When you do energy work or perform meditation, you can become 'ungrounded' afterwards. This can be described as a sensation of dislocation. You may feel light-headed or like you are floating above yourself. Your energies are disconnected from your environment. Performing a grounding exercise can help reconnect you to the present.
A Spiritual Anchor
If you practise any type of healing work, from aromatherapy and massage to meditation and crystal therapy, it is a good idea to carry out a grounding exercise beforehand. Healing is all about balance and connection, and crystals can be used to achieve this sense of equilibrium within yourself before performing an intense therapeutic session. Crystals are also good for anchoring yourself to the physical after you have been scrying.
Good Grounding Stones
Certain crystals are particularly good for helping with grounding and, unsurprisingly, these also have earthy qualities. Stone with a lot of iron in them, for example, tend to work well, such as hematite, magnetite, pyrite and ox eye (the name given to a dark form of tiger's eye).
Anchoring Gems
The two forms of jade, jadeite and nephrite, can anchor you to your environment, helping to diminish that 'head in the clouds' feeling after a deep relaxation at the end of a yoga class. Earthy stones such as onyx and marble are not only good for grounding but also have the added benefit of being available cheaply in larger pieces. It is also worth noticing that pieces of unpolished stones work just as well as finely cut and polished crystals for grounding, as it is the essence of the stone that matters.
Grounding Techniques
Practise grounding with these simple exercises, which can be performed indoors or outside in your garden, to reinforce your sense of equilibrium.
How to Root Yourself
A good way to begin practising grounding is to sit in a comfortable chair, with your back upright and your legs pressed together, bent at right angles at the knees. Cup your hands in your lap, while holding a crystal in them.
Touch the Earth
For best effect, you should have bare feet when you do this exercise, so that you can feel the floor, or earth if you are outside.
To enhance this technique even further, you could also position grounding crystals under your feet to focus the energies between you and the earth. Quartz, or earthy stones such as onyx and marble, would be the nest stones to use in this position.
Alternatives
There are other methods of grounding as well as those that use crystals.
- Stamp your feet firmly on the ground to connect with the earth.
- Do some gardening, or simply lie on the grass or lean against a solid tree to feel the earth's solidity.
- The physical act of eating is so grounding. Food that are heavy in carbohydrates are best, such as bread, rice and pasta, rather than sugary foods or caffeinated drinks.
Hexagram Layout
Crystal layouts can have the effect of grounding a well as healing. You will need six grounding crystals for this layout. They can be all the same type of crystal or different types, but it's preferable to have even numbers of each type that you choose to use.
Make a space to sit cross-legged on the floor and clear your mind for visualisation.
Place the crystals in a hexagram around you. Make sure there is one stone in front of you and one behind. Position each foot between the two stones on the furthest left and right of the hexagram.
Visualise a golden hexagram formed between the crystals with you in the centre, and feel the energies anchored as you do so.
Nine Crystal Layout
You will need nine grounding crystals for this layout, which is used to ground another person, or you can ask a friend to carry this out for you is you are in need of grounding. Ask the person to lie relaxed on their back on the the floor, arms next to their sides. You could also play some gentle music to help produce an atmosphere of peace and harmony in the room.
Place the first crystal 5cm above the head and the next two crystals about 5cm out from the shoulders.
Now two crystals should be placed at a similar distance from the hands, the next two likewise from the knees.
The last two stones should be positioned about 5cm down from each foot.
Visualise a golden egg around the person for about five minutes, then gently ask them to 'wake up'.