As a baby, Josh Patner grew to become accustomed to stepping over his mother, who used to lie down within the kitchen at any time when her mother-in-law would name.
“My grandmother would discuss her ear off,” Mr. Patner, 61, recalled. To manage, his mom would “lie on the ground and maintain the cellphone away from her head.” Mr. Patner’s father, additionally a fan of the ground, took a 20-minute nap underneath the household’s piano every night time after work.
So it’s unsurprising, maybe, that Mr. Patner enjoys ground time at his dwelling in Brooklyn and even at his buddies’ locations — partially to stretch and soothe his again (he has scoliosis), but in addition, he says, as a result of it feels calming.
“If I do know you effectively sufficient to take a seat in your sofa, I do know you effectively sufficient to lie in your ground,” he stated.
Whereas that is nothing new to Mr. Patner, others are simply now catching on to the follow: Posts with the hashtag #floortime have garnered hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok.
Lily Bishop, a graduate pupil in Chicago, made a video exhibiting herself supine on her beige carpet, silently staring on the ceiling, arms unfold vast. “I’m a ground individual to my core,” learn the phrases emblazoned over the clip. “Assembly simply ended? Flooring. House from the health club? Flooring. Wish to take a nap? Flooring.”
“I discover it makes me extra relaxed and current, and sort of, like, slows down the anxious ideas,” Ms. Bishop, 27, stated when reached by cellphone.
For her, the feeling feels much like watching ocean waves wash ashore — however with out the journey to the seaside.
“You don’t must have a serene, pure setting,” Ms. Bishop stated. “You simply want the ground.”
What’s so nice about being on the ground?
Though there isn’t a physique of analysis that extols the advantages of mendacity on the bottom, psychologists say spending time on the ground is unlikely to harm, and might even assist us really feel grounded.
If you lie flat in your again, your posture is open and relaxed, which can have a relaxing impact, stated Ellen Hendriksen, a scientific psychologist in Boston.
“Your physique and temper need to align,” she stated. That is why it’s tough to really feel hopeful and optimistic for those who’re slumped in your chair, head hanging down, she added. Or why our shoulders shoot up or our jaws clench after we’re anxious.
Mendacity on the bottom may additionally assist us keep away from ruminating, defined Alan Fogel, a professor emeritus of psychology on the College of Utah and the writer of “Restorative Embodiment and Resilience.”
“In our Western tradition, we don’t have lots of areas for restoration,” Dr. Fogel stated. “There’s no timeouts. There’s no recess.”
You could assume {that a} snug mattress can be extra conducive to leisure. “However sometimes what occurs, particularly in acquainted locations like our mattress, is our thoughts retains working,” Dr. Fogel stated. “We take into consideration what occurred throughout the day. We take into consideration what we might have achieved or ought to have achieved.”
When mendacity on a more durable floor like the ground, nevertheless, you might change into extra attuned to what your physique is feeling and fewer targeted in your ideas.
To get snug, it turns into essential to sink into the ground and soften your muscle tissue, Dr. Fogel added. The deal with letting go makes it simpler to assist the physique and thoughts decompress — to “simply be,” he stated.
Kara Lennon, 34, an account govt and an indoor biking teacher in Boston, has been a fan of ground time for a couple of decade.
“It’s like going outdoors and sitting within the solar” for a couple of minutes, she stated. You’re feeling higher, “after which you will get again to no matter you’re doing.”
Individuals have been gravitating to the bottom for hundreds of years. Examples embrace the yoga pose savasana, which helps individuals slowly chill out every a part of the physique whereas mendacity on their backs; Zen meditation or tea ceremonies that always happen on the ground; and the radiant ground heating system in Korean properties, which makes the bottom much more attractive for sleeping, learning or consuming.
Is mendacity on the ground for you?
Not everybody will discover reduction on the ground. Some could have bodily challenges, for example, that make it uncomfortable or painful to decrease themselves to the bottom.
If you’ll be able to attempt it and need to give ground time a go, “focus in your breath, actually flip inward,” stated Rachel Goldman, a psychologist and scientific assistant professor of psychiatry on the NYU Grossman Faculty of Medication. Do you are feeling extra relaxed, extra grounded or extra in management? In that case, she stated, “it’s one further technique that you should use while you really feel like it’s worthwhile to.”
Ms. Lennon acknowledged that “it might sound foolish,” however in her case, taking a ground break for even just some minutes every day permits her to be extra productive whereas working from dwelling.
“It’s urgent the reset button for a second,” she stated.
