Perhaps the quintessential moment that says, “It’s summer here!” is when we can sink our bare feet onto the ground and enjoy the feeling of dry grass and the cool soil beneath it. It marks the passage of spring, where rains have saturated the ground to give life to soft lawns and fields.
It’s fitting that National Go Barefoot Day lands on June 1! When we spend time with our bare feet on the ground, we take part in a spiritual practice called earthing. Through earthing, we give a nod to nature for its intrinsic ability to restore balance, helping us to bring our physical and spiritual auras into alignment.
Balance is incredibly important in everything we do, even when adopting a barefoot lifestyle. We have to acknowledge the need for protective footwear, depending on the climate, terrain, and situation.
That’s what makes National Go Barefoot Day so important – not only does it celebrate the joy of wiggly toes, but it also recognizes the necessity of shoes and aims to raise awareness about donating shoes to children without a single pair around the world.
Let’s talk about how grounding practices can add meaning to a barefoot adventure.
Why is Spiritual Grounding Important?
The concept of grounding extends far beyond a barefoot walk. However, it can be helpful to understand it in terms of how we plant roots on the earth in our daily lives.
It Reduces Stress
When we practice grounding, we aim to bring our thoughts and otherworldly beliefs back into this earthly realm. As we explore spirituality, it can leave us feeling flighty and aloft at times, which can bring up anxious, fluttery feelings.
Grounding carries our thoughts back down closer to our bodies, allowing us to take a firm grasp of our minds. By doing this, we lower our stress levels, find clarity in our ideas, and take steadier steps to move forward.
It Brings Us Into the Present Moment
Another important part of grounding practices involves staying in “the now.” Finding a connection to the earth reminds us of the very real passage of time and seasons. The earth spins in the amazingly expansive solar system of our galaxy, and while that’s a far out thought, it should help us relate to time.
Planting our feet on the soil encourages us to think about how the elements of nature carry their rhythm without unnecessarily fretting about the future. Instead, with grounding, we can learn to prepare for the days ahead without losing the time we have by celebrating each moment.
It Helps Us to Feel Revitalized
Many people think that plugging into our roots lowers our energy, and that can be true. But lower vibes don’t mean we lose all our energy and vitality. On the other hand, grounding practices actually rev up our drive.
Our Earth's roots help us drink in the nutrients of this planet’s deepest lessons and sources. It helps us to feel secure and safe, and it juices up our root chakra, which is the foundation of the energy that runs throughout our bodies.
It Enhances Our Connection to the Earth
The science still needs more study before we declare it the “best” way to move, but barefoot running has been researched as a good way to work on running form. Barefoot running seems to help us align better with our natural stance that utilizes gravity… and that involves our connection to earth!
Thus, we can imagine that if running barefoot enhances our mechanics in relationship to the earth, then even just walking or sitting in a grounded practice can strengthen our ties to Mother Gaia.
It Protects Us Spiritually
To have any spiritual practice, we have to acknowledge our existence on earth. Thus, practices that help us root and ground lend protection to our spiritual beliefs. This evokes the balance we talked about earlier.
Remaining secure and confident in our spirituality requires that we find an equilibrium in our current, physical existence and in our divine spirituality.
10 Spiritual Grounding Practices to Try Today
Now that we know how healing these practices can be, let’s explore ways to connect with Earth’s rooted energy on a daily basis…
Spend Time in Nature
This may seem obvious, but we often ignore how easily we can find grounding by just going outside. Whether it’s on our front porch or simply next to an open window, giving ourselves a glimpse of nature has incredible effects.
When we truly dive into the great outdoors, though, we unplug from technology and modern distractions and return to the core of our being. Even if we can’t get away from the city, letting our bare feet make contact with the ground passes beneficial negative ions from the earth into our bodies.
Meditate With Grounding Crystals
One of the easiest ways to keep the earth tethered to our beings is through crystals. An awesome way to use crystals in a grounding practice is through meditation. We can meditate anywhere, like high up in a skyscraper or on an airplane. But by using crystals that remind us of our tie to earth, we can feel safe and grounded at any height.
We’ve curated special Mineral Collections that team up a variety of stones to support different intentions. Our boxes for Health & Balance, Protection & Peace, and Strength & Stability are especially potent grounding meditation stones.
Wear Grounding Stones
We can literally carry a piece of earth with us by wearing healing crystal jewelry. By securing these mystical stones on our bodies, we allow earth energy to permeate our aura and offer security and balance whether we consciously connect with our stones or not.
Certain stones can facilitate greater earth connections, and our Protection & Peace collections feature crystals and styles that generate grounding vibrations for men and women with stones like Tourmaline, Onyx, and Turquoise. For Strength & Stability, look to crystals like Hematite, Labradorite, Agate, and Jade found in these women’s and men’s collections.
Another important substance that has a big grounding impact grows abundantly from the earth. Agarwood beads carry earth energy in its scent and origins, and we have a beautiful collection especially suited for men’s spiritual style.
Ground Your Home With a Feng Shui Tree
Although their roots don’t need the soil, these Feng Shui trees very much take root in Earth’s vibrations. Working with the crystal leaves woven along the branches, these trees invite earth healing indoors, in whatever space you want to feel grounded and calm.
Take a Salt Bath
Sometimes we get lost in the idea of the ground and soil in grounding practices, but in actuality, any connection to nature can help us feel centered and balanced. A salt bath perfectly blends the earth bonds of the salt minerals with the life-giving essence of water.
A salt bath leads us to float, and this reminds us to embrace the balance of grounding. It allows us to experience the equilibrium of physicality even in spiritual heights.
Ground Yourself With Smoke
Incorporating another element into grounding, we can look to fire for a cleansing sensation that binds us closer to earth. More specifically, the smoke from fire used to smudge an area infuses this natural element into a room to safely carry out unwanted energy.
We’ve developed two effective smudge boxes that feature sage and other herbs. Our Healing Wisdom box seeks lessons from the earth to fill your space, while the Emotional Cleansing box provides smudge bundles and Rose Quartz to express and treasure love in the world.
Do Physical Activity
This goes back to barefoot running. Really, any physical activity brings us closer to understanding our natural rhythm and function. When we can appreciate the nature of our bodies, we amplify that awe into embracing the earth’s mysteries.
Wear an Ion Bracelet
We’ve designed an incredibly simple yet powerful bracelet to enhance grounding practices. Our ion bracelet collection works with the magnetic energy of the earth to transfer negative ions into our bodies. With special collections for women and men, these bracelets specifically work to boost the immune system’s vitality in a natural way that is in sync with earth’s rhythms.
Eat Whole Foods & Drink Water
An important and beneficial word of advice is to eat the rainbow. That means finding fruits and vegetables in vibrant colors to support our mineral and dietary needs. When we want to focus on grounding, we can turn to foods like root vegetables to really take in the essence of earth’s calm.
When we eat whole foods and hydrate with clean water, we find grounding through the process of diverting energy from our upper chakras to our lower chakras for digestion. This doesn’t sap the upper chakras of energy and vibration. Instead, it allows the mind and spirit a moment to reset and rest as we come back to earth.
Spend Time With Animals
Some of the joys of time in nature are the sounds and sights of animals. We don’t recommend disturbing wild animals, but we can gain a lot of grounding energy by being close to animals.
For those with pets, we can give them protection while we gain from their natural instincts by adorning them in spiritual symbols from Karma and Luck’s pet collection. Giving our cats and dogs extra snuggles will transfer important energy and vibrations between us.
Final Thoughts
Start with one single step to begin incorporating grounding practices into your everyday habits. By remembering to ground and root into the earth, we ensure balance in our spiritual lives, and we suggest taking that first step with bare feet.
