Welcome.
In this short talk we're going to explore the power of grounding and the inner resources that are always there for you.
Grounding is a sense of steadiness and safety.
It doesn't necessarily mean that everything needs to be completely calm and quiet because we can feel grounded even when in chaos,
And I guess that's the ideal really,
To be able to feel grounded and steady even when amongst the chaos of our normal daily lives.
Our human tendency is to constrict or hold and kind of lift up all the time in reaction to our environment and what's going on in our lives,
In our inner world and our outer world.
This is something that's really deeply embedded in our system and feels like almost an instinctual reaction to life,
And this can feel very unsteady.
Meditation,
As well as many other practices,
Like spending time in nature for example,
Is a wonderful resource and space to be able to come back to ground,
And within this process the body is really important,
To bring our awareness down into the body because when we constrict and hold in the body everything kind of lifts up into the head,
Into overthinking,
Which can feel very unsteady.
But I feel it's really important that what we learn in meditation or what we experience in meditation needs to be useful for our daily life because often we're only meditating once or twice a day for ten minutes or one hour,
Unless of course you're a yogi living high up in the Himalayas in a cave.
But most of our day is spent in our normal daily awareness,
Often getting caught up in life.
So if we can integrate what we learn in meditation into our daily life it's profoundly transformative,
Giving us a real sense of steadiness and security,
And being able to deal with all of life's challenges.
When it comes to grounding it's really helpful to know for yourself what inner resources help you to feel grounded.
This can be the breath,
The body,
The ground,
Which are always there for you,
No matter where you are and no matter what you're doing.
Quite often people find the breath quite anchoring and helps to settle the mind.
This can be the natural breath flowing in and out with ease,
Or of course it can be very specific breathing techniques that can help to encourage the parasympathetic system.
For others dropping their awareness fully down into the body feels very grounding and kind of holds their awareness more deeply.
Sometimes just being aware of the body and all the sensations and processes within the body can help to calm the thinking mind and help you to feel grounded.
And again for others spending some time really being aware of the actual sense of ground is really helpful.
This can feel very supportive,
Allowing you to really deeply relax and let go.
And the sense of ground doesn't necessarily need to be the actual earth,
But can be the surface that's supporting your body,
Which might be a chair,
A cushion,
A bed.
So it's really helpful to explore these inner resources to find what feels really grounding for you.
The wonderful thing is that they're always there for you,
No matter where you are,
No matter what you're doing.
If you feel unsteady,
You can always connect into your breath,
The body,
Or your sense of ground.
