How Being Grounded Helps You Lose Weight!

We hear it all the time – I just feel ungrounded, I need to get grounded – but do we really understand what that means when we say it? 

Grounded is that feeling when you feel very present in your body, and you feel connected to the earth.  Being grounded allows you to be more authentically you in the present moment and receive nourishing energy. You feel solid and stable when you are grounded in your body.

 When you are ungrounded, it is harder to do things that are important to you; making decisions is a struggle, and going off track of your goals is pretty typical.  When you can’t concentrate, feel spacey, and maybe you feel like you are sitting on a three-legged chair that is being ungrounded.  When you reacting quickly to your environment and other people’s feelings, that being ungrounded.  When you think and think about your feelings, that is being ungrounded.  I don’t know about you, but I know I experience all of these at least once or twice in a given day!

Interestingly enough, some of the most ungrounded people are those who carry excess weight. Many people who are highly sensitive to other people’s energy and emotions, who consider themselves co-dependent and even empaths put on weight in attempt to weigh themselves down. If that is the case for you, as it is for me, the body tries to use the weight to ground, shield, and create boundaries from the draining effects of other people’s energy but isn’t useful.  It is like your body becomes a container holding energy when it should be a vessel for energy to flow through.

Benefits of becoming more grounded are:

1)     You will feel more stable and focused

2)     Won’t take on other people’s energy as much

3)     Cuts down on stress and allows you to handle it better every day

4)     Calms your nervous system and gives you more inner peace

5)     It enables you to make better decisions and choices for yourself.

6)     Helps release energy you collected throughout the day and even throughout your lifetime

All of these benefits will then help you make better choices around food and exercise, resulting in losing that unwanted weight.

So knowing all of this, how are ways you can become more grounded.  There are many ways, but the majority of them revolve around your body:

1)     Get outside in nature at least 15 minutes a day, walk, run, lie on the ground, sit against a tree – all of these help you connect to the earth.  If you are able walking in barefoot is terrific to do

2)     All forms of exercise are grounding, but lifting weights, yoga, tai chi, kickboxing – movement that uses your legs help you become grounded.  Squats, tree pose, warrior pose are all good for grounding.

3)     Eat foods that come directly from the earth and red foods since that is color symbolic of grounding/rootedness.  Think root vegetables, garlic, onion, beets, pumpkin, carrots, turnips, radishes, tomatoes, strawberries, red swiss chard. 

4)     Massage, bodywork, reiki – all of those are grounding.  Actually one of things most of us do all the time – pedicures – can be incredibly grounding and if you pick a deep red color even better!

5)     Essential oils are extremely useful in helping you ground. Putting them on bottom of your feet helps them absorb well and re-balance your limbic system.  Essential oils to try are ones that tend to smell more woodsy or earthy. My favorites are  Vetiver (literally smells like dirt), cedarwood, pine, spruces, rosemary, frankincense. 

6)     Visualize roots (like a tree) coming out of your feet into the earth and connecting to the core of the earth.  You can do this anywhere and anytime, and it is highly effective.

7)     Music – something with strong bass is perfect for grounding.  Yes good old hardcore rock n roll works, old school r&b, and youtube is filled with music for grounding just search root chakra for a ton of recommendations.  My favorites are Meditative Mind and Powerthoughts Meditation.  And if you dance around shaking your hips a lot that grounds you too!

Now, knowing many tools you can use to ground yourself, I would suggest picking one or two that you are willing, able, and ready to do daily and try it for a week.  See how you feel after doing it consistently and let me know.  I’d love to hear about your experience.