Sway, Ground & Breathe

This gentle grounding practice begins right away with swaying. You’re invited to move in a way that feels natural for you - eyes open or closed - maybe noticing how the whole body moves together as you sway.

Rhythmic movement can be deeply settling for the nervous system, which is why this is one of my favourite ways to move when I want to feel more grounded, present, and at home in my body. There isn't anything to get "right". There's an option to connect with your natural breath - noticing how your body is being breathed as you move.

After around 4 minutes of swaying, you’ll be invited to pause and notice how connected you feel, without needing to analyse, interpret, or change anything. We close the practice with a few settling and releasing straw breaths together.

Thank you for swaying and breathing with me. Though short, I hope you find this practice as soothing, comforting & grounding as I do.

Background piano music by Piotr Witowski via Pixabay.

Transcript

Hello and welcome.

Let's settle into a gentle sway,

Beginning this practice right away.

There is no right or wrong way to move and sway from side to side,

Rocking from sit bone to sit bone.

Perhaps rocking from foot to foot,

Creating this wave-like motion through your spine.

With your eyes open or with your eyes gently closed,

What is it like to allow the whole body to move together,

Allowing the head and neck to be involved?

You can choose the rhythm,

The shape,

The way that your body wants to move.

You might be rolling through the hips,

Drawing circles,

A gentle pendulum-like swing and sway from side to side.

As you continue with this movement,

How are you breathing in this moment?

Just as this motion is fluid and expansive and soft,

Can you imagine that your breath is luxurious and elegant and graceful,

Dancing through your body,

Nourishing all of your cells.

And as your body moves through space,

Do you notice the temperature of the air on your skin?

Might there be a part of the movement that feels more static,

More restricted?

Allowing that place to be here,

Perhaps imagining that generous breath,

That loyal breath is traveling into those places,

Massaging,

Opening,

Creating spaciousness through your entire body as you sway.

You can continue this motion for as long as you want.

Whenever you feel ready,

Finding your way into a little bit of stillness,

Landing,

Arriving,

Settling into this stillness,

This very moment,

Observing,

Feeling,

Sensing,

Noticing here,

How connected do I feel to my body right now?

And not through any effort or striving or forcing,

But through this gentle rhythmic motion.

How connected do I feel to my body right now?

Let's find a gentle breath in,

Imagining that your breath originates from somewhere deep within.

Finding that breath in,

And find a releasing breath,

Maybe gently part the lips.

One more breath,

Just like that.

Breathing in,

Perhaps through the nose,

And gently purse the lips,

Release your exhale through gently pursed lips.

And now one conscious breath in together,

And one conscious breath out.

Thank you so much for being here.

I'm so grateful.

Let's practice together again really soon.

Reviews

Such a gentle pause. The swaying is a beautiful way to find that deep inner peace and connection to the body. Since connecting with you on here, I now regularly incorporate swaying into my meditation practice. It really helps with grounding. Thank you for this short but sweet session 💙