Grounding Yourself

Imagine: you find yourself in an open area where nature wraps its arms around you. With every breath you sink deeper into the ground, finding peace.

Grounding is a meditative exercise where you reconnect with the Earth. All you need to do to successfully ground is stand outside on dirt, grass, or anything that connects you straight to the planet. It’s pretty straightforward; the word “grounding” describes it all. This meditation strategy is supposed to make a person feel more aware of their surroundings and self. It’s also supposed to help you find bodily balance. 

Whether or not you or someone you know is affected by mental illness, grounding is a great strategy to put your mind at ease.

A couple weeks ago, one of my roommates came into my room talking gibberish. I had no idea what grounding was and why she was so fascinated by it, but she went on and on about the benefits and how it can help mental and physical pain. A little skeptical, but intrigued, I agreed to venture out of my comfort zone and try it with her. We also convinced our other roommate to join.

We all have our own personal struggles so we figured that anything that might help is worth trying. 

At around 8:30 at night we made our way to the town green. When we first got to the area where we felt most comfortable sitting down, I started feeling extremely anxious. I was caught up in the thoughts of people looking at us and thinking we were crazy, but who am I kidding? I’m surprised we haven’t scared our other friends off with our day to day actions. 

I chose a spot a couple feet away from a big tree so I could still see the stars that hung above us. I laid down on my back and took several deep breaths, closing my eyes for several minutes and erasing all the irrational fears I had planted in my head. Once I was ready, I opened my eyes and gazed at the stars. 

It’s weird to actually sit back and look at our view from space. If you look long enough, the stars start to blink back at you. 

I don’t know if my mind was playing tricks on me but my body started to feel lighter. I didn’t have a headache, but there was a comfortable pressure around my head and I felt odd. I closed my eyes again to try and refocus but started laughing. 

Next thing I knew, we were all laughing at each other. To make it even more awkward we were all about 15 feet away from one another. After that, it was as if we all took three doses of every hallucinogen on Earth and had an immense amount of motivation. I haven’t had that amount of energy since I was 12 years old. 

That night, we stayed up until one in the morning. It doesn’t seem late but it felt like forever. 

Afterwards, my night didn’t seem too different from my normal routine. I still tossed and turned, had my normal anxious thoughts right before falling asleep and woke up at my usual time, exhausted. I did feel a little more open-minded and peaceful the next day though, so that’s a plus. 

Lexi, my roommate who suggested grounding in the first place, said she had the best night of sleep. I think it’s because we drained all of our energy from the night before, but I won’t tell her that. She said she felt more like herself and that she woke up in a great mood. 

To get the full experience of grounding, I want to go by myself and see how my actions afterwards are affected. I was skeptical going into it, so that might have been a reason I didn’t have the same results as my roommate. I think this style of meditation works, but affects all people in different ways.