What’s all this “being grounded” hoohaa?
I heard a speech not long ago from a local businessman who described how he felt about Newcastle as a newcomer some years ago.
He said he had come here to work and didn’t feel a real connection to this place until he was sitting at Nobby’s Lighthouse in the predawn chatting with a person he had met, and they shared a moment watching the sun come up. He said he felt totally grounded in that moment and knew then he would make Newcastle his new home.
This moved me ….. and got me thinking about the things that ground me and what being grounded really means.
I feel grounded when I am working with a team that works well together. I feel grounded when I feel like part of something bigger than myself.
I feel grounded when I am around people I love and who love me. I feel grounded when I can take some time just for myself, mostly in nature.
For me, feeling grounded means having a sense of stability, calm, and connection to myself and my surroundings in the moment. I feel strong and confident, and all of my senses are in tune and turned on. The world seems brighter, the birds are singing louder, and nothing seems to faze me. Daily challenges come along, and I can relate, take stock, and diffuse the moment rather than have my buttons pushed and shoot from the hip without thinking it through.
What if you are not a “feeling” person?
The dictionary defines “grounded” as mentally and emotionally stable: admirably sensible, realistic, and unpretentious.
We all have moments when feel like our feet are not actually touching the ground. Running around after the children, meeting time frames at work, thinking about the ultra-long “to-do list” we have in all areas of our lives. Our minds are running on overdrive and overwhelmed, and tension and stress levels are peaking. We can feel like heads on sticks.
At those times, it can be difficult to be grounded, as the dictionary describes. It is also at that time when we can become less productive, start to miss important things, pay less attention to the details, and drop the ball.
How do you stay grounded during the day?
To stay internally connected and grounded I regularly and consciously connect to my own breath. Over time I have formed an intimate understanding of my breathing and use conscious connected breathing to delve deeper into the understanding of myself.
This helps me to stay grounded minute to minute, hour to hour and day to day. It frees up my energy from concentrating on all of the negative and niggly things that can come from within and can come externally to bring about chaos and tension in my day.
You may get this same feeling when you do yoga, meditate, go for a walk, or even do a jigsaw puzzle. It doesn’t matter. Finding the ways to help you to be more grounded is different for everyone.
How does being grounded benefit you?
It means that you can feel and appreciate everything around you and connect with your favourite external places, people, and experiences, which also help you feel grounded. It means you can perform better in the teams that you are in, be closer to your loved ones in relationships, and feel happier in yourself. It means you can tap into your own internal power and work with others who are grounded and in their own power to achieve more.
The trick is finding ways to help you stay grounded.
Like the view of Mount Sugarloaf, which I often glimpse from just about anywhere in Newcastle. When I see the clear definition of the mountains against the sky and the twin telephone towers, I know that I am home, in the town where I live. It is also at that moment that I become grounded in place, and I also return to myself. I know what that businessman was talking about when he said felt grounded in the moment.
Where and when do you feel grounded?
Take a moment now to relate to this:
- Where do you most feel “at home”?
- What are you doing when you most feel like you are being yourself?
- Who are you with?
- How would you describe that feeling of being grounded?
- When do you feel like part of a team?
Breathe in: the answers to 1-4, and Breathe out: everything unlike that
This is my passion. To help others like you be grounded in life. To connect YOU with YOU again. To support you in finding the places in your heart where you feel grounded, stable, and calm.
Your breath is the gift you all have. Learning how to use it to cleanse your deeper Self and return to being grounded internally and externally is powerful, practical and profound.
