In our stressful society, it is easy to become emotionally overloaded and anxious. The negative energies of others can negatively affect our own feelings of well-being. It’s impossible to avoid much of modern society’s influences, however, there are several grounding techniques we can use to stay balanced and healthy.
Feeling anxious and overwhelmed is not pleasant. Unfortunately, for many of us, especially empaths and highly sensitive people (HSPs), this is the reality of daily life. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are several useful and effective grounding techniques that we can use to help us to stay balanced and to protect us from the negative energies we encounter in our day to day lives.
1. Water
Water has a hugely cleansing effect on the body, but it can also symbolically help us to wash our cares away. This makes it one of the most powerful grounding techniques. If you are feeling negative, anxious or overwhelmed after a difficult day, try taking a shower or bath. Imagine that as you wash away the dirt and pollution of the day you are also washing away the negativity that has stuck to you throughout the day too.
For extra benefits, use a shower gel or body wash with essential oils to increase the power of your energy cleansing ritual. Orange scented products will help you to feel positive and uplifted while lavender scented ones will make you feel calm and relaxed.
Adding a cup of sea salt to your bath can also increase its grounding power. Salt is very healing which is why it has been used to clean and heal cuts for generations. Salt can also help cleanse negative energies from the body and is a great tool for the overwhelmed empath.
Drink a large glass of water after your shower to help rehydrate the body as being dehydrated can make us feel tired and sluggish.
2. Nature
Many scientific studies have proven that nature can have a healing effect on our mind’s and bodies. In Japan, a practice called ‘forest bathing‘ has been found to reduce stress and increase immunity. It simply involves walking in the forest. Another study explains how nature helps people relax and lowers heart rates and blood pressure.
This should not be much of a surprise to us as we are all part of nature. For our entire history until very recently we would have had a close connection with the natural world. It seems that when this is taken from us we suffer emotionally and physically.
In addition, according to Dr. Eva Selhub, a lecturer in medicine at Harvard Medical School, there are volatile compounds called phytoncides which are released from trees and these have been shown to reduce stress hormones and anxiety while improving blood pressure and immunity.
So when you are feeling emotionally overwhelmed, try taking a walk in a green space. You could also try to incorporate more nature time in your day, perhaps by sitting in a park at lunchtime or just spending some time in the garden each day.
Standing on the earth with bare feet is one of the most powerful grounding techniques I know. Simply stand on the earth or on a patch of grass with bare feet, close your eyes and imagine a beam of white light coming in through the top of your head. Now imagine that white light running down your spine and into your legs and then on into your feet. Next, imagine the white light coming out through the soles of your feet and into the ground like the roots of a tree. Repeat the phrase ‘Feeling safe and grounded now‘ three times as you imagine this grounding white light.
3. Exercise
In modern society, we spend a lot of time in our heads. We are always thinking, planning, worrying and ruminating. Getting out of our heads and into our bodies is a great grounding technique.
We don’t necessarily need to hit the gym or even break a sweat to achieve this. Doing a few minutes of yoga, dancing around to your favorite music or walking the dog will work perfectly, so choose whatever physical activity suits you.
Exercise works in many ways: it helps us release emotions, lifts our mood energizes and grounds us.
Exercise is also scientifically proven to reduce stress. Physical activity helps increase the production of your brain’s feel-good neurotransmitters, called endorphins. This is why exercise is often found to improve mood and even help us experience a sense of peace and bliss as in the ‘runner’s high’.
4. Energy Clearing
We often pick up a lot of negative energies over the course of a day. We then bring those energies home with us, where they can be passed on to those we live with. And of course, the people we live with bring their negative energies home with them, too. Basically, bad moods are contagious!
In order to get rid of all this negativity, you might like to cleanse your home as well as yourself. This can be done in a myriad of different ways, however, my favorites are burning herbs and using sound.
Burning herbs is a practice used in many traditions around the world. Native Americans often burn Sage in a practice known as smudging. But herbs have been used by most indigenous people from Celts to ancient Egyptians and also, of course, in the form of incense in the Christian tradition.
Smudging or burning herbs is very simple to do. You simply light a smudge stick or incense cone and then waft the sweet-smelling smoke around the areas you want to purify. You can also, of course, waft it around yourself.
To cleanse yourself of negative energy, using incense or a smudge stick, start at the feet and work up over the head, front, back and sides of the body, under the arms and feet.
To cleanse a room of negative energy, waft the smoke from the incense or smudge stick from the floor up to the ceiling and into all corners of the room.
As an alternative to using smoke, you can use sound. Simply ring a clear sounding bell, gong or singing bowl in the areas you want to cleanse.
5. Meditation
After a stressful day, many empaths and HSPs find their minds are very busy. We can often have a lot of repetitive thoughts going on about the things that have happened during the day. These thoughts can interfere with us relaxing and enjoying our leisure time.
Meditation is a good way to help reduce these negative thoughts. The aim of meditation is not to get rid of thoughts but to become more aware of them. When you take a step back and notice what you are thinking about, without following each though into a spiral of further thoughts, you will find that they automatically begin to lessen.
Just a few minutes focusing on the breath and noticing your thoughts can help to create a clearer mind.
If sitting still is not for you, then yoga can have a similar effect.
6. Essential oils
Using essential oils is one of the best grounding techniques. As I mentioned above, you can add them to a bath. Alternatively, you can add a few drops to a base oil such as almond or jojoba oil and massage into the skin. You can also use them in an oil burner or diffuser.
Different oils have different effects but some of the best aromatherapy oils for groundinginclude:
Vetiver
Sandalwood
Cedarwood
Frankincense
Myrrh
Patchouli
Black Spruce
Roman Chamomile
Cinnamon
Ylang Ylang
Rosewood
Closing thoughts
In our busy lives, it can be hard to make time for grounding techniques and other self-care measures. However, making time for these activities makes us calmer, more clear-headed and energised. We are able to focus on things better when we are not disturbed by negativity and fearful thoughts.
This means we actually become more relaxed, energised and productive. So taking time for grounding techniques can increase your productivity as well as improve your wellbeing.
Kirstie Pursey
Kirstie works as a writer, blogger and storyteller and lives in London with her family of people, dogs and cats. She is a lover of reading, writing, being in nature, fairy lights, candles, firesides and afternoon tea. Kirstie has trouble sitting still which is why she created www.notmeditating.com to share techniques and practices for tuning out the busy mind. She is also the author of Not Meditating: Finding Peace, Love and Happiness Without Sitting Still.