Week Ten: Getting Grounded

A number of years ago, I was part of a group experience where the leader asked us to place our consciousness down in our bellies and settle there.  He then suggested that we imagine that the energy that moves down and out through the base of the spine continues down into the earth so that we could feel truly grounded and connected with the source of our physical being.  The premise of the exercise was that the belly is where we discover feelings of safety and security and when we can settle there, our physical bodies instinctively feel more comfortable and grounded.

Over the years, I have run into many variations on this theme, as grounding in the belly and in the earth are familiar practices in many traditions.  What I'd like to offer this week are a couple of different ways of exploring getting grounded in your belly and connecting to the earth, and perhaps one of these approaches will resonate with you more strongly than others.  Or, you may find a variation on the theme that comes from your own creative wisdom as you work with the experiment.

To begin, simply notice your belly.  Become aware of the sensations you have there, and then allow yourself to imagine that your awareness is sliding down through your body and settling in your belly.  Imagine what the sensations of settling there would be like if you couldimagine them.  Then, experiment with the following possibilities of grounding yourself even more:

Here's a grounding exercise I've used over the years.  Beginning in your belly, imagine that there is a source of light above your head - possibly a universal healing light - and allow the light to move down through the top of your head and all the way down your spine, filling your body as it goes.  Imagine that the light concentrates where it is needed most, and notice that it fills your entire being - physical, emotional, and mental.  Then, allow the line of light to move out through the base of your spine and into the core of the earth, connecting you there.  Then, imagine that a line of light representing earth energy travels from the core of the earth up through the base of your spine, up through your body filling you completely, and finally out through the top of your head, connecting with the universal light there above your head.

A colleague, John Omaha, uses a variation on this theme - something he calls the -grounding cord-. Again, beginning in your belly, imagine that there is a column of light going down your spine and out and down into the earth.  Make it as wide as you want, as solid as you wish.  Feel it enter the earth and connect there so that you even experience a slight tug from the earth itself, demonstrating how grounded you are with the source of your physical being.

Another variation is to imagine that you settle your consciousness in your belly and that you sprout roots that move from the base of your spine down into the earth.  These can be -energy roots-and they can reach as deeply into the earth as you wish them to reach.  Imagine the sensation of being energetically rooted in the ground of your being, as your awareness settles in your belly even more.

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