It is recommended to begin all spiritual activities, meditations, intuitive development exercises, as well as energy or healing work, with a basic psychic protection routine. A well-designed grounding, centering and shielding meditation or visualization exercise will create a solid safeguard and meditative energy foundation for any kind of spiritual practice session.
Centering is the process of anchoring and centralizing your inner, non-physical being within your physical body, while grounding (or earthing) refers to strengthening or reaffirming your connection with physical reality, the secular world and planet Earth.
Centering and grounding is therefore aimed at stabilizing yourself energetically, by firmly setting a mindful, harmonious balance between your body and soul, between the spiritual and the secular, between the physical and the metaphysical. Being grounded and centered is to feel safe and securely anchored in the physical world, while opening up to increased energy flow, and metaphysical or spiritual input.
You may ask why you would attempt to increase your awareness of your physical body, and earthly reality, when you are going to be engaging in spiritual or metaphysical activity? Why would you want yourself, and the ground beneath you, to feel ‘more real’ and tangible, when you are going to venture into the deepest recesses of subconscious unconsciousness?
I always liken it to the exploration of a deep, mysterious cave. The best way not to get lost while you are venturing deeper and deeper into that unfamiliar grotto is to tie a long roll of string to the entrance of the cave, so that you can follow it back on your way out. Grounding, centering and shielding is like having your sailboat firmly anchored on the open sea, while you are scuba diving nearby to explore the unknown depths of the ocean.
There are many creative ways you can achieve a deeply grounded, centered and shielded state of being at the beginning of your spiritual practice sessions. I believe it is best to intuitively find what works best for you as a unique individual. In my work with students and clients over the years, I have found that no two people are intuitively and spiritually ‘wired’ in the same way. You can use the following general guidelines to design your own grounding and centering process.
Sacred Space
Find a quiet place free from distractions to do your spiritual exercises. The best place for this would be the 'sacred space’ you created for your daily spiritual practice. More information about how to create a sacred space in your home or office can be found in my book Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny.
Meditation Music
Use music, if it will aid you. I like to use instrumental music when doing spiritual or energy work, as I find it helps me to focus. However, it is vital to choose appropriate music that will not be distracting or dominating. You do not want the music to stimulate your imagination and begin to color your intuitive impressions, so that it loses validity or accuracy. If music distracts you, don’t use it at all. Also, using music during exercises for clairaudience, for example, makes no sense as it will most likely drown out any auditory impressions you may perceive.
Comfortable Positioning
Sit or lie in a position that is comfortable and which allows you to fully relax. If you experience any discomfort, adjust your position until your find something that works. Creating a closed energy circuit can be of great value. This is done by crossing your legs at the ankles and interlocking your hands or finger. This will greatly enhance your grounding and provide a stable basis for energy flow.
Mindful Breathing
Close your eyes and focus on mindful breathing by diverting your attention to the natural flow of your breath. Become more conscious of your breath. If you find it helpful you can do a specific meditation or yoga breathing exercise to establish a base, before going into natural, mindful breathing. Do not put any further effort into your breathing. Simply allow your breathing to flow easily and spontaneously, while you merely observe it happening.
As you increasingly focus on your breathing, begin to slow down your thoughts. Disengage your mind. Discontinue all thinking and shut down any ‘self-talk’ that may be going on in your head. Let your active mind become quiet. Clear your mind of all conscious thought. Use visualization if you find it helpful.
For example, imagine your mind being the tranquil, reflective surface of a lake without any ripples, or imagine your mind to be like an empty, white screen. Do not allow your mind to wander. Simply relax and try to think of absolutely nothing. Ask also your emotions to become calm. Evoke from within a sense of neutral serenity, of inner peace. Become emotionless. Disengage your senses. Stop paying attention to your sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch sensations. Focus on experiencing the stillness. Embrace the silence within.
If any thoughts, feelings or physical sensations emerge, simply accept each one of them as they come. Give them the space to come and go, but do not judge your thoughts and do not get involved with your feelings. If at some point you do become distracted by a thought or feeling, simply take note of it for a moment, and then gently return your attention back to your breathing. Remain aware of the ebb and flow of your breathing and feel yourself come to rest in this present moment.
Progressive Relaxation
Once you have settled into the rhythm of your breathing, begin to progressively relax different sections of your body, focusing on one area at a time. Ideally, start from your feet and work all the way up to the top of your head. Focus on one area at a time and feel those muscles and organs relax.
Beginners often find it useful to first tense the muscles in every area and holding the contraction for a few moments, and then releasing it completely and feeling the area relaxing. This creates a more tangible sensation to ensure a deeper level of relaxation.
Notice any physical sensations you are having that may be distracting or that may interfere with your process. Simply take note of the feeling or sensation for a moment, and then gently return your attention back to your relaxation process. Focus on your body becoming perfectly calm, relaxed and still. Once you have achieved a perfectly relaxed, mindful state, you are ready to proceed with your grounding, centering and shielding exercises.
Aura Cleansing
It is a good idea to start your energy protection process with some form of psychic cleansing visualization. For example, imagine yourself taking a 'spiritual shower' under a waterfall or in the ocean, and see how the healing water splashes over you, washing away all negative energy 'leftovers' or spiritual attachments that might be hanging around in your energy field, or aura. Another cool option is to visualize a bright spotlight, or a powerful lazer beam, or even a magic wand (sort of like a dental curing light) that emanates healing energy. Use this light to scan your aura from top to bottom, neutralizing and 'sterilizing' any unwanted energetic debris from your energy field.
Solid Centering
Begin by solidifying your center. Centering is about finding that quiet, inner core of your being. Simply go within and sense where your center is. I find for many people this is usually in the area of the solar plexus, although I have worked with people who felt it in the root or sacral chakras, or even in the heart chakra.
Sometimes it is useful to use a visualization if you find it challenging to locate your center, for example, visualizing that you are the core of a lotus flower. Once you have found your center or core, feel it stabilize and becoming solid and fixed, then attach it to your grounding cord (see next step) and proceed to ground your energy to the earth below you.
Grounding Cord
Once you are mindfully centered, the next step is to 'earth' yourself with an energy grounding 'cord.' Grounding creates a firm loop or circuit for energy flow.
Once again this is up to your creative imagination. The idea is to direct your energy in such a way that you become firmly grounded to the earth below you. This can be achieved by simply visualizing a strong cord or ‘steel chain’ that anchors you to the center of the earth, or imagine yourself as an ‘old oak tree’ with thick, sturdy roots growing deeper and deeper into the ground. A root chakra meditation or visualization exercise can also be introduced as part of your grounding process.
A misconception about grounding is that it keeps you from somehow being ‘airy fairy’ or ‘ditsy’, as if you might levitate and float away... giggling... into a twilight world of rainbows and unicorns! Actually, the real purpose of grounding or earthing is not to ‘tie you down.' Instead it can be likened to the earthing or grounding of the electricity circuit in your home. Similar to a house's earth leakage, all unwanted energy is redirected through your ‘grounding cord’ and discharged into the earth, which serves to protect you. Another suitable metaphor is a lightning conductor, which is basically a metal rod attached to an exposed part of a tall building or other structure, which serves to divert potential lightning strikes harmlessly into the ground.
Psychic Shielding
The final step in the process is to erect a protective psychic shield around you. Find an image or shield concept that works for you. It can be anything that you personally relate with, and will provide you with a sense of safety and security. There are many ways to do this, for example surrounding yourself with a golden ‘wall of energy’, or creating a ‘glass sphere’ around you, or seeing yourself in a ‘circle of white light’, or placing a series of ‘mirrors’ facing outwards to form a protective ring around you.
Whatever ‘shield’ you choose to use, ensure that you visualize it having two distinct qualities: your mind must perceive it as impenetrable and unbreakable so that it is strong, safe and secure enough to keep all unwanted influences or negative energy out, while still being permeable or porous enough to allow all wanted input and positive energy in. For example, instead of putting up an iron ‘wall’ around you, visualize yourself inside a steel ‘cage’ or a metal ‘sieve’. A wall is solid, a cage or sieve is not. Yet, they are equally strong.
Your shield does not have to be realistic or practical. Use your imagination to create whatever shield works best for you intuitively. You may also prefer to combine your spiritual protection shield with a prayer blessing or invocation, depending on your personal belief system.The most important thing is that whatever shield you create must be believable to your subconscious mind and must make you feel secure. If it is not making you feel safe, it will only serve to distract you, which will cause your protective energy to waiver. The aim of these kinds of visualizations is to direct and maneuver energy using your mental focus.
You should now be firmly centered, grounded and shielded and your rational mind disengaged enough for you to be ready to begin your spiritual growth exercise, intuitive development activity or energy work. Initially, you may find that developing your basic process takes some time and you will not always be completely successful with every attempt. But with regular, frequent practice you will become more proficient and the process will begin to flow more easily and automatically and ultimately become second nature.
Excerpt adapted from the book Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny.
© 2017 Anthon St. Maarten
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anthon St. Maarten is a psychic medium and destiny coach with a global clientele of thought leaders, business executives, celebrities, politicians, academics, and luminaries in the arts and sciences in more than thirty countries spanning five continents.
He is also a metaphysics teacher, psychic development coach, podcaster, and spiritual blogger. Anthon is a hereditary psychic medium in professional practice since 2004 and a liberal arts post-graduate with a major in psychology.
Anthon publishes the spiritual life design blog, The S Word, and is the author of Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny and The Sensible Psychic: A Leading-Edge Guide To True Psychic Perception.
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