One of my amazing mentors of The Feldenkrais Method, Jeff Haller, taught me many years ago what the concept of grounding actually means – from a martial arts perspective – and I’d love to share it with you.
First of all, most people say to themselves, “I need to get grounded”, or movement instructors might instruct, “Root yourself into the earth – get grounded”, but really what does this all mean anyways?
For me, the thought of rooting myself into the ground doesn’t give me a very good sense of mobility. I’d much rather be free to move and act.
Wouldn’t you?
Now, obviously this is open to interpretation, but from an ancient martial arts perspective (think of the movement arts such as Tai Chi, Judo, Aikido etc.) grounding means to bring the energy of the earth up and through us…..for action!
I’ll repeat….
Grounding means to bring the energy of the earth up and through us.
By doing this, it gives you an ability to move with lightness, quickness and with amazing internal strength that can go in all directions.
The fact that our body movement must be activated via our thinking brain (aka: our prefrontal/neocortex) also means our ability to think, create and be more human gets lighter and more efficient.
This is the true brain-body connection.
I have an audio sessions that will help you discover this sense of grounding in just a few minutes.
It is a simple standing scan that is ~10 minutes long.
It will help you orient to a better place in which to find efficient standing posture. Click here to access it. {go HERE for the full post that explains it}
There are many ways to experience and help cultivate this quality of grounding that doesn’t crazy glue your feet into one place.
Irene
