Grounding At Home
by Raven Taylor
It started with my morning coffee. At some point I realised that I began everyday, while drinking said coffee, on my phone- checking for notifications, catching up on messages, convinced that somehow the world needed my attention from the second I woke up. And there was always something waiting that did need my attentions- a watts app chat from my hobby group that had gained a flurry of exchanges, a message from my Mum, an email about a work assignment…Dealing with them all as soon as I woke up often spoiled my morning coffee and set the tone for the rest of the day- that I should be available and on call at all times. It wasn’t a good way to start the day, and so I decided to make a simple change: I wouldn’t look at my phone until after my coffee, I would instead go outside and just do nothing. On nice days I didn’t even put my shoes on. I would just stand there, feeling the earth under my feet and what at first started off as just a time to hit pause, soon became a way of reconnecting to myself, and of feeling more grounded.
I was never one for wellness trends and I had never paid much mind when I heard people talking about grounding, but there was always something oddly comforting about being barefoot outside, even just for ten minutes. The science of it, I discovered, involves the earths magnetic fields which we can’t connect with when we wear rubber souled shoes. I can’t pretend to know exactly how this works, but I know how it feels- like I’m reforging a deep connection I had long ago forgotten.
I live in an ordinary house with a slightly unruly garden. I often describe it as ‘managed wild’. There’s grass that’s often a bit long, old stone slabs, mud, dirt, gravel. Sometimes I step on a sharp stone and I might curse a bit, but that’s all part of reminding me how to feel the world with my whole body and that there is so much more going on beyond the screen of my phone. My daily morning ritual has grown- I make the effort to pause and be reconnect in the mid-afternoon now too.
I don’t have a checklist, or a reminder to do this everyday, and yes, sometimes my routine slips and sometimes I forget to step outside and ground myself altogether. But when I do take the time to put my bare feet on the ground and earth myself I tend to have a better day. If I am especially stressed with the pressures of working from home it can really help me reset- even if it is just taking five minutes to sit at the back door in the winter with my feet on those old flagstones.
One thing I have learned is that the earth will always be there- its quiet and invisible electric field is always waiting for you to tap in. It doesn’t take a huge effort either- all you have to do is pause long enough to feel it.
So next time you are feeling the stress of family life, or the pressures of working from home, why not take a few moments to go outside and feel the grass between your toes, or the warmth of a sun warmed stone slab on your souls. You might just find that it makes your day!
