I've bedn having trouble with properly grounding. The first few attempts I just thought it was becuase of my mindset at the time. I tried last night but it feels like I couldn't "Get" it right.
Grounding, like everything, takes time and practice, it's never instantaneous and can take a lot of trial and error to get it to feel 'right' for you. I would suggest trying a different method, not everyone will resonate with one technique, if the one you are trying doesn't feel right for you, give another a go and don't get too disheartened, you will find a technique that works for you and tips to help with your mindset if that is ever a problem in focus.
Taking some time to reflect on what you feel it means to 'ground' may also help. Like 'centering', the term can be pretty ambiguous in use. Especially for novices who haven't really had it properly defined.
Grounding is used mainly for two reasons;
First, as a purposeful act to bring your thoughts and focus back to normal. (Ie, back to mundane attention) This is typically done at the end of a working or meditation, and involves doing some mundane mild activities like having some water, doing a few seconds of light physical movement, or consciously directing your thoughts back onto every-day life. It is comparable to doing a couple stretches or splashing water on your face after a good sleep to get yourself alert again.
Secondly, it is a mental exercise to release or send away excess or unwanted energy. Typically by moving it out of yourself and into the ground, hence the apropos name. Some have a tendency to see this practice as one of pushing things out or otherwise actively removing energy. I see it more like an act of releasing or letting go. It isn't a matter of pushing away energy or forcing out negative thoughts, but one of letting go. If this area is where you are struggling, try focusing on the concept of just relaxing and allowing the excess energies to fall away. The change in perspective is subtle, but might help.
A lot of people consider grounding simply a way to get rid of the excess or unwanted. However, I find it much better used as an exchange, and more than just the earth or ground. It's why I like a particular version of tree visualization, and one using either the top of a mountain or the nebulous concept of levitation in endless sky, and aspects of the Middle Pillar exercise (MPE) and the Qabbalistic Cross (QC)
In each of these, a symbolic connection is made with what is both above and below. With the tree, it is roots and branches. With the clouds, it's feeling surrounded by the air, and maybe the mountain being sat upon. With the QC and MPE, it's the light of the eternal. The practitioner releases that which is within and accepts that which is desired from without.
Sometimes I'll use concepts from certain song lyrics (Jorn's song A Thousand Cuts: "Burn your mind of venom, and force it to the ground) when I want some extra assistance. But the song also contains accepting what is, rather than just pushing away the unwanted thoughts.
Again, I find grounding a give and take, and not just a getting-rid-of.
