Podcast: 8 Tips For Grounding

Grounding your body can help you both physically and mentally, leading to a boosted immune system and better quality of life.

Do you find yourself being clumsy, perhaps bumping into furniture or dropping things? (I’ve had a few mystery bruises). Do you find yourself walking into a room and wondering what you went there for? Are you suffering from any illness, pain or inflammation? Do you ever feel dizzy or spaced out, perhaps losing concentration at work? Are you forgetful or lose track of time? Do you sometimes have difficulty understanding others, or making yourself understood? And one that rings true for me, do you get little electric shocks in your fingers from touching certain items? These are all signs that could indicate that you are possibly ungrounded.

The Earth has a subtle electrical charge that means for safety reasons, all electrical appliances have a special earthing cable. We too have electrical current in our bodies and so things can play up if we aren’t earthing or grounding ourselves effectively, or at all. There are a whole host of indications and studies that have been done on the benefits of grounding, such as neutralising free radicals, improving sleep, reducing pain and inflammation, helping with stress management and improving the immune system.

So, I’m offering you my favourite of the tips I’ve tried and integrated into my wellbeing routine.

Listen in YouTube or SoundCloud below, or scroll past to read it as a Blog.

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Liz Findlay Healing · Podcast – 8 Tips For Grounding with Liz Findlay

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Look out for the Express Morning Grounding & Protecting Meditation I’ve specially recorded for you on YouTube and SoundCloud.

8 Tips For Grounding

1). Feet on the Ground

The most talked about tip is to walk barefoot on the ground, preferably in soil or on grass, to be able to come into direct contact with the negative ions that the Earth emits, helping our bodies to rebalance energetically. Being barefoot gives you direct contact with a surface that conducts the energy, unlike our modern shoes often made out of rubber or other synthetic materials that interrupt that connection with the earth. We can also find ourselves living and working in high rise buildings, feeling very disconnected from the earth, and so even just standing in soil for a few moments can help you tremendously. Sandy beaches are also great for this to take your shoes off and feel the grains of sand on the soles of your feet and in between your toes.

2). Imagining Roots

Another way to connect energetically to the Earth is to imagine roots growing from the soles of your feet, deep into the earth and this can be done indoors, or in addition to being barefoot on the ground outside. This one is my favourite as no will in the world is going to get me outdoors and barefoot in winter, and I’m not sure I’m ready for a friend’s suggestion of keeping a tray of soil in my home to stand in. If you’re concerned about your visualised roots going through other people’s space or energy fields, perhaps a neighbour or housemate’s room below, then just visualise your roots going out through your window and then down into the earth, completely bypassing whatever and whoever is in the building below you. Perhaps even surround them with gold light if they’re travelling outside of your space.

3). Recharge Your Feet and Legs

Another one for when it’s chilly outside is to stomp your feet on the ground to recharge them and get the energy flowing. While feeling the connection to the earth with each stomp, you immediately feel more present and are sending some of your energy down into the ground to be earthed. It stimulates the soles of your feet, which brings your focus from your mind back to your body. A technique I use to gently bring my clients back into their bodies after an in-person healing is to press points on the soles of their feet. So, you can do this with your own feet, just pressing or gently massaging your feet to bring your awareness back to your body. Another way to energise your legs is to pat your hands up and down your legs or even to rub your legs vigorously to stimulate the energy flow. This is especially helpful to bring you back into a state of awareness after a meditation, massage or any sort of self-care pampering.

4). Engaging the Senses

There are a few mindfulness techniques that bring you back into your awareness, activating the physical by engaging your senses. This can be very grounding, especially for people with anxiety. One technique is to look around the room or space you’re in pointing out different shapes to yourself. You might see a window and say “square”, a clock on the wall and say “circle”, a book and say “rectangle”. Similarly, you can look around your environment and point out different colours to yourself. There’s also the 5,4,3,2,1 technique where you use all 5 senses. You can mix up the order of the senses, but I generally suggest trying to find 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell and 1 thing you can taste. This is because it might be challenging to find 5 things you can taste if you’re not having a meal. Ideas of things to focus on are perhaps hearing birds tweeting, touching the texture of your clothing, hearing car noises, touching the smooth screen of your mobile phone, tasting a beverage, seeing your shoes, hearing background music, smelling food, touching the cool metal of a handrail, hearing people talking, and so forth. A great technique as it’s so easy to do in public without anyone wondering what you’re up to.

5). Hugging

I love ending workshops off with this one, especially if it’s been a day of venturing off into the mind a lot. The more we feel back into the body, the more we can feel a connection with the earth and ground ourselves. It also releases the feel-good hormone called oxytocin, which lowers stress hormones creating a calming effect. So, you don’t need to necessarily go and find a tree to hug, although that’s a wonderful experience too if you’re not self-conscious in the park, as even a self-hug has been shown to be beneficial in lowering cortisol and heart-rate. Self-hugs are known as “havening” and a great way to release oxytocin if you’re not able to meet up with friends and family. So, wrap your arms around your own shoulders, giving a gentle and soothing squeeze, smiling if you can. Although that tree is a good idea too as it will graciously help you ground as you hug it!

6). Crystals

My go-to crystal for grounding is hematite as it’s also for protection and I have a few little pieces that can easily go in my pockets. There are many other crystals that help with grounding and so see what resonates with you. Perhaps you’ll even find a crystal in a shop calling to you, if you set the intention to find the crystal that will best help you to ground. Put them in your pockets, even a pendant around your neck, a bracelet or a ring is great. The black crystals are pretty much all grounding like black tourmaline, obsidian, jet and shungite (shungite has been my absolute saviour with protection against electromagnetic wavelengths from electronic devices). Some of the earthy toned crystals like red jasper and carnelian are also great for grounding, however make sure you cleanse, recharge and program your crystals before using them.

7). Food

Eating takes our body’s focus towards the lower chakras, helping us to feel more present in the body. Root vegetables literally grow inside the earth and so therefore by eating them, we help bring some of that connection into our bodies. The word “root” is also key here as many people talk about being grounded as being “rooted”, also referring to the Base chakra as the Root chakra. With root vegetables being starchy, this can also help with being able to feel more into the body as the stomach feels full and nourished, a greater connection to the physical. It’s important to note that I don’t suggest starchy foods in general as most of them are highly processed and contain inflammatory ingredients, such as gluten, corn, sugar and certain oils best avoided. Going by the traditional colours of the chakras, you can also look out for any red or orange coloured fruit and vegetables to keep your Base and Sacral chakras balanced. Now for one of my favourites….. chocolate! I don’t mean the sugar-filled rubbish, but rather raw cacao in the form of dark chocolate or those bars made with healthier ingredients such as coconut sugar, as opposed to cane sugar or glucose (I also encourage dairy free chocolate). The cacao in these products has the earthy quality we’re after and this is often offered after group meditations or gong baths to bring the receivers back into their bodies.

8). Salt Baths

I recommend either sea salt, epsom salts or pink Himalayan salt for a grounding bath. Some people suggest regular table salt is just as good, although I’m not a fan and prefer these other natural types. They really help to cleanse the energy fields, they are calming, detoxifying and very relaxing. However, I suggest having a salt bath at night rather than the morning as it can leave the majority of people feeling quite sleepy, so ideal before bedtime and especially beneficial for those who suffer from insomnia. It’s about being surrounded by water that is natural, feeling its warm temperature that is comforting, as well as the action of drawing toxins out of the body with the salt, all helping us feel more connected to the physical plane. If you’re going to add essential oils to your bath for added benefit, then only drop them in after the bath is at your desired temperature, as the pouring water and heat can break up the essential oil molecules quicker, therefore reducing their benefits.

Well I hope you’ve found at least 1 new thing to try out and please leave any of your top grounding tips in the comments below.

Wishing you a very grounded and centred day ahead!

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7 Tips For Better Quality Sleep – Podcast

In this podcast, I’m hosted by Steve Nobel at The Soul Matrix to talk about my 7 Tips For Better Quality Sleep.

One of the issues I work on with my clients is sleep disturbance. Many of them report back to me that they’ve had the best night’s sleep in a long time after a healing session with me. I used to swing between insomnia and chronic fatigue, so I know first-hand what’s it’s like to really struggle with quality of sleep. I became so desperate that I’d try any suggestion or old wives tale that I heard about, which even found me bathing in chamomile teabags (it didn’t shift the insomnia, in case you were wondering, but it had a lovely relaxing scent). At one stage many, many years ago, a GP even prescribed me sleeping pills to try to break the cycle, but they just offered me a temporary state of being unconscious without the refreshing feeling of being recharged after a good night’s sleep. I had to find another solution and so I’d like to share with you my top 7 tips for better quality sleep that I have found to work for me personally. As with many things, we are all individual and unique, however you might find a few of these tips work for you too.

You can listen to it on YouTube or SoundCloud, or read it as a blog below.

Liz Findlay Healing · Podcast – 7 Tips For Better Quality Sleep with Liz Findlay

Read as a Blog:

7 Tips For Better Quality Sleep

There is very seldom just 1 magic thing that fixes everything, and so what I have found is that a combination of things is what does it for me. None of the following tips seem to work on their own, however put together, and I’m sound asleep, waking refreshed in the morning.

1). Mobile Phones / Cell Phones

I have come to learn that a lot of these sleep tips are to do with messages to the brain and so my first tip is to switch your mobile phone to flight mode and silent at least half an hour before bedtime, for me it’s an hour before. I then use that time to slowly get ready for bed and read a bit before lights out. The reason is that the blue light emitted by your mobile phone screen stimulates your brain in a way to be awake and alert. This is obviously a problem if you’re wanting to relax and enter a sleep state and so it takes much longer to reach the specific brainwaves for optimal sleep if you’ve been staring at your screen until late at night. The same goes for tv and other electronic devices such as laptops and tablets. I’m also very sensitive to the electromagnetic wavelengths emitted by these devices, which is why I really do strongly advise putting them on flight mode (or aeroplane mode as some countries say). So, all electronic devices are ideally turned off and put away a minimum of half an hour before bed and if you’re going to read, it needs to be a proper book or one of the old style kindles with no backlight. (*blue light disrupts melatonin production.)

2). Dark Bedroom

This relates to my next tip which is to do with having a dark bedroom and so you want to turn everything off that emits any sort of light, getting the room as dark as possible. It’s been written about in many articles that even the very small red light of your tv in standby mode can affect your brain, telling it to be alert. I can believe it because I’ve struggled to fall asleep when I’ve accidentally put my electric toothbrush on charge in my bedroom. Even with my eyes closed I can still sense the little charging light. One of the windows in my bedroom has the blind hanging about an inch away from the window. I found a change in the quality of my sleep after moving to this home, which rectified itself once I covered this window with thick black paper cut specifically to size and stuck on with blutak just at night. Proper lined curtains and blackout blinds really are worth it!

3). Lighting

Lights in general need to be considered. It’s only with the invention of the lightbulb that we have been staying up later at night. Our ancestors would have been in bed not long after the sun went down as there’s not a lot that can be done by candlelight with no TV. So I suggest that from about 7pm onwards, use dimmers or side lamps to light your home so you experience a nice transition between day and night. These new LED light bulbs are great, however most of them are blue light* and incredibly bright, therefore telling our brains to be active and alert. Definitely not conducive to gearing the body and mind for sleep. You can get special light bulbs that are termed “red light”, or like I say, just use side lamps for several hours before bed so the light is softer on the eyes. You can also get motion sensor floor lights to light your way to the bathroom if you need to get up in the middle of the night, rather than switching on a bright light that makes you feel like you’re being interrogated as you stumble through. (*blue light disrupts melatonin production.)

4). Pajamas / Sleepwear

Something I never considered but makes so much sense, is that even the clothes we wear send messages to our brains. If you go to bed wearing anything you have done exercise in, you’re telling your brain to get the body ready for a workout (I’m definitely guilty of this as I used to often grab yoga leggings out of my cupboard if my pajamas were in the wash). You then curl up in your bed but your brain is saying “Hey, I thought we were going to do exercise?” and so takes much longer to reach a proper sleep state. So only wear proper pajamas that you do nothing else in but sleep, so your brain and body can associate them with rest.

5). Work-free zone

Which takes me to my next tip on leaving all work and office related stuff out of the bedroom so your brain can associate your bed with rest. So many of us sit up in bed with our laptops catching up on work, or even sending that quick email from our mobile phones before lights out. This can lead the brain to associating the bed and bedroom with work, so you put your head on your pillow and your brain is fired up, being active and alert for cognitive function. You’re definitely going to be counting sheep!

6). Lavender Essential Oil

Every night I rub a little bit of lavender essential oil on my temples and jaw as it has relaxing and mild sedative properties. It’s suggested to dilute it with a carrier oil, avoiding the eyes, and a little goes a long way with just 1 or 2 drops needed due to it being so concentrated. It’s very important to get a good quality brand as there are many synthetic products out there that have zero of the plant’s benefits, they just smell nice. I use the brand dōTERRA but I’ve heard that Young Living and Tisserand are of a similar high quality. You can even put a drop on your pillow or use it in a cold water diffuser while you sleep.

7). Relax, Your Brain Is Half Asleep

Now for what I’ve found to be the absolute game-changer when all of the above just isn’t enough:

There is an author called Anthony William (you might know him from the Medical Medium series) and in one of his books he mentions that when we wake in the middle of the night, half the brain is still “asleep”. So the key is to relax in the knowledge that at least half of your brain is resting, don’t panic while tossing and turning, desperately wishing to fall asleep again. I tested this out over time on a few rare nights where I couldn’t fall back to sleep. Instead of waking up in the morning feeling mildly hungover with a dull headache, I was actually surprisingly alert and feeling pretty refreshed. So just relax, perhaps do some deep breathing and I find using the time to be mindful can also help, such as focusing on the softness of my pajamas, how comfortable my bed is, my feet feeling coolness as I move them under the duvet and how cozy I feel if it’s winter.

A few other tips to mention briefly are to stop drinking caffeine from the early afternoon onwards, keep your room temperature cool as heat can disrupt your sleep, and try to go to bed at the same time each night to establish a routine.

Guided meditations can be hugely beneficial in relaxing the body and mind, preparing you for a peaceful sleep and so look out for the Sleep Meditation I’ve specially recorded for you. Click here!

I hope these 7 tips are of some help for you to have better quality sleep and it will be wonderful if you could add any of your top sleep tips in the comments below.

Wishing you sweet dreams tonight!

#sleep #insomnia #sleepquality #wellbeing #sweetdreams #sleepdisturbance #podcast #sleeptight #sleepingpills #sleepingtablets #naturalremedies #melatonin #countingsheep