Grounding
Whether you are teaching in a classroom or working in another capacity in an educational context you can maintain a sense of being grounded and mindful. Mindfulness of the body is an ancient technique that allows you to know that you are right there in the very moment. Two realities happen simultaneously at any single moment. We often get caught up in one or the other and lose ourselves or rather lose mindful awareness of the moment. One reality is what is happening in the moment externally - the people, the activity, and the environment. The other reality is what is happening in the moment internally - how you are responding inside of yourself in relation to what you think you are perceiving outside.
I will talk more later on about this two-planed reality that arises in any given moment of teaching or any other human activity. First, let's talk about grounding. Grounding means that you have your feet planted on the ground. It means that you can feel roots all the way down into the earth.
There is a tree on my neighbors' land that I love to visit. The tree is over 300 years old and I can see the worn bark, the places where limbs have fallen off, and even a place that appears to be completely dead and yet, the tree as a whole is still very much alive. The tree produces beautiful soft green maple leaves in the spring. When I stand beneath this tree in the springtime, I feel her branches and leaves and new growth reaching up to the sky. Sometimes, I can stop and listen so deeply that I can hear and feel how she has been growing for these centuries, one tiny increment at a time. She is the oldest living, breathing thing I know.
At the same time that I can see these enormous branches reaching up into the bright blue sky, I can also feel the roots beneath her that go down into the earth beyond a depth that is imaginable. When I stop to feel the roots of her, I contact the earth itself, right here and now. The earth holds us up, allows us to step on it wherever we go, and continues to offer its protection moment by moment to all of us who live on this planet. And I can feel the element of earth every time I stand under the ancient maple tree on my neighbors' land.
I can also feel the earth every time I simply stand and imagine roots that extend from my own body down into the earth. My roots may not be as old or as deep as the ancient maple's roots are, but if I connect with these roots on a daily basis, they remind me that I have a rootedness. They remind me that I too am of the earth, having been born on this planet, having walked on this earth, and having the ability to stand as straight and as tall as the ancient maple with my head reaching up to the sky and my roots extending from the soles of my feet down into the ground.
This kind of groundedness or rootedness can be brought to the world of the classroom. When I am teaching, I often find myself standing up in front of my class either talking or working with the white board or the power point presentation. Even as I am standing in the middle of a classroom, I can begin to feel a sense of rootedness coming into the soles of my feet. I stand on the earth; the earth supports me as I stand. To know that we are grounded in the earth each time we stand and each time we walk is a kind of wisdom that brings us into balance moment by moment no matter what we are doing at any time of the day.
From this place, we can then be with ourselves, present, mindful and aware even as we are with our students, the subject matter and the activity of the classroom. There is both an inner and an outer awareness that is a source of harmony, balance, and joy. By maintaining connection with the inner life and the workings of the body, heart and mind, we bring more spaciousness and clarity to our work. Over time, we can develop this sense of balance in the midst of our work. We are simultaneously present to our inner life and to all that is happening in the classroom. From this place, our capacity to respond with wisdom and compassion increases.
Try this:
Become aware of the fact that you are standing the next time you are teaching or conducting a meeting. Feel the soles of your feet. Feel the sensations of pressure, tingling, or pulsing. Feel the roots of energy that extend from your body down through the floor you are standing on, all the way down through the building and into the foundation and then down into the earth. Pause for just a moment in the midst of whatever you are doing. Feel your energy touching down into the earth and then feel the earth's energy coming back up to touch your feet and support you as you stand there. Feel the weight of your body being supported by your feet. Feel where the weight is distributed - are you more on the balls of your feet; more on your heels; more on the edges? Take a moment to spread the balance out evenly. Feel your weight being distributed across the whole length and width of the soles of your feet. Feel the groundedness and rootedness that comes from this awareness. Reflect on how, like a tree, you reach with the top of your head up into the sky and with the soles of your feet down into the earth. Imagine yourself standing beneath a weeping cherry tree in the springtime. Feel the strength of the tree, and know the strength of your own body as it stands there. Know that you are held by the earth and by mindful awareness that allows you to connect with grounding at any moment in time.
At the same time, pay attention to all that is happening in the moment of teaching and learning that is all around you. Cultivate the capacity to be aware of both your internal world and the external reality of what is happening in the classroom. See your students as they are engaged in their own moment-to-moment experience. Stand in the place of a participant-observer, knowing fully that all of you are human beings in this precious moment of life in the here and now.
Claire M. Stanley, Ph.D.
Center for Mindful Inquiry
167 Main Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
I will talk more later on about this two-planed reality that arises in any given moment of teaching or any other human activity. First, let's talk about grounding. Grounding means that you have your feet planted on the ground. It means that you can feel roots all the way down into the earth.
There is a tree on my neighbors' land that I love to visit. The tree is over 300 years old and I can see the worn bark, the places where limbs have fallen off, and even a place that appears to be completely dead and yet, the tree as a whole is still very much alive. The tree produces beautiful soft green maple leaves in the spring. When I stand beneath this tree in the springtime, I feel her branches and leaves and new growth reaching up to the sky. Sometimes, I can stop and listen so deeply that I can hear and feel how she has been growing for these centuries, one tiny increment at a time. She is the oldest living, breathing thing I know.
At the same time that I can see these enormous branches reaching up into the bright blue sky, I can also feel the roots beneath her that go down into the earth beyond a depth that is imaginable. When I stop to feel the roots of her, I contact the earth itself, right here and now. The earth holds us up, allows us to step on it wherever we go, and continues to offer its protection moment by moment to all of us who live on this planet. And I can feel the element of earth every time I stand under the ancient maple tree on my neighbors' land.
I can also feel the earth every time I simply stand and imagine roots that extend from my own body down into the earth. My roots may not be as old or as deep as the ancient maple's roots are, but if I connect with these roots on a daily basis, they remind me that I have a rootedness. They remind me that I too am of the earth, having been born on this planet, having walked on this earth, and having the ability to stand as straight and as tall as the ancient maple with my head reaching up to the sky and my roots extending from the soles of my feet down into the ground.
This kind of groundedness or rootedness can be brought to the world of the classroom. When I am teaching, I often find myself standing up in front of my class either talking or working with the white board or the power point presentation. Even as I am standing in the middle of a classroom, I can begin to feel a sense of rootedness coming into the soles of my feet. I stand on the earth; the earth supports me as I stand. To know that we are grounded in the earth each time we stand and each time we walk is a kind of wisdom that brings us into balance moment by moment no matter what we are doing at any time of the day.
From this place, we can then be with ourselves, present, mindful and aware even as we are with our students, the subject matter and the activity of the classroom. There is both an inner and an outer awareness that is a source of harmony, balance, and joy. By maintaining connection with the inner life and the workings of the body, heart and mind, we bring more spaciousness and clarity to our work. Over time, we can develop this sense of balance in the midst of our work. We are simultaneously present to our inner life and to all that is happening in the classroom. From this place, our capacity to respond with wisdom and compassion increases.
Try this:
Become aware of the fact that you are standing the next time you are teaching or conducting a meeting. Feel the soles of your feet. Feel the sensations of pressure, tingling, or pulsing. Feel the roots of energy that extend from your body down through the floor you are standing on, all the way down through the building and into the foundation and then down into the earth. Pause for just a moment in the midst of whatever you are doing. Feel your energy touching down into the earth and then feel the earth's energy coming back up to touch your feet and support you as you stand there. Feel the weight of your body being supported by your feet. Feel where the weight is distributed - are you more on the balls of your feet; more on your heels; more on the edges? Take a moment to spread the balance out evenly. Feel your weight being distributed across the whole length and width of the soles of your feet. Feel the groundedness and rootedness that comes from this awareness. Reflect on how, like a tree, you reach with the top of your head up into the sky and with the soles of your feet down into the earth. Imagine yourself standing beneath a weeping cherry tree in the springtime. Feel the strength of the tree, and know the strength of your own body as it stands there. Know that you are held by the earth and by mindful awareness that allows you to connect with grounding at any moment in time.
At the same time, pay attention to all that is happening in the moment of teaching and learning that is all around you. Cultivate the capacity to be aware of both your internal world and the external reality of what is happening in the classroom. See your students as they are engaged in their own moment-to-moment experience. Stand in the place of a participant-observer, knowing fully that all of you are human beings in this precious moment of life in the here and now.
Claire M. Stanley, Ph.D.
Center for Mindful Inquiry
167 Main Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
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