When I was a little girl, I talked to trees.

In fact, they were my first friends I ever made.

Being in the forest was the only place I felt at home, where I could stretch and be my full self. I often returned to the same friendly bunch of giants that overlooked the endless Alaskan bay to sit and listen. They would tell me of how the world was created and all the suffering that has happened over the past generations, yet, they also talked about this magnificent love that existed—and that I was a part of it and could experience it in every moment.

When I became older, they told me ways to heal the hearts of mankind, but before I got the final lesson, we moved away. We flew across the ocean to another world, to other trees where I couldn’t speak their language, and I felt like I didn’t belong.

It was here that I became disconnected from my roots.

Ever since, I have been on a mission to return to myself, to find that feeling of connection to those friendly giants, and to learn how to heal the world. Of course, I have tried to go back, to have them finish the story but the last thing they told me was, “It’s time to grow.”

Over the past bunch of years, I have discovered that we have all been disconnected from our roots and have been trying to find our way back home. This disconnection has been the root cause of the suffering, illness, poverty, war, and broken hearts in this reality. For if we are walking around feeling as if we don’t belong, or are not loved enough, or are too broken to carry on—how can we fly, how can we be happy, or feel loved on this journey?

So, if the key to opening the doorway to happiness is getting connected back to our roots, then we better start practicing.

The first thing you should know is, home is where your feet are—which is useful to return to in any moment.

Here are five ways to get grounded and rooted in your everyday life:

1. Get Naked with your Feet.

What better way to truly connect than to literally touch down on earth? Our ancestors walked every day without shoes, stepping on every twig, through deep mud, and running on burning stones. Now, in current times, we are covered from head to toe, layered with material that is not natural to our earth.

Our minds get misdirected with signals from too many sources, which lead to misdirected thoughts, confused perspectives, and distorted memory—what road to take, what food to eat, and whether or not we should be active.

But to bring us back to center, to reconnect with our ancestral wisdom, we simply take off our shoes, and go for a walk, or stand on the ground and get our feet dirty.

2. The Spoon Secret.

A simple back and forth—stroke on the bottom of our bare feet grounds the body and energy system instantly. And it doesn’t have to be any specific spoon—just a simple metal kitchen utensil does the trick.

3. Connecting to a Friendly Tree.

Nature is the biggest conduit for helping us connect to our natural state of being. Every tree holds a cellular memory of the creation of life. We, like trees, hold the same patterning, but most of us don’t have the patience or time to remember it all.

So when we hug, sit, or kneel next to a friendly giant, we get a moment to be in the presence of our higher selves. Their branches whisper ancient wisdom to us about when we first arrived on this planet. Their bark holds the secrets of the universe, and their roots remind us of our connection to mother earth. Leaning back against the trunk and allowing our body weight to be supported is a wonderful way to feel our own strength.

Trees can listen too, especially with things from the heart, and a real, deep conversation with a nonjudgmental being is always a profound way to get some perspective and clarity about life.

4. Root Mediation.

If a tree isn’t around, we can become a tree. During a root mediation, we imagine that the tip of our spinal cord is growing into a large root, getting stronger, growing deeper, until it hits the center of mother earth. We wrap our roots around the heartbeat of Gaia and allow her golden energy to run up into each and every cell of our entire body pulsing up to our heart. This grounded heart connection to mother earth allows us to stay centered in the present moment and to help our daily spiritual life in action.

5. Root Chakra Affirmations.

Words are powerful, and a daily practice of speaking to our root chakra will deepen our root connection. The root chakra is a vibrant red spinning wheel just below our tailbone and links us to our ancestral wisdom, primal instincts, and abundance.

When this chakra is blocked, we experience life as a victim, where we feel out of control of our destiny, trust issues with the universe, money issues, and trying to survive life in general. However, when this chakra is activated, we become the mother, flowing with abundance, we live from our creativity, and thrive in all aspects of life.

These archetypes can be shifted with simple energetic clearing technique of placing the hand in front of the chakra and waving it in circular motions—or by listening to sound healing root chakra music that clears the entire system. When these blockages are released, we need to then reprogram the cells with daily affirmations.

Here are some of my favorites:

Lam.

I Am, I Have, I Live.

I claim abundance.

I am grounded.

I am a divine being of light, and I am safe, protected, and secure.

I will be happy to report that my connection has returned and have learned the final lesson: The deeper your roots grow, the higher you can fly.

Staying connected to earth, finding my roots, doing my practices, and using the ancient tools has brought me back home to myself. I simply had to share, in fact, I was demanded to share this with anyone who is on the same mission: to know oneself.

For it is within this hero’s journey that we go to the farthest edges of the world, only to turn back and return home to ourselves.

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Author: Nicole Olmsted
Image: Author’s Own
Editor: Taia Butler