Grounding

Today in the news I read that Pantone's color of 2015 is Marsala-- a deep brownish red. This color makes me think of the feelings of grounding, stability, Earthiness.

Think of the word Earth. What a strange word. The more you look at it, the stranger it seems. It looks like it should be hard to pronounce, but we use it every day without effort. The word Earthy is interesting to consider. We are so inextricably linked to our home planet, that the idea of being on any other sphere in the cosmos (even if it were just as lush and soil-filled as this one) does not have the connotation of stability, the feeling of being home and rooted.

I invite you to celebrate the ways you connect with your home planet, the elements that made you, during this season of gratitude and generosity. Consider the ways that the Earth has been generous to you, and consider how you can return the favor.

What rituals are part of your routine, or would you like to add to your life, that bring you in close contact with your home planet?

The movie The Grounded shows how the residents of one town in Alaska used the power of the soil, the Earth, to heal various illnesses. Looking for healing in your life? Maybe we just need to pay closer attention to something as simple and obvious as the dirt beneath our feet.

Grounding is an important part of a yoga practice as well. During my weekend training at Mind Body Solutions with Matthew Sanford, I learned about the importance of giving a sense of grounding to all students, especially those in wheelchairs, whose feet rarely touch the Earth.

We can impart a greater sense of grounding to those whose feet do provide support. Try using your hands to help ground the feet of someone standing in tadasana, or warrior I. They will feel the extra support and energy moving up through the legs and beyond. Or sit facing each other, feet touching in dandasana, and experience the feeling of support coming from another soul (sole).

Eventually we all return to the Earth from which we were created, and this fact brings home the realization that we were never really separate to begin with.

We are the Earth. The Earth is us.

Namaste and happy holidays!

Kate