This article is based on our podcast episode, Make Magic: Grounding to Heal Yourself. Listen to the full episode here.
Takeaway: Grounding isn't just about feeling present - it's essential for emotional freedom and deeper spiritual development. This guide explores:
Why grounding matters in today's world
Simple techniques for energy release
The connection between grounding and the root chakra
How strong roots support spiritual growth
The Popularization of Energy & Spirituality
Sometimes I worry about where the world is going. I walk around Target and think, Why do we need so much stuff? It worries me, this gargantuan hunger to buy things that supposedly make us happier.
As I pondered this predicament last week, I marched across the school supplies aisle and scanned the shelves apprehensively. My eyes landed on a flashy, happy-looking coloring book: "Learn About Your Chakras" stood out in bold against the shiny, rainbow cover. It was tilted upward against the wall like it was meant to be read by everyone passing by. In a sea of unnecessary things, I found myself filled with gratitude.
Chakras, and other "wooy" spiritual concepts, are becoming mainstream and ordinary. As more and more people are becoming curious and learning how to take care of their energy bodies better, corporate America is catching on and trying to make a profit off it. In our increasingly complex world, spiritual awareness and energy healing are becoming mainstream - appearing everywhere from yoga studios to retail stores. While commercialization has its drawbacks, this accessibility means more people can learn to care for their energy bodies.
Amid this big shift in consciousness and awareness - how do we stay stable and centered in our ever-changing world and embrace our bigger spiritual essence for higher healing and contentment? Enter: Grounding!
What Is Grounding?
Grounding has become a buzzword for good reason. In our technology-driven society, it's easy to become disconnected from ourselves. Your energy state manifests in clear ways:
When you're grounded, you feel:
Present and aware
Safe in your body
Connected to the earth
Emotionally balanced
Conversely, being ungrounded might leave you feeling unmotivated or apathetic, unable to access your emotions. Somatically, you might feel flighty or anxious, like a balloon floating up into the sky with no anchor.
To combat feeling ungrounded, there are two types of grounding practices I turn to for support: Putting your bare skin onto the earth, which some people call “earthing," and energy healing practices. In this article, I'm going to be focusing on energy healing through the root chakra, but if you want to learn more about earthing, click here.
The Simplicity of Energy Release
Contrary to popular belief, grounding and releasing energy doesn't require complicated techniques. It needs just two elements: your imagination and your breath. The key insight? You must do less, not more. When you allow energy to move like a river - without control or constriction - your body naturally releases what it doesn't need.
Grounding and releasing energy is much easier than most people think. Growing up, I was taught to work hard at everything, so when I was learning how to ground, I didn't understand that you must allow your mind to be at rest. The more you allow energy inside of you to move like a river, without control or constriction, the more you allow your body to release.
By connecting with your breath, you can access more of your conscious awareness in your present time experience. When we live in the present moment, we are less likely to get stuck in emotions or thoughts that aren't happening anymore. Your breath is an internal river inside you, cleaning and nourishing your blood and muscles, allowing your organs to function without constriction or strain.
When you close your eyes and connect to this river, allowing tension and unhelpful energy to flow down through your body, you begin to sense this current within you, and you can release it into your root chakra, located at the base of the spine within the pelvic bowl. Imagining the lower part of your body like the root system of a tree, you then allow the earth to pull that energy deep into the ground.
When to Ground Yourself
Grounding is incredibly important to cleanse and refresh your physical and energetic space. Whether it's a difficult conversation, a tricky traffic incident, or a way you're feeling about yourself, when you learn how to ground yourself and see it as a resource, you begin to identify energy as helpful or unhelpful. When energy is unhelpful, you use your breath and set the intention to release energy that isn't in your highest alignment (aka stress, judgment, anxiety, anger... the list is endless).
We're constantly exchanging energy through our daily interactions. This includes:
Digital communications (emails, texts, social media)
In-person conversations and relationships
Environmental influences and media consumption
Emotional exchanges with family and pets
A common question I often get from clients is, "How do I know what energy is mine?" And my typical response is, "How do you want to feel? If you can identify how you want to feel, then let the rest go. Who cares if it's yours or someone else's? All you need to know is that it's not helpful for how you want to feel in the present time."
Why do we want to ground and let other people's energy go? Because holding on to other people's energy doesn't allow us to feel aligned in our true energy. It can be difficult to feel clear, confident, and calm in ourselves if we are holding someone else's energy. It's heavy. The more you practice grounding work, the easier it becomes to differentiate between your energy and someone else's. If you're new to grounding practices and just learning how to release energy, you can begin by doing this:
Close your eyes, scan your body slowly from your head to your toes, and notice which parts feel heavy, tense, foggy or even painful
Breathe deeply into these spaces, almost like you can gently press down into them or wrap a blanket around them with your breath
Notice if fear, doubt, anxiety, or other emotions arise
Breathe into your heart center and imagine warmth and space opening within it
Let the heavy energy and difficult emotions run down the central channel of the body (almost like a slide) into your root chakra and then down into the ground
If any energy feels stuck, don't push or try to control it - imagine hugging it and letting it know it can release when it's ready
When all the non-resistant energies have moved through, fill yourself in with golden light and take three deep breaths to integrate the energy before opening your eyes
Why Grounding Matters for Spiritual Growth
When I am helping clients achieve their spiritual goals, we always start with root medicine practices (aka what I call grounding) before opening to bigger spiritual work. Why is this? Because without solid, healthy roots, you cannot stabilize the work. If you do not have a system to let go of difficult emotions and old thinking loops, you will feel overwhelmed and unstable.
Think of your spiritual development like a tree. The root chakra is your foundation, and without strong roots, branches (higher spiritual work) can't grow safely. Higher spiritual work typically brings up:
Deep-seated doubts and uncertainties
Spiritual growing pains
Natural fears about expansion
Temporary states of anxiety
Without solid grounding practices to release these emotions, the spiritual journey can feel overwhelming and unstable. You must be rooted into the body to be able to sustain spiritual growth.
The Balance of Growth
Spiritual work requires both upward expansion and downward anchoring. If you're pursuing spiritual growth but struggling with daily practices like balanced meals, regular sleep, and basic self-care, consider strengthening your foundation first. This combination creates sustainable spiritual development that you can maintain in everyday life.
Want to build a strong energetic foundation? Start with these grounding practices and notice how they support your broader spiritual journey. For more help and to put together an energy healing grounding practice specifically attuned to you and your journey, reach out for a free spiritual coaching consultation here.
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