Grounding For Stress Relief

Elizabeth Cush is a therapist and life coach for women. She's been practicing mindful meditation for 8 years. In this 14 minute meditation she creates space for you to reduce your stress. Using the body, breath and sounds as anchors you will be prompted to pay mindful attenetion to each.

Transcript

So to begin, Find yourself a comfortable seated position. You could also lay down on the floor if that's comfortable for you, Supporting your body however you need to. But if you're seated, Feet flat on the floor, Hands in a comfortable position on your lap or beside you, Closing your eyes if that feels comfortable, And taking a few slow, Deep breaths, Breathing in, And exhaling fully. And another deep breath in, Breathing all the way down into your belly. And as you exhale, Trying to release any tension that you might have in your body, Your neck, Behind your eyes, Your jaw, Just allowing that tension to flow out with your breath. And one last deep breath in, Filling the lungs and the chest and the belly, And exhaling fully, Releasing the tension. And now allowing your breath to resume its natural rhythm, Not focusing too much on how you're breathing, Just noticing that you are breathing. And we'll turn our attention to our bodies. And if it's helpful for you just scanning from head to toe or holding the whole body in your awareness, Noticing any sensations or tension or discomfort or pain, And just noticing that with a gentle, Kind, Compassionate awareness without trying to change or make it different, Just noticing that it's there. And I'm going to give you a few minutes of quiet to just tune into your body for the next minute or so. And maybe your mind will wander, Maybe your thoughts will take you away, But each time that you notice that you've been taken away from paying attention to your body, Being aware of your body, Just bring it back to wherever you were, Kindly, Gently, And without judgment. And maybe you can notice the feeling of your feet on the floor, Clothing touching your skin, The feeling of the chair or the ground beneath your back or your butt. Noticing whether there's tingling or numbness or softening, Whatever it is you're noticing, Just allowing those things to be there. And as your mind takes you away to the worries or the thoughts, Gently bringing it back to the sensations in your body. And I'm going to give you another minute to do that. And if you find that your mind just continues to distract you, That's okay. Just noticing that that's where you are today. And now we're going to shift our focus to the sounds around us. Just becoming aware of the sounds that are nearby, The sounds that are farther away. Maybe they are city sounds like traffic or fire engines, Because that's what I hear in my space right now. Or maybe you hear people talking if you're in your office or at home and you hear people talking in another room or a dog barking or nature sounds like the wind or birds outside. Just allowing those sounds to flow over you, Through you, In you as they come and go in and out of your awareness. And again, As your mind wanders, Which it probably will, Just bringing it back to the sounds around you. And I'll give you another little moment or so to practice that. And again, If your mind is wandering away, To your to-do list. Or worrying about tomorrow or what happened yesterday, Just coming back to the sounds around you, Nearby, Far away, Letting those sounds wash over you right here, Right now. I know sometimes we can question whether we're meditating correctly or the right way, Or we judge ourselves for our mind being distracted by thoughts and feelings and worries. But all of that is perfectly normal. That is just part of who we are as humans. So trying not to judge yourself too much if those thoughts or worries surface about meditating the right way. Just know that as you notice you've drifted off away from the sounds and you come back to the present moment and the sounds around you, That you're doing it right. That's what it's all about, The noticing and the coming back. And now we're going to bring our attention back to our breath, If that feels comfortable for you. If the breath doesn't feel comfortable for you to focus on, That is okay too. You can stay with the sounds or tuning into your body or any other sensory experience that's happening right now. But if it's okay with you to come back to the breath, Just notice where you feel your breath coming in and leaving your body. Is it your chest rising and falling? Is it the coolness of the air as it enters your nose? Or the warmth of the air as it leaves your body? If it's hard for you to really focus on the breath or you don't feel it, You can place your hand on your belly or your chest to feel the rising and the falling of your hand as you take a breath in and release. And I'll give you another moment or two to be with your breath in this moment, Coming back to the breath if your mind wanders. And as we close out this meditation, I'll have you take one last long, Deep breath in and releasing that breath out. Feeling your fingers and toes gently moving your body, Opening your eyes if they were closed and reorienting yourself to the space around you.