Grounding and centering are very good and achieved in a number of ways.

You can sweep your energy down your body to the ground with your hands. You can lay down and imagine dropping anchor like this anchor is coming from your back and going down into the ground. You can sit and imagine you are a tree with roots growing deeply into the ground. You can sit with your back to a tree (or hug it) for a while letting its roots ground you.

You can imagine red arrows shooting down through your feet into the ground.

You can do gardening work, or touch the ground for a while.

Grounding calms you down and gets you centered so you are relaxed and can focus.

From what I've experienced on this journey myself I think it is of the utmost importance that everyone who opens themselves to spiritual awakening becomes grounded. I think what a lot miss on this journey is that, yes we are first and foremost spiritual, but we chose to come here for a human experience and unless you can integrate both, you are always going to come up short with what you experience on this physical plane.

Undoubtedly at our essence we are all part of that One Universal Principle. At the moment there is an awakening going on within humanity as a species and as each individual takes the time to assimilate that within themselves, the greater the benefit to the Whole. Awareness is the key, so the fact you're becoming aware, the greater the benefit for yourself and all. Grounding is realizing the part of your being that is human and ensuring that part fulfills it's role on the physical plateau simultaneously infused with the true power of love from which it comes. Grounding is merely a full acceptance of the physical form we use to navigate our spiritual essence on this planet we call Earth :)

Dear Red Shoes, Yes you can try grounding and see if it works for you. The best and easiest way is to walk barefoot on grass or ground or as I do hug a tree. Make sure you are bare foot when you do this. Also you can imagine roots like tree roots growing from your feet deep into the ground.

Another good way is to get down and dirty doing housework for when one lives in the moment and gives all attention to the task at hand it helps and prvents the mind from racing.

Our physical bodies are chemical factories and just like electricity need to be grounded. Of course it depends on the persons belief system and if one believes that you dont need this and have faith than you wont need it.

What I found worked wonders for me when the mind used to race is to stop all esoteric or spiritual work or reading for a while and amazingly all mind chatter would go away and I would be at peace. Try that for a while and see what happens.

Nutrition is also very important as what we put or dont put inside our mouth can have a devastating effect on the body and mind. Make sure you have adaquate nutricious food and have yourself tested for food intolorance as an intolorance can cause not only physical but sometimes mental problems that mimic depression and schizophrenia.

I wish you luck and a speedy return to full health.

Gooday. I have been healing people for many, many years. With a success rate of about 90 percent. The last medical rate I saw was about 8 percent success. I don't think there is any such thing as grounding. A lot of people that write books etc have to come up with garbage such as grounding etc to try and justify their own beliefs and ram it down everyones neck. All that exists is energy, and YOU control it. You control it with your unconscious belief structures. If those unconscious belief structures say I want to be sick, then you automatically change the energies to affect your body and mind. One simple way to get over depression is, just before you go to sleep at night, say and visualise ten things you are grateful for, eg, I am grateful I have shoes to wear etc, after you have done them then say and visualise ten things you want, these can be anything, eg I have a new Mercedes, and see yourself in it. Do this for 21 nights. The success rate for this is about 98 percent.

Hi Red Shoes . . . love your user name. It reminds me of Dorothy & her magical ruby red slippers; which is a story of empowerment & creating our own reality.

Your moniker, Red Shoes is a symbol for grounding.

Grounding is the process which helps the body connect to earth energies via our root chakra. You can do this by any of the means Wade & Paulina mentioned & if you don't have a garden - visualize planting seeds & the seedlings rooting themselves deeply in the ground.

Red is a grounding color & the color red is associated with the root chakra. Wearing red shoes or socks reminds us to take care of our physical bodies. It's a cue to take care of our "container" as Wade call's it. Our "container" holds our soul & at times we tend to neglect our physical bodies. Therefore, 'seeing' or wearing red shoes, reminds us to take better care of our bodies. When you consciously focus on your red socks or shoes; you distribute your energies downward, deep into mother earth which creates better balance; stabilizes us.

As for personal experience. . . it's a technique used by healers to 'ground' anxious or unfocused (distracted) clients. After a similar situation as the one you described, Red Shoes . . . I was fortunate to see an old German woman, a well known healer who moved to my area of the country. I will share some of what she told me. Her main point was to get in touch with Mother Earth. She will heal us. (I should also add; never once, did she mention the word "grounding".) The following is what I know, from reading:

As Wade & Paulina stated - more than anything else - go barefoot. Hug trees or if you are anything like me, climb trees & sit in crotch of the tree visualizing the roots going deep down into the earth (sort-of like Wade sitting on the ground with his back up against a tree; lol!). I've hugged many a tree & I sit in trees as often as I can. I have one old tree, where I can sit & still have my bare feet touch the ground; but I love to climb, too. Eat well, drink plenty of water, take supplements & walk & do stretching exercises are a few more things the healer said to do as well as getting as much fresh air & sunshine as you can & gardening, etc.

Hope this helps Red Shoes & more than anything; I wanted to reiterate Wade & Paulina's sage advice. I wish you well & hope you find peace...

ETA

Here's the link to Wade's "Happy Smile" question:

http://www.inwardquest.com/questions/46887/should-we-think-on-the-body-as-a-group-of-workers-rather-than-a-machine-or-container-for-the-soul

this world of stress affect you and make you run. sit down and meditate. you don't need that stress and are not born with it. you that have free will why do you let outside factor affect you? are you not better then the lilies?

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.

http://bible.cc/matthew/6-28.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birds_of_Heaven

the Kingdom of God is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living Father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty, and it is you who are that poverty.

Jesus says, "Whoever drinks from my mouth will become as I am; I myself shall become that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to him." Furthermore, salvation is personal and found through spiritual (psychological) introspection. In Thomas saying 70, Jesus says, "If you bring forth what is within you, what you have will save you. If you do not bring it forth, what you do not have within you will kill you." As such, this form of salvation is idiosyncratic and without literal explanation unless read from a psychological perspective related to Self vs. ego.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Thomas

but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

http://bible.cc/john/4-14.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ2pYmKIOOg

experience and enjoy.