Centering or Grounding is an important factor in developing a healthy rhythm or chi. Depending on your beliefs and practices, centering is often used prior to meditation or casting to help with better clarity and preventing unwanted energy transfer.
Lets begin with some basic principals in understanding this philosophy. Whether you are new to centering or a long-time practitioner, the first simple rules are always important to fall back on as a means of stable foundation. An example: think of building a house; you cannot start with the roof, you must ensure you have a firm and level foundation prior to building otherwise your structure wont last and could become compromised in the future.
Three basic practices:
Morning
Mid-Day
Evening
Starting the day off you want to have focused energy and be in a calm state of mind. A quick stabilization of your prospective is a simple and easy means in achieving this. It does not necessarily need to be a form of meditation, it can be a simple as sitting quietly, reading the paper or scrolling your news feed and sipping your morning coffee or tea. Another means is to visualize grounding when you leave your bed. Placing your feet firmly on the floor a moment, feeling the carpet, rug or wood beneath it. Allow yourself a few seconds of transferring your energy out of your feet and absorbing energy through your head. This may feel like a refresh awaking. There really is no right or wrong way of doing this, just take several moments to start your day in the right mind set. Leaving your house in a grumpy, off-putting mood will more than likely infect the remainder of your day or worse, your negative energy will be absorbed by someone else and will spread. (You ever feel grumpy and nappy and are curt with someone for no real reason? Then that person, who may have been in a good mood is now angry and is snapping at other people? Thats a transfer of energy.)
Mid-day is just as important as morning and night. Many feel that slump feeling, either being tired or having little to no energy. It is important to eat and re-boost your metabolism. One thing to avoid, which is hard for many, is to not rely on food or drinks for your energy. Taking soda, coffee or energy drinks may give you that boost feeling but the crash from these is far worse than it would be if regular burned energy was to wear off. Eating a fulfilling lunch and taking the time to center yourself if key in maintaining your positive energy flow. This means stepping away from your work if even just for 10-15 minutes. Take a short walk outside, look up at the sky or if its raining, watch the water puddles gather. Do anything to take your mind and focus off the task you will be doing the remained of the day. This allows your mind to re-set and gives your body the chance to expel any negative energy you have either absorbed or manifested.
Evening is the wind-down. Most feel that this isnt the most important time to worry about centering yourself but ensuring that you get a restful nights sleep is crucial in so many other aspects of life (especially self-care which is mentioned in another thread I have posted previously) Expelling negative thought sand energy can be done through meditation, breathing, grounding or even bathing. Taking a shower, once can visualize the negative energy you have stored, washing away from your body and going down the drain. Much of what you perceive can be done in a visual sense in your mind. If you are physically unable to do this, as some struggle with visualizations, you can physically wash yourself and then use whatever candles you have around to aid you in meditation.
There are many different forms of centering and grounding. These are just some basic guidelines towards developing techniques you might enjoy trying. Starting with these three basic areas (morning, mid-day and evening) can help you start to develop a good grid in maintaining your energy.
I am curious as to others who have developed their own methods. Please share what it is you do that helps keep you centered or grounded.
~Kaurora
