Grounding / Self Soothing Meditation

This grounding meditation/self-soothing meditation is perfect for those days when there is a lot going on and you could use some calming, soothing energy.

This meditation contains a few active components (box breathing and self-touch), as well as some "I Am Affirmations".

This meditation may feel a bit tricky if you're disconnected from your human. And, that's okay. It's an invitation to explore and follow what feels good. All relationships -- even with yourself -- take time to develop.

Transcript

Good morning and welcome to the artist morning.

My name is Darius and this is a guided meditation intended to help you ground your energy to help you on days where maybe there's a lot going on in your head and days where you could use some calming soothing energy.

Today's meditation practice will have a few active components.

We will do some box breathing in the beginning of the meditation to bring us closer to our hearts and closer to our inner world and then there will be an invitation to use your own hands to gently and calmly soothe your body and ground your energy.

I'll guide you the whole way through.

Let's begin our meditation.

If your eyes are open,

I'd like to invite you to close them now as we go inwards together.

Let's go nice and slow,

Giving ourselves a moment to truly arrive,

To land in our seats in our bodies this morning.

Take a moment to connect with your breath.

I'm going to guide you through some simple box breathing.

Four states,

Four counts.

Inhaling for four,

Holding at the top of your inhale for four.

Exhaling for four,

Holding at the bottom of your exhale for four.

We're going to repeat that four times.

Breathing in two,

Three,

Four.

Hold two,

Three,

Four.

Exhale two,

Three,

Four.

Hold two,

Three,

Four.

Inhale two,

Three,

Four.

Hold two,

Three,

Four.

Exhale two,

Three,

Four.

Hold two,

Three,

Four.

Inhale two,

Three,

Four.

Hold two,

Three,

Four.

Exhale two,

Three,

Four.

Hold two,

Three,

Four.

Inhale two,

Three,

Four.

Hold two,

Three,

Four.

Exhale two,

Three,

Four.

Hold two,

Three,

Four.

And just let it all go.

Find your natural breathing from here and take a moment to take stock,

To notice if anything feels different here.

The quality of your attention is different.

The energy inside is louder,

Quieter,

Or maybe exactly the same as it was.

Often box breathing can help us bring our attention back inside,

Closer to our center,

Closer to our hearts.

Let's take a deep breath here together.

Breathing in and letting it all go.

For this next part of the meditation,

I'll invite you to use your own hands and place them on different parts of your body,

Feeling what your body responds to.

There's no right or wrong way of doing this.

I'll give you suggestions and my recommendation is to really take a moment to feel what your body responds to.

And if you're not open to it,

You can just place your hands on your legs,

Palms down,

Perhaps putting a little pressure on your thighs and noticing if your body,

If your thighs respond to that.

Do they like being held?

Let's all start there.

Both hands down on your thighs,

Gently rubbing,

Playing with different levels of pressure and perhaps different speeds of rubbing your legs.

I suggest going nice and slow and really trying to feel your fingers,

Your palms on your legs.

Maybe you have some gratitude,

Some love for these legs of yours.

If you do,

What would it be like to use nothing but your touch to express to express the care and love you have for your own legs.

We free your hands to travel through your body.

I personally feel a lot when I place both my hands on my chest,

My belly,

And just squeeze myself like I'm hugging someone I care about.

Some days I'm resistant,

But most days I really appreciate the touch.

You can even actually hug yourself,

Placing your hands on your arms,

Your biceps,

And just giving yourself a little squeeze.

You hate this touch.

And maybe again,

The invitation is to follow.

It feels good.

It feels grounding and soothing to you.

I also enjoy it gently placing my hands on my face,

Head rest in my own hands,

Taking a little bit of pressure off my neck,

Gentle tickles on your face.

Use your creativity and use your connection with your body to feel where your pleasure is.

And maybe you're having a day where you just want to rest your hands on your lap and not do anything.

That is totally an acceptable answer.

Only use your touch to express and support to your body.

Let's rest our hands wherever they are,

Find a comfortable place for them to rest.

I want to say that exercise might have been challenging for you.

Not all of us have a connection with our humans,

With our bodies,

And it could feel awkward.

And that's okay.

All relationships take time to develop.

Maybe today was a simple few seconds of soothing touch.

And maybe tomorrow it's a minute.

Everyone's on a different journey with their humans,

With their bodies,

With their hearts.

Before our last song today,

I want to drop a couple of affirmations that are designed,

That are created to be shared with you and yourself.

If they resonate,

Take them for a spin,

Play with them,

Dance with them.

If they don't,

Just let them float away.

They're really simple.

Let's take a deep breath here.

I believe in myself.

I see myself,

Who I truly am.

I forgive myself.

And most of all,

I choose to love myself.

I believe in myself.

I am willing to see myself.

I forgive myself.

Most of all,

I choose to love myself.

I'm going to stay quiet and let you and your human have some quality time together here.

Bravo,

Dear artist.

Bravo,

Dear creator.

Maybe that meditation was easy for you.

Maybe it was challenging.

Every day we are different and each of us is on a different journey.

I'm grateful we got this time together this morning.

For those of us joining live at the artist morning,

I'm going to put 20 minutes on the clock and invite us to do some private,

Personal journaling,

Perhaps continuing this conversation we're having with our bodies,

With our hearts.

You're catching us on a replay,

Perhaps on insight timer.

Of course,

You can do the same.

Put some time on your clock and see what's here and ready to express through you.

My name is Darius and I will see you next time.

Reviews

I'm still fairly new to discovering your meditations here on IT Darius and so far, every time I listen to you I am moved to tears in the most beautiful, healing way. There is something in your energy that just helps me get in touch with the deepest parts of myself and I am so grateful to you for that. 🙏

Very soothing and emotional. I didn't expect me to start crying.
Do try this one!

Darius is one of my favorite teachers on insight timer. Listening to his soothing calming voice just clicks my nervous system into safety. Thanks for sharing your gift D 🙏🏽

Thank you so much for this mediation. So different and so enriching

I loved this meditation. It was like a medicine and I cried a lot of joy meeting myself in a more compassionate way.
Lot of gratitude 🙏

Gentle thoughtful guidance and peaceful music. Thank you once again for your gift Darius!

Insightful and interesting.
A thoughtful approach to hands on modalities. Thank you 🙏

What a sweet human you are, Darius! This Offering is lovely 🙏🏽🕊️♥️

Enjoyed. The concept of *choosing* to love myself felt revolutionary to me.

Many thanks!

Wow, I am really lost for word’s..
The emotion I felt at the end of this meditation was unexplainable. I didn’t even notice that I had so much to release until now. Thank you for helping me connect with myself. I am truly grateful to have experienced this. 🙏🏽 This truly has impacted me in such a beautiful way!

Incredible 🤍 deep human connection deep soul connection 🙏🏻 thank you

Oh this took me by surprise!.. this beautiful gentle holding of myself and deep tuning in with myself had a profound quite unexpected emotional effect on me. Thank you Darius for your sensitivity and ability to reach out to us all through this healing meditation. Just beautiful 💛

I loved just how connected to myself I felt doing this meditation.
Thank you.

We’re always in a balancing act and I believe that is what being human is. If we can then practice gratitude and let it grow that’s when it can transform any situation we are in. It can unlock any lock. Tuning into our body daily keeps us in touch with what we need. This was so refreshing. 🙏🏻

“I’ll give you some time with your human.” Thank you so very much, Darius. She really benefited from this lovely celebration of life, heart, and art. She might even start writing again. ❤️

I wish there were room for me to add a sixth star. Thank you for a beautiful and effective meditation. I can feel how much impact it will have for the rest of the day and beyond.

Thought this was a bit odd at first and was going to quit. Gave it a try and it was amazing! So comforting, so much love., overwhelming almost. I will keep this meditation to come back to again and again. Thank you!🙏🏽

Amazing, thank you. My body was so receptive and appreciative of that, I loved it. 🙏❤️

I found this a real challenge but interesting. Thank you 🙏

Beutiful. Unique. Heart connecting. Thank you, friend.