How to Ease Pain with Grounding

Have you ever had an increase in pain and that lead to feelings of anxiety?
Have you ever snapped at a loved one as a result of your pain?
Do you feel irritable? Stressed?

Often when we experience pain, we lose connection or awareness (the inability to feel) of our body. Losing this connection with our body allows tightness, tension, stress, and held emotions get trapped and stored which then lead to the formation of fascial restrictions. This creates the possibility for the continuation of the pain cycle.

So how do we connect back into our body to relieve pain and stop creating new pain?

I’m glad you asked.

Grounding.

Have you ever gone for a walk barefoot on the beach and felt so relaxed after?
You were grounding yourself.
Grounding is a easy to use tool that will bring you back into your body.

Today I have 2 simple strategies to ground yourself daily that help with pain relief.

Ground Yourself Outside:

Sit or Stand with your bare feet in the grass or the earth, whatever is comfortable. Take a deep breathe in and exhale with your eyes closed. Feel the grass or earth under your feet. Feel the connection to the earth beneath you. Continue to inhale and exhale deeply for 5 minutes or longer, keeping awareness in the sensations and your connection to the earth.

Use Visualization to Ground:

Begin by sitting or standing in a comfortable position. Close your eyes and slow your breathing. Bring your awareness, attention or energy down to your feet. Feel your feet firmly planted on the floor beneath you. If you are sitting, feel your sits bones on the chair/ground. Allow your feet and spine to be supported by the ground while the rest of your body softens.

Using your imagination, see, feel, sense that there are roots that grow out through the bottoms of your feet connecting you in to the earth. See, sense or feel the earth energy being pulled up or drawn into your roots. Feel your feet sinking down into the ground. Continue softening, breathing and drawing up as much energy as you need before opening your eyes.

Your mind is powerful in changing responses within the body. I believe that there is a deep wisdom and creative side of us that heals us. One which has been unfortunately left out of our health care. Grounding is like riding a bicycle the more you do it the easier it will become! Eventually, you will be able to ground yourself just by feeling your feet.

And a bonus tip for you: Start grounding yourself throughout the day even several times a day. While brushing your teeth, driving in the car, before a conversation, the implementations of grounding are endless.

Unraveling chronic pain can be an ongoing journey that requires a whole body approach using integrated therapies. Implementing a grounding practice into your life helps to improve all of the other therapies or treatments that you are supported by.

Remember, you are not alone in dealing your chronic pain. There is hope for you!

Reference: The Comprehensive Myofascial Self Treatment Guide by Joyce Karnis PT