GETTING GROUNDED- “Earthing”- it’s a real practice :)
I was in Barnes and Noble, introducing my son to a “real bookstore” and went to look at the self-development sections. (Which has shrunk immensely since I have been there last, two or so years ago.) I picked up a couple of Dr. Christiane Northrup books (my copies got lost in moves and check out to clients) and saw the book titled “Earthing- The most important health discovery ever!” by Clinton Ober. The foreword was written by one of my favorite authors and researchers, James Oschman. He is the author of “Energy Medicine” an amazing explanation of science in the airy fairy work that has been showing up in my clinic for the last 19 years. I had the pleasure of meeting and hearing him speak about 10 years ago. He dropped me back on the planet making me realize that my work was indeed science, that I wasn’t crazy, and I needed to continue exploring. So with Dr Oschman as the writer of the foreword, I was intrigued and picked up this book.
I flipped through it and noticed that it was talking about getting on the earth and the true-to-word science of why we are so sick in our society. How in our country, we don’t connect to the magnetism of this Earth. And how we need to get back to the dirt, as well as shining the light on real cases of those who did and how it healed them and/or reversed their conditions.
I giggled at purchasing this book. One, I don’t “read” very often. I refer and reference to many books and manuals, and lend them and refer people to them- so it takes me a lot to purchase a book to be in my library. And two, was there really a whole book building a case that connecting to the ground was actually a good thing- and had health benefits ?? We really had to prove this? Evidently, yes.
But I knew I wanted what was in this book- to use and reference. To reinforce and go deeper in the work that I had been doing in grounding. Like all books that landed in my lap, its was timely with what I had personally been going through and the work that I am now developing.
Personally, in recent months, I have (re)connected with the Earth. I started seeing animals in my thoughts and dreams. Through my personal bodywork sessions, they symbolized comfort, my next steps, insight, and guidance. I had become disenchanted with humans temporarily, and nature and the animal kingdom guaranteed no hidden agenda. Professionally, animal totems starting showing up with clients in my practice again pretty heavily. It seemed every client had a nature being that symbolized something significant for their healing and growth. They carried them with them- and some even reminded me that they have had these same energies throughout their lifetime and/or the spiritual work that they have done with me or others.
A couple of years ago, when Standing Rock happened and though I had always been connected to the land, the natives, and how removed we had made them and ourselves- I watched this movement awaken and ignite some deep passion and awareness on not just how we have treated our people, but our land. It wasn’t just the newest popular and the cool thing to do, people seemed to get moved at their core. I also watched the spiritual connection that I have witnessed in my own life show up in several ways through the animals at Standing Rock while others were watching. Through videos and stories- of a herd of buffalo showing up in their not-so-normal place, in between the protectors and law enforcement. Eagles landing next to circles of men coming together in prayer and talking. This was no longer folklore and myth, this was truth and advanced science of how synchronicity shows up in nature. It demonstrated how disconnected America truly has been, and how the animal kingdom, the nature, and the land is always in synchrony- and how once your intention is healing, you crave to get back to this synchronicity.
Animals seemed to be the catalyst of my reconnection- that which channeled the Divine and had no agenda but synchronicity and Universal Laws. A spiritual teacher of mine brought forward the concept that resonated with me- that humans are the only species that doesn’t live in harmony with the Earth. I couldn’t decide if that is because of a conscious and subconscious mind, the theory that we are aliens and aren't really from this Earth, or because we are simply just assholes. :)
Along with intuiting and googling (my two favorite forms of research), I went back to my basic book of meanings for animals, Animal Speak, by Ted Andrews, for those things showing up in my clients’ and my lives. They were spot on, as always, and it got me to a deeper layer of feeling safe enough to be on this planet at this time.
Like many that I have witnessed, I have a double bind of wanting to be in synch with the Earth. Though I “know” it is a good thing, healing, unifying, perfection- I also growing up with not fully wanting to be here. It was as if I didn’t belong on this planet and I really didn’t understand people and their blockages. That, coupled with being completely “allergic” to life- made for not a hugely hospitable environment. Due to lots of antibiotics, standard American diet, being a sensitive child, stress from my mama being mentally ill, and well…life- I suffered from horrific allergies growing up. Like so many people, we formed them along the way and I was told I had to suffer with them for the rest of my life. In college, I started eating more healthier, and then after getting pregnant with my daughter and getting pulled into natural healing, I reversed all those allergies- along with all the compromised immune system and sicknesses that I constantly suffered. So, though I wanted to get back into the world, I still had deep resistance that I couldn’t put my finger on.
I didn’t like weather, heat or the elements. I didn’t like change, adapting, or mental fatigue of being outside in an environment I couldn’t control. I had always been a bona-fide pitta, red headed girl, and I didn’t understand relaxation, yin or self-care. I was a mover and a shaker(and/or always running away and towards things) so hadn't really “healed” not being synchronized with the planet and not wanting to be here.
Living in my head and being more connected with the ethers, I have worked very, very hard to become “grounded.” To be “here” and able to create a life, stability and consistency. (Still a work in progress, of course.) Through my professional work, I have attracted many clients who are the same. So many are creative, brilliant, empathetic, compassionate- but suffer from ailments of living in the upper chakras and body instead of the lower body. Being “rooted,” being “grounded,” being “centered” are all daily verbiage that I have used with clients in the last 19 years. Not because I studied it or read it in a book, but because it was simply necessary for their healing and because….well, it worked. And that’s all I ever really cared about.
So I have served in people’s cases, helping them find their feet, through several types of modalities, bodywork, releasing trauma, letting go of fear, yoga, breathing, etc- and have seen all types of conditions lessen: anxiety being the number one, as well as headaches, stomach issues, chronic pain, immune disorders, depression, etc.
I have noticed that without being on the ground, and as a result, not being fully in your body, a person cannot fully heal. We can’t feel safe enough to go into a parasympathetic, or relaxed, state that is necessary for healing and optimal health. Of course, we need spiritual energy from above, but without the steadiness of the ground and the earth, it has no where from which to root and grow. Grounding, along with breathing, and water- all the essences of life, are all basics of any health and healing regimen. Though the ego likes to skip these steps, if we get back to these basics, it is absolutely true that we become synchronized to nature and the energies of the world that can truly heal us.
So, I have felt the urge to get on the ground and have “got in session” and encouraged many others to do the same. To lay in the dirt, to be in the wild, in the air and sun, with the animals- where rules actually do apply an can’t be bent. That the perfect laws are that of the land and nature- raw, wild, primal, while still being sensitive, sweet, and gentle. I love the balance. I love the container. I love the unification that doesn’t lie. And so I am called. And call you to join me.
During these times of great national and international distress- a time of uncertainty and illusions, we must get back to what is real and true- what works in perfect harmony- what never lies. What can’t let us down. What is strong, truly, to it’s core. The Earth.
Time for us to get fully grounded, in the midst of the chaos- and the busyness of everyday life. I will be sharing more about this in future writings. For now, it’s time for me to ground out and rest. Sending love…and remember, Balance Matters. You got this shit. <3