*skip straight to the exercise

It’s a basic of new-age advice, trotted out whenever someone feels out of sorts, confused, or otherwise off-balance:

“You need to ground and center!”

The alternative spirituality folks I know toss those words around like beads at Mardi Gras (except that you don’t have to be topless). But what, actually, IS “grounding and centering”?

For years, I asked people what the terms actually *meant*. For years, they muttered vaguely about lightning rods, auric fields, middle chakras and something about “being the tree”.

It wasn’t until I’d delved into indigenous rituals and symbols that I found an explanation suitably free of mystical woo to suit my mostly skeptical mind. Reading about recent (and equally woo-free) science research into out-of-body experiences provided more insight, so… I thought I’d share. (don’t you feel blessed and special now? *cough*)

Ok, Ok… On With The Explanation!

Apparently, the brain can be tricked or otherwise confused about where the “self” is located. In the recent research, subjects were subjected to visual and sensory input that caused their sense of self to be displaced out of their physical body and location - a lab-induced out-of-body experience. Similar out-of-body experiences are reported during epileptic seizures, traumatic experiences, surgeries, or due to mind altering drugs, spontaneous or induced spiritual experiences.

In fact, a lot of spiritual techniques are intended to create that sensation that the person’s identity is located outside of (and separate from) the body, just as was done in the lab research.

Many of those out of body rituals (especially those of indigenous cultures) begin and end with some sort of a recognition of the points of the compass Most people have seen images of Native American Medicine Wheels, but similar symbols exist all around the world: an outer wheel, a central point or hub, and rays/spokes that radiate outward from the hub, reaching to the points of the compass on the outer wheel.

These symbols are deeply ingrained in many indigenous cultures, with layers of meaning specific to each culture. They’re included in many types of spiritual ritual - but there may be a very simple benefit specific to trance rituals.

Going through the patterns of the “compass rituals” tell the participant exactly where they are, in the physical world.

If the participant has been in an out-of-body trance state, and intentionally caused their perception of “self” to shift out of their body (just as the perception of the research participants was shifted), a compass point ritual might be a means to re-orient their perceptions so that they are again in synch with their physical body and location.

If a person stands at the center of the compass, and makes themselves aware of each directional spoke, their awareness will become “centered” in their own body, and in their environment.

Tada. Centering, no woo required.

“Grounding” is more of the same, but with an emphasis on making contact with.. well… the ground.

In terms of centering the “self” in the body, grounding refers to the directions of Up and Down — imagine an axis which goes through the central point of the compass wheel.

In every day language, being grounded means being in touch with the factual, physical, actual world.

In terms of ecstatic (out of body) trances, grounding means centering your perceptions not only in your body, but in your environment — making sure that you’re not still wandering around “with your head in the clouds” rather than inside of your skull — at least so far as your perceptions and identity are concerned.

So the spiritual instruction to “Ground and Center” (with the woo stripped away) just means means centering your perceptions back into your physical, actual body, and into an awareness of the physical environment.

But Is It “Real”?

The science referenced above doesn’t attempt to address whether or not the sense of self is separate from or dependant on the brain and body; I won’t presume to know, either.

But what both the research and anecdotal evidence *does* show is that that the perception of self (the how and where we identify with “the self”) can become detached from the body, displaced, so to speak. The perceptual shift is real, and the impact of the experience on the psyche can be real, as well.

These perception shifts can be so strong that the individual actually sees their own body as if from outside of it, or they may see themselves in an entirely different environment. And I’m using “see” very loosely here - these experiences can affect how the brain processes all of the senses: hearing, vision, scent, even the sense of balance and touch.

The shifts can also happen in a milder way, with the sense of being just a half step “off kilter”, stuck in a dream, or “not really here” - a feeling most people are familiar with.

When those sorts of perceptual changes happen, people sometimes feel they need help in re-orienting their perceptions.

Imagine going through your day processing everything you heard, saw and felt, as if you were actually 12 inches to the left of your body - its uncomfortable to say the least.

How Do You Re-Center?

There are lots of ways to reorient the sense of self, of course.

Most of the time, for most people, it happens quite naturally. You likely do it nearly every morning, when you wake up from a night’s sleep, and slowly come back to terms with where you are, sometimes slightly disoriented from a dream. Things as simple as eating something can refocus the senses, and physical exercise also can help re-orient the body, or ordinary, physically engaging acts such as cleaning the kitchen.

But for some people, it’s a bit harder to re-find that “center” of their perceptions. They may suffer from physical or mental disorders, or they may disassociate for psychological reasons. Or maybe they spend a great deal of time in deep spiritual trance states.

Even Average Joes can occasionally find themselves lost in their own heads with confused perceptions - and that’s when a concrete ritual comes in handy. Once “ground and center” is understood in terms of centering the perceptions back in the body) developing a mini-ritual visualization becomes pretty easy.

Yes! She’s Finally Getting To The Point!

Ahem. The Exercise.

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MindTWEAK: “I’m not really interested in out-of-body experiences. ,” says Henrik Ehrsson, one of the study’s authors and an assistant professor at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.

“I’m really interested in in-body experiences: how the brain keeps and updates a model of the world and the body. To have a perception of your own body is the foundation of self-consciousness.” (from the referenced CNN article)

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