Earth ~ You Are Home
Some reflections on the Earth element, inspired my experiences trekking in the mountains of Peru.
The Seven Lakes of Ausangate ~ July 2025
Exhaustion and Awe
The Salkantay Trek is one of the most challenging things I've ever done - a five-day walk to Machu Picchu, summiting at 4600 m on the Salkantay (Savage) mountain pass. At the peak of our trek, I watched avalanches and enjoyed a cheese cob in the snow. Five gruelling days that left me promising I’d do more cardio when I get back to Nottingham.
This wasn’t my first time in high peaks. In 2016, I went to the Himalayas for the first time - immersing myself alone in the rhododendron forests of the Annapurna Range. Again, my little legs wondering: ‘what on earth are you doing up here Alice?’
I think I gravitate to mountains so they can put me in my place. I’m almost crawling up the path now - legs like jelly, lungs about to give up. I am the perfect contradiction to the steady rock around me. My ego has left the building. I am the slowest in our group and I am absolutely fine with it.
Perhaps my fascination began in school when I first saw Caspar David Friedrich’s Wander above the Sea of Fog. I want to be the lone pensive figure looking out over the peaks.
But all it takes is a pause to look around me and I remember why I’m here, exploring the sublime peaks of Earth. You can try and impress Mother Earth in your trendiest gorpcore trekking gear, but she isn’t interested. Rain or shine she exists as she is - for thousands of years into the past and many more into the future. As I walked each day, my brain began to quieten. The landscape lulled me into a sense of calm: space to listen, to settle, to let ideas land and decisions be made.
The Apu
To the Quechua people of Peru, the Apus (the mountains) are alive: ancient, sentient beings holding the earth’s wisdom. I found the daily ritual of the locals deeply inspiring.
On a trek to the seven lakes of Ausangate, our guide shared a coca leaf prayer: three leaves for each of the three shamanic realms. She taught us to whisper our intentions into the leaves before tucking them under a rock, an offering to the peaks.
On the climb to Salkantay, another guide played his flute as we ascended, offering his music to the vastness ahead of us. Like children following the Pied Piper, we headed after him up the mountain.
High in the heavens of this earth, surrounded by rock and ancient peaks, you can feel the mass of the Earth element. Steady, patient and unbothered by anything you think matters. Solid, dependable, quietly persistent. It teaches us to endure without a fuss. Stubborn in the best way - practical and wise and refusing to be rushed.
Closer to home
Now I could be describing my dad. During Mandala training I remember being asked to think about the people we rely on in crisis during an Earth breath practice. Who do I call when I need help? It’s not so easy to call Dad as he doesn’t have a phone (stubborn). He loves walking the dogs and always arrives at exactly the time you arranged with him (via home phone or office phone). Sarah is gardener and the most grounded person I know - she naps a lot and is the person I call when I need to be brought back down to earth.
Both Dad and Sarah embody Earth. We all lean more towards one of the four elements. Some people are fiery: quick, passionate and strong. Others are air: intelligent but maybe a little stuck in the clouds. Water types flow though emotion, sensitive and adaptive. And there are the Earth types, those who quietly hold everything together, sometimes a little stuck in their own ways, but solid and reliable.
So I wonder: who grounds you? Or are you the grounding presence in your community?
Finding Earth Within
In the body, Earth connects to the Muladhara Chakra - the root. Sitting at the base of the spine, I like to imagine it as an animal’s burrow, deep in the roots of a tree. Smell the earth around you, let your shoulders soften. This chakra mirrors Maslow’s physiological needs: without basic safety, food, shelter and warmth, it’s impossible to be grounded. These are the foundations that make all else possible. You can’t climb the pyramid if you’ve not had breakfast or slept well. Feel disregulated? First ask: do I need to eat or sleep? Nine times out of ten, one or both of these will have been neglected.
During my trip to Peru, I noticed how much better I felt going to sleep between 8pm and 9pm not my usual 10 or 11. Many of us strive for that newest healing fad or quick fix, but perhaps the most radical self-care acts are simple. We could start by going to bed a little earlier.
The chakra system may look like a ladder, but we don’t climb and abandon the lower rungs. The system is deeply interconnected. Energy from the seventh chakra, Sahasrara (the Crown), cycles down to the root in a spiral.
As the zen proverb says.. ‘chop wood, carry water’.
Before and after spiritual awakening, we need to tend to our basic needs - and to the needs of others around us. You will find the sacred in the everyday. Even the most mundane tasks must be done, and a true yogi will do them mindfully, with care and presence.
So what makes you feel grounded? Is it a place or a routine? Maybe it’s a deep breath, a walk in nature, or a cup of tea in your favourite mug. It might be the weight of a crystal in your pocket or resting a hand on your heart. Grounding isn’t supposed to be mystical or faraway - search close to home. You will find the ground in the most ordinary rhythms of life.
The long-term goal is to find the ground within yourself, without the need for external craving. In essence, it’s simple - a steady breath, noticing the gravity in your body and the quiet assurance that you are not your thoughts, but belong fully to yourself. Let us learn to ground from within: to rest within our own being without reaching for anything outside ourselves.
Finding the earth within is not about becoming more, but about remembering - you are here, you are whole and you are home.