"Now and again, it is necessary to seclude
yourself among deep mountains and hidden valleys to restore your link to
the source of life. Breathe in and let yourself soar to the ends of the
universe; breathe out and bring the cosmos back inside. Next, breathe up
all fecundity and vibrancy of the earth. Finally, blend the breath of heaven
and the breath of earth with your own, becoming the Breath of Life itself."
-- Morihei Ueshiba, founder of Aikido
It is easy for anyone who is sensitive to get overloaded by excess or negative
energy, or in the case of empaths, overwhelmed by energy that is highly charged
with emotions that are not the empath's own emotions. Grounding is a basic technique
used in most energy or magickal work that assists in shedding the the negative
or excess energy and allows you to stabilize your own energy levels. There are
many techniques for doing so, and not all of them are visual in nature.
Many magickal methods consider grounding (and centering) to be a prerequisite,
in order for your mind and thought patterns to be as stable and calm as possible
before beginning any energy-based Work. Even psivamps need to ground occasionally
(even if it's not as often), to prevent that "disassociated" or "floaty"
feeling one can get from skimming energy off large groups of people.
WHY GROUND?
Consider the ebb and flow of the tide. When waves
come to strike the shore, they crest and fall, creating a sound. your breath
should follow the same pattern, absorbing the entire universe in your belly
with each inhalation. Know that we all have access to four treasures: the
energy of the sun and moon, the breath of heaven, the breath of earth, and
the ebb and flow of the tide.
-- Morihei Ueshiba
Some say that your energy is "cleaned" of the negativity before
you get it back, others say that you swap out old stuff and swap in new stuff
that has no relation to the old. How you interpret it is up to you.
Some grounding methods have you use the chakra, or energy center, located
at the base of the spine as the point to do the energy exchange. Others say
to do this using your feet as the exit point (i.e., while standing) and others
say to use your hands. I say, try whatever seems to work. Don't limit yourself
to something that may not work for your energetic systems, feel free to experiment.
For the purposes of these steps, I will use the earth as a stable energy
source. Feel free to substitute whatever you consider a more reachable stable
source if "earth" doesn't feel right to you.
Step one:
Relax. Unclench your muscles, and bring your attention to the
"here and now".
Step Two:
Connect to the earth. Whether you visualize a silver cord, roots from your
feet or whatever is up to you, as long as you connect with it.
Step Three:
In an energy-based form of an "oil change", send the negative
or excess energy into the earth and, if necessary, exchange it for clean
energy that has no negativity to it. You can cycle this a few times, or
you can just do it once, whatever you feel is necessary.
An example can be like flushing water through a hose - good energy in
one end, bad energy is flushed out the other end.
WHY CENTER?
The key to good technique is to keep your hands,
feet, and hips straight and centered. If you are centered, you can move
freely. The physical center is your belly; if your mind is set there as
well, you are assured of victory in any endeavor.
-- Morihei Ueshiba
Centering is a way to gain self-awareness and learning what parts of the
energy surrounding you is yours. This allows you to pay attention to your
personal energy center, sometimes called your spiritual center, and gather
all of your energy in one place instead of leaving it scattered all over.
This is an energy-based "pull yourself together" method. Think of
it like finding the most defensible room in the castle, the place where, once
you go there you can't be forced out.
Step One:
Sit in a comfortable position and just breath in and out until you're relaxed.
This isn't exactly a meditative or Zen-like state, just relaxed.
Step Two:
Mentally go through your body and imagine yourself. What part reminds you
most of you? What part feels most strongly like "YOU"? That inner
self is your personal center. It's location in your body may vary - For
a lot of people, it's somewhere around the heart or gut regions, but it's
not always the case.
READY? GROUND...CENTER...SHIELD!
Iron is full of impurities that weaken it; through
forging, it becomes steel and is transformed into razor-sharp sword. Human
beings develop in the same fashion.
-- Morihei Ueshiba
Once you have grounding and centered mastered, you have a firm base on which
you can build shields. Many people learn shielding without stopping to building
their personal base - they may not notice a problem in day-to-day living,
but if they do any esoteric Work, they may find that having a stronger base
upon which to build shields is imperative.
Shields can also work to keep your personal energy "spikes" from
affecting others. Think of it less like battle armor, heavy and martial, and
more like, a polite social gesture - like brushing your teeth or wearing deodorant.
You may think your personal scent is nifty, but other people may not favor
your morning breath or your stinky pit stench. It's the same thing with energy.
Personal shields will prevent your energy from spiking out at people who may
not want to interact with it.
I have more information on shielding techniques covered in other articles,
to view them, just visit the Psi Defense page.
Step one:
Ground yourself as described above.
Step two:
Center yourself as described above.
Step Three:
Now construct your shields. If you've done it right, you should feel shield
and center-point lock together, with the grounding point like a spike or
anchor from you to your stable energy source. This should NOT feel like
it's "draining" you in any way - you should feel recharged instead,
and a proper shield should help reinforce your energy body, keep you healthy
and well protected. Work on it until you've got it locked in; then, barring
accident, you shouldn't have to reinforce your shielding save when you need
to take it down for whatever you're doing, or bulk it up if you're working
in dangerous areas.
This article is presented as part of an ongoing effort to present other views outside of, as well as within, the online vampire community. Those of us who consider ourselves vampiric don't always look at things from the same viewpoint due to our life experiences. As such, the views and opinions contained in this article are entirely those of the author(s), and may not necessarily be shared by SphynxCatVP. The webmaster is not under obligation to update or otherwise keep current the contents of this article. Most importantly, only you can decide for yourself whether this article or any of the author(s) other views are useful or applicable to you - you are responsible for using your own reasoning and judgement, so judge wisely.
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