Grounded
Something like firmly rooted, with feet firmly planted on the ground. Present, stable, connected with myself.
Nomad
A nomad is someone who is constantly on the move, without a fixed place to live.
Am I grounded?
Not always, not so much right now
Do I want to be?
100%. It's one of my goals
While I'm not always grounded and I don't fit the literal definition of a nomad, "The Grounded Nomad" is a name that represents a part of me and the path I'm on. It's one of my archetypes and serves as my guide.
Movement is a part of everyone's life; even when we're still, our blood is constantly flowing, the air moves in and out of our bodies, we're energy, and energy implies movement.
Beyond this foundation, movement has always been a part of my life, whether it's exercising, running, hiking, walking, or going from one place to another. In my authenticity, I have the freedom and flexibility to make any movement I desire, to bring strength and joy to my body, mind, and soul.
And, since I turned 18, long journeys have been the protagonists of this movement.
I was born in Chile. After graduating from school, I embarked on a solo journey through Europe for 3 months. I went to university in Berlin, a city where I lived for 3.5 years and consider my first love. I participated in an exchange program in Bologna, living there for 5 months.
When the Covid pandemic began, I was near the end of university, so I decided to return to Chile before borders closed. In Chile, I spent quality time with my family, recharging after many years of being apart. Later, I spent 4 months exploring the southern part of my native country.
2022 was the one in which I traveled the most. One month in Mexico, one month in Brazil, back to Chile, and 2 months later, I set off to fulfill my dream of returning to Berlin for a summer, feeling like I was living there again without truly residing there. I spent 3 months there, and during that time, I attended a wedding in Macedonia, which reminded me (as if I needed more reminders) of how much I love traveling. Since I worked online, I realized I could continue to travel and bought a one-way ticket to India.
I stayed in India for 2.5 months, then traveled to Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia.
I returned to India for 3 more months, and finished the trip back where I began – in Berlin - and Spain. Up to now, it was the trip of my life, a time where I deeply connected with solitude and explored ideas that I consider fundamental truths of our existence. It was an incredibly powerful journey in every sense, and now, after 4 months of returning to Chile, I feel like I'm truly landing. I arrived and realized that nothing was the same anymore – I returned full of experiences and new-found insights, and now it was time to align my life with this new version of myself.
All this travel has been incredibly enriching for me, helping me get to know myself and the world, and exploring existential questions that have been with me for a lifetime. It has opened my perspective significantly.
However, so much movement, from one end of the planet to the other, through different climates, cuisines, cultures, customs, plants, and people in such a short time, does, most likely, lead to imbalance. And even more so if I don't focus on grounding myself wherever I go.
I'm 26, young, but this year I started to feel changes in my body – a slightly slower regeneration compared to when I was younger. During my trip to India, I indulged in restaurant food, which was delicious and inexpensive. I didn't cook once in 8 months, and despite enjoying the most delicious culinary delights, I didn't take great care of my body in terms of nutrition. With a slower regeneration now, I'm feeling the impact of that neglect.
The last three years, I worked creating educational content for the NGO Regenerativa, dedicated to Earth Regeneration. Through research and many conversations, I gained a deep understanding of how the agro-industrial system and the overall capitalist model we're immersed in have led us to normalize things like consuming food laden with chemicals, to the extent that those harvesting it must wear astronaut suits for protection.
During my journey in Asia, I realized that our side of the world doesn't design things to support our nature. For instance, our daily bathroom routine involves sitting on a toilet, a posture that isn't conducive to effective defecation. In Asia, it's common to squat on the floor ("malasana" style for yogis) while using the bathroom, which helps whatever needs to come out, to come out. Recognizing this, I felt an increasing need to make changes in order to lead a life free from things that don't make sense to me. In order to do so, for me, it's crucial to educate myself to make better decisions for my health.
In this alignment that began after my trip, taking charge of my health became a priority. While I have the intention, there are many things I'm not sure how to approach. While awareness can eventually lead to all answers, learning through courses, readings, books, and research can facilitate the process significantly.
Thus, I began taking numerous courses: an Ayurveda diploma, manifesting through neuroplasticity, tantra, lunar cycle, facilitating women's circles, and more. All of these have been treasures that have guided me in discovering aspects of myself that I hadn't identified before, enabling me to gradually make conscious decisions based on my constitution and who I am.
Meditating daily, extensive journaling, therapy sessions with my amazing psychologist, and participating in these courses has equipped me with tools to interpret the signals my body sends and to listen to them more attentively. I would say I'm currently in a phase marked by making the subconscious conscious and breaking the cycle of normalizing things I didn't previously notice or considered givens. It's about becoming conscious and gradually taking action based on the information.
Throughout all of this, radical honesty with myself and others has been pivotal. Viewing my relationships as mirrors reflecting aspects of myself and engaging in conversations helps me see perspectives I might have overlooked. I'm on a mission to stop allowing life to merely happen to me and to cease being a victim of the system. Alignment is key to that endeavor. It's also crucial to treat myself with tenderness – it's a constant adjusting.
Movement is an integral part of me, and exploring this planet is one of the greatest joys of my existence. To continue traveling, I need to be grounded within constant movement.
Hence, The Grounded Nomad.