Crystal Intentions. Lune Innate

Grounding and Centering to Self-Heal, Reduce Burnout, and Relax

      Before we begin to work with any self-healing method, it is a good idea to ground in the moment, center yourself, and set intentions. “Grounding and centering” is language borrowed primarily from the modern pagan movement, but the principles are recognizably the same as those in most healing, therapeutic, or mindfulness strategies regardless of background or context. The matter of setting intentions allows us to tune into ourselves carefully and ensure that the energy we put into our relaxation work is focused in the direction that serves our greatest good.

      Ever feel like you are just working really hard and accomplishing nothing? It’s almost as if this is the nature of stress and frustration. We expend all our energy, but it’s like revving the engine to try and get a car out of a muddy trench. We just keep spinning our wheels, wearing out the motor and using up all our fuel, only to end up stuck in the same place and covered in mud. Stressful situations—even those stressful situations we invite into our lives, such as the stress of a new project or job—deplete our energy supply both in the activities related to the stress and in our efforts to relax and calm things after the fact. Relaxation, of course, is necessary both in happy situations and unhappy ones, because we cannot stay at high velocity permanently. Energy, though limitless in nature, is finite within the human subtle body field, as it must be restored to maintain harmony and balance. You reach your best state of wellness when you become aware of both the present state of your stress levels or overall energy and the knowledge that you have the power within yourself to restore peace within.

      The social, physical, and emotional demands of life have increased over the past several decades. Over a century ago, during the dawn of the industrial revolution that made our supply of food, water, and resources more efficient and pulled people out of the farm fields and into the factory, early students of sociology began to examine the nature of labor and commerce, concluding that the critical thing people had to exchange for food and water was their time. Not everyone could be wealthy or born into royalty, and so survival of the poor and working classes depended on our ability to trade one commodity for another. Since the poor tended not to have land or objects to trade for resources, they came to trade their time for the financial resources necessary to survive. It was during the early days of this social experiment, when the labor forces were unable to till the fields and instead found opportunity in the factories, that we began to recognize the impact and value of labor in terms of its toll on our bodies. Labor takes time and energy, and that energy is depleted from our bodies and must be restored consistently.

      Labor and energy go into many more activities than simply those that earn us the financial resources we need to eat, drink, sleep, and remain safe. Labor and energy go into all our activities, whether they be studying for that big biology exam tomorrow, caring for the needs of a houseful of toddlers, packing up our household possessions to move across the country, or even going on vacation.

      Mental pursuits, such as programming software applications or designing websites, also expend our labor and energy. Unlike the industrial revolution, during which we moved from farm fields to the Ford assembly line, this technological revolution has had a tremendous impact on our bodies and minds. Even though we are not toiling in coal mines beneath the ground or riveting bolts into the beams of a skyscraper a mile above it, we are still expending energy on the hidden costs of our new technologies—and of our addiction to them. While modern technology has given us the potential to research any topic, work at our professions remotely, or source inspiration for our next meal, it has a downside. It is difficult to unplug; we reply to emails at two in the morning when we should be sleeping, or we spend hours mindlessly scrolling through social media with little awareness of how the images or messages we’re absorbing might be affecting our psyche, let alone our vision or our sleeping patterns.

      On one side of the burnout spectrum, we have stress which occurs when we expend our energy in hyperactive ways. Stress is a form of anxiety that stems from the “fight” part of our fight-or-flight instincts left over from our tiger-fighting days. Stress rises when we experience a rushed need to expend energy in a difficult situation, such as managing conflicting priorities or saving lives during a natural disaster. It also arises when we experience the need to expend energy for positive situations, such as finishing that painting or playing basketball with your friends.

      Prolonged stress results in burnout. It is the exhaustion of your energetic body where you disengage both mentally and physically. Burnout resembles depression; with both, you feel less interested in things and people. When you are burned out, your body—both at the subtle and physical levels—is crying out for you to slow down and let things cool off for a while so you may return to your optimal energetic state.

      Many psychological professionals see burnout as a symptom of poor stress management. Spending excessive screen time with video games, social media, and television keeps you engaged mentally even if you are sedentary, and you deplete your energy trying to unwind by winding right back up again. What’s more, a recent study by a major health insurance provider found that the current generation is more lonely than any other generation in history.3 Part of the blame for that loneliness, which is a state of burnout, belongs to our devotion to technology as an attempt to replace our very real needs for direct human contact and social engagement. That lack of in-person socialization has a profoundly negative impact on your well-being.

      We may begin to feel lost and isolated without meaningful relationships. It can feel as if we are missing something of great importance in our lives. This also can lead to being too much “in our own heads,” and even simple social interactions become overwhelming. This can make it even more difficult to form connections, and we may take things too seriously or personally. Healthy relationships manifest more easily when navigated from a calm and balanced state.

      Crystal relaxation strategies can help center that energy by winding down your stress or restoring your energy after the depletion of burnout has set in. Developing awareness about our current energy state and the onset of stress and burnout is the best defense. Set an intention and choose an action—even non-action—to restore comfort and peace, lead to your own greater clarity, and reverse the “downward spiral.” Energetically speaking, even the smallest of shifts in the right direction can truly turn the tide.

      Stress and burnout certainly affect us in our physical bodies as we experience tension or exhaustion. Sometimes we even experience these physical symptoms of burnout in the form of pain, which is like a warning flare sent by our bodies to alert us that something