Luke

My son Luke loves being outside. When he gets up from a nap or we are coming home from being out he says, “Mommy I want to stay outside.” And as much as I can I say “Sure” and let him play. He’ll just putz around in the backyard, exploring, driving his trucks or digging (either snow or dirt depending on the weather). The other day he was out there for a long time filling up a bucket with snow and moving it, then filling it again, over and over.

Yesterday though when he asked to stay outside and I peeked out a few minutes later to check on him, he was lying in the dirt pile in our veggie garden, eyes closed and soaking up the sunshine. It was so cute, unfortunately I was too slow to get a picture! He looked so peaceful and content. He looked up when he heard me and I asked him if he was getting grounded; he said yes. I went back to what I was doing and then checked on him a bit later and he had gone back to lying on the ground once again.

I truly believe that he was getting grounded, lying there in the dirt (and a little bit of snow) reconnecting with the Earth. It is something that we all need to do on a daily basis. It helps keep us balanced and connected, peaceful. As children I think we naturally do this, we know what to do and when we need to do it. We also have no problems getting into the dirt or lying on the ground. We know we need to feel the warmth and comfort of Mother Earth’s embrace and root ourselves; but as adults we get busy, we tend to forget and we spend much less time outside. We lose that connection that is vital to our energy – then we feel unbalanced and unfocused and begin to wonder why!

For kids it comes I think they just get grounded naturally and do it easily because they are still so close to source and are ‘freer’ without the responsibilities of cooking, cleaning working and running a household. But as adults it is even more important for us to ensure that we are grounded and to teach our kids how to stay grounded as they grow up. The best way to ground yourself is to go outside, even if only for a few minutes, but sometimes we may not be able to do that right away. So what do you do when this may not be possible?

Here are some quick and easy tricks to getting and staying grounded even when you can’t get outside.

1. Drink lots of water -staying hydrated keeps us in the flow and maintains our connection to the Earth
2. Carry a grounding crystal – black tourmaline, smoky quartz, obsidian, hematite
   

   Smoky Quartz

3. Spend a few minutes imagining your favorite place outside – close your eyes and visualize the ocean, waterfall, meadow full of flowers, whatever you like, just pick a place outside
4. Wear red- red is the color of your first chakra, or root chakra and is related to grounding or rooting you to the Earth
5. Take off your shoes – even if inside your bare feet touching the ground will ground you
6. Get a plant, fish or something live for your office or home – bringing in live energy inside where you are working/ living will not only brighten the environment but the routines of caring for these things will ground you
7. Eat root vegetables – vegetables that grow below the ground such as carrots, potatoes, turnips
8. Organize a desk, drawer, etc.
9. Go to bed early
10. Nuture yourself – go for a massage, take a warm bath

1. Go for a short brisk walk at lunch
2. Put your hands in the dirt
3. Garden (you can also do this inside with a potted plant or start seeds)
4. Lie down on the ground for a few minutes
5. Roll down the hill (remember when you were a kid and you rolled down a grassy hill how much fun that was? I was always laughing and giggling by the time I got to the bottom)