10/11/11—Grounding Yourself

Today's Draw: One of Earth (Ace of Pentacles) from Today's Journey Tarot. Is it hard for you to concentrate? Do you find yourself worrying excessively about things? Do you have trouble staying in the "now"?

The Ace of Pentacles usually indicates a new phase of growth or abundance. But it can also indicate a need for grounding. Since we've never talked about grounding before, that's what we're going to deal with today. And if you can answer yes to any of the questions above, then you could benefit from some grounding.

It still surprises me that people always tell me I'm grounded. When I first started hearing this from people, I didn't really know what they meant. Try finding a good definition for "grounded". It's not so easy. But I finally came to realize that it means having your feet planted in reality, in the now and in the body. As a career daydreamer, I was surprised people thought that about me. I've never felt I was any more grounded than anyone else and I assumed the mere fact I believed in and practiced psychic arts meant I *wasn't* grounded. At least that's what mainstream peeps would have us think. 

Finally I realized that what people were saying about me was that, as much as I pursue floofy things, I'm very realistic, practical and straightforward about them and life in general. I manage my life well. There are a lot of people in my "community" that don't live here on earth. They don't combine their sixth sense with common sense, and they don't temper their spiritual theory with reality. In that sense, I agree. I'm grounded. 

But still, I have my moments. From time to time, I'll be in the car and all of a sudden realize that I don't remember the last five miles because I was somewhere else in my mind. I'll daydream or lose touch with the now while doing things around the house. I'll become distracted by something that happened in the past that I can't let go of. And, on a daily basis, when I'm writing, I'll get lost in hyper focus and hours will go past, then I'll "wake up" and see pages and pages of writing. In that sense, I feel like I'm channeling when I write and I'm *not* here. 

On the flip side, though, I'm terribly meticulous about reality-based things such as paying bills, conducting business, scheduling things, managing deadlines and meeting my earthly responsibilities. I also maintain an open mind and healthy skepticism about my beliefs. While there are people who might call my beliefs "flaky", no one who actually knows anything about me would ever call *me* a flake.

So being grounded is about being firmly planted reality and connected to life here on earth. And I feel blessed to have a balance with that and my more airy concerns.

Everyone speaks of grounding like it's some holy grail to protect and serve, but I disagree. I believe it's a valuable thing to be. But instead of having your feet firmly planted in the earth, I believe in keeping enough friction with the earth to stay grounded, while staying loose enough and nimble enough to flow in rhythm with life and the universe. You block out so much of life's magic by being compulsively attached to the earth at all times. I know a couple of people like that...people connected to the earth not only by roots growing out of their feet, but also by a stick coming out of their butts. ;)

All that said, there's a good exercise you can do if you ever feel yourself distracted or floating too high in the ether. Inhale, imagining the air coming in through the top of your head and flowing down to about hip level. Then exhale, imagining the breath then pushing down through your legs and down, down into the earth. Repeat a few times until you feel more "grounded". For extra grounding, picture roots growing from the bottoms of your feet into the earth and then repeat the exercise above. This can help occasional episodes, but can also be a valuable meditation for those with ADD and other overcrowding issues in the mind.