Grounding Through The Senses

This is a lightly edited recording from a live Somatic Self-Care session. You'll be guided through a centering meditation to connect with the senses of touch, smell, taste, hearing, as well as the felt sense of emotions in your body. This practice is intended to help you feel grounded and present, unifying body and mind.

By exploring the felt sense, you'll build somatic awareness and discover the unique way your body wants to communicate. If nothing comes through, or you don't understand the message, give yourself grace. It's like learning a new language. The more you practice, the better you'll become!

After your practice, you may want to write some notes about your experience - sensations, insights, or challenges. If you're curious to learn more, join me for live sessions. Somatic Self-Care follows three steps: awareness meditation, self-care practices, and silent integration.

Transcript

You may choose to lay down,

To sit,

Or to stand.

Wherever you are,

I'd like you to bring your attention to the parts of your body that are touching the floor.

Begin to look at those parts.

You might close your eyes and imagine your attention moving inside the body,

Beginning to sense the weight of your body,

Sensing the pressure of your body.

And notice how the surface beneath you presses back.

Connect to the sensation of softness or firm support.

You might take a few steps.

You might brush your hands next to you,

Noticing the texture,

Receiving information through the sense of touch.

You can explore that by touching your environment or by moving the hands to your body,

Touching your clothing or your skin.

Could you let your attention be absorbed by the sense of touch?

Begin to notice the touch of air on your skin,

Bringing attention to the nostrils,

Welcoming any aroma,

Any fragrance in your space.

Perhaps taking a deep breath in through the nose,

And releasing it out,

Bringing attention to the tip of the tongue,

Sensing the whole tongue.

Notice any lingering taste.

And with your next exhale,

Loosen the jaw,

Creating a little space between the teeth,

Guiding attention to the ears,

Noticing the sounds in your space,

Listening for any sounds in the distance,

Listening to sounds in your body,

Listening to the sound of your breath,

Listening to the sound of your heartbeat,

Beginning to sense your heartbeat,

Noticing if it's a steady rhythm or if it's changing.

Now welcoming your awareness to expand.

Are there other parts of the body where you can feel the pulse of your heartbeat?

Awareness washing through the whole body.

Where do you feel warm?

Noting the places where there's heat and noticing any places that feel cool or even cold.

Noticing the muscle tone and there are places in your body that feel tight,

Restricted,

Any point that feels like you're holding,

Gripping.

Noticing there's any places that feel comfortable that may be effortless or easy.

Noticing that you have both at the same time,

Perhaps that one part of your body can feel soft and yet another point could feel tight.

And finally,

Becoming curious about any emotional tone in your body.

And it's possible a word or a couple of descriptive words come to mind.

It's also possible that there may not be a word,

That maybe you're unsure how you're feeling.

Just continuing to breathe and continuing to listen and allowing space for your body to communicate.

For some people,

This communication is a word.

For others,

It may be an image,

Might be a memory or a specific interaction from your day,

Might be a color or a texture.

Continuing to listen to discover the language of your own body.

And let's take five more long,

Slow breaths here.

You might begin to flutter the eyes open,

Bring some movement back into your body.

Taking a moment to collect all of this information.

And what did you learn about yourself?