Connected To The Earth With Love

Sandra gently takes you on a journey of connection using visualisation and deep feeling to bring a sense of deep peace and relaxation to both mind and body. This session brings in mindfulness meditation practices and concepts of chakras to promote a sense of deep grounding with the elements of water, earth, wind and fire.

Transcript

Welcome everybody to today's meditation.

I thought today,

Given the change of seasons in the air,

It might be a nice opportunity to do a lovely grounding practice.

So I thought we would loosely focus on the chakras today.

I will start off by simply focusing on the breath.

Closing down our eyes.

Relaxing.

Breathing all the way in.

And then releasing all the way out.

Just allowing ourselves to come into the body.

There might be thoughts or sensations.

Might be sounds inside your house,

Sounds outside your house.

Just allow those sounds to wash over you.

A bit like the wind in the trees outside.

I was down at Hyde Park this morning looking at the beautiful trees and I read a little plaque that told me they were planted around 1899.

So those trees are about a hundred and twenty years old.

They've seen all sorts of events.

Experienced all sorts of winds.

But all that time they remain steady and calm.

Just letting the wind rustle through their leaves.

Just like us in our meditation.

We stay strong and calm.

Let the emotions,

The thoughts,

The feelings just gently blow through.

We don't hang onto them.

We just simply acknowledge them.

And I'd like you to start the meditation by bringing your attention to the base of your spine.

Feeling the connection between the base of your spine and the bolster or cushion beneath you.

And we're going to do chakra meditation today.

Chakras are a series of energy centers in the body and traditionally each one is assigned a color to help us focus on this area of the body.

And the chakra at the base of the spine,

The root chakra,

Is often described as a beautiful red color.

So I want you to place your attention on the base of the spine and start to visualize a beautiful ruby red color.

A color of warmth.

And just see whether you can detect this feeling of warmth.

Maybe gauge the level of ruby redness.

Sort of an indication of how settled this area of the body is.

And when we do these practices it's not so much that we're over emphasizing the body or that we're wholly relating ourselves,

Identifying with the body.

It's more that we're taking care of this body which houses our mind and being.

So focus deeply on the connection with the earth.

The connection of your tailbone,

Your hips.

And let this area relax.

Let it soften.

Sink down into the earth.

All the time just gently breathing in and breathing out again.

Becoming more and more settled.

More and more centered.

Next we'll move our attention up into the pelvis area.

The area that's often referred to as the house of jewels.

The area that houses our reproductive systems.

Our place of creation.

Where we bring forth life.

And I want you to visualize a beautiful orange color.

A beautiful orange glow.

Like the tips of flames.

The flames that may scorch the earth and bring forward new growth.

Cracking open all the little seeds in the earth.

Allowing new life.

Allow the whole pelvis area,

The tummy,

The lower back.

Allow it to completely relax.

Notice the intensity of orange.

And what you might notice as we move through the chakras is that some areas glow more intensely than others.

Are more energetic.

Be curious towards these sensations.

Feel them.

Listen to them.

Investigate closely and grow.

And as these lower parts of the body relax,

Bring your attention to the solar plexus.

That area between your belly button and your diaphragm.

Kind of just under the diaphragm.

The solar plexus glowing a beautiful yellow color like the Sun.

Your center of power and energy.

The place where our diaphragm lifts our lungs.

Allows them to expand.

Allowing us to bring fresh rejuvenating oxygen into the body.

Flushing out all those things that no longer serve us.

All the tension,

Tightness,

Any stress.

Feel the glow of yellow like the Sun.

The Sun that brings warmth to the earth.

The Sun that heals and disinfects.

Allows all life to grow.

Feel the chest area relax.

Feel a subtle movement of the sides of the ribs.

Gently rising and falling.

And as the ribs relax.

As the diaphragm moves gently up and down.

Move your attention up to the heart area.

And imagine your heart expanding.

Visualize a beautiful green color.

Like the green of new shoots of tiny seedlings as they spring forth with the change of season.

Or the green tendrils of a sprawling vine as they reach out to seek nourishment and kindness and compassion.

A green which represents an abundance of life.

Of vigor,

Vitality.

Allowing our lives to bear fruit.

Green like the leaves of trees which gently blow in the breeze.

Allowing all the winds of life to blow through them.

Feel the heart expand.

Feel the relaxation,

The kindness descend through the body.

A sense of wonder as we care for ourselves.

And open our hearts to care for others.

Feel the chest relax.

Feel the shoulders relax.

And now gradually bring your attention to the throat area.

Feel any points of tightness or constriction in the throat.

Get to relax.

Feel the neck muscles relax.

Feel the jaw relax.

The inside of the mouth,

The tongue,

Back of the throat,

The teeth.

Allow the jaws and neck and throat to relax and visualize the beautiful blue.

Like an ultramarine blue.

The color of water as it reflects the blue sky on a sunny day.

Cool and liquid.

As further water is running unhindered,

Finding its own path.

Place your whole attention on the throat area.

The area that allows us to speak our truth.

To speak words of kindness and compassion.

To tell others that we love them.

Now bring your attention up to your eyes and allow the eyes to soften.

And as the eyes soften,

You might bring a smile to your face.

And imagine that smile extending right up through the eyes.

As though the eyes are smiling as well.

And gently gaze downwards.

And imagine you're looking out at a beautiful blue sky.

Visualize this color blue.

Like the blue on a sunny day.

And start to gaze inwards.

Start to gaze inwards and place your whole attention on your mind.

As though you're gazing outwards at a far horizon.

Notice what happens when you gaze inwards.

Notice what happens when you place your whole attention on the mind.

Notice the way the thoughts seem to clear.

Just like clouds on a sunny day.

Notice the vastness,

The expansiveness.

Notice the space that opens up.

Notice the emptiness.

Not so much emptiness as in an empty vessel or empty glass.

But emptiness in terms of bringing forth a space for creativity.

For love.

For space.

To rest in our own minds.

Now move your attention to the crown of the head.

And imagine a beautiful violet color.

Like the purpley pink color in the sky at sunrise that heralds a new day.

It is said that artists like Van Gogh painted in such beautiful colors because they had the ability to see violet in the air.

A magical world.

Like a new dawn,

A new beginning.

Feel the magic of this life force within you.

All the way from the crown of the head right down the spine.

Connecting you to the earth.

Imagine a stream of light.

Like a stream of energy.

Continuously ebbing and flowing.

Bringing life and nourishment into your being.

Flowing backwards and forwards like waves,

Like night and day,

Like the seasons.

Just like your breath.

The breath that cycles in on the in-breath and out on the out-breath.

Feel the whole of the body.

See if you can feel the very edge of the body,

Like an outline.

Now bring your attention to the breath.

So that the only thing moving in the body,

The only movement is the gentle inhalation and exhalation of the breath.

As though the rest of the body is falling away.

The boundaries becoming blurred.

Allowing our minds to dissolve into the abundance,

The spaciousness.

Becoming formless and boundless.

Spreading out around us.

As though we're floating and drifting.

Just like the clouds.

Breathing in.

Breathing in awareness.

Breathing out and letting go.

Now breathe in.

Just a little bit deeper.

Feel the breath rise.

And then let go.

Just a little bit more.

Let the clouds drift by.

The clouds in your mind.

Let them clear.

Breathe in even deeper.

And hold.

And let go even more.

Let go.

Feel all of the tension.

Any tightness that's left in your body,

Just let it go.

Let it drain down into the earth.

Now breathe in completely.

And let go completely.

Let go.

Feel complete peace.

Feel the abundance.

The spaciousness.

Feel like you're born anew to start the day.

I'll gently ring the bell to bring the meditation to an end.

Just watch the feeling in your mind and body.

Notice.

And then set an intention for how you wish to walk forward in your day.

And know that at any time you can always return to this place of stillness and spaciousness by simply returning to the breath.

It's always there.

A place of compassion is always there.

You just need to reconnect.

Bring the palms of your hands up to your eyes and let them come back to the room.

Thank you everybody.

I look forward to sitting with you all again soon.

Bye bye.