Are you Grounded?

By Lisa Wieben

Electricity needs to be grounded. Our body energies also need to be grounded. When we talk about grounding, we are bringing awareness to that feeling of stability, security, or calm that gives us the ability to deal with life’s ups and downs more easily. Grounding your internal energy while walking barefoot on grass or spending time at a beach are great ways to ground and connect with the earth, and unfortunately not always available. But, there are simple ways to affect your energy.

Stomach points

Kidney 1 Point. The location of this point will vary from person to person, but massaging around the area will cover it.

Tiredness, irritability, forgetfulness, insomnia, feeling ‘spacey’, difficulty focusing on a task, being off-balance, as well as sore feet could be signs that you are un-grounded. When we are stressed our energy moves up and we can ‘get stuck in our head’ with neverending chatter. We are no longer feeling our way through situations, but reacting to them. Our energetic body shifts from a state of balance and our horses can pick up on this shift in us and may become worried, spooky, or nervous. We are no longer a secure figure in their life, but something that causes them to worry or be nervous. Horses can certainly be a mirror!

The easiest way to think about grounding is to picture a tree. The roots of trees spread out wide and deep to support the tree above. The roots bring in nutrients from the soil and move them up the trunk to the branches and leaves. Then the leaves bring in nutrients from the sun, rain, and the environment. As the wind blows the tree stays grounded. Now imagine your body is the tree. As you ground you are bringing in the beautiful yin energy of the earth, which moves up through the body, and then the yang energies from above move down through the crown chakra and down the body into the earth. There is a constant exchange of energy up and down and throughout your body. Now, as you do this, be sure to take slow, deep, cleansing breaths. Perhaps imagining the energy coming in on the inhale, and then releasing anything you don’t need, to the earth on the exhale.

When we are ungrounded this flow of energy is blocked in some way. First we will address the feet since this is our connection to the ground. Massage each foot, top and bottom. Run your fingers down from the ankle to the toes between the tendons giving any sore spots some extra attention. On the bottom of the foot, pay particular attention to the middle of the foot, down from second toe and across from the widest point of the foot. This point in Centered Riding and Tai Chi is called the ‘Bubbling Spring’ and is a balance point of the foot. In Chinese Medicine this point is the first point on the kidney meridian where the earth energy enters the body. Massaging this point is said to ‘calm the spirit’. The sides of the foot and top of the foot also contain the spleen, bladder, gallbladder, stomach, and liver meridians, so massaging the foot helps to send energy throughout the body.

Now imagine your body is like a battery. Cells have + and - charges and our body has a north and south polarity. Rub your hands together briskly then slowly take them apart and closer together without touching. Can you feel a resistance between your hands? Your hands are like magnets with the palm being the south side of the magnet and the back of the hand being the north. Like repels like so after you have built the charge your hands will repel each other. Energy practitioners move energy with their hands. When we are ungrounded the polarity of the body may flip or be the same charge top and bottom. An easy way to ground is by rubbing the feet with a stainless steel spoon (one that a magnet will stick to). This realigns the polarity.

Position of foot in stirrup. The stirrup iron is perpendicular to the horse and the foot is on a slight angle to prevent tension on the knees Use one or two hands above the head of the tail. This is an Endorphin Release Point.

Rub the bottom and top of the foot. Keep a spoon by your bed so you can spoon your feet quickly in the morning and/or at night. A simple way to bring your energy back down after a long day.

One more way to ground is to tap the stomach meridian points just below your cheek bones and in line with the middle of the eye. This is the second point on the meridian and it sends energy around the face and back down the body to the second toe effectively sending the energy to the ground. Take 3-4 deep breaths while tapping.

While horses are naturally very grounded animals, they are no longer living ‘naturally.’ Their living arrangements, stress from

competitions and travel, can lead to them being ungrounded. I have seen this, as well, when horses are dealing with emotions such as grief or worry. If our energy is ‘up in our heads’ when working with them, the more sensitive horses can react by becoming ungrounded. They may be seen as nervous, spooky, unsure, or in the case of grief, withdrawn. Doing the tree visualization above and tapping cheekbones while with your horse, while taking some long deep breaths can help you both become more grounded in the presence of one another. Also, holding both of your hands over the head of the tail, also known as an endorphin release point, while imagining that energy coming up from the earth into the horse and then moving back down deeply into the ground can also ground your horse.

When riding, keeping your ‘bubbling spring” point (kidney point) balanced on the stirrup (widest part of the foot on the stirrup) will help you to keep the feeling of stability while in the saddle. You do not need to press down on the stirrup, but just imagine that the foot is supported by the ground. We do not push down into the ground to stand, so we do not need to push our foot down to ride (post, etc.) Practice posting while standing on the ground to see how it feels before mounting up next time. See if you can find the same feeling as you ride.

After doing these exercises you may feel a change right away or it may take a few days. Be consistent and notice any differences in yourself and in your horse. Enjoy!

“Get yourself grounded and you can navigate even the stormiest seas in peace.” - Steve Goodier Lisa Wieben is a Bach Flower Level 1, an Essential Somatic Clinical Practitioner, an Eden Method Clinical Practitioner, a Centered Riding Instructor, Equine Canada Competition Coach, and Irwin Insights Level 7 Coach. Her passion is developing Confident Healthy Riders. www. somaticrider.com

(See her listing in our Business Services section under TRAINERS)