Grounding + Gratitude
I hope the title has caught your attention. And I look forward to sharing more about the importance of these two practices, and some may even consider…states of being.
As always, as the creator of DimensionL Wellbeing, I aim to share education, insight and helpful tools to support you in living your best life; optimizing potential, happiness and wellbeing.
Grounding and gratitude are two vitally important practices that ultimately do not need to cost you a thing. A very common complaint I hear, when talking to clients and others about living in vitality, is that it is too expensive and elusive. I understand and empathize with this statement, because in many ways this is entirely true, but it is not the whole story.
The true reality is that we live in a society that keeps us away from knowing how to be well and vital. Most of what we are taught keeps us out of this state of being and more so in a state of confusion, separation and discontent. It is my (and DimensionL’s) to provide you with the knowledge and access to your true nature and all that it means to be well. Because it is also our reality that we are made in our Creator’s image and contain the power to heal and co-create our reality. The more I learn scientifically about health and our bodies, the more I am convicted that our natural state of being is one of vitality and happiness. If we are experiencing such states of being as anxiety or depression, these are indicators that we are not in balance. The body is always seeking homeostasis and it is my belief that we have vastly misunderstood the role symptoms play. Instead of aiming to understand their messages, there is a collective tendency to suppress or deny symptoms.
The very great news is THERE ARE SO MANY WAYS to access vitality and SO many tools which are free or inexpensive. Yes, there are also some really cool ways to increase your vitality that are expensive, but they are not always necessary and definitely do not even work properly if foundational health is not met.
Clean air, sunshine, structured water, companionship, grounding and gratitude are all foundational tools to health that are quite inexpensive and yet provide invaluable, sustainable benefits. None of these are to be underestimated! They are essential!
Let’s dive deeper into understanding the practices of Grounding and Gratitude. We will answer these four questions to get to know them better:
What are they?
Why are they helpful?
How may they help?
How do I engage with this practice?
GROUNDING
What is Grounding?
Grounding is a technique to electrically restore your connection to the earth, through certain activities. There are also grounding practices which are more internal and supports an integration of body, mind and spirit.
Why is Grounding helpful?
We are electrical beings. Our heart produces the biggest electromagnetic field in our body. As electrical beings, we respond to electricity; both positively and negatively. In current times, we are bombarded by currents all day long; from wi-fi to microwaves and everything in between. Have you seen an ungrounded electrical wire? This is what we become like when we have lost connection to the earth and have not dispersed all of the excess electrical energy we are exposed to regularly. Side effects can range from neurological issues to anxiety and more. When we practice grounding, our bodies are brought into the same electrical potential, or resonance, as the earth, which we are naturally designed to seek.
RESOURCES: The Science of Grounding
How might Grounding be helpful for my health + vitality?
The benefits of grounding are vast and varying. In essence, when we return our body to it’s natural state of being, or homeostasis, anything is possible. Engaging with these foundational practices provides a conducive environment for wholeness. We are not just talking physical health either. Foundational tools support vitality in all dimensions of wellbeing; from the physical to spiritual. Here are some noted benefits that may be experienced through the regular practice of Grounding:
Stress reduction
Cardiovascular health
Chronic pain relief
Circadian rhythm regulation
Nervous system support
Strengthen natural defenses
Mood support
Root chakra balance
RESOURCES: The Effects of Grounding Study + Indoor Grounding Study
How to engage with Grounding?
Inner Activities: meditation, specific breath practices (like box breathing), somatic practices (like body scans)
External Activities: walk barefoot, lay or stand on the ground - your toes in the grass for extra points, being in water - like a river or bath.
Tools for Grounding: grounding mat, grounding sheets, barefoot shoes, black stones like; tourmaline, red jasper, + onyx. Also, root vegetables, meat and warming spices.
GRATITUDE
What is Gratitude?
Gratitude is both a feeling and a practice. It is an expression of appreciation. The more gratitude is practiced, the more it becomes a state of being.
Why is Gratitude helpful?
Simply put, our attitude determines our altitude. Beyond this physical self, we are multidimensional beings living in a vast, energetic world. If we are created by the Creator, then we too contain the codes for creation; whether it be destructive or productive. In fact, every single choice we make is either adding to our wellbeing or taking away from it.
Quantum physics helps us understand our relationship to the trajectory of our lives. As we practice feelings and thoughts over + over, they become our state of being. Our thoughts become things.
This is why practicing gratitude to can be so extremely helpful. Gratitude brings our body, mind, feeling body and spirit into alignment and on the road to vitality and actualized potential. Physically, gratitude strengthens certain areas of our brain, as well as communication amongst the various parts of our brain. Emotionally, we are supported in practicing new, higher vibrational feelings. Mentally, we can let go of limited, out-dated, stifled thought patterns and make way for new, abundant and peaceful ones. Spiritually, we can seek refuge in remembering that we are always loved, guided and protected.
This is such an important topic and I love how science is backing up what we have known spiritually for hundreds of years. If you would like to know more about this topic I highly suggest looking into a few of my favorite doctor’s work: Dr. Candace Pert + Dr. Bruce Lipton + Dr. Joe Dispenza
How might Gratitude be helpful for my health + vitality?
While it may seem a little elusive to be able to measure gratitude’s impact on wellbeing. We are able to measure the brain’s reactivity to the expression of gratitude. The results have been pretty incredible.
Mood support: anxiety + depression
Chronic pain reduction
Greater nerve conductivity
Creates resiliency
Inflammation reduction
Strengthens relationships
Stress reduction
Improves ones’ ability to become a conscious co-creator of their reality.
RESOURCES: The Benefits of Appreciation + How Gratitude Changes Your Brain
How to engage with Gratitude?
There are so many ways to practice gratitude. The key is it get really curious and descriptive. It is one of my favorite practices to go through a list of what I am grateful for in my day, as I am laying in bed before falling to sleep.
Some people like to have a gratitude journal and physically write out what they are grateful for. I also really enjoy taking a moment to say thank you for all of the people who it took to get my food to my plate. For example, I say thank you to the farmer, the animal, the person who drove the food to the store, the stocker, etc. By the time I am finished, I can feel my heart expanded and it makes me excited and so grateful to think of how many people it took to get that meal to my plate. To me, it defines ‘in this together’.
Gratitude practice may be used to change your mood too. A practice I have cultivated is to STOP my negative thoughts and replace them. When I notice that I am reeling in negative thought patterns, I stop and practice gratitude. I always start by looking around me and seeking gratitude for something that is directly in front of me. Sometimes it is a challenge and I often end up in laughter for the sometimes silly things I find gratitude in, around me. If that is not possible, or I need more helping changing my mood, I will pause, focus on my breath and repeat the mantra, THANK YOU. I will repeat this over and over, in concert with slowed breathing. It has had profound results for me in not staying in a negative space for too long. I want to clarify that this is not a practice to deny how I am feeling, it is simply a way to change how I feel in the moment and remember my baseline…that I am loved, protected and provided for.
There are ways to engage others in your gratitude practice too. Writing thank you notes and letting others know why you are grateful for them may be ways to increase gratitude in your life and others.
I have found that practices become states of being. Which means there will be less effort needed because gratitude will simply become your natural state of being. You will eventually become more grateful for each moment; the good, bad and everything in between.
