On Being Grounded

You know how sometimes you have the perfect morning?

That was me the other day.

I spent my morning outside in nature, I journaled…

I chose me.

Then I left for yoga class, and when I got there, my yoga teacher, who I absolutely love, greeted me and asked how I was.

I paused for a minute, thought about how I was feeling, and then just said, “I’m grounded.”

She looked kind of shocked. At first I thought it was because I was actually answering her question, truly telling her how I was doing, instead of just a polite “Fine” or “Good.” 

But then she said to me, “You’re grounded? Grounded from what?!”

I laughed and repeated, “No, I’m grounded.” I shared with her how my morning had gone, and explained to her that I was just really grounded in myself, grounded within.

As she stood there listening to me talk about sitting in the grass and spending time outside, I could tell she was thinking. Normally, I don’t talk much on my way into yoga class – maybe just a friendly ‘hi’ as I sign in. But the look on her face made me stop and say, “It seems like you’re thinking about something. What’s going through your mind?”

And that question led her to open up to me with a story. She told me that one of her passions is gardening – working with the earth, being on the grass, spending time in nature. Her sister had recently come to visit, and she had invited her to help her in her garden. Her sister had found it so therapeutic and impactful that she took that experience back home with her, and starting spending time in her own yard.

It got me thinking about how important it is to be grounded within ourselves in order to tap into our Leader Within.

Here was a person who leads a yoga class, who’s very spiritual, and honestly, always seems grounded to me – but even she needs that act of gardening to get grounded in her own body. And being grounded in herself then allowed her Leader Within to inspire her sister to get grounded in the same way!

So what does it mean to be grounded within yourself?

It means being present. Being in the now.

And once you’re fully present, then you have the ability to choose.

You’re only fully capable of being at choice when you’re truly present.

How is this connected with leadership?

Because that ability to choose is what allows us to fully step into our leadership.

It enables us to decide if we need to lead from the front, from the side, from behind, or from the field. 

And once we know where we’re leading from, we can practice that co-active interaction where we are in collaboration with another, helping them with whatever it is they need from us.

Leading.

Challenge: There are plenty of ways to get grounded, and different methods work for different people. But the three main techniques I tend to hear over and over again from people are:

1.       Spending time in nature

2.       Breathing

3.       Exercising

Today I would challenge you to try a couple of these methods out, and see which one makes you feel most grounded. Then, make a commitment to yourself to spend just a few minutes every day this week getting grounded in this way.

Let me know how it goes.