The Grounded Self Workshop

 

What does it mean to be grounded?

Why is it so important?

Ask yourself these two questions. Write your answers down as a reference point to compare to what you will discover from your own internal wisdom during the course of this workshop. 

This workshop is the most foundational and important workshops I offer, you will go on a journey where you will discover what being grounded truly means. This discovery will be through experiences instead of an intellectual understanding. During the process you will uncover new energies, new perspectives, new feelings, new places in yourself that you didn’t know were there.

Although you will uncover the specifics of what being grounded gives to your unique soul and spirit, there are a few universal truths when it comes to the energy of grounding. Being grounded means being connected to your body, and therefore the wisdom that it holds. It is a connection to the universal body which is our earth and the power within it. Being connected to the body means being connected to all that it holds, all feelings and wisdom, the light the dark, the seen and unseen. To be fully grounded in the body is the willingness to experience all of your experience. To not suppress, control or avoid any of what you are feeling. 

Being grounded and connected to your own body, wisdom, energy is also important when you are around other people. It is easy to get ungrounded by someone else energy. But, how are you to know the energy of another if you do not first know your own?

There might be times during this workshop where you don’t have any answers at all, but this could be more aligned with the truth than if you had an answer that was created from a false place. There will be times when you will be learning to surrender to your experience of not knowing, just as you would accept the moments of opening, connection, and deep understanding. Part of what we will be working with is to create a container so that you have the space and willingness to experience whatever it is that is coming up for you. It might mean you bump up against emotions. It might mean you are uncomfortable. Whatever it is, I promise you it will be freeing. By the end something in you will have shifted.

You will be guided to a place in yourself where you can mine the deep wisdom that you hold, and will walk away with experiences and tools to help you show up in life more grounded and therefore more authentic and open.

Altar for the workshop. This grid holds the energy of your grounded body. All of the recorded meditations hold it's energy - so this will also be a grid that effects you and holds space for you as you do the meditations.

How this works…

You asked for it, you got it. For this workshop you will notice there is a lot more information before you start the meditation section (It pays to fill out the surveys after the meditations, you want it, you usually get it ;). Each meditation is designed to guide you to a place where you will do your own discovering. Each one builds on the last, so please do them in order. You can do them one time, or repeat them a few times. You can do these fast, one every day for 7 days, or spread it out with one every week for 7 weeks. It is totally up to you. But stick with it, because there is a pay off at the end where it all comes together, and completion has a pay off energy of its own. 

And I will state the obvious, that the more times you do them, the bigger change you will notice in your life. It really is a practice. It’s about learning to build something over time. The experiences in themselves are powerful, but you have to stick with it. It’s like taking care of a plant. You can’t expect to just water it just one time.

I will be using minerals in every recording, me working with them and talking about them will activate the energy in you. I will also give a list of grounding minerals in the following section. Holding two minerals while you do the breathwork is a great way to work with their energy and stay grounded in your body. I usually say you don’t need any minerals, but for this workshop I am going to suggest you have 2. I don’t care if they are two rocks from the beach or the desert, use em! Because this is about grounding they will only help you. Use your intuition for which ones you will need.

Take some time today to listen to the intro recording at the end of this post. If you have never done the breathwork before listen to the part on how to do the breathwork. It is easy to learn. In there you will also find information on how to set up your space.

I want to strongly encourage you to use the comment section - please check in, let us know how you are doing and ask questions. Sharing is caring. Sharing is powerful. It is what will help weave the energy of this community together and hold space for the group as a whole. We have people from all over the world doing this. Share your wisdom with each other. And read each others insights and questions, it might answer some of your own and help you see that others are having similar experiences. You are not in this alone, so make yourself known. 

I am so looking forward to hearing from you and hearing about what you discover!

Listen

Robert Smithson, "Nonsite" (Essen Soil and Mirrors), 1969

Tools

Minerals that are helpful for grounding. 

Hematite

This might just be one of the most important stones we can have with us. If you are working on yourself and the growth of your soul, or any kind of spiritual work then a piece of hematite will be so helpful. All of that work you are doing won’t really stick or have any real impact on your life if it isn’t integrated into the body. Hematite aids in grounding that energy into the body while moving old negative energy out. It’s essential for helping the messages and information from other realms to be of service to your body in the world we are living in. It’s also very protective, grounding for your emotions, and shields the overwhelming vibes (ie smog, geopathic stress, electromagnetic congestion) of our modern world. 

Healers Gold

This stone is a combination of magnetite and pyrite and derives it’s name from it’s ability to help balance and enhance the energies of the person who is working with it. Healers who work with this stone will feel that they don’t feel as drained after their work. Giving them both a boost in their own energy but also is protective from outside energies or influencers. It also allows the healing to be more deeply grounded into the body. It is a source of life force. Because both of these stones are iron based it is a strong magnetizer, grounding you down into your body and it’s energy. 

Pyrite

It is good for grounding, rebalancing and energy. But also a very energetic stone. If you find that your nervous system is on overload already, don’t push it further with this one. Or use a pyrite sun, which is more grounding, and it’s about grounding that energy to sustain you, not burn you out, allowing it to be foundational in everything you do. This is a very energetic mineral, so be sure not to introduce it to your system if you are not already grounded. 

Black Tourmaline

Everyone should be carrying a piece with them. It is especially important for anyone who is doing spiritual work with people or who lives in challenging spaces or circumstances. This stone has the ability to take negative energy and purify it, turning it into usable energy. It clears the body and surroundings of any negative, dark or unhealthy energy. It also a huge helper when it comes to protection and is particularly important for someone to have if they are very open, psychic or empathetic. 

Copper

This metal is a conductor. If you are feeling sluggish and ungrounded use some copper to get the energy flowing so you can connect to the earth. I love using a copper sphere to massage the bottoms of my feet. I roll them around on the copper ball to help open the energy of my body up through the bottoms of my feet to the earth below me. You can also do this with a sphere made of hematite, jet, jasper, or shungite.

Moss Agate

This mineral has a lovely, healing and grounded energy. It is especially nurturing for anyone who is recovering from an illness, injury, even an emotional wounding, as it encourages a slow and steady recovery. It stabilizes the physical body. It is a master at helping you to connect to the energy of Mother Nature, and even the wise spirits and energies that live in our earthly realm in the natural world. It can guide you to a deeper understanding of how to heal with the help of nature and all the ways she can support you on that journey. 

Sungite

These days electro magnetic frequencies are everywhere! We are surrounded by technology - mobile phones, computers and Wifi! These all radiate EMFs and can be very ungrounding. Some people are very sensitive to EMFs and can feel a brain fog, fatigue, poor digestion, compromised immune system, increased blood pressure, anxiety and depression, even a change in heart rate or blood sugar. Basically stress, emotionally and on the physical body, the function of its organs. Shungite protects against EMFs by naturally neutralizing these frequencies due to its components on a molecular level. Shungite comes from a meteorite and it’s the only natural mineral in existence to have the presence of a hallow molecular carbon cage - this allows for the EMF neutralization. 

If you need to relax your nervous system try lithium quartz, or lepidolite. Purple Fluorite for relaxing the mind. And if you would like to work on directing your energy during meditation use a quartz crystal with a point (natural, please).

Mineral Shapes

You can use carved minerals for extra support with grounding. I am not usually a fan of minerals shaped by man, except when I am intentionally using its shape for a specific purpose. Anything in a pyramid shape will be incredibly grounding, as the pyramid is the most stable shape there is. A hematite pyramid would be idea. A sphere will allow the energy of the mineral to radiate and move in all directions so that is also a good one to use as well. 

Hematite

Black Tourmaline

Moss Agate

Pyrite Sun

Shungite

Healers Gold

Flowers

Alexis Smart’s flower remedies are such a great tool to use as support in your life and in this work. I am always on a remedy from her. And she is a good friend, so she was kind enough to suggest a few remedies that would complement this workshop. If one fits where you are and you’d like to try them out, order it and use it during this workshop (just choose one). They kick in after about two weeks of regular use.  

First Aid Kit - This is the number one grounding formula isBased on Bach Rescue Remedy but with added walnut, to protect you from the influence of others energy, and crab apple to purify, this formula works instantly to bring you into your body and calm and ground. 

For grounding the mind:

Brain Drops - This is a very mentally grounding formula for those who feel out of body, too in their heads or scatter brained. Cultivates a state of post meditation calm.

For grounding the heart:

Whole Hearted - If you have a hard time staying in your body when old emotional wounds come up, this soothing formula will comfort you during the healing of grief, old and new, so there is no fear of emotional pain and you can stay present in this work. 

Fear/sexuality

Safe and Sound - Fear is so often linked to blockages in our sexual expression. This formula helps you feel safe in your body and can help if you have past trauma or fear lodged in the body or you leave your body when you feel afraid.

Jean Renaud dancing on a Paris rooftop 1950

Some more tips…

These are things we all know but rarely make time to do. There are a whole bunch of tiny things we can do in our daily lives to be more grounded. 

You might have heard of the studies being done on Earthing, here is a link to a science study on it. Long story short, the surface of the earth has a plethora of electrons that can not only be grounding for our bodies but are also imperative for our health. Things as simple as walking barefoot in the grass when you can, laying in a park or in your yard, or spending time in nature around trees can all vastly improve our health and wellbeing and lead to a greater feeling of groundednesss.

Take a look at your diet. Are there things you know you consume that are ungrounding? The biggest ones are sugar and caffeine. If you don’t think you can cut them out completely at least try to cut back, or be aware of when and how you are using them. Personally, if I feel really ungrounded physically I always eat some bison and right away I feel so nurtured and back in my body. I am grateful to this animal for being a spiritual and healing food for my body.

Massaging the bottoms of your feet. Stopping to take a few deep breaths. Slowing down. Doing a few rounds of this breathing technique to calm your nervous system. Not being on your phone so much. Giving hugs. Spending time with animals. All of these simple things can help us feel more grounded as we move through our day. 

Marina Abramovic

Breathwork Meditation

What is breathwork?

Let’s break it down on a physical level.

 This type of meditation is great for stress as it nurtures your nervous system. Because it is an active breath it really supports your body, allowing you to engage it while also relaxing it deeply.

It has been scientifically proven that deep breathing has an effect on your brain, heart, digestion, immune system, and even your genes! The sympathetic nervous system is triggered during stress, which is our “fight or flight” response. Breathing deeply stimulates an opposing parasympathetic reaction, this is the system that will help to calm you down. It has been proven that even short spans of deep breathing can have an effect on the stress response in our bodies (down to our cells and even our DNA), which is pretty amazing. 

The two part breathwork also stimulates your hypothalamus gland, a small almond shaped glad inside the brain. This gland maintains the homeostasis of the body, it has control over many functions in the body like your heart rate, blood pressure, sleep cycles, and it also produces substances that influence the pituitary gland to release certain hormones into the body. Hormones such as Oxytocin which is what is released when you orgasm and it is also the hormone connected to your ability to trust, and CHR which stimulates the adrenal glands to release corticosteroids which helps your immune system.

Why is grounding so important during breathwork?

If you have done a workshop with me before you know how much I stress the importance of grounding and how I use Earth energy in the meditations.

One of the most important things breathwork can do is to relax the nervous system. When we are running on overdrive, stressed, anxious, busy (these are all ungrounding activities and states, by the way), it is hard for us to tap into our wisdom. We need to be relaxed, grounded, and open to really listen to what our body, our intuition and our souls are telling us.

All meditative practices (and most spiritual work) embody the principals of the element of Air. During the breathwork meditations I will show you how Air energy can guide you further into the body, not out of it. Air energy can also be used to direct energy. Learning to stay connected to the body to help you move through the emotions that might come up, and bring down the wisdom from Spirit is more empowering than leaving to body to go to it (which sometimes happens in this work*) and will help you build the Self.

*I think breathwork is extremely helpful for relaxing the nervous system and creating space in the body. But, I am critical of people that use it to get you out of the body, or to just release emotions to then feel the “high” after. It IS an expansive practice. Air energy is Spirit energy. And that is a YES energy. I would say that the majority of the spiritual and self help work out there is Spirit energy. And those practices feel really good! But, they also disconnect you from your body. It uses the mind or the higher mind. Even yoga is a Spirit based practice, even though it involves the body, but its entry point is all Spirit / mind / male. So, my aim as a guide is to use breathwork to help you expand, BUT to do so while helping you stay connected to the body. Which means not denying any of your experience. This is so important to know as you move forward doing any kind of spiritual work.

Trisha-Brown, "Accumulation", 1973

unknown

What keeps you from being grounded?

It is important to know the things that unground you, or disconnect you from your body, and therefor its wisdom. 

So that is the question you will be asking today: What is one way I get ungrounded?

This meditation will be one where you use your bodies wisdom to give you the answers, not answers from your mind. Any time you do not engage the body it is your mind, ego, wound, or shadow answering. Using this simple technique you can get to the core message of your soul that is held in the body. The mind holds the known. The body holds the unknown. So asking the body is a way to reveal to us what we don't already know but are ready to face.

And remember, to be ungrounded could mean anything that has to do with not being in your body, not being able to listen to your intuition, not being connected to the Self, resisting a part of your experience, controlling your experience, etc…

What comes up might not be what you would expect. 

The more you can not try to figure it out with the mind the better. Just follow what I say and let your body reveal to you the truth.

Listen

Music: Remnant Signals, Eluvium

Write down these three things.

If it helps, I will give you an example of what came up for me. I could have given you a list of very obvious ones that I know for myself like: rushing, my anxiety, going on a date, etc… But instead my body revealed to me a deeper layer, to show me things that I didn’t already know about how I can get ungrounded. Your soul always meets you where your growing edge is. So when I did this meditation it revealed things to me that I am ready to look at and work on.

1. When I use my wisdom to understand the other in a way where I loose the connection to myself. I do this, a lot, especially in romantic relationships, but also in friendships and in my family.

2. At times, when soothing my wound / self love / self care becomes indulgent. There are times I go to nurture myself and the result is that it keeps me from being grounded and connected to the impulses my soul has for my body to be more in the world. I stay in bed, or relax at home when it’s not appropriate to do so. I use my wound in a way to unground me, therefore disconnecting me from myself and my power. And it’s hard to tell, because it looks really beautiful, loving, tender and nurturing. I have to work on telling the difference of when this is grounding, and when I use it to unground me. Tricky.

3. When I leave my own experience to try to understand it in my mind. When really I should be staying in the experience until it reveals to me what I need to know.

So, now that I know these three places that I get ungrounded I can be aware going forward and know that these are times I have to stay extra connected to myself and grounded in my body. And I have done this meditation a few days in a row, and every time it shifts or changes a little. 

If you are having a hard time reading your energy as you move (it can be tricky if you are not used to it) I am really good at it :) and happy to help you. If you would like help email me for a mini session.

"East–West/ West–East", Richard Serra

"East–West/ West–East", Richard Serra

"East–West/ West–East", Richard Serra

Richard Serra, drawing

"East–West/ West–East" (arial shot), Richard Serra

Grounding with the Elements

You can do this meditation before the breathwork. You can do it on days where you aren’t doing the breathwork. It sounds very simple but if you fully surrender to it, it is very powerful. 

The four elements correspond to different parts of the body. When we awaken them they can provide us with insight, healing and power. To experience them collectively guides us to our own wholeness. This meditation is the most grounding out of all of the ones I offer because it involves the body in a bigger way.

Listen

Music: First Light, Brian Eno

Olafur Eliasson

Trisha Brown: Group Primary Accumulation (1970), Trisha Brown Dance Company, Tate Modern

The Grounded Mind

This meditation will be focused on grounding the mind. 

You might already know if you are a person with an intellectualized ego, or you might be an Air sign: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius, or have a lot of Air signs in your chart. Or you might be a Virgo who has a very analytical mind. Maybe you have stress that keeps your brain constantly in a loop with your to-do list. Or you might be a person that is constantly trying to figure things out and understand through the mind, someone who can’t sit in the question / unknown very easily. These are all ok! :) There are some very brilliant thinkers, visionaries, and minds on the planet. And these traits, attributes and gifts can have their healthy place and pay offs. 

It’s only when the mind gets out of balance with the rest of your body that there can be a problem. Or when the brilliance of the mind is used to get out of just sitting with something, maybe a question or an emotion. This is ungrounding, because it pulls you away from your experience and goes to the head.

If you are one of those people that is ok. Todays meditation might both be a challenge for you and have a HUGE impact on you, leading you to a breakthrough. The most important thing is to surrender and own your experience. All you have to do is be aware of how the mind might be taking you out of your experience, and ungrounding you. Try not to control, but instead let go!

Listen

Music: Infinite Overtones, Dr. James Hopkins / Meditation No. 1, Laraaji 

Write down the phrase or word that came to you.

“What does it give your mind to be grounded?”

Share your experience with the group, or ask questions. To comment please click the number at the top of this post.

Kishio Suga, Gap of the Entrance to the Space, 1979, Stone, zinc plate

Kishio Suga

Kisbio Suga, Soft Concrete, 1970/2012, Concrete, oil, steel plates

The Grounded Heart

This meditation is about grounding the heart and allowing the energy of the Earth to weave itself through all the parts of the heart. It is time to discover what it means to have a grounded heart.

Listen

Music: As Much as Possible, Bing & Ruth / Big Hollow, Julianna Barwick / Ode, Nils Frahm / Dream 3, Max Richter / Me, Nils Frahm

Write down the phrase or word that came to you.

“What does being grounded give to your heart?”

“When you are grounded what does it allow your heart to do or be?”

Share your experience with the group, or ask questions. To comment please click the number at the top of this post.

Susumu Koshimizu, "Paper (formerly Paper 2)". 1969/2012

Susumu Koshimizu, "Paper", 1969

The Grounded Belly

This meditation is focused on grounding the belly and your organs and deeply nourishing them with Earth energy. Our belly is connected to Water, and our emotions. What happens when your emotions are grounded?

Listen

Music: Alop, Nancy Kulkarni

Write down the phrase or word that came to you.

“What does being grounded give to your ability to feel?”

Share your experience with the group, or ask questions. To comment please click the number at the top of this post.

Garden Elements, The Noguchi Museum

The Grounded Sexual Organs

This meditation is focused on grounding the sexual organs. It is in this part of the body where we hold our personal power, our wound and our soul. What happens when you drop into that place?

Listen 

Music: Li Sun, Judith Tripp / Sequent C, Tangerine Dream / Pagan, Michale Sterns / St. Francis, Michale Sterns / meditation bowls

Write down the phrase or word that came to you.

“What does being grounded give to your hips?”

Use whatever symbol or image that came to you to help bring you back to this place of groundedness. When you are out in the world and feel yourself getting ungrounded, bring this image to mind to help reconnect you to yourself and the power you hold in this part of your body. 

Share your experience with the group, or ask questions. To comment please click the number at the top of this post.

Raoul Ubac: Hand and stone, 1932

The Grounded Self

What does it mean to be grounded?

Why is it so important?

You are about to find out…

Listen

Music: Lights in the Sky, Peter Gregson / Falling, Peter Gregson / Stay In the Dark, Lambert / This Place Is a Shelter, Ólafur Arnalds / Dream 13, Max Richter / Consolation, Jon Brion 

I hope you have been keeping track of what you came up with each meditation. Look at those answers together to create a whole picture of what your definition of what it means to be grounded is. 

Keep using these meditations and all the tools and information you now have. Notice how you feel in the world. And how you might be reacting to yourself and others differently. Your ability to be grounded in your body in your experience, no matter what it is, has a deep impact on your life and those who you encounter. 

I’d love to hear from you about your experience. Your feedback makes these workshops better and better every time. Please take a few minutes and fill out a short survey, there is also a place where you can leave a testimonial.

Thank you so much!

CLICK HERE

Edward Weston