How to Stay Grounded for a Better Meditation Practice

Tom Von Deck is a meditation trainer, speaker and author of the Kindle bestseller, Oceanic Mind – The Deeper Meditation Training Course. He specializes in making meditation a much much easier and more customized process for busy people from all cultural, spiritual and non-spiritual backgrounds.

Tom began his meditation journey in the late 1980s at the age of twelve or so. He has studied with various teachers and within variety of traditions. He has extracted the golden essence of all spiritual, mind/body/spirit and stress reduction practices. Tom is now sharing this knowledge with all who wish to learn via guru-free instruction as a fellow traveler on this giant rock with a hot gooey center called Earth.

I’d like to welcome Tom to Mastery of Meditation, Yoga & Zen.

How to Stay Grounded for a Better Meditation Practice

by guest author Tom Von Deck.

Do you know how to stay grounded? 

This is one of the many problems a lot of us have, especially in this modern world of rapid flux. Being un-grounded, in fact, can be the cause of even more problems. This includes colds and coughs and many other issues.

Groundedness dramatically enhances meditation. In this article, we’ll look at some ways to stay connected with our bodies and the world of form so that we can improve our practices.

Signs that you’re not staying grounded:

• Spaciness and forgetfulness
• Being accident prone
• Easily losing things
• Emotional overwhelm
• Forgetting what someone just said
• Finding difficulty concentrating in meditation
• Coming up with ideas and not implementing them
• Lack of body awareness or breath awareness
• Noise and light sensitivity

Forgetting why you just walked into the supermarket and then trying not to look stupid by going to an isle and reading the labels on the pork rinds and shuffling around some Pringles cans and then leaving the store and driving away when you finally remember what you wanted after the second traffic light, and it was actually Pringles.

What does well grounded mean? Signs of groundedness:

• You are less overwhelmed by annoyances
• Body awareness
• You have a feeling of purpose
• You get upset less easily
• You can get more done in less time
• Better meditation!

One way to be more grounded is to take regular walks if you have the time. Try to feel your feet as much as possible. Pay attention to the breath. 

Use your senses as much as you can during the walk. “Take in” the trees, sounds of birds, smells of lawns and flowerbeds or whatever you notice. 

Hatha yoga, or almost anything you’ll learn in a western yoga studio, helps you to anchor yourself in body awareness. Take some classes if you haven’t already. Anmol provides lessons as well. 

Aromatherapy baths also help to anchor you in your body. Grounding essential oils include sandalwood, cedar, patchouli, frankincense and sage. 

Regular exercise is a great one. I’ve been running in place the equivalent of a mile every day, and both the body awareness and the simple routine of running is very grounding. 

Grounding meditations certainly help me at times. I’m thinking of the visualizations that you may find on YouTube. 

There were times not very long ago when meditation was very elusive to me, and this cleared it up with a 10-15 minute visualization I found on YouTube. Meditation became easy again. 

Now, I’m doing even more grounding activities in daily life and it’s getting even better.

A lot of these grounding meditations on YouTube are similar. They involve imagining roots growing from your feet into the ground and visualizing yourself receiving the Earth’s energy through those roots. 

Sitting under a tree can be very relaxing and grounding for many people. Try it barefoot for added sensation. Take some normal activities like exercise, eating and reading into the yard if you have one. 

Diaphragmatic breathing as often as possible will anchor you in the feeling of breath, and this can be grounding. Deep breathing also brings groundedness because breath is intimately related to awareness. When you’re less aware and present, your breathing is more shallow.

If the boss yells at you, your breathing may restrict itself. That’s because you do not want to feel the sensations associated with the scolding. Deep and calm breath means that you are open to life, sensation and feeling. These are essential components of groundedness. 

Diaphragmatic breathing, through the nose, is a very good way to breathe throughout the day so that you stay present and grounded. 

Put one hand on the belly and one on the chest. Breathe through the nose. Your chest shouldn’t move much. Your abdomen should inflate in all directions like a balloon. 

You may feel a gentle massage-like feeling in the lower back and groin. Breathe consciously like this as much as you can. 

The more you practice staying grounded, the easier it will be to meditate. Meditate smart, not hard. 

About Tom Von Deck

Tom Von Deck is a meditation trainer, corporate speaker and author of Oceanic Mind – The Deeper Meditation Training Course. Tom specializes in making meditation a much easier and more customized journey for busy and non-busy people from all backgrounds and paths. He runs a hub for free meditation training at DeeperMeditation.net. You can also find him on Facebook, Google+ and other sites.