April 22 is Earth Day, and what better time to talk about how you can explore and deepen your connection with Earth Ki? The hara – abdomen or stomach – is the center of our body’s energetic system and where our Earth Ki originates.

In the Japanese cosmological system, Earth Ki represents our Original Energy. According to Reiki teachers Bronwen and Frans Stiene, our Original Energy is “the energy you are born with, the energy that is the essence of your life and gives you your life’s purpose. The Original Energy is not only the energy you receive from your parents when you are conceived but most importantly it is the energetic connection between you and the universal life force.”

It’s important to keep our Earth Ki in balance for physical vitality and grounding. If our Earth Ki is out of balance, we may feel fatigued, irritable, emotional, and have difficulty settling down or making decisions with clarity. Balanced Earth Ki provides us with a stable energetic core in order to function optimally and live with purpose.

Practicing Reiki and receiving Reiki treatments are two ways to reconnect and balance your Earth Ki. Reiki practitioners can also perform Joshin Kokyu Ho or Tanden Chiryo Ho.

Here are some other ways you can facilitate balance:

• walk and spend time regularly in nature (connect with the Earth and her Ki!)
• deep belly breathing while visualizing a ball of white or warm light expanding in your solar plexus space on each in breath
• stand with your feet firmly on the ground and imagine light entering through your crown and moving down your body, through the feet. Imagine the energy moving out through the soles of your feet and connecting with the earth, sending down energetic roots.

Happy Earth Day!

(photo credit: Aussiegall on Flickr)