What's Up with Getting Grounded?

This post is Part 2 of my Q & A with Leah!

Leah says: "I was also wondering if you could tell me what exactly is grounding...I heard it in class a few times but I'm still not sure what or why we need to do it or what poses qualify as grounding and why."

Grounding is an interesting and surprisingly complex topic. I'm glad you asked because it's something I struggle with in my own practice. I even did my Final in teacher training on it. (Teach a short class of 4 poses with a theme integrated throughout) Technically my theme was "In the face of chaos seek steadiness/reliability" and grounding poses were how I taught it, but I digress. This post was going to be really long, so I chopped it up into incomplete sentences and whatnot.

Grounding is rooting = becoming one with the ground to become more stable. Like a tree - with all those roots digging deep into the ground they are super-grounded. When you "ground" you root your energy down, which helps you feel physically strong and mentally clear.

Grounding helps stabilize your energy and emotions. It keeps you steady and calm.
Rooting down in a pose allows you greater height/length to reach Up.

Synonyms to help you find more grounding things: Support, strength, solid, firm, pressing.

Examples: Warrior poses, chair pose, bridge, hero pose, child's pose, squats like garland pose, staff pose, seated forward bends. Just about any standing pose with both feet on the earth, hip openers, seated poses, just about anything keeping you close to the ground.

Things that are NOT grounding: balancing poses (especially if you're standing on one leg), inversions (you have to root down, but then down is up), being a flyer in Acroyoga, too much flow - if you don't spend enough time being still the energy is too frenetic to ground you, flying in planes - even the floor isn't stable, being carried.

This is the final section of Leah's questions from the weekend, but don't forget that I am always accepting questions. I do loooove getting them.