Welcome to this guided meditation.
Earthing the mind through the body and senses.
It is best to do this meditation seated,
With the spine as comfortably upright and aligned as possible.
The feet flat on the ground,
The hands resting together.
Make sure the body is properly supported.
Bring in extra cushions if needed,
So that the body doesn't become a distraction when the mind goes deeper.
If it feels okay,
Close your eyes.
Feel into your feet in contact with the ground.
Feel into the right foot,
The sole of the right foot.
Notice anywhere on the sole of the foot where sensations are vivid,
Perhaps due to contact with the ground.
Bring attention over into your left foot.
Feel the left foot in contact with the ground.
Is there anywhere in the sole of the left foot where sensations are vivid?
Imagine the soles of the feet,
Putting small roots into the ground beneath them,
Creating even more connection.
Let the ankles of both feet soften towards the ground.
Imagine small openings on the back of your heels,
Releasing any stress you are holding in your body,
Like sand running onto the ground.
Let gravity bring a feeling of heaviness throughout your whole body.
Take a couple of slightly deeper breaths if it feels natural.
Become aware of your shoulders dropping and releasing on the out breath.
Gently let the weight of your arms and elbows sink.
Let them receive more support from your body and the chair.
Feel your hands in contact with each other.
Another place of anchorage and stability.
Make sure the hands aren't grasping each other in any way,
Just resting together,
Fingers touching,
The wrists soft,
The elbows soft,
The shoulders soft.
Breathe in and out,
Noticing the gentle rise and fall of your body.
Breathe with awareness of the hands resting against each other.
Both feet solidly on the ground,
Your body stable in the chair,
And the stomach soft.
Give space for the breath and enjoy the calm and ease it brings.
Allow yourself to slow down,
To become still.
Quiet inside the breath.
Bring your attention to the heart centre in the middle of the chest.
Let the heart centre be spacious,
The muscles around the heart soft.
Follow the breath into and out of the heart centre.
Recognise in this settled place,
Sounds can be more easily heard.
Receive whatever sounds are present,
Without trying to name or recognise exactly what they are.
Take in the tone of any sounds.
Listen for the sound furthest away from you.
Notice how the energy inside the inner ears is activated by consciously listening to sound.
Bring attention to the sound nearest to you,
Perhaps the sound of your own breathing.
Listen to the silence underneath the sound.
Take your attention now inside your body.
Notice a sense of beingness.
Breathe with a sense of beingness.
Take your attention up into the middle of your head.
Notice an observing self that can be pinpointed here.
It does not need thoughts and thinking for its existence,
It just is.
Breathe in and out with this presence.
Breathe in towards it and hold attention here as you breathe out.
Notice a background awareness of sensations in the body,
Of sounds,
Of your feet in contact with the ground,
Of the chair supporting your body,
Of the whole energy field of your body.
But now that the sense of self has become more vivid,
You can let these sensations recede.
It's time to rest with this sense of self,
With a feeling of ease and enjoyment.
Breathe in and out with this sense of beingness.
Slowly bring attention back to everyday consciousness.
Open the eyes and look around.
Move and stretch in whatever way the body needs you to.
Notice how your mind and body are feeling now.
Notice if the mind has softened.
Perhaps the body is feeling a greater sense of ease.
Perhaps resolve to take forward whatever tranquility you have generated into whatever you do next for as long as you can.
Anchor it by holding awareness of your feet in contact with the ground,
A softness in your eyes as you look out onto the world,
A background awareness of the in and the out of each breath,
Knowing that maintaining awareness will keep the mind fresh and interested in whatever it does or encounters.
Informed yet
