All right,
However it is that you're joining,
Just taking a nice deep breath in through the nostrils and out through the mouth.
We're going to spend some time practicing grounding and finding our own way to ground.
Whether we might be coming feeling flat and possibly over grounded and needing to bring some movement,
Some life,
Some vitality back to our experience of the body in the world.
Whether we're feeling agitated and there's some events in your life that are difficult to feel or to be with the feelings around and we're going to find a bit more ground in order to help us find that place of compassion and also then the ability to respond to those life events.
So we are going to invite the feet to the floor,
So whether you're standing,
Staying as you are.
If you're seated,
Just finding the feet on the floor.
If you are on the floor,
Maybe lying on the ground,
But just bend your knees so that your feet are on the floor.
Or if you're seated in a cross-leg posture,
Just staying as you are and feeling your feet and the outer calves on the floor.
To begin,
Just starting to notice how you are now,
Creating a kind of baseline,
Catching up with ourselves in the body.
Are there any particular sensations that you're noticing as you're here,
As we begin?
Just starting to bring online that sense of compassion and kindness as we notice.
Noticing what we do with a kind of befriending benevolence.
Also noticing if there's any mood or emotion here as we begin.
And then also becoming aware of any mental activity,
Any thoughts,
Any images,
Imaginings that are here with these sensations and with these feelings.
And then maybe taking another deep breath in through the nose,
Out through the mouth.
As you exhale,
Letting your attention drop right down into the feet.
And as if you could just become totally aware of the sensation in your feet,
Of what it's like to be in your feet.
Noticing where your feet make contact with the ground.
Is it the soles of your feet?
Can you feel the ground through your toes?
Or is it the outer blade of your foot if you're seated cross-legged?
Maybe noticing the temperature of your feet.
Really getting a sense of how is it to be in your feet,
In contact with the ground.
Maybe you'd like to create some light movement down there.
Noticing what it's like to wiggle your toes if you can.
Just to move your foot and rotate your ankle a little bit.
Noticing what that's like.
Now maybe creating a little pressure between your foot and the earth,
One foot at a time.
Creating sensation,
Trying to find appropriate grounding.
If we're over-grounded,
Bringing some life back.
If we're under-grounded,
Really trying to bring the attention back to the sensation in the foot,
In relationship to the ground.
Creating pressure,
One foot at a time,
Pressing into the earth.
As you do that,
Noticing the sensations in your legs,
In your feet,
Maybe in your lower back as you press your feet.
Getting a sense of how this very action,
This movement towards the earth,
How that travels up into the body.
And then just let any movement come to rest.
And just noticing what you notice at the side of the feet.
Is there a difference in temperature?
Any particular sensations that feel different or maybe the same?
Just noticing,
Collecting our attention.
And starting to deepen the breath and as we very slowly begin to make our movement back out,
Inhaling your attention maybe up from your feet into your lower torso and your body.
And just beginning to notice as we did in the beginning,
Sensations,
Emotions,
Thoughts,
Tracking at each of those levels,
What is it that you feel and you notice now after this short practice.
Paying particular attention to any changes in sensation,
Feelings,
Thoughts,
Images.
And just marking and noticing that we are able to create these changes just by paying attention in a different kind of way.
Bringing our awareness and our attention and movement back to different parts of our body and our experience that can help us bring a little more life to somewhere,
To our experience and also bring a little more groundedness.
And just notice what it's like to notice that we can do that.
That we have some kind of agency and ability to really be engaged in how we respond to the world,
Our life and all the events within it.
So starting to deepen the breath,
Maybe on each exhale just sending some gratitude down towards the feet and the earth beneath.
Feeling the length of the spine on every inhale.
And when you're ready,
Carrying this sense with you back into the world around you.
