Feeling grounded
Growing up in Somerset, nature was part of life. Days were spent out in the garden or in the fields, we felt the journey of the day unfold and intuitively knew when the seasons were changing. Spring brought out tentative bare feet and winter encased them in wellies. Being able at any point to walk outside my front door and put my feet onto the grass, feel the ground beneath me and feel nurtured was something I grew up experiencing, without necessarily realising how grounded it was keeping me.
Moving to London meant nature took a backseat to city life. Having gone from being able to walk outside my front door into a garden strewn with trees and plants, I was now dependent on local parks to get my green fix. Life became busy, work became all encompassing and I traded days surrounded by green to days stuck in an office chair - days chasing butterflies for hours chasing down deadlines. Busyness became a lifestyle in its own right and as I grew through my twenties I often struggled to feel I knew my place in the world.
When I first started studying yoga philosophy we learnt about the chakras and started at the very bottom of them - the root chakra, known in Sanskrit as Muladhara Chakra. Your root chakra is your root support - it’s the system underneath us that keeps us stable and connected. The same feeling you get when you walk barefoot in the grass, feel the soil under your toes and know that you are held in place, safe. This is how I see the root chakra. Something we can turn to that is within ourselves and keeps us centred, no matter what life throws at us. As we learned more about the root chakra we were introduced to the idea of visualising a tree - seeing its trunk held upright, knowing that underneath a complex system of roots keeps it fixed in place. When storms come the branches may whip around, the leaves may be stripped bare, the bark may take a battering, but still the tree stands, proud and stable; continuing to take nourishment from the earth, and all thanks to being firmly rooted in place.
My favourite tree is a Morton Bay fig and is the beautiful picture that accompanies this post. It’s old, and grand and has branches that reach down and connect with the earth. As I explored the root chakra this tree was the visual that came to mind. Visualising the tree in yoga practice or meditation can help us to feel stable in times of trouble. What are the qualities of the tree that we can manifest and how can we feel rooted and grounded as we go about our busy lives?
Because they are busy, and they’re not getting quieter. We are in a culture that celebrates busy-ness and achievements; moving fast, climbing the ladder, learning quickly and collecting experiences. Burnout is a regular term and everybody knows somebody hitting their peak and struggling with where to go next. Like the branches in a storm, we are all being whipped around, and some of us struggle more than others to feel connected to the ground during the turmoil.
Connecting with the root chakra is a really simple way of taking a moment to centre ourselves. Find a moment of peace, of balance, and ground ourselves in the present moment. Sitting or standing, we bring our awareness to the points in our body that are connected to the earth, to the ground under your feet holding you in space and time. Bringing to mind the qualities of a tree (go ahead, pick your favourite - hold it in your mind) we can start to feel the influence of its steadying qualities. It’s like that little shot of nature you get walking barefoot in the grass, something that can offer us a moment of balance and reflection to help keep us grounded.
Flow with Fi yoga is on a mission to help busy people find balance. To ground down, find what keeps us stable and spend time connecting with it. To welcome nature in and revel in its nurturing qualities. What keeps you grounded when you feel the storm coming?
