So I put this meditation together personally because I'm actually about to move house again and it's about the 30th time I've moved house.
I've not just moved house,
I've moved from one side of the world to the other twice,
To different countries in Europe and been fairly transient.
And I know that this time can be very unsettling,
Ungrounding,
And some of that is because the solidness and security of your life is based around your home,
Where you reside.
And you're also uprooting,
Like physically uprooting yourself and placing yourself somewhere else.
And in that uprooting,
Your connection to community and the known is disrupted.
And so this meditation is about grounding,
But it's also about living with the anxiety of uncertainty because the anxiety of uncertainty is.
.
.
It's an energy that can carry you away and leave you more and more ungrounded.
So the time where you're ungrounded,
This anxiety just then increases and amplifies that effect.
So this meditation is to help resolve that anxiety.
So if you could find a comfortable seat,
I'd like you to feel really solid on this seat,
Whether it's a chair or a cushion on the floor.
Really feel the weight of your seat in the surface and either feel your legs or your feet on the ground.
And what does that feel like?
The seat,
Soft,
Hard.
Are there any textures?
Just dropping your attention downwards to see how that feels.
Maybe you can feel hard surface of the floor or carpet under your feet or legs.
Dropping the awareness in to feel the seat and the legs or the feet on the floor.
Taking a few breaths here,
Just feeling in to that seat.
Keeping a portion of your awareness on those areas of contact with the floor or the seat.
Just widening your awareness out a little bit further to now include the breath.
Include it in the belly.
So feel the breath in the belly or the back,
In the lower part of the abdomen,
The rising and falling.
Rising,
Falling,
The weight of the seat,
The weight of the legs.
And if you can't feel the breath in the abdomen,
Then place the hands on the belly and feel the belly pressing into the hands.
And the inhale and dropping back from the hands on the exhale.
The awareness divided between the legs or the feet on the floor,
Seat,
And the breath.
Feeling the solidity and stability of the earth and the seat.
And the air being flowing and flowing.
The transient nature of the breath in and out.
And noticing where the mind's wandering to.
It will often wander.
So just noticing where it's gone off to.
And if it's gone off to a particular thought about the future,
The move,
And the uncertainty that surrounds it.
Invite that feeling in,
Welcome that feeling like a friend into the house.
Accept it as part of being human,
That we as humans have evolved to make solid that which is not solid.
So accepting and returning to the seat and the breath.
And whenever the mind wanders,
Accept that emotion.
Or feeling that's associated with that thought.
Maybe it's even a planning thought about what you need to do when you get there or when things change or all the things you have to do.
But all of these thoughts about the future can increase the anxiety and therefore increase the feelings of instability.
But accept them and welcome them.
But return the attention back to the breath and the feeling of the seat.
Now see,
Does your seat feel heavier?
Now we've spent a little bit of time here.
Can you really feel that pull of gravity in the legs or the feet and the floor?
And the breath in and out.
Grounding and rooting through the body and experiencing the feeling of impermanence through the breath.
We can't control the breath.
The breath responds and how it needs to respond in each individual moment.
And know that with that present moment awareness that you will be able to respond in the moment to whatever you need to.
Maybe you need to plan and do that.
But do it on paper.
Do it in a way that's structured and followed.
And then remain in the present moment and deal with what comes up.
Feeling the breath.
Feeling the seat.
We actually have a home already in our bodies and in ourselves.
And grounding in ourselves allows us to move with ease wherever we need to.
And grounding in the present moment within ourselves allows us to be with awareness and respond exactly as we need to in that moment.
And if the mind's wandered,
Unhook but accept any feelings.
And feel the seat even heavier on the surface.
And the breath in and out.
Taking our attention lower in the body can increase our feelings of stability and grounding.
And watching the breath.
How every breath is unique.
And we can only watch the breath in this moment.
Letting go of any thoughts.
Letting them float away.
And feeling complete acceptance of where you are,
Who you are.
We fully awake in this moment.
This is our only moment.
And we don't know what's going to happen.
All we have is this moment.
Regardless of whether we are aware of any imminent change.
It is all impermanent.
We have this beautiful open realm of possibilities at any point.
It's just that now it feels more prominent.
But seeing if you can rest in that feeling of ease with uncertainty.
Because that is the life.
And while you're resting with that feeling of acceptance of uncertainty.
Feeling the breath and your seat.
Maybe saying to yourself silently.
I know that life is impermanent.
I know that the only known in my life is this moment.
And for the last few moments,
Really paying attention to that seat.
The legs,
The feet,
The floor.
Any sensations that are present in the body.
In the lower part of the body.
And the breath in the belly.
Rising,
Falling.
Holding physically the concepts of stability within yourself.
Moment by moment awareness.
These two anchors.
Placing your hands in prayer.
Your heart,
Your spiritual heart in the centre of your chest.
Maybe just taking a moment to think about what you need to do to support yourself during this period.
Maybe it's just to take a few moments each day to really feel the ground between your feet.
Maybe it's to make that plan.
To take it out of your head so you can live in the moment.
Maybe it's to do this practice or a practice like this.
Even going for a walk.
Just think about how you can nurture yourself and build that grounding and stability within your own body,
Within yourself,
So that you can move and be anywhere.
Be grateful for you,
For your life,
For this wonderful world.
Opening your eyes.
Thank you very much for choosing this practice and I really hope that it brings you some positive effects at this time in your life.
And just know that you have everything you need within you to deal with what's in front of you.
