Grounding

A meditation to ground ourselves in the present moment by bringing our awareness to the sensations of our feet connecting to the ground. Using kindness and care with ourselves when our minds naturally wander.

Transcript

Becoming aware,

Becoming aware of where you are at this sitting,

Standing,

Lying down.

Simply taking a pause,

A moment of stillness and becoming aware,

Stepping out of whatever cycles of thoughts or imaginings or worries,

Judgments,

Criticisms,

Imaginings,

Whatever it is.

Letting it go and taking a moment to pause and become aware and use the felt sensations in the body to bring your mind into awareness,

Into the present moment.

Becoming aware of your feet on the ground or if you're lying down on a bed and becoming aware of that contact,

The felt sensation of the weight of your foot and body pressing down onto the surface below.

Awareness of the pressure,

The weight of the body and any feelings of contact with the surface,

Whether it's the cloth of clothing,

Of socks,

A shoe or sandal or maybe bare feet on a mat or floor or maybe on a bed and becoming aware of that contact,

That connection,

That grounding with the earth beneath us and then feeling within the feet,

Moving your awareness from the intersection of the body,

The bottom of the feet with the surface below and moving inwards and becoming aware of what can be found there.

Maybe some warmth or maybe coolness,

Maybe some aching or maybe some tingling,

Movement of blood and energy,

The background humming,

The felt vibrations of life.

So using your feet to ground yourself in the present moment,

Letting go letting go of whatever stories the mind is playing out today.

Focus your awareness on your feet and the felt sensations and becoming curious,

The movement,

The ever-changing flow of energy within and if you notice that your mind has wandered,

That's okay.

Minds wander,

We have evolved to have wandering minds,

It's not your fault but sometimes our wandering minds can take us to places that we don't really want to go to.

So part of the training is to notice when the mind wanders off,

To notice when it's pulled away,

Perhaps by sounds,

Sounds inside the room,

Some rustling,

Movement or outside the room,

Maybe birds calling or distant traffic or voices maybe,

Sound sensations and if they arise in the mind it's the best you can,

Simply letting go,

Letting go,

Returning to the feet,

To your connection with the earth,

Mother earth beneath us and sometimes the mind is pulled away by sensations in the body,

It could be an itch,

A discomfort,

A tension,

A sensation in the body that vies for your attention,

Pulling your awareness away and when this happens simply noting that it's happened,

Not trying to push it away or make it different because it's already here but just noticing it,

Seeing it and for this practice letting go and coming back to the feet.

In those moments of noticing that the mind has wandered it is a moment of mindfulness,

It is a moment of being aware and awake,

It is a moment of space and clarity,

Almost as if the clouds open and the sun shines and we notice that the mind has been taken away from where we placed it and it's not to judge the mind,

It'll be critical because we have evolved to have this wandering mind and in certain circumstances it's useful but for this training the practice is to notice what pulled the mind away,

See it clearly and then let go,

Back to the feet,

The sensations in the feet,

The soles of the feet,

The heel,

The centre of the foot,

The hollow,

The ball of the foot and then the top of the foot and coming to the toes,

Becoming aware of the toes,

The big toe and then the space between the big toe and the next toe and then letting go of the fourth toe and then moving awareness to the third toe,

Feeling the space that's in between them and then letting go of the third toe and moving awareness to the second toe and then letting go and moving awareness to the little toe.

What can you feel in your little toe and if it's not that much that's okay,

Sometimes we don't feel that much in our bodies and some days it's alive and full of energy so just seeing what's here today for you,

Allowing it to be just as it is and sometimes our minds are pulled away by sensations of thoughts,

Of thinking,

Of being.

Our awareness is pulled away,

Pulled away to thoughts about the past,

Remembering past events,

Perhaps going over them,

Ruminating about them,

Wanting them different,

Wishing they were different,

Not how they were or maybe thoughts about the future,

Maybe it's planning,

Deciding what to do for the rest of the day or next week,

A useful tool to plan ahead and necessary at the right times but often when we think of the future,

That planning,

Those thoughts can start to be anxious,

Worries,

Worried about what will happen in the future,

Happen to me or my loved ones and sometimes these thoughts can get caught up into cycles,

Going over and over,

Not getting anywhere but going round and round in stories about what might happen,

And fears and sometimes the sensations in the mind can be more of fantasy or imagination,

Daydreaming,

Sometimes pleasant escapes from whatever reality is and the practice is the same,

Whenever you notice sensations in the mind pulling you away from your focus which at this point is a feat,

Just ever so gently,

Ever so kindly bringing the mind back,

Not giving yourself a hard time or judging yourself for having a wandering mind,

Simply making the choice in that moment of awareness,

That moment of mindfulness,

You have a choice,

That is when you can choose and we're training,

We're training the awareness to have that choice,

So when you become aware,

Bringing the mind back to the feet,

Grounding yourself with the soles of your feet,

Feeling the pressure of your feet on the ground,

The connection with the earth beneath,

The earth holding you,

Supporting you,

Allowing yourself to be in the present moment,

In the present moment,

Connected with the earth beneath,

Allowing yourself to be just like this.

Reviews

Wonderful new version of a scan. Loved it thank you!

Nameste 🙏