Finding your anchor.
This meditation can help us settle,
Ground,
Gather by exploring some different options that we can use as anchors.
So choosing a position,
Perhaps sitting on a dining room chair with the knees slightly lower than the pelvis and the feet flat on the floor or perhaps you have a favourite position on a kneeling stool or a cushion or of course you can always lie down if you need to.
If you're sitting,
Perhaps remembering that strong back,
Soft front so that you have a reasonably upright,
Kind of dignified posture in the back without being too rigid and a softness in the belly without being too casual or slumped.
Spending some time now having the sense of arriving in your chosen posture and settling,
Perhaps softening the shoulders,
Softening the eyes and the forehead as best you can.
Spending a few moments now just really noticing the whole body in contact with your seat.
Now gathering the attention and bringing them to the soles of the feet on the floor.
Noticing any sensations there might be here when your attention arrives.
Perhaps a sense of contact with the floor or your socks or shoes or ground.
If your feet aren't flat on the floor,
Just noticing the sensations in the feet where they are contacting.
And when you're noticing that your mind is drifting,
As it will,
Perhaps to planning,
Remembering,
Imagining without needing to give yourself any kind of hard time,
Just gently escorting your attention back to the soles of the feet.
And now deliberately letting the attention go on the soles of the feet and bringing attention to the contact to the body on your seat or on your mat if you're lying down.
Having a sense of gravity,
The effect on the body,
The kind of pulling down sensation.
Coming aware of the sensations of physical contact with whatever is supporting your body.
At some point,
Letting go of the attention on the contact of the body with the seat.
Gently bringing the attention to sensations in the hands,
Perhaps the contact of the hands where they are on the body.
And also the general sensations.
What can you feel in your palms,
In the backs of your hands,
Right into the fingertips.
Spending some time using sensations in the hands as your anchor.
And at some point,
Letting the attention go on the sensations in the hands and bringing the attention gently to the breath.
Really gently,
Maybe like a leaf landing on a pond.
Just noticing the felt sense of the breath in the body.
For you,
This might be in the nostrils or perhaps the throat or the rise and fall of the chest or abdomen.
Or perhaps even the whole body,
The subtle movement of the body with the rhythmic breath.
No need to control or manipulate the breath in any way here.
And we're not trying to analyse or imagine the breath.
We're really noticing the felt sense of the breath.
Allowing the breath to breathe itself.
And when the attention wanders,
As it will,
Gently noticing where the mind's been,
Having a little pause and then ambling back to attention on the breath.
Noticing the sensations of the breath.
And then when you're ready,
Noticing whether you choose to keep your attention with the anchor of the breath or whether right now you prefer the attention on the soles of the feet or the contact with the seat or the hands.
Perhaps noticing what serves you best right now as an anchor,
A place of grounding,
Settling and gathering to bring your attention back to right now.
And spending another few minutes,
If you've got the time and the energy,
With your chosen anchor.
And perhaps remembering during the day to pause,
To notice your anchor.
Perhaps bringing a little sense of grounding,
Maybe calm,
Maybe that spice.
