Energy & Spirit · Grounding
Cosmic & Earth Circulation
A short sitting practice that pairs slow breathing with a simple image: warmth rising from the ground, light settling from above, and the two circulating through your body in one continuous loop. Most people use it to feel steadier, calmer, and more awake.
Adapted, in plain language, from the earth and cosmic energy exercises in Basic Psychic Development by John Friedlander and Gloria Hemsher (Red Wheel/Weiser, 1999, 2012). The circulation here is changed: it keeps looping over the head instead of leaving through the crown.
Open the handout (PDF)The practice steps on a few printable pages.
What this is
You don’t need to believe anything about energy for this to work. Treat it as guided imagery. You are sending your attention along a set path through the body, one slow breath at a time. Whatever you notice (warmth, tingling, heaviness, calm, or nothing at all) is useful information.
The practice has three parts: settle and feel supported by the ground, bring in a second image from above, and let the two circulate in a loop that never has to end.
The picture
Seated, facing right. Earth energy rises through the feet and legs into the pelvic bowl. Cosmic energy comes in through the top of the head and down the spine to the same place. They mix there, then circulate up the front of the body and over the head. The grounding cord drops from the perineum into the earth.Make the images your own. Green for the ground and gold for the light are only suggestions. Use water, sunlight, a color you like, or just a sense of warmth. If you don’t picture things easily, feel the path or say it to yourself in words. That works equally well.
The practice
Settle. Sit with your feet on the floor and your back supported. Breathe low into your belly. Bring your attention to the middle of your head, behind the eyes.
Set your grounding cord. Feel the weight of your body in the chair and your feet on the floor. Picture a cord, about as thick as a rope, running from your perineum (the base of your pelvis) down through the chair and floor into the earth. This is your grounding cord. With each exhale, let tension drain down it.
Bring up the earth stream. Picture warmth rising from the ground, up through your feet and legs into your pelvic bowl. Notice what it’s like. Let a little of it keep flowing back down the cord so it stays in motion.
Bring in the cosmic stream. Picture a ball of golden light above your head. Let it settle through the top of your head and travel down the spine into your pelvic bowl.
Let them mix. In the pelvic bowl the two streams blend. Make it mostly gold with a little of the ground’s warmth. Spend a few breaths noticing the blend.
Start the loop. As you inhale, send the blend up the front of your body: belly, chest, throat, face, to the top of your head. As you exhale, let it curve over the top, around to the back of your head, and down along your spine to the base.
Keep it circling. There is no stopping point and no exit. It passes over the top and back down the spine again and again, up the front and down the back, like a slow wheel. Let your breath set the pace. Begin with five minutes or about seven rounds, and build up gradually.
Let it fade. Slow the loop, let the images dissolve, and return your attention to your breath and the weight of your body.
Release any extra. If you feel wired or full, breathe out and let the extra drain down the grounding cord.
Come back. Open your eyes, wiggle your fingers and toes, and stretch. Stand up slowly. If you feel lightheaded, pat your arms and legs, drink some water, and feel your feet. Bending forward and letting your head hang also helps.
If something goes sideways
I can’t see anything
That’s common. Feel it, hear it, or just think the path in words. Any of these counts.
I get sleepy
Sit taller, keep your eyes open, and make each exhale a couple of counts longer than the inhale.
My mind wanders
Expected. Each time you notice, return to the point on the path where you left off.
I feel wired or dizzy
Shorten the practice, spend more time grounding, and move around afterward.
How often
Five to ten minutes a day, at about the same time, works well for the first couple of weeks. Short and regular beats long and occasional.
A caution. If this brings up agitation, a sense of unreality, or anything that feels like too much, stop, open your eyes, and name five things you can see. Bring it to your next session. This is a relaxation and attention practice, not a substitute for therapy.
Source
Adapted from Chapter One, “The First Relationship: Earth and Cosmic Energies,” in John Friedlander and Gloria Hemsher, Basic Psychic Development: A User’s Guide to Auras, Chakras, and Clairvoyance (Red Wheel/Weiser, 1999, 2012). This page is a rewrite in my own words, with the circulation modified, and is not a reproduction of the book.
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