Stillness and Grounding

Everyone knows what it means to be told "be still" and, "be quiet"; likely you heard this a thousand times + since early childhood.

For most of us, these two admonishments were likely dictated in unison; and indeed in origin, multiple times over, by our parents, teachers, and countless others whom may have been responsible for our rearing and tutelage as a child.

From an early age we were taught to be still, be quiet, and as well to listen; edicts of "seen, not heard, "sit down and shut up" were oftentimes drilled into our brains.

As well, within the dogmatic practices of our culture, and within the beliefs of practically every religion, be(ing) still and quiet is the key to hearing "God," or the inner “still small voice” of consciousness; providing us w/ the answers from w/in.

The Christian scriptures (Matthew 6:6, for those who follow) even go so far as to state you should pray "in the closet, w/ the door shut," and "in secret"; leading one to the obvious assumption of, be(ing) quiet gives us open reward.

We are taught to stop, think, and listen as allegedly the key to finding the answers, and, as well, how we can calm ourselves and our, oftentimes, worrisome spirit.

Yet, how many of us are taught to be still, quiet, stop, and NOT THINK? NOT THINKing is essentially a quieting of the mind.

This quieting of the mind is an essential concept at the core of energy and grounding techniques.

Grounding? What's that?

For those unfamiliar with this term, this is an excellent question.

Our bodies; every molecule, follicle, and platelet, every part from the brain to the heart, are in a constant process of death/regeneration/death/regeneration.

Our personal energy, our own electrical current, never actually settles completely until our eventual demise; as most of us are, unfortunately, not very well grounded.

Just as w/ any other electrical machine (and we are finely tuned; and frankly rather delicate, bio-electric machines, for all intents and purposes) we need to be grounded to function properly and to our full potential; w/o grounding we're simply too much of a conduit for all the other energy around us and our personal energy leaches away until we're left spent and exhausted.

In human terms, we need an outlet for our energy so as to occasionally dissipate all that extra electrical current and in turn, regain our own personal power to the fullest; that's where grounding and quieting of the mind becomes all too important.

The next obvious question is, How?

Well... there are long and not so long explanations.

The simplest way to begin learning how to ground is mindful breathing; focused, slowed awareness and mindfulness of the breath and ONLY the breath.

The basic technique (which can be done anywhere in any position) is:

Be still, quiet your mind...NOT THINK, just feel, and be mindful of only your body, and your breath.

Slow, deep, equal breaths (not holding your breath) for about a count of 10 works well to reset a peaceful mindset.

In through the nose... out through the mouth... In through the nose... out through the mouth, etc.

As you practice this breathing technique it’s important to be mindful of your personal energy and how it too ebbs and flows w/ your breath. As you breathe in, take in the energy around you, as you breathe out, release the extra pent up energy w/in you.

It is, literally, “so easy a child can do it” (and, as a matter of fact, my 10-year-old autistic child practices mindful breathing technique with great results, when he gets overwhelmed by outside stimuli).

Grounding is cleansing, its self-healing and rejuvenating; and being mindful of your breath can be practiced in any situation and w/in any challenge.

Simply being mindful of the life-giving force of the air around us can give us a moment of clarity and transform any chaotic moment into a manageable moment of stillness w/in the storms we tackle each day.