Empaths and grounding
Empaths and expectations...
Meet Peter and Paul, they are brothers and they are both empaths. Paul is two years older than Peter. Sons of an attorney and a yoga teacher, they inherited the empathic predisposition from their mother.
Paul was the first born, and their father "claimed" him. He was going to follow his footsteps. When Peter was born, they were happy; but the father main expectations were already on Paul, so Peter took over the responsibility to be the messy one, and mama´s boy.
Their parents never actually talked with them about their expectations. But being both empaths, and crystal children with the ability to condense reality, they actually grew to meet them.
Paul was straight A´s and Peter lived in detention. Paul hardly drank and Peter... well, his weekends were blurry for a while...
Paul was all day reading, studying and getting informed; while Peter spent most of his days outdoors playing with his dog, swimming in the lake or riding anything he could find.
When they finished high school Paul went right to collage, while Peter took a sabbatical year to cross the country on his bike (and find out what he wanted to do with his life).
They met again after that year... Peter discovered his passions: he decided to become a ranger and wild life photographer. While Paul discovered he was trapped in a life that was made out of left over dreams.
What is the real difference between the two? Grounding.
The power of grounding
At first glance we can infer that the main reason why Paul is so unhappy while Peter found his true place is the difference in expectations. But actually it is not. The expectations over Peter could have led him to gang life, drugs or who know what... what made Peter able to use the expectations in his advantage while Paul fell completely in the trap was Peter´s love for the outdoors, and his dog (animal empath, maybe?).
To spend so much time outdoors gave Peter regular time away from emotional contamination, natural grounding, while toning his body so he could hold bigger amounts of energy.
That is what made the difference. If the boys had grown up in an apartment building, with no green around, Peter might have ended up in very bad shape.
Grounding, flushing and Myths
Grounding and flushing use similar techniques. The main difference between them is the direction of the flow. This is something that took me some time to figure out, and actually had it all wrong for a long time (this lense had to be rebuilt for example and most of the original information moved to Empaths and Flushing).
Still you will find that most places hold that mistake: they use flushing and grounding as the same thing (that is to flush energy toward the material world), while at the same time you will find the term grounded related with the process of being in contact with Earth as a reservoir which implies flow in both directions.
If you are looking for flushing techniques, you can visit Empaths and Flushing.
I wouldn´bother about the direction of the flow if it didn´t had very clear consequences. The act of grounding bring in material frequencies into our systems, they are low vibrational frequencies and work over the health of the lower two chakras. To dismiss the importance of the lower chakras´ health and these frequencies is in the heart of lack of wealth, lack of physical health, poor relationships and untidiness (whether this is to ourselves, our home or our planet).
Another common misconception is to make a connection between low frequencies and distressing patterns. They are not, distress comes from the crash with disrupted wave packages (wave packages contain a set of frequencies and their amplitudes, and they carry both energy and momentum).
Bottom line, we need a healthy amount of ground energies and to honor our physical side, as it is the foundation where we raise toward more spiritual realms.
This lens is part of the book
Grounding Techniques
-Be in nature
-Yoga salutation
-Walk barefoot
-Use a grounding crystal
Spend time in Nature
This is the simpler and better of all techniques. Find a favorite spot where you can be in awe with the beauty of nature. Preferable not of man made nature mutilations, the more real the better.
Relax, clear your mind and let the feeling of "awe" guide you. That is the signal showing you the energy is actually flowing and fulfilling its purpose.
Yoga greeting technique
If you put intent into moving energy around and bringing grounding energy to your body, the yoga greeting pose (the more basic of them all) will do the trick. I do change it a bit when grounding is the intent and start it as low as I can (joint the tips of my fingers at belly button height), and the palms are facing down when they finish the circuit in a round movement around the sizes.
In the video bellow you can see the greeting, but without the changes.
Walk barefoot
In the grass or tile floor, just take the shoes off and feel the ground. If you walk barefoot, Zero law of Thermodynamics will come to the rescue and you will be flushing and grounding naturally depending on your body´s needs (almost without any active action from your part). Carpet or vinyl will not be good in this case, and wood... well, it will do something, but not as much as tile or grass. And it is better if it is in first floor than in a higher floor.
if you want to setup a scale of effectiveness from most to least:
grass (bare nature, dirt, the real thing) - tile - wood - carpet/vinyl
Yoga greeting
Grounding with Crystals
The base chakra is identified with the color red. And the second with the color orange. To ground these chakras to Earth think on red, brown and dark colors like black and grey. Most people I talked with find the pure black stones too strong and distressing to be in contact with for long periods of time.
Some Black and Gray Stones for Grounding
Black obsidian - This stone increases awareness of personal illusions, so we can push past those illusions and be more grounded in reality.
Hematite - This stone is an iron ore that often comes as a metallic gray but can also be black and red. It acts over emotional grounding, balancing opposing energies. It helps in focusing the mind and bringing peace to deal with emotional situations.
Onyx - Onyx provides strength in times of turmoil. Use it to stand your ground when principles are being threatened.
Smoky quartz - This crystal aids in grounding without losing the ability to see past physical survival issues to more spiritual concerns.
Some Red Stones used for grounding
Bloodstone - Also called heliotrope, bloodstone is a form of quartz that is dark green with red flecks. It's used for purification of the self and surroundings.
Garnet - This stone ranges in color, but red is the most popular. It has a stabilizing effect by breaking through chaotic thoughts, behavior and surroundings.
Red jasper - Besides being a good stone for protection, red jasper provides a sense of calm and gentle grounding. It also helps in completion of projects.
Ruby - Ruby crystals are used to release blocked energy and clean clogged chakras and also for protection against psychic attack. T
How to Ground with Crystals
Just have them around you, use them as jewelry, carry them on your pocket or apply them over the skin when meditating. Be careful of keeping crystals around you while you are sleeping, sometimes they have way too interesting effects.
Crystals are like a lil piece of Earth we can carry around, but being small in size they can get contaminated without energies (or those surrounding us). Leave them under the full moon, wash them or use the method you prefer to clean them up regularly.
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