Dancers know that you are not getting anything one or going anywhere if you aren’t paying attention to your feet. For most people, circus acts and Cirqe not withstanding, our feet are the way we get around in the world. They support us, they motivate us, and they allow us to wear beautiful shoes. 🙂
Being grounded doesn’t mean being sent to your room by an authority figure or making sure that electricity passes through you safely into the earth (although it could. Life is wild and wacky so if you are currently reading this while being stuck in your room or electrocuted, my apologies) it means being fully and completely in your body in this moment. It means not having your attention on something in the future or something in the past while trying to live and be in the now. There are times when that is appropriate such as therapy sessions, history classes, theoretical physics discussions, watching Dr. Who episodes, or being contemplative. However most people do it all the time, which can be a problem such as when you are driving, having a conversation with someone, or trying to drink that coffee which has not yet cooled down.
Being grounded means that you are putting yourself first. You are valuing your body, your heart, and your mind equally and listening to them all. It could lead to them being in harmony and therefore our actions matching who you are, but don’t get in a rush. Stop for a moment. Stop thinking about the bills or the have to’s, stop trying to do a dozen things at the same time, stop worrying about what got said last night or this morning, and just notice how your body feels in this moment. And if you can, do something to make it feel a bit better. A little attentiveness goes a long way.
