It is important to feel grounded in order to connect effectively to the world around you. Yoga can help you to achieve this.
What Does It Mean to Feel Grounded?
Feeling grounded means feeling steady, present and connected to your body, your thoughts and your surroundings. When you are not grounded, the mind can feel scattered or restless, and it can be hard to focus. Yoga offers simple tools to bring you back to that steady feeling: movement, breath and awareness.
In this article:
- What yoga is and how Hatha yoga approaches grounding
- A quick look at the doshas and why kapha is called the grounding dosha
- Three grounding poses: Fish Pose, Cobra Pose and Shoulder Pose
- A grounding breathing exercise you can do anywhere
- A simple routine, precautions and FAQs
What is Yoga?
Literally translated from Sanskrit, the word means ‘connection’. One of the texts most widely associated with yoga is Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras (compiled around the time of the 5th century). Therein Patanjali defines yoga as a method by which the seeker can learn to control the power of their own thoughts in order to understand and connect with their true self.
From a Hatha standpoint (which is the yogic discipline I’ll be drawing from in our discussion today) there are several routes and methods you can explore in order to connect more fully with yourself, balance your energies, and ultimately reach a place where you feel more grounded.
How Yoga Can Help You Feel Grounded
Hatha yoga promotes mindful movement and breathing exercises (asanas) as one avenue via which one can establish a deeper focus and concentration with one’s self. Combined with pranayama (breathing techniques), awareness and control of energies within the body (mudras and bandhas), and through shat karma (purification and cleansing techniques) you can eventually learn to understand and balance the energies present within your body.
In short, grounding in Hatha yoga comes from four tools used together:
- Asana: steady, mindful movement
- Pranayama: breathing techniques
- Mudras and bandhas: awareness and control of energy in the body
- Shat karma: purification and cleansing practices
Doshas and Grounding
In order to ascertain which specific techniques within these categories will be most beneficial to you, it will be useful to understand a little about ayurvedic doshas. There are three doshas in total, each representing elements.
Kapha (representing earth and water) is our grounding dosha, and – as with all the doshas – there are certain methods you can employ in order to balance these elements. The other two doshas are pitta (fire) and vata (air). If an individual has an imbalance of pitta then they may become driven, angry, or destructive (to name a handful of the fire traits). If they have too much vata, on the other hand, they may feel listless, distracted or untethered. In either case, increasing kapha can help you to balance these tendencies. Below, we’ll outline some of the methods you can employ to help you achieve this.
| Dosha | Element | When out of balance, a person may feel |
|---|---|---|
| Kapha | Earth and water | (the grounding dosha) |
| Pitta | Fire | Driven, angry or destructive |
| Vata | Air | Listless, distracted or untethered |
The doshas come from Ayurveda, and the links between doshas and yoga practices are traditional views. They are not a medical diagnosis.
Kapha-Increasing Asanas for Grounding
Some kapha-increasing asanas which I’ll outline below include matsyasana (fish pose), bhujangasana (cobra) or kandharasana (shoulder pose) to name a handful.
Matsyasana (Fish Pose)
As a beginner, in order to practice fish pose, you should begin by lying down on your back with your legs together and straight along with your mat. Proceed to slide your hands palm-down beneath your buttocks and squeeze your shoulder blades together, drawing your elbows in towards your body. Then gently bring your chin in towards your chest, direct your gaze towards your feet, and at the same time bend your arms, pressing your elbows into the mat so that you can bring your head, chest, and shoulders away from the ground. If it feels comfortable to do so, you can gently start to move your chin away from your chest here and gently bring the crown of your head to rest upon the earth. Once you have mastered this pose and when your practice allows, you can incorporate padmasana (lotus) into the asana if you so desire. This asana is good for relieving constipation (Kapha is responsible for the processing and digestion of food).
Fish pose is also a good way to improve the quality of your breath as it promotes deep breathing using the chest, which is beneficial especially if you suffer from anxiety.
Take care: Keep the weight in your elbows and forearms, and do not press the head down hard. Avoid or modify this pose if you have neck problems.
Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)
Another Kapha-increasing asana is bhujangasana, a chest-opening pose. For cobra, first, lie down on your front with your legs together and the tops of your feet resting on the ground. Place your hands beneath your shoulders and draw your elbows close towards your ribs so that they point out behind you. From here, bring your forehead to rest onto the mat and relax your entire body. Take a full breath in and out, then on an inhale lift your head, neck, and chest away from the mat. Engage your core and find a backbend here, keeping your hands on the mat to support you and straightening your arms as much as is comfortable without lifting your pubic bone away from the mat. To release from this asana, bend your elbows and lower first your navel, then your chest, shoulders, and forehead slowly onto the mat with an exhale. This asana massages the abdominal organs such as the kidneys and liver, and aids digestion.
Take care: Keep the elbows slightly bent if the lower back feels tight. Skip this pose during pregnancy or after recent abdominal surgery, and avoid it if you have a back injury.
Kandharasana (Shoulder Pose)
You can also practice this third exercise, kandharasana, to promote Kapha and to help you feel more grounded. For shoulder pose, you should begin by lying on your back with your knees bent and your arms on the mat alongside your body. Bring your feet close enough to your buttocks so that you can take hold of your heels and ensure that you keep your neck straight. As you inhale, engage your core, engage your glutes, and start to raise yourself from the mat, lifting first your coccyx and then gradually bringing the rest of the spine up away from the ground until only your feet, shoulders, arms and head are connecting with the earth. To release, do so with an exhale, gently lowering your upper back down first and the buttocks down last.
The three asanas outlined above are all back-bends and chest-openers, exercising the top third of your body, therefore, promoting an increase of Kapha.
Take care: Keep the neck long and avoid turning the head while you are lifted. Avoid this pose with neck or shoulder injuries.
More Grounding Yoga Poses to Try
Simple standing and floor poses also build a sense of steadiness, such as Tadasana, Balasana and Malasana. Hold them with slow breathing and keep your attention on the feet and the ground beneath you.
Pranayama: A Grounding Breathing Exercise
Because you may not always be in a suitable place to practice these asanas, breathing exercises may sometimes be more appropriate. Wherever you are, regardless of space restrictions or any mobility issues, you can practice the yogic breathing technique that I’ll outline below. This exercise is particularly good for helping you to feel grounded, especially if you suffer from anxiety or stress.
For this, you can sit or lie in any comfortable position. Relax and breathe deeply, inhaling from the abdomen slowly and soundlessly. Draw the breath all the way into the lungs, and then as the inhale increases feel the chest begin to expand. Once fully expanded, take a little more air in so that you can feel the breath gently moving up and lifting the collar bones, neck and shoulders to complete the inhale. When you are ready to exhale, first relax the shoulders, then the chest, and finally contract the diaphragm drawing it up and in until you’ve released as much air as you can from your lungs. Repeat as many times as you like.
This is a form of complete yogic breathing, also known as three-part breath. In short: breathe into the abdomen, then the chest, then the collarbones, and release in the reverse order. Start with a few rounds and notice how you feel. Stop if you feel dizzy and return to normal breathing.
A Simple Grounding Routine
- Sit or lie comfortably and practice the complete yogic breath for a few rounds
- Practice Fish Pose, then rest on your back
- Practice Cobra Pose, then rest on your front
- Practice Shoulder Pose and lower the spine slowly
- Finish by lying still and noticing the breath, the body and the ground beneath you
Precautions
Practice at your own pace and never force a pose. Avoid or modify these poses if you have neck, shoulder or back injuries, are pregnant, or have had recent surgery. If you feel anxious or ungrounded often or for a long time, please speak with a doctor or a mental health professional as well. Yoga can support you, but it is not a replacement for medical care.
To Conclude
There are unlimited techniques you can employ to help you feel more grounded. Above, we’ve discussed just a handful, but the options are extensive. Through combining Kapha-increasing asanas, grounding breathing techniques, and cleansing practices as much as you can within your day-to-day life, you can work to ground yourself and your body through yoga. Additionally, taking care of your diet and your body through the intake of ayurvedic foods and medicines can also help you to achieve this balance. Look into Kapha-increasing foods, and take note of which foodstuffs you should avoid based upon your dosha. Overall, be mindful. Be aware of how your body is feeling, of your emotions, modify your practice accordingly, and behold the balance and order which will come as a result.
To Conclude
Hatha yoga techniques such as asana, pranayama, bandhas and shat karma are studied step by step in a 200 hour yoga teacher training in India, and beginners can start with a shorter 100 hour yoga teacher training in India. If you are drawn to stillness and inner awareness, you can also explore meditation teacher training in India. More articles are on our yoga blog, and common questions are answered in the YTT FAQ.
Yoga India Foundation is one of the most experienced and most established Yoga Ashrams in Rishikesh, India. Our approach is traditional, authentic and transformational. While you can find more physical and superficial forms of yoga in most yoga schools, at Yoga India Foundation we have kept and continue to share the holistic essence of ancient yogic science
