Welcome to today's meditation.
Finding the earth beneath you.
Coming into a comfortable seat or supine position with the body when you're ready.
And for those who are seated,
Resting the arms,
Resting the hands,
Either in the lap or on the knees.
Elevating the bum if you need to with a cushion,
A bolster.
And closing the eyes,
Closing down the face in the same way.
Just allowing the features and muscles of the face to really slacken,
Soften.
And we'll gently draw the upper body back so that we feel the back of the head lining up with the back of the spine.
And imagining that there's a golden thread running from the tail to the crown.
Gently lift through the top of the head.
Feel the neck lengthening away from the shoulders as you soften the shoulders down and relax the belly.
And here I want you just to focus inward now on these next few handfuls of breath.
Simply experiencing the breath exactly as it is.
Becoming aware of this gentle movement seemingly originating somewhere at your centre and expanding outwards with every inhalation.
With every exhalation noticing how the whole body softens,
Relieved perhaps.
And knowing here that however we find the breath,
Whether it's uneven,
Irregular,
A little difficult to grasp is just fine.
Just letting breath be.
And the main object of our focus in tandem with this observation of the breath is the seat of the body.
So both holding an awareness of the breath and an awareness of the seat together.
So that as this gentle breath continues to move its way in and out and up and down,
We're relaxing the weight of the body deeper and deeper into the earth.
And for this next portion of our meditation we might begin to imagine that this breath is being drawn from the earth through the base of the body,
The root of the body and gently making its way all the way up the torso to the crown of the head.
So that the body is intricately and intimately connected to this source of power and support underneath us.
We are part of it,
We are held by it and we are supported by it at the same time that we contribute towards it.
So in these next few rounds of breath I want you just to focus now on this secular activity,
Imagining that the breath is being drawn up through the root of the body and is gently washing its way up towards the crown,
Perhaps coming through the back of the body.
And as you exhale the body releases that breath down through the front and down back through the root to the earth.
And a few key things to consider as we settle into this practice.
Let's just check that we're not leaning the body forwards,
This tends to happen as we lose our posture and as we start to focus.
So checking in again that the shoulders are over the hips,
The back side of the head lines up at the back of the spine.
And there's an ease with which you're sitting upright.
It is open and alert but also relaxed.
The other thing to be aware of is any pushiness in the mind.
This leaning forward tends to indicate that we're grasping,
Trying to urge ourselves forward.
Whereas really what we can do here is sit back a little bit,
Sit down and open our bodies and our minds to receive the breath from the earth,
Sending it back down to the earth.
And so there's no need to force the breath,
There's no need to shift it,
Change it,
Manipulate it.
Just let yourself open,
Let yourself receive.
Following this visual of the body drawing energy through the root,
Through the back of the body up to the crown.
And sending that breath back down through the front of the body,
Down through the root and back into the earth.
Opening the mind to receive.
90's video museum we're going to continue to sit and practice this in silence for about another couple of minutes of course anytime you find your mind wandering off and you recognize yourself lost in thought nothing wrong with that,
Totally normal just use that moment of noticing as a moment of wakefulness and then very gently without judgement just like leading a poppy you just draw your awareness again back to the root,
The breath and the crown of the head visualizing that circuit of gentle fluid movement one final note before I leave you in silence here checking in again that the body is relaxed you can see that the body is relaxed and the body is relaxed and the body is relaxed and the body is relaxed you can see that the body is relaxed and the body is relaxed and the body is relaxed and the body is relaxed so time now to just let just let that image soften away and keeping the eyes closed just notice how it feels to be in the body and the mind bring your awareness back down to the root connecting with the earth this source of power and warmth,
Connection,
Groundedness just find yourself that you can come to this place anytime you need it this settled,
Supported,
Connected place bringing your hands to touch in front of the heart let's take a gentle breath in as we lift the heart towards the thumbs and a breath out to bend the head towards the heart giving thanks for the body,
Mind,
Soul and practice Namaste you
