There is not much research on grounding. I haven’t seen research on how grounding for narcolepsy is so powerful. But I understand why. Research is expensive, and grounding is totally free. Who is going to fund research on something that isn’t going to make them a profit later?
But it’s good news for you if you are reading this as someone with narcolepsy, chronic fatigue, or any other issue that is affecting your energy levels. This means that there may be something readily available to you that you just haven’t tried yet! At least not with intention. We all ground unintentionally sometimes. But we may not be noticing how that affects us if we aren’t aware we are doing it.
Symptoms of being ungrounded
When you are not grounded you may experience physical symptoms, as well as mental and emotional ones. If your first instinct is to say of course, I have these symptoms because of XYZ diagnoses, take a moment to consider if being ungrounded could be a cause of some of your symptoms. It doesn’t have to mean it takes away the diagnoses. But grounding may alleviate certain symptoms even if it is not a cure. If your goal is to feel even 1% better, keep reading.
- Feeling dizzy, light headed, or brain fog
- Tiredness after waking
- Feeling “spaced out”
- Inability to focus and concentrate
- Forgetfulness
- Clumsiness
- Agitation
- Inability to complete tasks
- Losing track of time
- Inability to understand what people are saying to you
- Inability to communicate effectively
If you have some or all of these symptoms, grounding is an easily accessible resource that may help you! You may see after reading this list why I recommend grounding for narcolepsy.
Natural Grounding
Have you ever gone on a beach holiday or spent a weekend in nature and been amazed at how much energy you had? Of course some of it was probably from disconnecting from your stressful life. But what if there was more to it? Walking barefoot, sleeping close to the ground, being out in nature, are all ways we ground naturally.
I spent three years in Spain living near beaches. I had no idea why it was so energizing to bury my feet in the sand, and let the water wash it away bit by bit. Now I know! It was a magical combination of being still, connecting with the earth, and the water helping me to feel more grounded. Even if it only lasted for the time I was at the beach. Some of us have a harder time staying grounded than others. If you feel disconnected with your body because of pain or overwhelming emotions for example, it may take time for you to relearn how to stay in your body.
What is grounding?
So let’s start with the science of electricity, say in your house. The electricity that runs into our homes from power plants comes in through the wires that are hidden in our walls. There are negatively charged electrons that provide us with power and neutral ones.
While I don’t want to get too technical here, the tendency for electricity is to move toward the ground. It wants to discharge negative energy and return to equilibrium. We use wires to insulate it so we can direct where it goes.
But when one of those wires gets frayed or cut, that electricity may end up taking the shortest path to the ground. The home has a lot of safety mechanisms in place to keep the voltage and current stable and prevent catastrophes. That is why you hear about electrical fires in old buildings built before these safety regulations were in place.
When an old building doesn’t have a grounding mechanism that connects the electrical system into the earth, electrical equipment can go haywire and cause all kinds of problems.
Why is grounding relevant to humans?
But why is this relevant? Because we are electromagnetic beings. Our bodies also have energy circuits and electrical signals. Stay with me here, we have scientific proof of this. We measure these signals as a diagnostic tool in many cases, whether we are aware of it or not.
Brainwaves can be picked up using electrodes and an electroencephalogram (EEG). Our hearts have an even bigger electromagnetic field, according to HeartMath Institute. So it makes sense that we also need grounding for these electrical systems to function well.
However in our case, we are not going to use a system of bare copper wires linking every electrical box in our bodies to grounding bars, and then grounding rods that are driven at least 8 feet (2.4 meters) into the earth. While that works for our homes, it wouldn’t leave us very mobile to go around and enjoy our lives. So how can we ground these amazing electromagnetic bodies that we are living with?
What Safety Mechanisms can we put in place?
While there are legal regulations and requirements for the electrical installations put into buildings, what we have running in our bodies is a different matter. Most of us have never been taught about the basic hygiene of our energy bodies, much less installed our own safety equipment. It’s up to us to evaluate our own needs and decide what is useful for us.
There is no one size fits all solution. But I would say most of us would benefit from some kind of daily grounding routine. We also need more awareness and knowledge about grounding and why its important. While I wrote this post about grounding for narcolepsy, I believe everyone benefits from grounding.
Noticing
First we need to notice when we are not grounded. Grounded means you are present in your body and connected to the Earth. You feel centered and balanced, like a tree that can sway in the wind but feels rooted. If you do not know what that feels like, its okay. This may be the beginning of a whole journey of grounding for you. Stick with it. It is so worth the results. When I first discovered grounding it took over a year for me to feel like I could stay present in my body for more than those few minutes when I was focusing on it. Just coming back to your body for a few minutes in the beginning is enough.
Have a plan
Once you notice you are ungrounded, its good to have a plan in place for your favorite way to get grounded again. I love using visualization. I just close my eyes and imagine my energy connected by a grounding cord deep into the center of the earth, and then pulling that energy up from the earth and into myself making a loop. For me this offers a powerful grounding experience and I come back to my body. For someone else, they may go for a run or walk, dance, or do some other physical activity to ground. It may be a swim in the ocean or a bath that instantly brings you back to yourself. You can have many ways you like to ground but its good to have one that is accessible to you often if you find you are ungrounded a lot.
Develop a Routine
I like to ground every morning as soon as I wake up. My dream are pretty active. I tend to go out of body while I am asleep and travel to different places. So it makes sense that in the morning I need to intentionally reconnect with my energy body.
Once I am up, I go straight to the kitchen for water. I like to drink a full liter of water to get me started on my hydration for the day, but I also use it as a way to connect with my body. Then I settle in with a candle on the couch or the floor and meditate. My meditations always start with grounding, either through visualization or using the breath.
Throughout the day when I host meetings, I tend to start all of them with a little two or three minute grounding exercise. Even when I meet clients, if it seems like they have come to the discussion feeling ungrounded, we may take some breaths together or even do a visualization if they find it useful. So often throughout a day I get four or five chances to intentionally ground.
Grounding for Narcolepsy
To be honest, grounding for narcolepsy is no different than regular energetic grounding. You can use the same resources that everyone else would use for grounding. Just know that you might feel really profound effects on your symptoms of narcolepsy when you are fully grounded. Here are some additional resources that I have found on the web:
4 Techniques to Ground, Heal, & Balance your Energy Levels