Bring yourself closer to earth to support you through the anxiety this summer of heatwaves and drought might have made you feel.
Lying on the ground, the sun filtering through the leaves of the greengage tree in our garden, I saw a dragonfly scout out our pond, watched the Swifts swirl high above me, found shapes in the white clouds drifting through the blue sky and felt the warm breeze on my skin. I sank down into the earth, feeling it hold me, my breathing slowed, my tight eyes and forehead softened and for a moment the to-do list faded and I was just me, here on this patch of land interwoven with all the other living beings around me.
During these turbulent times and after a summer of heatwaves and drought, I have felt the need to ground myself more than ever before. Perhaps you have felt the same too?
This nature practice to ground yourself during times of overwhelm is one that I come back to again and again. It is a practice I guide folk through in my year-long programme, Rewild Your Soul and one of many from the programme that will share in the coming months.
Get close to the earth | A grounding nature practice
When you feel disconnected from the earth the best way to ground yourself is to get close to it. This nature practice invites you to lie down outside on the bare earth in a place where you feel safe to do so.
Go through your senses
As you lie there, begin to go through your senses. Perhaps you notice the sound of wind in the trees. Perhaps you see sunlight glinting through the leaves. Maybe a bird in the sky, or the clouds rushing past high above you. Maybe you can smell the moss you’re lying on, and feel with your fingers the dry earth.
Deep listening
Begin to imagine yourself sinking into the earth, merging with it, and feel your body come alive with listening, like you have little ears all over your limbs, torso and head. Imagine all of your hair follicles - standing, listening, feeling. If your mind wanders, that’s fine, just bring it back to the rhythm of your breath or the feeling on your skin.
Notice the fleeting moments when the mind-chatter fades and you become fully present, lying on the earth
Stay here for as long as you need to.
When you’re ready to move on, get up slowly, thank the earth, and gently carry on with your day feeling a little more connected, calm and grounded. This moment will stay with you and might even change what you do next.
I’d love to know if you’ve tried this practice and how it’s affected you. It doesn’t need to take long and doesn’t need to be anywhere super “wild” - a garden, local park or a bed next to an open window - will all work. Even one to two minutes lying on the earth will change how you feel.
Study after research study have shown that when you’re outside, fully present, your nervous system is recalibrated. Your cortisol levels go down. Your breathing slows. Your heart rate slows.
Why we need to reconnect nature during times of anxiety
When in a state of worry and anxiety we can easily spiral into despair, triggering our fight, flight or freeze response. While the worry and anxiety is a completely normal reaction to the times we are living in - our very home is being threatened and we feel helpless to stop the threat - it can keep us stuck. Perhaps pretending it’s not happening, fighting against it until we reach burnout or running as far from it as possible; none of these responses are helpful in the long-term.
While I understand why the apocalyptic, dystopian futures are in the forefront of our collective imagination - they are a possibility - I also find them unhelpful in helping me to keep going in creating a more loving, just world for people and planet.
My relationship with the living world is vital to keeping the hope, joy and motivation alive to imagining a better future and working towards that future with the gifts I hold and the influence I have.
How this practice will change you
This grounding practice seems so easy. I can almost hear the disbelieving “you’re just telling me to lie on the ground, Agnes” reactions. But I wonder when you last tried it? To let yourself lie there and notice the movement around you in your body? To lie there until the never-ending to do list disappears, even if for a few seconds and you are fully present - a moment of deep listening, deep attention, deep noticing. A moment that will stay with you for a long time.
Repeating this practice over and over, weaving in these little pockets of grounding and connection throughout your day, throughout your weeks, will build up and begin to inform how you live your life:
Maybe you’ll just take that a little bit longer with a cup of tea outside, bare feet on the ground, before sitting down at the computer or scanning your phone for emails? Maybe, as you sit at your desk, you’ll glance outside and notice the light falling through the leaves, just as you had when you were lying on the ground? Maybe when things are chaotic at home and work and life you remember what you need is to lie down on the earth for a moment. And maybe, from this grounded place you’ll be able to see a more loving world and start building it where you are, right now?
I hope this practice supports you during these strange times.
Let me know how you got on.
