Safety needs grounding
Safety needs grounding
Any major change will initially lead to uncertainty. When we ground ourselves, we can feel safe, secure and secure. What is simple, however, also leads to resistance in our rational culture.
Most people today are confronted with many changes: changes in the work situation, the beginning of a new phase of life, illnesses. We may wish for life to be static in troubled times, but that is not possible. Life is not like a picture hanging on the wall, but rather like a movie trail with constantly changing frames. In our body, processes are constantly going on without us even noticing.
Change will only become an issue for us if we can not continue as before. Whether it be the fact that we are confronted with the fact, as in the case of a sudden termination or illness. Be it that we ourselves make the decision, such as: "I want to live differently. From now on, I'll look at what's really important ».
Collectively, we are also facing major changes as the systems we have created are reaching their limits. We are moving in structures and patterns that no longer really work, let's just think about climate change and its emerging consequences.
In situations where the familiar breaks away, it easily pulls the ground under our feet. Where do we gain security in times of change?
I myself have experienced a major phase of change in the age of 36 and over. And I noticed that there is something central that gives me security. Something I had neglected for a long time: to ground me. As a kid, I knew it intuitively, but sometime in the course of school and youth I have lost it.
Gradually, I learned to literally feel the ground under my feet. I tried different methods: Taiji, Feldenkrais, meditation in connection with body perception. I developed an individual, daily practice.
Today, I consider grounding as the most fundamental thing ever to find myself and to implement what is really important to me.
However, I also had to overcome resistance in the form of inner and outer voices, claiming that this is irrational, esoteric and ridiculous. I have already written an article on life-without-limit on this subject, in which I describe experiences in more detail: Embodiment - where is the body?
Everything corporeal is somehow suspect in a culture that puts the logical-rational in the foreground, if not even absolute. Or for a spiritual practice that unilaterally emphasizes the spiritual.
Grounding means feeling a relationship to the earth again.
Grounding means feeling a relationship with Earth again: the ground we stand on and the planet we live on. I experience a physical sense of connectedness, it is no longer just a concept of "everything is connected" in my head. The earth has become something for me as a dead boulder. I perceive her as alive.
Practical exercises to ground yourself
There are many expressions in our language that show us how important grounding is: bringing ideas to the ground; to stand up for something; can withstand a difficult situation.
But what are some of the practical possibilities in everyday life to ground yourself? Here are a few examples from my personal experience and working with people in individual coaching and workshops:
Stand with both legs on the ground and feel the connection of your feet to the ground on which you are standing, quite consciously. You can do that anywhere, waiting times in the supermarket or at the bus station are excellently suited.
You can extend this exercise by imagining roots growing out of your legs and spreading down into the earth. If you can, lie down on the floor every now and then. Let your weight into it. Feel you as you are carried by the ground without falling.
Soon the warmer season comes: Treat your feet to go barefoot, preferably outdoors, and feel what it feels like. When you sit, you can feel your buttocks on the chair area, which is good for anyone who has a lot of work to do, especially in front of the computer.
A favorite of mine: Bake bread while kneading the dough yourself. Stay away from the bread maker that might be in the kitchen. Planting something in the soil: not everyone has their own garden, a balcony box on the windowsill is possible, or the creation of a community garden.
Go out into nature and take a walk.
At home, play music that suits you and dance. Let yourself be guided by your body.
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