Introduction
What Does it Mean to be Grounded?
To be grounded simply means to be present in the body.
To be connected to our body—its movements, sensations, and surroundings—as we go about our day. When grounded, we are mindfully or consciously interacting with the physical world around us, our senses are engaged and we are focused on what we are doing at hand. We aren’t caught up in thoughts about what we said on the weekend, or what’s coming up next week at work. We aren’t stuck in the past or caught up in what might happen next. We’re right here. In this moment.
Groundedness is presence. It’s a state of clarity, ease, and calm.
When grounded, we can remain focused more easily, respond more intentionally, and feel more in tune with our environment. Our senses sharpen, and our awareness expands.
When we are ungrounded, on the other hand, we’re more easily thrown off course. We tend to react from impulse or emotion. We might overthink, dissociate, or spiral into stress. We lose our footing, and we can lose touch with our true nature and what really matters to us.
Getting Grounded is a skill, a practice that we can become more adept at over time. One that can be returned to, again and again, in times of stress, anxiety, restlessness or overwhelm.
Why Does it Matter?
Grounding isn’t just a nice idea—it has a powerful physiological impact on the body, especially the nervous system.
Our autonomic nervous system (ANS) is responsible for the automatic processes that keep us alive: heartbeat, digestion, hormone release, breathing, even sneezing and vomiting.
Within the ANS are two key branches:
· The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) governs our fight
or flight response. It activates in times of stress or danger.
· The parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) governs our
rest and digest mode. It helps us calm down, recover, and
heal.
Ideally, we want to spend the majority of our time in rest and digest mode. That’s where healing happens. That’s where nutrients are absorbed, cells regenerate, and our body repairs itself. But in modern life, many of us are spending most of our time in fight or flight mode—even when there’s no real threat.
This over-activation of the sympathetic nervous system creates a constant undercurrent of stress. And stress, when chronic, becomes toxic. It can cause inflammation, poor sleep, digestive issues, immune dysfunction, and emotional disregulation.
Grounding practices gently shift us back into parasympathetic mode. They remind the body it is safe. They help us return to balance.
There is even research to support the physical benefits of grounding. The simple act of standing barefoot on the earth—also known as earthing—has been shown to reduce pain and inflammation, support sleep quality, accelerate healing, and ease anxiety.
How Do We Become Ungrounded?
As children, we live mostly in the present. We’re connected to our bodies. We play, we move, we explore.
But at some point, we experience something that makes us want to leave that state. Maybe we feel embarrassed. Maybe we’re afraid. Maybe we’re overwhelmed by something we don’t yet understand. And in that moment, when we can’t fight or flee, we do something incredibly intelligent:
We disconnect.
We shift our awareness away from the present and let a coping mechanism take over. It’s not something we do consciously. It’s a function of survival. But over time, if those coping mechanisms aren’t reintegrated, they become stronger. They get triggered again and again by situations that feel similar to the original event. Eventually, they become part of how we show up in the world. But they are not who we truly are.
When we’re stuck in our heads, when our nervous system is in fight or flight, we’re more susceptible to these patterns. They might have served us once, but they often aren’t suited to the here and now.
Grounding brings us back into the body, into the present, where we can choose how we respond. It gives us the power to interrupt old patterns and reconnect with our true selves.
What Can Grounding Offer Us?
Grounding returns us to our centre. It gives us access to calm, clarity, and deeper self-awareness. It supports our mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing. It helps us to make decisions that align with our values instead of reacting from old wounds.
It’s not about avoiding stress altogether—that’s not realistic or even desirable. The stress response exists for a reason: it keeps us safe, and it’s important to acknowledge it for the incredible survival mechanism that it is.
What we do want is to become more aware of how and when it’s activated—and to gently recognise when it’s been triggered unnecessarily, so we can lovingly soothe our bodies back into a state of calm.
Even a few minutes of grounding each day can have a measurable impact on how we feel and function.It can look like:
· Walking barefoot on the grass
· Taking a few deep breaths
· Placing a hand on the body and feeling your skin or heartbeat
· Pausing to notice the breeze on your skin or sounds in your
surroundings
· Focusing on what your hands are doing while cooking, cleaning, or showering
Your Process is Your Own.
Some people find grounding easy. Others find it incredibly difficult. Either way, it doesn’t mean anything about your worth.Your process is your own. You don’t need to do it perfectly. You don’t need to feel a certain way. You just need to start where you are, with what you have.
This is why Getting Grounded is the first stage of this program. It lays the foundation for everything that follows.
If we want to explore who we are, and understand ourselves more deeply, having an established grounding practice—a foundational routine that brings us back to the body—is essential. We need to feel safe and at home in our body to regulate our nervous system and access a state of calm and rest. This is when healing becomes tangible.
And it takes time, practice and self-compassion to get there.
So let’s begin. One step at a time.
