Grounding,
Rooting,
Qi Gong One of the most important practices in Taoism,
Especially in Qi Gong practice,
Is that of grounding or rooting.
By grounding ourselves deep into the earth,
We are able to receive healing Yin energy up into our body.
In traditional Chinese thought,
We humans,
Rén,
Are the meeting place between heaven,
Tian,
And earth,
Di.
It is our job to manifest both the heavenly star energy as well as the earth energy into our own beings.
In this way,
We will be able to share what we have learned,
What we have become,
With others.
An old translation for the various organ systems of our body is heavenly orbs.
This is because Taoists believe that we are made up of stardust.
Our chemical compounds are the same as those from deep space.
If we are able to connect our own energy with the heavenly star energy as well as the deep earth energy,
We will not only be better balanced energetically,
But our emotions,
Which remember in Taoist thought are energetic states,
Will also come into balance.
When we think of an image of a tree,
Most of us see the trunk growing up into the sky with its branches and leaves and perhaps fruit.
It is also important to remember that there is a whole other part of the tree,
Its roots,
Growing deep and wide and sometimes intermingling with the other trees around it.
This root system may even be larger than the above ground part of the tree.
In other words,
To really picture a tree,
We need to include the below ground portion as well as the above ground.
What we want to do here is create our own tree with our trunks,
Limbs,
Branches and leaves growing up toward the life-giving sun as well as our root system,
Digging deeply into the equally life-giving earth.
If our root system is small or weak,
Our energy will be small and weak.
We will feel ungrounded and easily knocked off our center.
But if our root system is strong,
We will be able to weather the storms of life and when knocked down,
Be able to spring back up.
To do this practice,
Stand or sit on the front of a chair,
Feet flat on the floor.
Feel your mind begin to quiet down and your breathing becoming deeper and slower.
With your mind intent,
Send roots from the bottom of your feet deep down into the earth,
At least five times the length of your body.
And if you are sitting on a cushion,
You can send the roots down from the bottom of your tailbone.
Feel and see them burrowing down like the roots of a great tree,
Through all the layers of dirt,
Rock and animal burrows,
Deep into the great mother earth.
When you feel you have gotten a good connection,
Draw healing yin energy up those roots,
Up through the bottom of your feet,
Then up your spine all the way to the top of your head or the Bai Hui point.
Be sure to send them wide as well as deep.
If you are outside,
You can link your roots up to whatever trees are in your vicinity,
Which will make the strong earth energy of the trees also available to you.
Feel your whole body filling with the strong yin energy of the earth,
As if drinking through a straw.
Feel it as a strong grounding force in your energy system.
Also at this time,
You can send any pain,
Stress,
Worry,
Anxiety,
Disease,
Fear,
Down to those roots at the bottom of your feet all the way down into the earth,
Where it will be transformed into healing chi,
Which you can then inhale up the roots from the earth into your whole body.
Stand or sit like this for a while,
And then when you are ready,
Begin to move or walk around the room or even better on the earth,
While still feeling that grounded,
Rooted balance.
Feel yourself sinking down energetically into the earth with all of your movements coming from that place of deep connection with the earth.
Whether you are doing qigong,
Taiji,
Yoga,
Or just walking on the earth,
You will be amazed how powerful your practice will become.
An extra level of practice,
You can open your Bai Hui,
The thousand meeting point or crown chakra located on the crown of your head to receive the yang heavenly energy from above.
Draw it down through your head and all the way down to your lower abdomen,
Your lower dantian.
Feel it mixed there with the earthly energy,
Filling you up with strong healing chi.
Doing this practice even for a short time each day,
Or especially before you start meditation qigong taiji or yoga,
Your practice will become richer and more powerful.
Not only that,
But your emotions will become more balanced and your sense of your core self will become stronger and more clear.
When we are ungrounded,
Our practice will not be as strong and we will be more susceptible to the winds of change and more easily knocked off our center.
Use this practice to become stronger,
More emotionally independent,
As well as energetically powerful.
Laozi and the Dao De Jing says,
Those who persevere will have strong will.
Those who are not separated from their center will long endure.
In Japan you can find Daruma dolls.
These are modeled after the great Buddhist teacher Bodhidharma or Da Mo in Chinese.
These wooden dolls are weighted in the bottom so that whenever they are knocked over they pop back up again.
By creating a strong sense of being rooted and centered in our being,
We will become like these Daruma dolls.
Then,
Whenever life knocks us down,
Instead of lying there whining,
We will bounce back up again.
If we plant our roots deeply into the earth,
We will also experience ourselves as being firmly planted in Dao as well.
Laozi tells us that whoever is firmly planted in Dao cannot be uprooted.
Most martial arts as well as Taiji and Qigong teach us to always move from our center.
If we are deeply rooted,
We can always move from the solid center.
If we are not,
Then any little breeze will knock us down and it will be difficult to get back up again.
Lastly,
Laozi tells us,
If one is connected to the great mother,
One can live a long life.
This is called having deep roots and a solid foundation.
This is the Dao of long life and deep vision or deep understanding.
