Get Grounded for the New Year

The turning of the calendar to a new year is the perfect occasion to press pause, take time to reflect on the previous year, and consider if there are ways to bring more peace, joy, and satisfaction into our lives. If we are feeling perennially affected by the stress, worry, and divisiveness of these trying times, learning how to get grounded is a powerful skill that can help to transform our lives.

“To feel resilient and at peace, we need to be able to cultivate an inner environment of calm and safety no matter what’s happening around us,” says Wendy De Rosa, founder of the School of Intuitive Studies and author of Becoming an Empowered Empath: How to Clear Energy, Set Boundaries & Embody Your Intuition.

Grounding Is About Connecting

“We live in a chaotic world that is chronically ungrounded,” she notes. “Even outside of an urban setting, only a small percentage of people grow their own food or live in direct connection with the natural world. Considering this lack of connection with the rhythms and cycles of nature that have guided humans since the beginning of time, it’s not surprising that so many of us are living up high in our heads, disconnected from the power that resides in our lower chakras.” Over time, this unbalanced state undermines our optimum health and wellness.

[Read: “Leaning Into the Back Side of Your Chakras.”]

De Rosa explains that grounding means connecting our body’s energy with the energy of the earth. “The earth’s energy is slow, so tuning into its rhythm quiets our spinning minds, calms our anxieties, and helps us feel safe, centered, and restored. In this state, we can decipher our hearts’ truest desires and know what we want to manifest in our lives.”

There are many simple ways to get grounded. According to De Rosa, we ground when we sleep, and when we simply take some deep breaths and slow down. “We can get grounded by eating our meals consciously, without looking at a screen or having too much conversation. When we walk barefoot on the earth, rest outside on soft grass, or cuddle with a pet, we are grounding.”

Visualize a Grounding Cord

While grounding can be spontaneous, De Rosa says there are many benefits to establishing a regular, dedicated grounding practice. “It’s like exercising a muscle. The more we do it, the more our body has muscle memory and can come back to this state of calm connection more readily.”

Aside from being in nature, De Rosa’s favorite method to ground is to visualize a grounding cord in the form of a tree trunk that is secured to the sides of our hips and to the front and back of our pelvis. “Imagine that this tree trunk extends deep beneath the earth’s crust. It sprouts roots that wrap around the core of the earth where the rhythm and frequency are much slower than how we operate on the surface. This grounding cord supplies vital life-force energy that nourishes our organs, supports our energetic anatomy, and calms our nervous system.”

When we feel protected and soothed—securely held by Mother Earth and attuned to her vibration—we are able to settle down. Through our grounding cord, we can inhale safety and trust, and exhale any conscious or subconscious fears about existing on this planet. “When we feel anxious, scattered, or out of balance, it is incredibly helpful to direct the energy flowing in and around our body into the earth.”

Ground and Release

De Rosa advises doing a grounding practice first thing in the morning to get centered for the day, and also at the end of the day to come back into our bodies and consciously release everybody else’s energy back to them. “It can be very beneficial to come back to yourself and ground into your own energy after interactions with other people, even if you love them dearly. If you are a parent or a caregiver, taking moments to ground throughout your day can make a huge difference. The earth is always there to help us connect to our body, our intuition, and to a sense of trust, safety, and abundance.”

Enjoy Wendy De Rosa’s 15-minute guided meditation: “Get Grounded for the New Year” and learn techniques to get centered and calm.