Welcome to our Dropping Anchor practice.
This is a practice that can help you to be more grounded and connected with yourself and the world around you.
It can help you get a bit more space and flexibility in how you respond to difficult thoughts and feelings when they arise.
It can help you deal with stress in a healthier way and it can also help you reorient to what matters to you,
Especially when maybe there's some behavior that you want to change.
So you can do this practice anywhere that is comfortable to you and especially at first that might be a space where you're by yourself and where you won't be disturbed.
When you get to practice this a little better and you have a little bit more confidence with it,
You can begin to practice it in other situations.
So right now just settling in and taking a moment to acknowledge that we're going to practice this Dropping Anchor.
Take a moment to feel your feet.
Feel the chair that you're sitting on.
And letting yourself notice what's going on on the inside.
Maybe there are some thoughts here.
Maybe there are some emotions.
Maybe there's some sensations in your body.
Maybe you're kind of in the future thinking about what might happen or in the past thinking about memories of things that have happened.
And here in this part of the practice,
We're going to acknowledge what's here.
Any of these thoughts,
Feelings,
Sensations,
Memories,
Just noticing that they're there and allowing a little bit of space.
Kind of also acknowledging that that might be hard to do.
Some of this might be painful or upsetting and that's okay.
We don't have to make these experiences,
We don't have to like them.
We're just going to acknowledge that they're there.
And now,
Even with all of this here,
Bring your attention to your body.
To anything in your physical experience that feels okay to notice.
Maybe that's your pinky toe on your right foot that feels okay.
So let yourself notice that.
Maybe you want to push your feet into the floor.
Maybe you want to stretch your arms.
Any kind of movement that feels comfortable and safe in your body and that helps you to feel that you are right here and you get to choose how you move your body.
You may also bring your attention to the environment that you're in.
Maybe some naming some objects in the room around you.
Like there's my window,
There's the door,
There's my mug.
Just locating yourself in space and time.
And again,
There might be some judgments or thoughts about where you are.
Maybe you're seeing a pile of laundry and now there's some thoughts about,
Oh I need to wash that laundry.
And again,
We can acknowledge that that's here and also still feel yourself in your body in this moment in time.
And now,
You can sort of bring your attention to what you're engaged with in this moment.
That might be listening to this recording and doing this practice.
In another moment,
You might be engaged in a conversation,
Washing the dishes,
Or doing your work,
Or doing any other thing that you're choosing to do where you're engaging in the world around you.
Just noticing that you can choose what you do.
You can choose what you want to move towards to and you can choose to do the things that matter to you.
Even with all this here on the inside.
Even with these thoughts,
Emotions,
Sensations,
Memories,
Or fears.
There can be space to allow that to be present,
To be in your body,
And to be engaged in what you're doing.
If it feels okay,
You can take a deep breath.
Again,
Feeling your feet on the ground and acknowledging that you've engaged in this practice.
Maybe taking a moment to notice how it feels on the inside now compared to when we started.
Is anything shifted?
Are there different thoughts and feelings there?
Are there different sensations there?
It might be the same.
It might be different.
It's all okay.
We're just bringing some curiosity to noticing what it's like here.
And again,
Reorienting to whatever you're going to engage in when you finish this practice.
You can thank yourself for showing up,
For being willing to practice dropping anchor with me.
This practice is now complete.
