For the first time in quite a while, I’ve been waking up feeling lighter and sprightly.
This was in sharp contrast to the last few months: I would often wake up with such a heaviness and anxiety that it was hard to get out of bed, let alone start the day.
These weren’t any quantifiable anxieties either. It was more of a base feeling of heaviness that was clouding my existence. It was extremely debilitating. The ‘logical’ solutions weren’t working.
But a few days ago, something changed quite dramatically.
In a nutshell, I felt more ‘myself’. In fact, I intentionally spent more effort feeling into myself too. I shifted the focus back onto me and solely on my own existence. This is subtly, but fundamentally different to what I was doing before. Before, I was looking at me, but only insofar as my relation to the wider world – what my role is and what I offer within it.
It’s a little crazy how such a small tweak has brought about a real energetic shift. It’s as if I’ve plugged in a big missing puzzle piece. Suddenly everything feels brighter and makes more sense.
I never really understood the term ‘grounding’ before. I kind of got it – I heard it during yoga classes or meditation. I thought it as some form of being conscious of our breathing and returning to the body.
Now, I understand that there is a far more transcendental nature to truly grounding ourselves.
The true effect of grounding is transporting ourselves to a separate, quantum realm. It’s like the scene in the Matrix where Neo is put into a training simulation and everything apart from him is just white space.
In this realm, our responsibilities, relations, expectations and identities melt away. We just exist. All that is left is us.
It is in this space that we can strip away all of life’s stresses. It’s the place where the only thing to look at is ourselves. It’s here that I can see that actually, I am happy with myself. I have done the work and my path of self-actualisation to see that things are good. I can also calm the worried thoughts. Anxieties such as thoughts that I’m not enough, not likeable enough, too fat, or too complicated. Such thoughts can be left to evaporate into the emptiness.
When I return to the ‘real’ world, I am calmer and more focussed. When I access that inherent, internal joy, it becomes my starting point on how I react to the world.
I realise that such a grounding ritual has become fundamental to my existence. My capacity for emotional sensitivity and connection has increased exponentially with further spiritual work. But this means I am ever-more susceptible to being sucked into the negativities of other people or events. It’s in these moments I now realise it’s vital I return to ‘my self’. It’s critical that this is the starting point for all my interactions.
I did start wondering what this ‘self’ I am returning to actually is. I’ve avoided the question for a long time because I found it an impossible one to logically answer. The rabbit hole of trying to rationalise it is a path to insanity.
Now, I come to the conclusion that being our ‘self’ is something that is felt, not thought. It is beyond words and rational thoughts. Our self is paradoxically our most stable basis for existence, yet at the same time is an everchanging creation which we can meld to our will.
True grounding is returning to this zen like state whenever we need it. Whether it’s during a moment of anger or in a prolonged moment of anguish such as coping with death.
It is available to all. Including you.
Creating access to it will change your life.
If you’re interested, I can help.