Welcome to this grounding meditation,
Which will lead into a breathing technique that will help to calm the nervous system and reconnect us with ourselves.
So take a moment to get yourself into a comfortable position,
Either lying down or sitting,
And with your spine straight but not tensed up.
And start by bringing your attention to the breath,
Just noticing the breath and the pauses between the breath.
And as you sit or lie here,
Just start to bring your awareness now to your tailbone.
Notice the connection between your body and whatever is supporting you.
Really try and see that connection in your mind's eye.
And imagining as you breathe slowly and deeply,
That connection becomes deeper and stronger.
Your hips and thighs becoming heavier and heavier.
Feel your shoulders drop,
Your neck relax,
And your head lift slightly as if suspended by a cord of light,
Lifted up to the sky.
In a moment we're going to regulate the breath so that our exhales will be longer than our inhales.
When we're stressed or anxious or wired,
We tend to hold on to our breath.
And the practice of purposefully extending our exhale then,
Signals a state of relaxation to our vagus nerve,
Which leads to both mental and physical stillness.
As it tells our body it can now rest and digest,
Tend and befriend.
So let's start by taking a few deeper breaths,
Inhaling deep and exhaling it all out.
Now continuing to breathe at your own pace,
We're going to begin to count in our minds from 1 to 4 on the inhalation,
And from 1 to 4 on the exhalation.
And again noticing the slight pause between the breaths.
So 1 to 4 on the inhalation,
And 1 to 4 on the exhalation.
So it might feel something like in 2,
3,
4,
Out 2,
3,
4.
And now that you have a smooth and even rhythm established,
We're going to begin counting to 5 on the exhalation.
So staying with the 4 on the inhalation,
But counting to 5 on the exhalation.
So in for 1,
2,
3,
4,
And out 2,
3,
4,
5.
Just continue breathing on the inhalation with that 4 count,
And on the exhalation with the 5 count.
Now continuing with the 4 count on the inhalation,
But on the exhalation we're going to count to 6.
So inhale for 4,
Exhale for a count of 6.
Just continue breathing in this way.
Now we're increasing our exhalation to a 7 count.
So again inhaling for 4,
And this time exhaling for a count of 7.
And finally,
Inhaling for a 4 count,
And exhaling for an 8 count.
So inhaling for 4,
And exhaling for a count of 8.
And now we can let go of the breath,
Allowing the breath to return to its natural rhythm.
And as we sit or lie here,
Just noticing now how the body feels,
As we silently say to ourselves,
I am calm,
I am safe.
