How to Ground Yourself
Profound change is waiting just beneath your feet.
Every naturally occurring event gives energy to the earth. Its surface acts as a conductor, constantly receiving and distributing energy to all its inhabitants. For most of humanity, humankind was one with this primordial connection. Walking barefoot across the land, our bodies were continually linked to this massive energy field. Now, thanks to the advent of asphalt and plastics, we have become increasingly separated from the earth and its many gifts. From tennis shoes to supermarkets, nearly every step we take is on a foundation that is not conducive.
What is Grounding?
The term grounded is often applied to stabilizing electricity, which is precisely why the new theory and movement are aptly named. The world is made up of electrical and magnetic fields or currents (electromagnetic), including our bodies. We are endlessly emitting vibrational signals out from our organs, while also receiving them from the objects around us. This notion is the driving force behind cable television pioneer Clint Ober’s theory, which applied the same techniques behind grounding electricity to the human body.
Though it may have started as an innocent query into the conducting and stabilizing powers of the earth, universities and scholars have adapted Ober’s research. One of the most advantageous qualities of the theory is its ability to be tested by nearly anyone. All one needs to do is step outside and touch the earth for several minutes a day and record the results. There are, however, other DIY experiments that offer more proof for the skeptics.
Research held by the University of Arizona examined the vitality of plants in relation to their connection to the earth. The earthing experiment pitted 2 sunflowers against each other, one grounded, and one ungrounded, to reveal the results of separating a living entity from its direct source. What became apparent immediately was the decline in the health of the ungrounded flower, which became “stressed”, versus the vibrant nature of its grounded neighbor.
Earthing for Healing
What does all this mean for humans? As bioelectric living beings, we too need to feel this grounded connection to the earth. Amongst one of the groundbreaking revelations provided by the University of Arizona was the discovery that electrical currents transmitted from the earth increase electrical charges, emitting electrons that neutralize disease and inflammation. Simply put, when our skin comes into contact with the ground, the molecules in our bodies receive an extra boost of vital energy.
“Emerging evidence shows that contact with the Earth—whether being outside barefoot or indoors connected to grounded conductive systems—may be a simple, natural, and yet profoundly effective environmental strategy against chronic stress, ANS dysfunction, inflammation, pain, poor sleep, disturbed HRV, hypercoagulable blood, and many common health disorders, including cardiovascular disease.” – Dr. Stephen Sinatra, Research from the Journal of Environmental and Public Health.
According to Dr. Sinatra and other experts in the field, that’s not all the earth’s energy has to offer. Not only can our bodies be healed by this vibratory connection, but the currents emitting from the earth can also counteract and deflect the effects of potentially harmful frequencies commonly known as electromagnetic frequencies (EMFs).
Deflecting Electromagnetic Frequencies
Like the molecules that move with the wind, EMFs are unseen to the naked eye yet our bodies are constantly communicating with them, as they emit from nearly anything that holds an electrical charge. While most electronics release a low level of energy, those dealing with autoimmune or chronic conditions may find themselves especially susceptible to EMFs.
Devices have been designed to provide energy readings to help maintain a healthy energetic field in your home. Orgone is also a great resource for reducing the effects of EMFs, as they convert all surrounding charges and into positive energy.
Often found in small pyramids, organite can be placed around the home or near sources of water and electricity, as well is in pendants to be worn around your neck. Another cost-effective option for deflecting electromagnetic frequencies: leave electronics out of the bedroom. This will ensure a period of at least 6-8 hours of sleep, uninterrupted by potentially harmful energies.
Hours of rest are perhaps the most opportune moments to take advantage of grounding. Along with leaving out cell phones and televisions, tools have been developed to connect you to the earth’s healing energies without leaving your home. Some hotels have also adopted this idea and have designed Grounded Rooms for overnight visitors to receive an extra recharge at night.
How to Ground
Perhaps the most intriguing, and most criticized, aspect of grounding is its simplicity. It proposes the idea that all you need, in order to be your most healthy, revitalized self, is to spend time connecting with nature.
The film Grounded and its follow up Heal for Free feature first-hand accounts of individuals who have used earthing techniques to heal. Those suffering from chronic pain, insomnia, and other conditions show improvements after practicing grounding, including the profound healing of a 30-year-old paraplegic.
The most straightforward way to participate in grounding is to simply make contact with the ground on either the dirt or concrete, which is also conductive. Making a habit of taking a walk to the nearest park on a Sunday, or taking your shoes off in your backyard each day after work, are practices that are easily adaptable for any lifestyle.
You’ll not only receive the benefits of grounding, but you’ll also allow yourself the time for fresh oxygen to fill your lungs and hopefully, a few moments enjoying nature, rather than focusing on your phones. Swimming in a large body of water is another way to consume mass amounts of positive earth energy, so if you are in need of serious healing, plan your next vacation near a beach or lake. Gardening is also a great opportunity to ground, not to mention eat organic garden vegetables!
Grounding Meditation
If you find yourself looking for a deeper connection to Mother Earth and her supportive power, a grounding meditation is simple and effective. Through the power of imagination in meditation you are able to project strong emotions and thoughts into the universe, sending messages through your heart’s own magnetic field, which acts as a communicator between your desires and the universe.
Find a comfortable seat on the earth. Close your eyes and breath deeply. Feel the supporting soil underneath. Imagine roots stemming out from the base of your spine and into the core of the earth. Reach as far down as you can imagine, fractal roots surrounded by and connected to Mother Earth. Spend a few breaths embodying this strong, supportive energy. This connection is always available to you. Return to your heart center and send your blessings of gratitude to mother earth out into the world.
Mantras are also a great tool to call upon when meditating, but also when in need of re-centering throughout the day. Words can be a powerful tool and hold their own vibration, so the thoughts and words you speak impact the energetic fields around you. Repeat the below phrases in your head or out loud and notice how your body responds.
I am grounded. My spirit is grounded deep in the earth. I am calm, strong, centered and peaceful. I am able to let go of fear and trust that I am eternally safe. I am worthy of all things beautiful. -Carly Marie
If you find yourself feeling unsure, weak, or vulnerable, engaging in your earth energy through grounding and meditation can alter your conscious and physical states out of stress and into harmony.
For the Love of Earth
“Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with miracles.” – Walt Whitman
Instinctively, we feel a profound gratification when encountering nature. Whether walking along the beach, touching the bark of a tree, or picnicking at the park, a deeper connection is ignited within us. We walk away taller, happier, and more grounded to ourselves and loved ones. We have been disconnected from these gifts for decades, but thanks to the work of Clint Ober, Dr. Sinatra, and others, science is proving the importance of engaging with this essential relationship.
Think of the earth as a giant recharging station. Anytime you touch the ground your body is provided the chance to be reenergized through this connection, and the relationship goes both ways. Earth needs our contact just as much as our bodies long to connect to it. As our cosmic mother, Earth is always there loving and supporting us, and although we may never call, she waits every day for her children to acknowledge her presence.
The next time the sun beckons you to come out and play, consider taking your shoes off and allowing the soles of your feet to connect to the earth’s energy.
There are no consequences to grounding, only the opportunity to benefit your overall health and well-being. Remember, the earth knows what you need to be healed, all you need to do is stop by and say hello.
About the Author
Shamanic Soul Retrieval: How to Recover Parts of Our Soul?
“Every book…has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens.” ~ Carlos Ruis Zafon
It has been said, “The best things in life are free.” We can all agree it’s nice to be surprised with a gift; but not just any gift. The gift that arrives in your life precisely when you are ready to receive it. The gift is clearly a message to you and for you.
In this case, the gift is Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self by Sandra Ingerman.
With graceful delivery of rarely discussed phenomena, Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self combines shamanism and psychology to explain the effects of trauma that cause parts of the soul to leave the body and the process by which the part(s) can be retrieved.
Follow along as renowned psychotherapist, shamanic teacher, and author Sandra Ingerman delves into soul loss and retrieval.
What is Soul Loss?
Sandra Ingerman’s Abstract on Shamanism states that “there are many common symptoms of soul loss. Some of the more common ones would be dissociation, where a person does not feel fully in his or her body and alive and fully engaged in life. Other symptoms include chronic depression, suicidal tendencies, post-traumatic stress syndrome, immune deficiency problems, and grief that just does not heal. Addictions are also a sign of soul loss.”
For those who have lost parts of themselves, knowingly or unknowingly, “tremendous amounts of psychic energy” are unconsciously spent looking for the lost parts.
What Causes Soul Loss?
According to Ingerman, “The basic premise is whenever we experience trauma, a part of our vital essence separates from us in order to survive the experience by escaping the full impact of the pain.”
This quiet occurrence, known as soul loss, takes the form of a perpetual feeling and experience of incompleteness and disconnection.
Ingerman says, “Anytime someone says, ‘I have never been the same’ since a certain traumatic event, and they don’t mean this in a good way, soul loss has probably occurred.”
Sandra Ingerman on Lost Soul Parts
Sandra Ingerman holds a master’s degree in counseling psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies. She is a licensed marriage and family therapist, professional mental health counselor, the author of more than ten books, and a board-certified expert on traumatic stress who was awarded the 2007 Peace Award from the Global Foundation for Integrative Medicine.
As a leading authority on soul loss and retrieval, Ingerman’s highly regarded career spans 35 years of conducting workshops and soul retrievals around the world.
For Ingerman, the leading practitioner of soul retrieval whose own spiritual journey to recapture her soul led her on various spiritual paths. The answer she found was in the ancient tradition of shamanism, which views soul loss as an important cause of illness and death.
The word shaman, originating from the Tungus Tribe of Siberia, means “one who sees in the dark.”
Soul Loss in Society
According to Ingerman, “A reflection of how much soul loss people are dealing with” is evident when “so many governments and businesses are valuing money over life.”
However, Western medicine has no framework for this kind of diagnosis because it only deals with imbalance when it appears on a physical and mental level.
Western medicine “treats chronic pain with pain medication, insomnia with sleeping pills, weight issues with diet and exercise, and most damagingly, may label soul loss as mental illness, and cover up the symptoms with psychiatric medications that may make things worse by slapping a Band-Aid on a wound that’s not healing underneath the bandage.”
This “covering up” can lead to the deep unhappiness that many have come to consider as “simply ordinary.” Eventually, this prolonged dissociation produces a nameless void that shows itself through “a loss of meaning, direction, vitality, mission, purpose, identity, and genuine connection.”
This spiritual void, which is always present and always trying to get your attention, operates as the incessant yearning of your soul wanting to incorporate all of its highest qualities, all of God’s essence, all of you.
Simply put, the soul is always trying to reconnect with that from which it came.
Ingerman imparts, “If you are truly in your body (your whole soul present), you cannot place money over life. Planetary soul loss causes so much of the behavior we are currently seeing, behavior that no longer honors the beauty and importance of life.”
Signs of Soul Loss
The following checklist can help identify symptoms of soul loss:
- You have a difficult time staying “present” in your body
- You feel numb, apathetic, or deadened
- You suffer from chronic depression
- You have problems with your immune system and have trouble resisting illness
- You were chronically ill as a child
- Memory gaps of your life after age five where you sense that you may have blacked out significant traumatic experiences
- Struggle with addictions, for example, to alcohol, drugs, food, sex or gambling
- Find yourself looking to external things to fill up an internal void or emptiness
- Have difficulty moving on with your life after a divorce or the death of a loved one
- You suffer from multiple personality syndrome
Having read this book with no prior knowledge of soul loss or retrieval, I found the concepts quite sobering.
Within situations of physical and emotional abuse, negation, and trauma, many experiences in life can be too difficult to bear. Soul loss is an understandable response to spiritual woundedness and deep fragmentation of one’s soul essence that would lead to an internal dissociation from natural balance.
What is Soul Retrieval?
During the soul retrieval process, the shaman moves into an altered state of consciousness to travel to realities outside of normal perception (non-ordinary reality), also known as hidden spirit worlds, to retrieve the lost part of the soul.
In some cases, there is reluctance of the soul to return, or the soul may not even know a separation has occurred. While in most cases, the soul does want to return. It is, however, important to note when the “soul returns, it comes back with all the pain it experienced when leaving.”
Once the lost soul is located, the shaman will “acknowledge the former pain and gently negotiate the soul’s return to the body.” The shaman then brings the soul back to normal reality and (literally) blows the missing soul part back into the body through the head or heart.
If a person is trained in shamanic journeying, they can ask their spirit guides to perform a soul retrieval on their behalf. Or anyone can ask for a healing dream where one sets the intention to request a soul retrieval to be performed during the dream state.
If these two processes do not create change or healing, then working with a trained shamanic practitioner is recommended.
Although Ingerman is very clear that you should not try to practice soul retrieval based solely on the reading of this book, in an exclusive interview, Ingerman and I discuss what can be done when someone suspects soul loss has occurred.
Shamanic Healing Practice Interview
BJB: What can someone do if they suspect soul loss has occurred but do not have immediate access for soul retrieval with a Shaman?
SI: If a person has soul loss, they can work with a shamanic practitioner long distance. Most shamanic practitioners perform long-distance healings these days.
I have been training Soul Retrieval practitioners since the late 1980’s. I have a website where I have an international list of shamanic practitioners who have sent me case studies. Of course, no shamanic practitioner can ever promise a cure, but I know their work, and I trust them.
BJB: Is there a healing exercise the person can do to begin to address and/or heal the root cause of the soul loss?
SI: Nature is our greatest healer. A person who feels they have lost their soul can walk or lie down on the ground and reflect on what is the root cause of their soul loss.
You can also do automatic writing. This includes listening to spiritual music while writing the following question on a piece of paper: “What is the root cause of my soul loss?”
You then close your eyes and allow your hand to write. This is a powerful way to let your soul and intuition give you the truth of the cause of your soul loss and other information that is important for you to know.
BJB: What has been the most surprising or unexpected part of your work as a Shaman?
SI: All of my Shamanic work is a surprise.
The helping spirits never give expected responses to the questions I ask them. This is true also when I perform the healing journey for a client. I am always given information I did not expect or would rationally think of on my own.
Also, in my 35 years of working with clients, I continue to be surprised by the miraculous effects of the work.
The Most Important Factor in Personal Healing
Soul retrieval is not a quick fix. Sandra Ingerman states, “If the person has done a lot of personal work, the soul retrieval might be the end of the work. If not, the soul retrieval would be the beginning of the work.”
No matter where you may find yourself, at the beginning or near the end of working through an issue, the most important factor in all healing work is you.
You have to be willing to do the work that is necessary to participate in your own healing. You will have to be willing to look at yourself with new eyes, from a new shamanic perspective, and as an embodiment of completion and wholeness while knowing that willingness is the impetus for great change, which always begins with the heart.
For more information on Sandra Ingerman’s work, log onto SandraIngerman.com.
You can also learn more by watching this interview on Gaia.com with Jill Kuykendall on soul retrieval.
