Flying can be an intense and for some people a scary experience.
According to the ancient science of Ayurveda,
Vata energy is a combination of air and ether.
Travel,
Particularly flying,
Can increase the vata energy.
An increase in vata can make you feel scattered,
Anxious and ungrounded.
This meditation is designed to help you ground and hopefully feel less anxious or tense.
In this meditation we're going to ground the body using a body scan technique before moving on to some deep breathing to help calm the nervous system.
We will finish with a short visualization preparing your mind for the airport and your flight experience.
If possible,
Sit in an upright position for this meditation.
This can be done on a chair or sitting on the floor.
You could even do this meditation in a chair at the airport,
Basically anywhere you can find a quiet space.
Take a few moments to land here,
Feel your sit bones on the floor,
Feel the air against your skin and notice any sounds you might hear.
The sounds may come and go,
Allow them to do so without judgment or following the sounds.
As I mention the following body parts,
Take your awareness there.
Take your awareness there.
Your toes and feet,
Your lower leg,
The calf and shin,
Your upper leg and the thigh feeling heavy now,
The buttocks seated and grounded,
Your hips open and calm,
Your stomach.
Pause here for a moment.
Notice any sensations and feelings here.
No judgments,
All is welcome.
Maybe you feel a little anxiety here or even a little sick.
If you can,
Just notice these sensations and sit with the feelings,
However uncomfortable that might be.
Like all feelings and emotions,
These too shall pass.
Trust that as you notice what you notice.
Moving up to the chest.
How is your heart?
Is your heart racing or beating at a normal pace?
Again,
No judgments,
Just witnessing what you find here.
Then take your awareness to your arms,
Hands and fingers.
Feel into your shoulders.
The shoulders can hold tension,
So see if you can relax the shoulders a little.
Finally,
Feel into your throat and head.
Feel the area between your eyebrows,
Feel behind the eyes and notice if you're holding tension across the forehead.
Now just feel into your whole body.
Rest here for a moment or two.
Know you are here right now in your body and all is okay.
Now we're going to focus on the breath.
This breath practice is something that I've been doing for a long time,
And it's something that I've been doing for a long time as well.
Now we're going to focus on the breath.
This breath practice is something you can come back to even while sitting on the plane.
If you can,
Imagine your breath is originating at your feet and finishing at the crown of your head.
Take an inhale,
Imagine you are just breathing through abdomen and chest up to the left nostril and out through the crown of the head.
As you exhale,
Take the breath down the body,
This time focusing on following the breath through the right side of the body from the crown of the head down to your toes.
Continue in this way for a few minutes.
Breathe from toes to crown of head,
Inhaling through the left side,
And as you exhale,
Exhale out of the right side from crown of head to toes.
Continue inhaling through the left side and exhaling out the right side.
And then slowly bring your breath back to the whole body,
Integrating now your left and right sides.
Notice how you feel.
Now picture yourself walking into the airport.
You are grounded and calm.
You check in.
The queues and other people do not concern you.
You transit through immigration and security with a smile on your face and a calm demeanour.
You have time to drink a coffee or another drink and read your book whilst you wait for your flight.
There is no stress,
No rush.
Now imagine yourself boarding the plane.
You find your seat.
You don't notice the noise and others around you.
You feel grounded and calm.
You don't notice the noise and others around you.
You feel grounded and calm.
As the plane takes off,
You are grateful for a safe flight.
You relax and know all is well.
Letting go of this visualisation now,
Come back to the breath.
Feeling the inhale and exhale in the nostrils.
Bring a smile to your face and feel now perhaps even just a little excitement that you'll be flying somewhere.
All is well.
Thank you for taking the time to prepare yourself for your flight.
Remember you have the power now to make it anxiety and stress-free regardless of the external circumstances.
You might like to follow this up with my post-flight meditation on insight.
Wishing you a safe and calm journey.
