Grounding for Meditation Safety, What is it and How does it work?

[loostudent]

I remember years ago I read about and tried a grounding exercise similar to the ones described here. It was in a book called Mind Magic by Betty Shine. Here is the quote from the book:

BACK TO YOUR ROOTS

/.../ I want you to choose a time when you know you will be alone, unplug the telephone or take it off the hook [those were the old times ], lock all doors and choose a comfortable chair. (By the way, if family or other domestic circumstances make this difficult, there is one small private room in the house which will nicely fulfil all these conditions!)

Now, make shure that you are comfortable and warm, and when you are feeling cosy and happy, close your eyes. Breathe deeply three times.

Now I want you to imagine lovely fibrous roots going down into the earth. Feel yourself being pulled down into your chair as the roots grow downwards into the very centre of the earth. Feel those roots as they cling to the earth's rich soil. Take your time. There is no hurry. As you indentify with the deeply burrowing roots, you will experience a wonderful feeling of security, of being part of this planet, of simple belonging. Now visualize the fibrous roots thickening until they take on the appearance of tubers. When you can "see" or "know" that this has happened, you will be earthed.