Grounding In Nature: a beautiful practice for empaths.

Using the power of imagination to ground while in nature can help sensitive empaths come back to their best energy.  It’s adaptable to all seasons, and all places that have a bit of nature.

Empaths can be jangled by energy around them, whether that be other peoples’ emotions, sometimes intense or withdrawn.  Empaths can be particularly sensitive to modern life lit with screens emitting light and noise.  They can be rattled by any intense action or energy. We feel it all!

One way empaths can take care of their energy each day while spending time in nature is to ground. Grounding can be described as physically being in contact with the earth or it can involve using the power of imagination, imagining yourself supported and/or rooted in the earth.

Grounding helps with deep relaxation. It helps relax nervousness and it quells anxiety.  It can help lift depressive symptoms. It is sometimes described as allowing the body to enter a sort of meditation.  Isn’t that a nice idea? 

Grounding in the physical sense involves direct skin contact with the ground such as walking barefoot on soil, sand, grass, or moss.  You can ground by swimming in natural bodies of water such as rivers, lakes, and oceans.  I like to include hugging or leaning against a tree as a form of grounding. 

Perhaps hugging or leaning against a tree is not technically a physical way to ground, but it’s a handy one to keep in your repertoire of grounding because it offers a few advantages. Hugging a tree can be useful in spaces where you wouldn’t want to remove your shoes, such as while visiting a city park. Another advantage is that you can embrace a tree any time of the year. You can hug a tree if you are in a park or it’s wintertime and the temperatures are way too cold to remove your boots.  

No matter where you are and what time of the year it is, hugging a tree can also foster a sense of connection.  Hugging a tree can increase oxytocin, the love hormone, which enhances feelings of bonding and connection.  This can help combat loneliness and provide emotional comfort. It helps improve emotional regulation. 

As long as you are comfortable in the space, grounding can activate the parasympathetic nervous system, allowing the body to rest and digest.  As the body relaxes, it can repair.  Regular relaxation fills your reserves, reducing fatigue, allowing you more energy for the rest of your day.

Currently, studies on grounding are very limited, but it’s possible that grounding offers a myriad of physical benefits.  It is thought to reduce inflammation.  In my experience, it helps with headaches and cramps.  I like to combine grounding in nature with the intention to ground, so both physical grounding and using my imagination, for the full experience of being supported by the earth.

For empaths and over-givers, the following sequence can be particularly helpful to feel more centered, manage emotional overwhelm, and create healthier boundaries.

First, chose how you want to ground today:

• Direct contact with the earth, such as walking barefoot, lying on a natural fibre blanket, or hugging a tree. These are great options when the weather is nice.
• Hugging or leaning against a tree can happen almost any day and it’s adaptable to any space with trees. 
• Swimming in a natural body of water.

Take a deep breath and slow down. 

Allow your body and mind to relax in this moment.  With intention, bring your good energy back to you.   Imagine your energy as light and bright, perhaps even sparkling. 

Imagine boundaries surrounding your energy. 

It can be a good idea to imagine boundaries as transparent so that you can see through them.  You can imagine them intact, perhaps shiny and smooth so they can deflect anything you don’t want.  Your boundaries make it easy to differentiate between what’s yours and what’s not. 

Taking care of your energy is a beautiful gift to offer yourself.

Remember to breathe.

What in your environment supports you? Feel yourself supported by the land or water on earth. 

If you are sitting or standing on the earth, notice the support of the land.  If you’re leaning against a tree, imagine how the tree might feel rooted in the ground.  It is also supported by the earth.  You’re sharing this space and moment together.  If you are swimming, notice the water and how it feels to be supported, to be perhaps floating in the water.

Notice of all the ways you are connecting to life. 

Can you hear birds? Do you see any other plants or trees? Can you hear other humans? Allow the moment to be.  Life is teeming around you.  Affirm that you are supported, and your energy is stable.

If your day is stressful or it’s intense with energy buzzing around you, you sensitive empath, try grounding.

The intention to ground in nature brings the focus back to yourself and helps you feel supported.  Grounding is a way to care for your energy, offering your mind and body a sense of greater peace and stability.

If you would like to know more about nature connection as a form of self-care, check out my new book called Stellar.

Thanks, and I hope you have a chance to take it outside today. 🌿