Purpose/Effects

Modern life is so complex and busy that it is common for people to feel overly mental, caught up in too much thinking, "revved up," worried, spacey, or even "disembodied." Under such conditions, the world begins to seem flat, two dimensional, lifeless, adversarial, and painful.

Luckily there is a quick cure for this feeling, which is to get "grounded." Grounding means to bring awareness back into the body, back into the senses, and back into the present. These three things -- the body, the senses, and the present -- are the keys to reigniting creativity, passion, love, connection, peace, and wellbeing.

Grounding is also very easy to do.

Method
Sit still and connect with your body and your senses.

Long Version

1. Find a comfortable sitting posture. Your back should be straight and your body relaxed.
2. Close your eyes, and take ten slow, deep, full breaths. With each exhale, imagine that you are breathing out all your worries and cares.
3. Continuing to breathe deeply, concentrate on feeling your feet. Simply see if you can feel the sensations in the bottoms of your feet. Do this before moving on to the next step.
4. Now see if you can feel the sensations in your hands. Can you feel your palms tingling? Do this before moving on to the next step.
5. Keep breathing deeply. Continue to feel the sensations in your hands and feet. Do this for ten slow breaths.
6. Now see if you can feel the sensations in your whole body. Let your awareness cover your entire body at once. Feel yourself breathing. Feel your butt on the floor (or chair). Do this for ten more breaths.
7. Continue you this for as long as you like, or at least 5 minutes.

HistoryThis grounding exercise is a combination of many similar exercises. It is a quick, basic mindfulness practice that will get you in touch with your sensory experience the present moment.