Grounding is incredibly helpful during this time of global instability. What is grounding? My simple definition is: keeping your mind and awareness in your body. It’s being in the present moment.

All of our fears and anxieties are not rooted in the here and now; they are future oriented. Our body is like the root system of a tree. It keeps us connected to and supported by the Earth, grounded in this moment. Our body can only be in the Now, while our mind travels out in all directions, draining us of our life force.

As we stay centered in our body, we feel calm and stable. Practicing even 5 or 10 minutes of grounding can be highly beneficial. It’s a great way to start your day and minimizes our reactivity to outside forces like the news and social media.

Here’s some suggested practices to help you ground:

1. Take care of your body. Get enough sleep, exercise, eat healthy food and hydrate. This is the first crucial step. If you are sleep deprived or going through sugar highs and lows, you will feel unstable and be more susceptible to worry and fear.

2. Spend time in nature. Nature is incredibly calming and grounding. Your body and mind slow down and align to the rhythm of Mother Earth.

3. Mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness is perhaps easier than other types of meditation because it doesn’t have a complicated technique. You can simply scan your body and notice what you’re sensing and feeling. This brings your energy back to your body and helps center you. Headspace is a good free app that can guide you through this.

4. Mind/body practices such as yoga or meditative martial arts keep your awareness in your body and naturally ground you. There are a lot of great free videos on Youtube.