Ground, grounded, grounding
The idea for this blog came from several things - a love of gardening and yoga, some emails I subscribe to and a film someone recommended to me.
I often like to start with definitions and was surprised at the number of different ones that came up when I searched the word ‘grounded’: ‘well-balanced and sensible’, ‘to be based firmly on something’, ‘sincere, practical’, ‘understand the importance of ordinary things in life’, ‘mentally and emotionally stable’ and ‘to be restricted to your home’. It is not often that you get so many different definitions of one word.
I now wonder whether the reason for my post may also have something to do with us being in lockdown for quite a while - being more or less confined to our homes - grounded - it’s just a thought.
I have been doing quite a bit of gardening and visiting garden centres recently, so the importance of soil and compost has been on my mind. One of the nurseries I visited is tucked away at the back of a house near where I live - what a wonderful find. It is called Making Life Beautiful and the money raised goes towards a local charity.
I have - with a little help - built a compost bin. The SoilAssociation talks about soil being ‘essential to life on earth. it’s declining health spells trouble for everyone’. They provide some great tips on how to look after our soil - open link to see these.
I have also made a ‘fairy’ circle in the wood where meetings have been held! Something which may interest you is Forest Bathing or even Naked Gardening https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Naked_Gardening_Day. Follow links for more information.
The film recommended to me by a friend is called Down to Earth. You may wish to have a look. It is about a family going on a five year journey and living with tribal communities around the world. The connection of these communities to the Earth is really moving.
Finally, in yoga, grounding is concerned with connecting with the Earth both physically and spiritually. On the physical level it is about particular yoga poses or asanas and working with the Root or base chakra. Spiritually, it is about meditation and chanting mantras, though all are connected in yoga. If you want to practice some of these, I recommend Grounding Yoga - Practice Happy Earth Day and Grounding into Gratitude - Root Chakra Yoga
I hope you have enjoyed reading this grounding blog. The next one will be ‘afloat’!
Take care, Pat