"Now and again, it is necessary to seclude yourself among deep mountains and hidden valleys to restore your link to the source of life. Breathe in and let yourself soar to the ends of the universe; breathe out and bring the cosmos back inside. Next, breathe up all fecundity and vibrancy of the earth. Finally, blend the breath of heaven and the breath of earth with your own, becoming the Breath of Life itself." - Morihei Ueshiba
Energy plays an important role in everything we do. It is the power that animates the physical world, causing the sun to shine, our bodies to move, making trees and plants grow and flourish; and it is the force that flows within us, the primary source of our emotions, thoughts and spiritual life. When stress, injury, and negative feelings disrupt our flow of energy, our quality of life is diminished – even if we are not aware of it!
With careful practice and meditation, we can learn to sense the energies within ourselves, and bring them into balance so that we may embrace our highest good.
One of the easiest and most effective ways to balance physical and spiritual energies is a technique known as “grounding and centering.”
Grounding
When you ground yourself you are either shedding your excess energy or replenishing yourself to balance your energy levels.
Grounding helps to prevent the body from becoming too tired or energetic and can replenish your energy after doing spiritual work or magick.
Here are some things you can do to help bring you back down to earth:
- Eating healthy & balanced
- Drinking water
- Walking barefood
- Laying on the floor
- Hugging a tree
- Sunshine/Moonlight
- Hiking in nature
- Yoga, Qigong, tai chi etc.
- Breathing Exercises
- Gardening
- Animals
- Being purposeful
- Carrying/working with crystals
- Visualization
Example of visualization:
The easiest and most helpful thing to imagine when you are trying to ground yourself is tree roots! Just imagine you have great long sturdy roots coming from the base of your feet (which should remain flat on the floor during the visualization), or, from the base of your spine if you are sitting directly on the floor. Just let these roots go right down in to the earth below and let them anchor you onto the earth.
Colour can also be quite helpful, deep earthy colours such as red, brown and terracotta are always good. Again just imagine that this colour surrounds you. You can imagine it as light or a cloak or blanket, whatever is easier for you.
Centering
"When you have a disease, do not try to cure it. Find your center and you will be healed. There are some things that can be sensed but not explained in words." – Taoist proverbs
Centering is a foundational skill for energy work.
Centering allows someone to centralize his or her power someplace inside the body.
This is beneficial because when casting a spell, or doing energy healing you will be able to access one center of power instead of your power being spread across your body.
Some teachers often compare this to “saving money in the bank for a rainy day.” Everyday you put a little energy in the bank. Then when you’re old or sick you have a nice big savings stored up and you can use it to stay healthy, active and vibrant.
Most people center themselves in the navel and I suggest that for now you do as well, but when you are more advanced you can put your center of power anywhere you wish. Some don't recommend storing it in the heart and head. And some claim that the most effective place to store energy is in the bone marrow of your entire body from head to toe.
At the end of any energy work, make certain to bring your dispersed energy back to your navel (or center of choice). This is very important. You don’t want your energy stuck up in your head or heart, as this can cause scatteredness and emotional problems—even Qi psychosis could result.
Basic technique to connect and feel your Tantien:
Sit down.
Place your fingers on your belly at the height of the hara, 2cm under the navel.
Breath in and push your fingers away from your belly with your muscles.
Breath out, the muscles that pushed your fingers out relax, and let the fingers go inside the soft muscles towards the center.
Let your exhales and the movement inside be longer than the inhale.
At the end of the long exhales, feel a contraction, in the center, inside your belly.
Stay there, a bit, until you feel the need to inhale again.
Then, with the next inhale, push your fingers away from the center again.
When you start to control the movement of the muscles, out and back in, you can remove your fingers.
Pushing your Tantien forward in your lower belly with the inhale and bringing it back to the center with the exhale, is the basic exercise for all the inner techniques of chi.
Practice this one as much as you can and your Tantien will become stronger and more present from day to day.
Shielding
I actually think this is the most important of the three skills, but unless you are grounded and centered, you′re not going to be able to shield very well. Once you are grounded and centered and put up your shield, then it will be harder for someone to knock you off your equilibrium.
Shielding is pretty much just what it says it is. It′s your suit of psychic armor that you put around yourself so that no one can impose their energy onto you, nor leach your energy for themselves. You′ll sometimes hear people talk about ‘psychic vampires.′
These are often people who drain the energy from those who are not properly shielded—sometimes without even knowing that they are doing it. Have you ever been in a room with someone and left feeling absolutely exhausted? They′ve drained your energy. Shielding can help you with this, whether it is in a magic circle, or just having to deal with a bombastic colleague or neighbor.
Ways of defense and clearing:
- Visualizing a force-field
- Visualization of white light
- Aura cleansing
- Using positive affirmations
- Smudging
- Meditation to strengthen the aura
- Mantra or repeated prayer
- Salt baths
- Essencial oils and herbs
- Protective imagery/jewelry/crystals
- Magic
For more information read my article: The threat of Psychic Attacks.
Tips
When you first start to ground, center, and shield you may feel that it′s all a bit complicated, but I promise you that if you remember to start every morning, this way it will become second nature to you.
Remember, there′s really no one right way to do this. We′re all unique. There are many techniques for grounding, centering and shielding and it is wise to look for those that work best for you.
Do you have a favorite technique? Tell us in the comments!
Do you have a favorite technique? Tell us in the comments!
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