T
he term ‘grounding’ is often
used in yoga classes and in
relation to any activity that helps
to draw us into a sense of the
present moment. But what does
grounding actually mean? What qualities
and physical attributes make grounding an
important part of our practice?
To not be grounded in life at any moment
is to feel that we’re not really there. That
includes a full physical sense that we are
somehow off and away, that we are off in
our heads, even ‘away with the fairies.’ This
removal from a sense of where we are at
that moment can even move into feelings
of dissociation, where we can experience a
complete disconnect from mind and body.
This state has been associated with the ‘out
of body’ experiences sometimes viewed as
a spiritual high, but often has its roots in
trauma. In yoga, opening into the higher
echelons relies on solid roots; fostering
grounding through the lower chakras (pelvis
and belly) to meet the subtleties of the
higher chakras up into the head.
Grounding is really feeling where we are on
a whole physical level in the here and now, in
this present moment. So, it’s a very sensory
thing, a very sensory feeling in quality. It
involves having a clear internal sense –
interoception of the shape and size and ratio
of our physical being just as it is right now.
So for instance, if we lay down in
Savasana or at the beginning of a class to
simply arrive, we might feel that our body
feels larger or smaller in places. Maybe our
feet feel very big or very small or that we
can barely feel them. Cultivating a sense
of grounding means fully engaging in the
present moment, where we are placed on the
earth, right now. We can foster this through
the senses and the breath, even moving our
hands and feet and rolling our head’s full
weight on the ground to truly feel that we
are here; that we exist.
Grounding is a sense of where we are in
relation to the world around us so that we
can clarify that we are not lost elsewhere- therefore it has the potential to offer a
true sense of safety. It’s not possible to
feel fully grounded when we are stressed,
overwhelmed and highly reactive. It is
possible to feel grounded when we are
excited or having to respond quickly to
something – if we have cultivated a sense
of embodied awareness or if we don’t tend
to flood or panic when we come into the
stress response.
When we are not feeling fully connected
with our body – and grounding is that
om mind
connection – our physical yoga practice
is a great route back. The definition of the
word yoga as ‘union’ can mean attunement
between our sense of self and the larger
world around us. So, when we move into
stronger and standing postures, a sense
of grounding is really key for how we move
through the space around us, how we sense
our body in relation to the world around us.
This is proprioception or sense of self and
how we get from one place to another. Good
grounding creates movement with a sense of
grace and integration.
In standing postures, lifting up from the
floor is defined by sensory input up from the
feet, up through the inner legs, up through
the pelvic floor, the spine, up through into
the throat in the top of the palate and top
of the head. All that connection and feeling
up from the ground in standing, and moving
through standing postures, really makes
the difference between whether we are fully
embodied. And thus we may remain with
a practice that is aware and conscious or
whether we are simply flailing around, even
feeling quite heady and moving in a bit
of a dream state or without coordination.
Spending time feeling your feet on the
ground (from a stable feet hip-width apart)
and changes as you shift weight forward
and back, side-to-side and in circles, creates
good foundations from which to grow, not
just in our practice, but how we walk and
move through life.
Within yoga, it is the quality of attention
that can really determine whether it is
helping us to ground in life or whether it’s
something that feeds into any tendencies
to dissociate, to disconnect from life itself.
Spending time connecting with each breath,
feeling each part of our body, where it is in
space right now, even palpably feeling it with
our hands is at the heart of our practice
feeding up intelligently into our lives.
After a physical practice, feeling
grounded, centred and calmly present are
the positive ripples we can take into life.
Feeling buzzy, heady or excited can mean
we’ve not spent enough time in grounding
Savasana, where we allow things to settle,
assimilate and gather back in to our sense
of self. Yoga is connection and exploring
beyond the physical starts in the here
and now.Charlotte Watts is a UK-based yoga
instructor and the author of
The De-Stress Effect: Rebalance Your Body’s
Systems for Vibrant Health and Happiness
(charlottewattshealth.com)Intensives
Established Comprehensive
Vinyasa Flow Training
with Thousands of Successful
GraduatesMarch 25 – April 15, 2017
Jun 24 – Jul 15, 2017
Oct 07 – Oct 28, 2017
For Advanced Modules and additional
2017 dates, check our websiteFrogLotusYogaInternational.com
Suryalila.comin Spain
200 Hour Yoga
Teacher Training