Finding a comfortable seat,
This can be on the floor in a cushion or on a chair.
For this meditation we want connection to the ground.
Once you are comfortable,
Sit up tall and gently closing your eyes or invite a soft gaze looking down,
Sealing your lips and breathe gently,
Quietly and slowly in and out through your nose.
With every exhale,
Allow the weight of your body to release further down towards the ground and with every inhale,
Notice an opposing upward lifting energy that lengthens your spine a little bit taller.
With each exhale,
Release the shoulders,
The hips and legs towards the ground and with each inhale,
Feel a gentle lightness,
A gentle upward lifting.
Resting here for a moment,
Finding a balance between these two breaths,
Grounding exhale,
Upward lifting inhale.
Now take your attention more towards the exhale breath.
Let each exhale take a little more time,
Then each breath in,
Lengthen and extend the exhales gently and comfortably without trying too hard.
Now notice all the points of your body which are touching down and connecting to the ground below you,
To the earth,
The soles of your feet or your ankles,
Your shins,
Your sit bones,
The backsides of your thighs.
With every exhale,
As you further ground by releasing energy down into the earth,
Imagine that each of these connection points expands a tiny bit,
Widens,
The way water spilled on the floor slowly begins to spread.
And if at any time you feel as though you're melting down a little too much,
Just remember the accompanying lightness of each breath in.
Resting here,
Aware of this play and this connection between the solidity of your body and the firmness of the earth.
And now of course the mind is still active,
Perhaps very active.
Any time that you notice the mind has wandered off,
Chasing a thought,
Spend no time wondering why,
Spend no time wondering on what,
Spend no time judging the meditation or yourself as good or bad.
Simply bring the mind back to the body.
Check back in with your sense of the weight of the body,
The form of the body,
The solidity of the body.
You're invited to get very curious about your sense of the body.
Is it heavy or light?
Still or in motion?
Solid or fluid?
Solid.
Be present with the body.
Right here,
Right now,
With the body,
Seated on your chair or cushion,
You in touch with the ground,
Relatively still,
Physically stable,
Rooted,
Grounded,
Neutral.
From this place of stability,
Continue to notice when the mind wanders off,
And as many times as you need to,
Bring the mind back to the body,
Back to this anchor of the form of your body,
Stable and connected to earth.
Notice the body as home base for the mind.
Wherever the mind goes,
The body remains grounded.
And whenever you notice the mind has gone,
The mind has the grounded body to return to.
Before we conclude this meditation,
Check in one more time with the space in which your body meets the ground.
Breathe out,
Release down into the space,
Into the ground.
Breathe in,
And push down into the space as you open your eyes,
Staying here for three to five breaths,
With eyes open,
Still aware of your body and the support of the ground beneath you.
And as you rise up to stand,
Aware that to do so,
You press down into the stable,
Ever-present earth.
Thank you.
