Grounding Meditation

"Keep your concentration here and now, where it belongs." ~Qui-Gon Jinn

This is the simplest of meditations. The word "grounding" is meant to establish that we are becoming connected to the "earth's energies". Earth, as an element, represents the calm, practical, pragmatic, responsible, and cautious aspects of our personality. When we use a grounding meditation, these are the qualities we are attempting to achieve. Unlike other meditation techniques, it is not meant to make you feel relaxed; it brings focus and releases unnecessary stress. This is a good meditation to use at work, when you are emotionally stressed out, before a meditation, or after you have been working with energy.

Anyone can write up their own grounding meditation. A good grounding meditation requires visualization to connect your entire body (full awareness of your body [spiritual and physical]) to where you meet the ground. Allow me to give you an example:

• Ensure that you are seated in such a way that you have direct contact with the ground. If you are in a chair, both feet must be laying flat on the ground and not crossed.
• Take a few breaths and cleanse your mind.
• Imagine that your body is that of a tree, your arms are branches, and your legs, upper body, and head make up the trunk.
• Bring your focus to a river. Imagine that the river is flowing through your body from the base of your feet. You can feel it traveling through every part of your body, including your heart and every vein, fueling you to grow stronger and taller.
• Now bring your attention to the roots taking hold into the ground. As they grow stronger and larger to draw up more of the river, your "tree" grows stronger and larger to meet the heavens above.
• As your tree continues to grow, you can see the universe and all of its mysteries. Satisfied, you return your focus to "home" (earth), tending to your own needs, feeling the combination of wind, earth, fire, and water working to keep your entire being in harmony with what is around you.

Some Ideas:

When you do a grounding meditation, you can familiarize yourself with what the meditation is and run one off memory. Or you could record your voice and put music to it to help maintain your focus. There are some grounding meditations on tape if you are uncomfortable with trying to write your own or memorize one.

Disclaimer: Grounding meditations get easier with time, so it might take a while to get used to grounding yourself. Eventually, it becomes much easier and quicker to perform. If you are unfamiliar with grounding meditations, you may want to refrain from using them in situations where you need to get something done swiftly (e.g., at your job) until you are more skilled.

As an exercise, I'd like all of you to come up with your own version of a grounding meditation and write it up. Try mixing elements of your own personality.

• Alethea Thompson (Light Master)