Embodiment & Grounding: Embodiment & Grounding

Terms such as “grounded,” “in the body” and “embodiment” point to an experience that many yoga teachers wish to help students understand and feel. Like a state of meditation or union, it can be hard to describe the state itself and easier to describe the practices that lead to it. The expert readings we’ve gathered here, however, are some of the best we’ve seen in our research. They do an excellent job of breaking this topic down:

• To be embodied is to mindfully focus on the body, to be connected to the sensate experience.
• In neuroscience, embodiment is called interoception.
• To be grounded is to be embodied. When grounded, we are experiencing mind, body and breath in the same place at the same time.
• The term “grounding” may be used to specifically mean “earthing”—an action of placing the body in direct connection with the earth.
• Oftentimes in yoga asana, “grounding” refers to the action of feeling the body in contact with the earth (or other support such as a chair), with the objective of gaining a sense of embodiment.