Friday Musings—Grounding

What's new with me

I’ve been rather disappointed by the endings of the last two novels I read: The Enchanted Mountain by Thomas Mann and The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James. I had imagined quite a different fate for both main characters! It’s funny how deeply I still get involved with a book and how I let my imagination (and indignation) run wild. I suppose it also means I’m not entirely lost to the digital world… at least not yet 🙂

Leaving my literary disappointments aside, today I wanted to share two easy and free ways to quickly feel grounded—both of which I experimented with last weekend.

Earthing

The first practice is quite literally called "grounding" or "earthing," and as the name suggests, it simply consists of making contact with the ground or earth. The most obvious example is walking barefoot on grass, which I did last Sunday when we went to the mountains, but any contact between your skin and nature counts (touching trees, swimming, gardening, and so on).

Proponents suggest that this connection may help reduce inflammation, improve sleep, and enhance overall well-being. Scientific research on earthing is still limited, but some studies have reported positive outcomes and I personally found the experience incredibly calming and pleasant. I even had the added bonus of walking on snow, which gave me a dose of cold therapy and a little circulation boost!

And apart from everything else, our poor feet spend way too much time trapped in shoes and slippers. So I plan on letting them have some freedom on future trips in nature (when it’s safe to do so, of course).

Sound baths

The yoga teacher I do live classes with once a week has started a series on chakras, where she also uses crystal singing bowls. She talked a bit about her experience with sound baths, which made me curious to experiment with them myself.

If you’re interested in trying one too, I recommend this lovely 10-minute sound bath. The only way I can describe it is as a gentle brain and soul massage.

Quote of the week ✍️ 

"And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul".  (often misattributed to John Muir)

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts. If you have any suggestions or insights, feel free to share them in the comments. And if you know someone who might enjoy my musings, please pass this along, I’d love to grow this community.

Until next time,

ML