Use this Natural Practice to Become More Grounded

Excerpted from Ritual Baths (2020) by Deborah Hanecamp, reprinted with author’s permission.

Earth, North, Summer, Taurus

Tea Pairing: Nettle, Red Clover, Rose, and Dandelion Tea

Even if they live in the middle of a big city, people who have a green aura will always find a way to stay connected to nature. Because they are filled with so much empathy, they often need to escape into nature to ground and let the soft winds, water, and earth cleanse their spirits. Even a simple house plant on a windowsill of your midtown walk-up can remind you what you know to be inherently true: You are nature! The earth is your body, the wind is your breath, the water is your blood, and the fire is your spirit. The reason you may connect to crystals is because they speak to the minerals in your body and remind you that you, too, are a part of this beautiful Earth. We take care of our bodies the same way we take care of the Earth. When you are going through a phase of eating unhealthfully and skipping workouts, watch and see if you are also buying more plastic and engaging in other practices that harm the Earth. The more we can realize that we are nature, the more we can take care of her.

When we talk about getting grounded, what we are really talking about is returning to the source, returning to the truth of where we come from, returning to the earth. This bath is designed to help us to remember the truth of who we are. Follow this bath with a walk outside.

Ingredients

Red clay, mixed with bentonite clay and graviola powder, nettle leaf powder, or matcha

1 cup black lava salt

1 cup pink rose petals

1 bunch of fresh rosemary

10 drops each of rose and rosemary essential oils

All of your non-water-soluble crystals

Ritual

Mix clay and plant powders with spring water to create a thick paste.

Cover your body head to toe with the mixture.

If you have the luxury, go outside naked, covered in the mixture. Stand in the sun. When the paste begins to dry, rub it off your body. It will create a fine, very exfoliating dust. Notice how grounding and awakening this practice is.

If you cannot go outside naked and covered in green mud because your neighbors will be convinced that the zombie apocalypse is here, then prepare your bath while you’re letting the mixture dry.

Place all the other ingredients in the bath at a temperature of your choosing.

Light a candle.

Create a smudge using white sage by putting it in a nonflammable tray of some kind and igniting it. Waft the smoke around your body using a feather you have found.

Step into the bath and dunk your head underwater.

Place the crystals on your body wherever your intuition is guided to place them.

Sing this song (original author unknown): Earth my body. Water my blood. Wind my breath. And fire my spirit.

Take ten deep, grounding breaths.

Sit and soak in the medicine you’ve created.

Excerpted from Ritual Baths (2020) by Deborah Hanecamp, reprinted with author’s permission.

Mama Medicine is Deborah Hanekamp – The author of the bestselling book Ritual Baths and widely known as “fashion’s favorite healer” (Vogue Magazine). Mama Medicine facilitates Medicine Readings all over the world. These ceremonies integrate two decades of experience. At the end of every Medicine Reading, Deborah prescribes a Ritual Bath. Her empowering work along with her unique aesthetic and approachable personality, have garnered Mama Medicine tens of thousands of global followers and features in major press outlets. In a world of gurus and self-help, Mama Medicine encourages us to be our own healer and helps us connect to the true master within us all: the power of love. Follow Deborah @MamaMedicine