down to the level of your nose, then your mouth, your chin, your neck, the front of the chest, through all of the skin, ribs, and internal organs. Get to know your body so that you can feel your heart so that you can clear it; your lungs, become aware of them, your liver, kidneys, spleen, etc. You work down to the base of the torso. Your hands can't go any lower without stooping, so you just use your mind to push the energy lower and lower through the feet and three meters into the earth. Generally you have to use your outbreath to visualize your breath pushing the energy down the legs and into the earth. One section of the body from crown to feet should take about four minutes to give you a time frame. Then you do right and left sides together. Lastly you do the back wedge shaped section. During the exercise you will probably find your hands becoming more sensitive and 'charged up.' Actually this exercise is what wakened my sensitivity to energy when I first began. Anyhow that works for me I normally do each section 3 times, so about half an hour. I do this at the end of the work day.

Alternately I can use a tree to clear myself. I walk home through a nature trail. I never used trees in winter because of the trees being asleep, although one of my Michael mentioned using pine trees. I've never investigated pines though. When using trees to clear your energy, approach the tree slowly. Extend your hands towards the tree. With your hands, feel the tree's energy. It is generally light and warm. Ask permission of the tree or introduce yourself. Generally trees automatically begin the exchange, but if not, just extend your awareness into the tree. You will probably feel the tree's energy extend outwards to envelop you, or at least more of you. There might be a tugging sensation at your hands or arms. Then the energy will begin to flow slightly faster. You will feel your energy and the tree's mingling. Let it happen and go with the flow. It is a curiously pleasant sensation. You might even hear 'tree thoughts'. Remain close to the tree as long as needed. Ignore anyone who stares. Tree huggers are not unheard of.

In winter along the trail we have a number of huge rocks. I'm in Hamilton and the Niagara escarpment is next to the trail. There are lots of rocks that come up as high as my waist.I push my stale energy into the rock, leaning over and placing both hands firmly on top of a boulder. I pull fresh energy up from the earth under my feet. I do several cycles of this. Breath out and feel the energy as you push it through your hands into the rock. Breath and push it out again into the rock. Feel the rock's solidness and how it sits on the earth. The energy will flow into the rock and earth where it will be cleansed. Breath in and feel new fresh energy flow in through your feet into the body. Feel the solidness of the earth beneath your feet. Become aware of the earth. Extend your awareness deep into the earth. Feel how the earth is connected with all things solid. Breath in again and feel the fresh energy flow in from your feet, up your legs and into the body. Do it again

Goibniu's methods are as good as any of mine and are good for anyone, I think, but in the interest of adding to the thread I also have a few methods.

The first is a short method that is for grounding excess energy, and is as much a physical exercise as it is anything purely energetic. I take my shoes and socks off and stand barefoot, and assume what is classically called horse stance - feet about 1.5x shoulder width apart, feet parallel, knees bent such that the front of my knees are in line with my toes. I tuck my pelvis in a bit to straighten out my lower back and then let my head wobble around until I find a position in which it is resting on the top of my spine without any overt effort on my part. I become aware of my nervous energy, then gradually shift my focus down to my legs. I feel the earth pull me down onto it, feel my feet on the ground, feel my body supporting itself, and focus on my breathing. The excess energy grounds as well as being burnt up by the gentle effort of my legs. It takes 30-60 seconds before bed, longer sometimes if I've taken on a lot of excess energy during magical work.

There is another short method I use for clearing out excess energy and energy i've taken on from clients between sessions or even during a session if the client has a lot of excess energy that needs to be taken out and grounded, which doesn't require as much physical effort, so that I can do it during a session. Basically I simply focus on the magnetic force of the earth, pulling me and everything else down against the ground. I sense the resistance of myself, the table, the room, the building, supported against it but still under the constant pull of the ground. I pull up against that magnetic force as though pulling a giant bowstring, right up to my crown. When I have generated enough of a sense of resistance that it starts to feel like work, I become aware of all of the excess energy, or the negative energy, in both myself and my client, and associate it psychically with the 'bowstring'. When I can feel the psychic weight of the energy I am grounding, I release the bowstring. I'm not sure if I subconsciously add the physical motion or not, but I physically bounce a little bit, not quite up on my toes, but a sort of full body recoil. It feels like a sucking sensation around my feet, and often will make me slightly short of breath for a moment. Usually i'm channeling positive energy at the same time so it rushes in at that moment to fill the vacuum.

My long method is similar, but instead of pulling against that magnetic force, I build it up fro my feet to the crown of my head, and then extend my awareness spiritually 'up' which is not necessarily skyward, and sense the electrical nature of the 'heaven' energy or Chi, and then feel the earth and the heavens exchanging along that electric-magnetic current, and allow the magnetic energy of the earth to pull my energy down into the ground, while the electrical energy of heaven pours in through my crown. I liken this method to using a spiritual pipe cleaner, and spend time letting that current wash through each of the energy centers and associated energy pathways, through muscles, bones, nerves, organs, arteries - a thorough study of anatomy helps this process along mentally - etc., until finally I reach a cumulative sensation of having replaced all of my energy with that 'heaven', 'Solar', 'electrical' energy. This can take an hour or more, depending on how many 'clots' there are in my energy system. Usually I use the first short method afterwards just to balance out and let go of the excess. This is a very rejuvenating method for me, afterwards any trace of bad mood is gone, the majority of minor physical ailments disappear (aches and pains, nervousness, minor digestive ills, etc.) and I can move energy through my system with greater ease, and I am more sensitive to the presence of negative energy as well.

Other more simple methods of grounding excess energy, such as after a ritual, can be as simple as taking a jog, doing some sits ups or squats (push ups tend to pull the energy up into the chest and head; you'll be tired but unable to rest), dancing, singing, etc., something that expresses a lot of energy. However they are not as meditative and do little to balance at the same time as grounding - which is often overlooked, as no one considered what happens to your system when you drop some of your energy, excess or otherwise. The energy system compensates for chronic excess energy, and this process begins the moment you take on excessive energy - so when you ground, it's important to do something to rebalance your system as it recovers from the process of compensation.

peace

"Alternately I can use a tree to clear myself. I walk home through a nature trail. I never used trees in winter because of the trees being asleep, although one of my Michael mentioned using pine trees. I've never investigated pines though. When using trees to clear your energy, approach the tree slowly. Extend your hands towards the tree."

that's agood one...
I tried this actually,its very refreshing...

yeah sometimes i use trees too, god bless those friendly green giants (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

and sometimes, if i feel the need to ground myself in a crowded area, i visualize my feet being roots, and all the energy that is negative travel down and out of me through my feet. it works quite well, i usually feel much better.

another grounding technique that i use in the astral when i am feeling stressed out (quite unconsciously sometimes) is falling backward, or swinging motions or stretching myself out. flying sometimes helps, but usually its the stretching and falling backward feeling that realigns my energies and enervates me the best. i am much healthier and i sleep better when i do this.

physical activities that seem to help are gardening, swimming, singing, archery (the focusing your mind on a narrow and fixed point, and releasing your stress when you let go of the bow and to let it travel through the arrow to split the air and hit your target to transform from something negative into an action that is positive and useful...teaches patience, aim and balance, and focus of your will power), playing with and training dogs (or animals in general, it just so happens i have a big connection with canines), and exercise. EXERCISE grounds like a mother....

rubber bands on the arm (which you snap from time to time, to bring you out of your lala land) work too. Touch that is not sexual generally grounds me. heightening my awareness of the sensation (not just mild pain, but taste and hot and cold as well) brings me to Earth.

i find wearing metal tends to ground (as long as you cleanse the metal)...on that same note, i always remove metal when i am trying to do magic or rituals or healing.

what do i feel like when i am grounded? more than lucid, generally content, logical, alive but small, comfortable in my skin.
but if i feel bigger than my skin and i am oversensitive to people around me or i am daydreaming or jumping to conclusions a lot or i feel inebriated or overwhelmed by my surroundings, and if i am getting a lot of cravings for junk food and self destructive or risky behavior, i know it is time to ground myself.