Here & Now Grounding

It can be painful to live in the past. We all know that connecting to the present is good - but how do we actually do it? This meditation guides you through a step-by-step practice. Integrating several tools and techniques into a unique mindful journey of discovery, this practice is designed to strengthen the mind's ability to distinguish between past and present.

Transcript

Welcome!

Today I'll be guiding you through a powerful grounding practice.

So we hear a lot things like come back to the present,

Live in the now.

But what does that actually mean and how do we do that?

So the only place that we have agency,

The only place that we're able to approach the challenges of our lives with creativity and integrity is right here and right now.

But if you have a human brain,

You're probably really good at time travel.

When we're activated by something that reminds us of an earlier time in our lives,

It can awaken the exact same sensations and emotions that we felt at that time.

And this can feel like you are backsliding or like you're helpless or crazy but you're not.

So I'll share a tool that quite literally introduces the mind to the present moment and with practice we can build a stronger base in the present.

And by frequently updating our awareness of here and now,

We can start to update our emotional tone in response to the world.

So let's practice together.

Take whatever posture is going to be supportive.

Remember that there's no right or wrong way.

You can be standing,

Laying down,

Sitting.

And with eyes opened or closed,

We'll begin starting with your name.

So either out loud or just spoken in your mind,

Say my name is first and last name.

And state where you are.

Where you are physically.

Are you in a building?

What kind of building?

And then where are you in terms of what neighborhood are you in?

What city?

How can you tell that you were there?

What are the markers?

What can you see or hear or smell around you that centers you in your location right now?

Okay,

So we've named the here.

Now let's sync up with the now.

So tapping into our sense of time,

We're going to again consciously answer these questions either out loud or in our head.

What's today's date?

What year are we in?

And just getting that sense of time.

Are we early in the month?

Later on?

What time of day is it for you right now?

Morning or night?

And we can anchor into time even more by thinking about the season.

What around you indicates the season right now?

Okay,

Last thing locating us in time.

How old are you right now?

Great.

We've gathered and observed our information for our basic introduction.

So this might seem odd at first,

But bear with me.

So when you're doing this by yourself,

You will breeze through this here and now introduction like this.

My name is blanky blank.

I am here and here on today's date and time.

And I'm this many years old.

You're going to fill in your own information.

I'm going to let you do that right now.

So again,

It's state your name,

Where you are,

Your name,

Where you are,

When you are,

And how old you are.

All right,

Go for it.

Good.

Now we're ready to go deeper.

So the brain loves evidence.

So we're going to find some evidence to back up these claims that we've made about being here and now.

And the best evidence that time has passed is change.

So starting to look around you,

What evidence is there that you are definitely not in the past?

You are here and now.

So that should be something neutral to pleasant that you have in your surroundings now that wasn't there before.

You might have a different house plant,

A different colored room.

You might be surrounded by different people.

You might have evidence that you find in what you look like now or where you are.

What passions or projects do you have going on right now?

What do you do for work or study?

Or maybe you're caretaking.

Notice the physical evidence,

The trappings of what your life looks like right now.

You are sitting in a fascinating time capsule,

Capturing what life looks like now and feels like now.

And rather than judge or evaluate your life,

Challenge yourself to stay incredibly curious,

Taking in your surroundings as if you've never seen this moment before.

And you're never going to see one exactly like it again.

Good.

So let's invite in a sense of agency now.

In this moment,

Right now,

You are the oldest you've ever been.

You are likely the most knowledgeable and skilled that you've ever been.

But again,

Let's consciously connect with the evidence from your timeline.

Maybe there is some freedom that you have now that you didn't before.

What is one thing that you can do that you could not do before?

Maybe it's some skill that you've developed or growth that you've had.

Or an accomplishment or an important milestone has passed.

Today,

You might have choices or knowledge or resources that you didn't have back then.

You,

Of course,

Have problems now,

Just as you had then.

But in what ways are your problems different than the ones your past self had?

What does it feel like to be able to do or know or choose things now that your younger self could not?

And with this,

Maybe you welcome a little sense of pride like you would for anyone who has come as far as you have or has overcome what you have.

Now we're going to bring all of the things that you have mindfully consciously observed about the present into this moment.

And we're going to use it to make a little wedge between now and the past.

So imagine you are at a networking event and you run into a younger version of yourself.

Notice how they look,

How old they are,

What they're doing.

And you've only got one minute with them.

What could you tell them about your life now?

And just notice how the things that you would say about yourself right now are different than the things that you might have said about yourself a month ago,

A year ago,

10 years ago.

Notice the difference between your younger self and you.

As the past starts to feel even slightly more distant from the present,

Notice what does this distance feel like?

And see if you can to amplify any sense of lightness or relief.

This distance might give you any sense of perspective that you value.

Just take this moment now to really highlight it and spend some time observing it and importantly enjoying it.

What does anchoring into the present give to you?

What does a clear sense of boundaries with the past give to you?

Now to give yourself a shortcut back to these gifts,

Find a symbol or object that could represent the distinction between then and now and how far you've come.

So it might be something like and how far you've come.

So it might be something that you see in your surroundings,

The way your clothing or hair is today,

A new tattoo,

A candle that you love,

Something that your present adult self got to choose.

And use that object or symbol as your anchor so that when you need a reminder,

You can look at it or imagine it and it's going to remind the mind and the body that you are here and now making choices as an adult with all of your present day skills and strengths and insights.

The past is always moving further away from us,

Never closer.

And with every single passing second,

We grow further and further from the way things were.

And here and now,

With each passing second,

We get to create the way things are and the way they will be.

Welcome to your present life.

It hasn't been easy,

But thank you for making it all the way here.

Beautiful work.

So let's close by inviting yourself to gather everything that has felt good or useful from this practice,

Reviewing it in your mind,

And knowing that it's yours to keep.

You created it and you can come back to it anytime.

Thank you for doing this work and putting a little more healing and peace into the world.

Thank yourself for taking this time.

And give yourself some gentleness,

Maybe take some clearing breaths,

Maybe a little stretch to move you back into your day.

Thank you for practicing with me.

Reviews

Excellent meditation 🙏❤️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was very helpful to me today. There’s so much space for a person to be able to apply it to their own situation. Just enough prompting and encouragement and no assumptions about where the person is on their healing journey. Thank you. ☺️

Absolutely loved this ! With Love n blessings ⭐️💞⭐️

Thank you Clay for such a wonderful exploration. Not only relaxing, but a great strategy. Will definitely revisit ✨