Welcome.
For this grounding mindfulness meditation,
I invite you to find your seat on a chair or on a cushion with your feet flat on the ground and your upper body upright and openness in your chest.
And when you're ready,
Go ahead and fully close your eyes or gently lower your gaze with a soft focus,
Inviting your awareness to go inward,
Inviting your body to find stillness,
Cultivating the intention of mindfulness and mindful presence.
And let's begin by taking three deep breaths,
Inhaling fully through your nose,
Letting your lungs fill up with fresh air,
Oxygen,
Your cells.
And exhaling,
You can breathe out through your mouth,
Letting go of any unnecessary tension in your body.
Let's do that again.
Full in breath,
Feel the uplift in your upper body,
Your chest expanding and breathing out,
Letting your body become a little heavier,
A little more relaxed.
You can keep breathing and breathing out with your mouth open,
Sighing out anything that you're holding on to that doesn't serve you anymore.
As you let your breath come back to its natural rhythm,
Just noticing your body in this moment,
How you've landed with your palms up,
Perhaps towards the sky or palms down facing the earth grounding you further.
Maybe you're using a hand gesture,
A mudra to activate your focus,
If that's part of your practice.
Feel your feet rooting down on the earth.
Notice how your feet are connected either to fabric from your clothes,
Your socks,
Or maybe to a different surface,
A carpet,
The earth,
The floor,
Your shoes.
Invite the pull of gravity to let your body sink a little deeper into your seat,
Inviting your toes and the soles of your feet to spread wider on the earth as if you were increasing the surface area of contact with this beautiful,
Magnificent body underneath you,
The earth body.
As you do so,
Feeling your own vertical axis also in the center of your body,
Your spinal column pointing upward,
Connecting you between earth and sky,
Remembering to breathe,
Noticing any sensations in your body.
Maybe you feel sluggish or dull,
Tired,
Or more alert.
Maybe there's pain or discomfort or a sense of calm and presence.
Let your breath guide you back over and over again to this moment and the next,
With the invitation to sit tall like a mountain,
Rooted like a tree,
And if your attention wanders away from your breath,
Just gently inviting yourself back into your body,
To your presence between the earth and the sky,
Rooted like a tree,
Sitting like a mountain.
After these few rounds of breathing,
Of rooting down,
Letting yourself be held by Mother Earth,
Notice if anything has shifted in your physical body or in your heart and mind.
Is there a quality of peace or calm,
Presence and acceptance?
Maybe you're more aware of your thoughts,
Of your breath,
Of where your body is feeling discomfort.
Just acknowledging that this is a practice and your own devotion to show up and continue on the path,
Cultivating the energy of mindfulness,
Mindful living.
And to close out,
I invite you to take a deep breath in,
Once again filling up your lungs,
Letting every cell in your body receive the oxygen,
The fresh flow of vitality moving through you.
And as you exhale,
Offering a prayer or a word of gratitude for the earth,
For nature,
For wildlife,
Whatever you feel called to,
Whatever you connect with in the natural world.
Sending loving kindness and appreciation for this huge part of who we are in our everyday life.
When you feel complete,
I invite you to let your eyes butterfly open,
Returning to the space around you.
Thank you for practicing with me and until next time,
Namaste.
