Tarot to enlighten, enrich, and expand
Grounding Meditation
Grounding is an easy, quick, yet greatly beneficial mediation practice which can be done anywhere, anytime as you go about your day. It brings balance to mind, body and spirit, rooting us in the here and now.
Healers, empaths, and those with psychic abilities are especially vulnerable when it comes to the energies and emotions of others. We can pick up a lot of sticky energy which leaves us tired, irritable, and sometimes, this onslaught can even manifest as illness. A regular grounding practice keeps us protected. It brings a sense of inner peace, control and security.
Start your day with self-love!
Beginning your day with grounding brings numerous health benefits, including increased energy and concentration. It can reduce pain, improve sleep and release negative mental energy. You can choose to ground just once a day, but many people find that a top-up, especially if dealing with stressful situations, is of great benefit. If you suffer from restless sleep or vivid dreams, a grounding practice before bed can help, too.
Standing in a queue? Take a minute to ground, and give yourself a little energy boost instead of stressing over the wait. Feeling hassled in work? You can practice grounding while standing at the photocopier, in the bathroom, or even when making coffee. It takes just a few focused inhales and exhales to ground yourself and feel more connected to the present moment. Depending on your location, you can ground in as little as twenty seconds if necessary.
When you’re ungrounded, you might experience feelings of being ‘spaced-out’. You may feel dizzy, find it hard to concentrate, or want only to drift in daydreams. An ungrounded person can appear jumpy, over-stimulated or even paranoid. Addiction can also indicate a lack of grounding.
Before working with tarot, I always ground. It allows me a moment to shake off distractions, focus on my intent, and open my connection to Spirit. A grounding ritual is also a great practice to undertake before beginning creative work. It promotes focus, soothes the mind and opens a stronger creative flow.
Clearing out the inside junk makes space for the good stuff to come in, and as creatives, we definitely want to power ourselves with the most inspiring, positive, and healthy fuel when we’re creating!
Try the method below to experience grounding for yourself. Once you’ve practised it a few times, you can shape your own ritual, using whatever visual preferences resonate with you the most. While grounding works best with bare feet on the ground outside, that’s not always practical. But don’t worry; grounding works just as efficiently with shoes on and indoors.
Grounding Meditation
To begin, you can choose to sit or stand, but ensure your soles are flat on the floor.
If it’s safe, and feels comfortable to do so, close your eyes.
On your first inhale, draw your breath deep into your lower belly. Allow it to fill before guiding the breath to rise up through your ribcage and swirl into your upper chest.
Exhale slowly through your mouth, allowing your shoulders to soften. Tension begins to dissolve.
Inhale again, visualising the cleansing breath filling your entire torso, and on its release, expelling negativity.
Inhale with intent once more, and on the exhale, imagine roots emerging from the soles of your feet and the base of your spine. These roots dive deep into the ground, burrowing through all the layers of soil, stone and rock until they reach the core of the earth.
Picture a vast cave, with a clear lake in its centre. Your roots have many tendrils that grasp the rocks and boulders surrounding the water. Feel your connection to this solidity. You are safe, and secure.
A bright light glows in the centre of the lake. It expands, filling the crystal clear water with vivid, sparkling light. Allow your intuition to choose the colour. Your roots extend further, sliding under the surface of the lake to draw the light in, absorbing the healing, positive energy.
When you’re ready, inhale deeply. The light travels up through your roots, rising from the depths of the earth, soaring upwards to the soles of your feet. Slowly exhale.
On your next inhale, welcome the light into your being. Soak it up through your feet, ankles, shins, thighs, and pelvis. Picture this part of your body filled with the glowing light, and on your next exhale, any negative energy will be drawn out, disintegrating as it’s absorbed and transmuted into positive energy by your grounding light.
Inhale again. The light moves into your abdomen, rises behind your ribs and up into your chest. It flows over your shoulders and pours down your arms all the way to your fingertips. On your exhale, the light transmutes any unwanted energy.
On your next inhale, the light travels up your neck, over your jaw, cheekbones and forehead, where it meets the crown chakra a few inches above your head. A slow exhale allows the light to clear and restore.
With one more deep inhale, embrace the light suffusing your entire being. It washes through you, filling you with healing, positive energy. Exhale and enjoy being grounded!
After grounding, you might also like to shield yourself. Empaths will find this practice particularly helpful in avoiding external energies as they move through their day. I like to picture my shield as having the surface of a mirror-ball. As it lowers around me, I imagine the clicking sound as the tiny mirrored tiles slot together. Only positive energy can pass through my mirror shield, all negative energy bounces off before being absorbed by my grounding light and transforming into pure, light energy. I also say the mantra ‘I am safe and protected in light and love’ three times as I envision the shield surrounding my body. Just like grounding, I can strengthen my shield whenever I feel necessary.
Give this shielding method a try.
Shielding Meditation
With your body grounded and filled with positive light, picture your crown chakra spinning above your head. A shaft of white light rises from it, connecting you to Universal energy. Picture a disc forming from your crown chakra. It spreads out above you, forming a wide, protective shield as it lowers around your body. You can sense it sealing you in light and love as it meets below your feet. Inside this bubble you are protected from negative energy. It bounces off your shield’s surface and cannot penetrate your aura.
Choose an appearance for your shield that resonates with you. It can take on a colour, a material, a sound. Repeat a mantra as it forms, and picture all the positive, grounding energy you’ve drawn up from the earth safely locked in there with you. As with grounding, it takes just a few moments to shield. I shield as part of my grounding practice, morning and night, and whenever I need a boost during the day. My Viking ancestors probably get a good chuckle every time I mutter ‘shield wall!’ to myself when faced with crowds or someone whose vibe feels off.
I hope you’ve found these methods a helpful launch point to try your own grounding and shielding practices. Once you’re in the swing of it, craft your own. You’ll soon reap the benefits, and may even find yourself automatically boosting up.
If you found this helpful, or if you’ve created your own grounding or shielding ritual, I’d love to hear from you. I’m at the end of julie@creativesoultarot.com