Today Bren is going to walk us through a beautiful guided meditation. I approached Bren and asked if she would teach me what she knows about grounding. She was absolutely amazing to take time and walk me through this meditation not just once but twice. Bren explains Grounding as being beside yourself, outside of your body, not connected to the ground. You can read more about grounding later on but let me start by introducing you to Bren Danielson!
Bren Danielson
THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE & MANUAL THERAPY
CMT, CBW, CWT, NMR,
Bren Has 23 years of experience as a manual therapist. She has ran her business and successfully helped many people to heal their mind, body and spirit. She demonstrates experience in many different techniques including cranio sacral therapy, Feldenkrais therapy, Kinesio taping, energy clearing, lympnoc drainiage, and Rolfing.
Her website states that, “Massage therapy helps you relax and rejuvenate.
Manual therapy helps you re-align, work on posture and gait, and injury rehabilitation.
Together they are a powerful combination to multi leveled healing.”
Manual therapists are further trained to work with injuries and chronic pain and rehabilitation though stretching and exercise programs specific for each individual. Regular treatments can also prevent future pain and injuries from occurring, also possibly save thousands in surgical procedures by slowing or stopping the degenerative process and effects of gravity on the body over time.
Bren began her career by becoming certified as a personal instructor. Where she taught others how to use their body and mechanics in the correct form. She then moved on to becoming certified as a massage therapist. After many hours of working one on one with people she kept running into different physical issues like How to work with a specific injury. After years of practicing as a massage therapist she was able to move forward and become a manual therapist. Bren delights in doing pre and post-natal massage. Holding and massaging these precious little bundles of joy brings her such pleasure. Massaging a baby in the womb and throughout their life until after they come home from college has created a sense of connection that fulfills Bren. She loves helping others to feel better. She is a teacher at heart and wants to share her wisdom and experience with the world one person at a time. She helps athletes mend their body and mind before and after they compete. Bren is active in Grounding, chi and energy work.
Bren was trained as a cranial sacral therapist with Doctor Upledger. Dr. John E. Upledger is co-founder of The Upledger Institute International, Inc. and former medical director of Upledger Clinical Services. He has written many books some of which are SomatoEmotional Release and Beyond, Your Inner Physician and You, A Brain is born. For manual therapists and other healthcare practitioners worldwide, his legacy is his generosity of spirit in sharing his discoveries and knowledge and ensuring their right to practice, for his patients and the patients of his students, his legacy is an open mind and heart to the validity of non-traditional medical approaches. For his family and good friends everywhere, his legacy is to stay with your journey despite the obstacles.
Bren learned the grounding meditation she shares with us today from the amazing Stahawk. Starhawk is one of the most respected voices in modern earth-based spirituality. She is the author or coauthor of twelve books, including The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess, long considered the essential text for the Neo-Pagan movement, and the now-classic ecotopian novel The Fifth Sacred Thing, now in development for film and television. http://www.thefifthsacredthing.com/
Starhawk’s most recent non-fiction book is The Empowerment Manual: A Guide for Collaborative Groups, on group dynamics, power, conflict and communications.
WHAT IS GROUNDING
Our Earth is like an enormous battery. The battery contains a naturally occurring subtle charge. The earth has its very own energy. To promote safety and stability most everything in the electrical world is connected to ground. The term “grounded” means being connected to earth.
Being grounded also applies to people. When you are electrically grounded, when you maintain your body at earth’s electric potential, you feel:
- Centered
- Solid
- Strong
- Balanced
- Less tense
- Less stressed
Overall, if you are grounded you feel good. If you experience pain, you have less of it, or maybe none at all, when electrically grounded to the earth.
INCREASE IN ILLNESS
There are many people who live with daily pain and constant day to day stress, anxiety, depression, and fatigue. They feel beside themselves, out-of-sorts, not centered, weak, or out of balance. Doctors often can’t find the cause and resort to prescribing medications that produce side effects like fatigue, poor mood, and headaches.
There has been a rise in auto-immune diseases. Some say it is because people are eating more unnatural and processed foods. Many of the ingredients in these foods can be harmful. Some speculate to an increased exposure to pollutants. While certain lifestyle approaches such as meditation and yoga can help, there are limitations to their effectiveness for many of these illnesses.
PRACTICING GROUNDING (Chopra Center)
We are bioelectrical beings living on an electrical planet. Each of our bodies operate with an individual electrical system. The body’s cells transmit multiple frequencies that run our heart, nervous system, immune system, and muscles. (chroppra center)
Many people today do not have contact with the earth anymore. There are many experts wondering if this is a contributing to the rising health problems our society is facing today. It is very common for many of us to wear rubber shoes and live indoors. In theory, many of us could go years without directly touching the earth at all, even if we’re outside. Many of us are very disconnected, ungrounded, out of touch with the Earth. Could this disconnection be a factor in the onset of some illnesses?
BENEFITS OF GROUNDING (wellness Mama)
According to emerging research, earthing may be beneficial in:
- Reducing inflammation
- Reducing chronic pain
- Normalizing biological rhythms including circadian rhythm
- Normalizing blood pressure and blood flow
- Improving Sleep (I can vouch strongly for this!)
- Increasing Energy (I noticed this also)
- Lowering stress and promoting calmness by reducing stress hormones.
- Reducing snoring
- Helping support adrenal health
- Relieving muscle tension and headache (I noticed this)
- Improving menstrual and female hormone symptoms
- Speeds healing- used in some places to prevent bed sores
- Reducing jet lag
- Protecting the body from effects of EMFs
- Shortening recovery time from injury or athletic activity
Earthing Science 101
If you’re interested in the deeper science, Dr. Briffa gives a more detailed explanation:
HOW TO TRY GROUNDING
You can begin by walking outside barefoot, laying in the grass, or hugging a tree. You can swim in a natural body of water. If you are interested in grounding indoors you can join me as we do a grounding meditation in my video this week. Another great way to ground indoors is to look into an earthing mat. It can be used under your arms or feet while you sit at a desk or couch to reduce the amount of EMFs you are exposed to. You can also purchase an earthing sheet that can be used on your bed.
MY TAKE AWAY
Grounding is a very controversial topic with a lot of additional research still needed. That said, I have noticed I feel elevated in mood and physical wellness when I spend time connecting to the earth. Any time I implement a relaxation technique into my routine I feel better and perform better.
If you do decide to try Grounding or earthing be sure to track your results. Increasing awareness around how you feel before and after will help you determine if it is right for you.
LAY ON THE GROUND
The first time Bren guided me through beautiful process I laid on the floor and she took her time. My battery was running low which resulted in her speeding up the meditation that you will be viewing. In the video we sit on the couch; however, if you are wanting to practice along with us try laying on the ground for best results.
Leave a Reply