Allow yourself to move into a comfortable position for meditation.
You might like to do this meditation lying down,
But if you're feeling tired,
You can sit supported in a chair to remain more alert.
Begin by bringing your awareness to the surface of your skin.
Feel the temperature of the air along the surface of your skin,
Allowing yourself to scan across the entire front of the body,
The entire back of the body,
The surface of the skin,
Creating an envelope to the body,
And gently drawing your awareness one layer deeper,
Just below the surface of your skin,
Feeling the tissue,
The fascia,
Noticing anything that you're experiencing now below the surface of the skin,
And drawing that awareness in another layer towards your muscles,
Scanning across your body and noticing your muscles,
Noticing any areas of tension,
Areas that are neutral,
Areas of pleasant sensation,
Beginning to become aware of your joints,
These points of connection between the bones,
Your connection to your muscles,
And finally dropping into an awareness of your bones,
Of your skeleton.
Allow yourself to feel this most stable part of the body,
The structure of your body,
The earth of the body.
And perhaps you can imagine that from this earth of your body,
You can begin to send roots of energy down towards the ground,
Connecting your body to the ground,
To the earth.
Bring your awareness to your breath.
With your inhale,
Imagine you can expand your energy out from side to side,
All around your body,
And as you exhale,
You can root that energy down towards the ground.
Five breaths like this,
Inhaling,
Connecting to your energy,
Expanding your energy out in all directions,
Exhaling and dropping the energy down,
Rooting down,
Almost like casting a net.
Each inhale brings vital,
Nourishing,
Supportive energy into the body.
Each exhale allows those energetic roots to drop down even deeper.
Beginning with the top of your head,
Take three breaths to allow your head to completely release itself towards the earth,
Letting the full weight of your head release.
Take three breaths to release your neck and shoulders towards the earth,
Each breath sending more of those energetic roots down,
Branching down towards the earth,
Releasing the right arm,
Rooting down,
Releasing the left arm,
Rooting down,
Releasing the front and back of the chest.
Taking three breaths,
Maybe softening the ribs and the sternum as you exhale,
Inhaling into the abdomen and exhaling to soften,
Rooting down,
Releasing.
Three breaths here,
Breathing into the hips,
Releasing the right leg,
Releasing,
Breathing into the left leg,
Releasing,
Feeling your whole body,
Releasing,
Rooting down,
Feeling the whole body rooting down,
The whole body,
Rooting down.
Counting back nine breaths on your own,
Inhaling,
Gathering your energy,
Exhaling,
Dropping your energy down towards the ground,
Inhaling and gathering,
Exhaling and rooting down.
If you haven't already,
You can release the counting,
Feeling those roots,
Holding on to the roots and the breath as your awareness begins to gently move back towards the present moment.
Each exhale allows you to remember that you are connected to the earth.
Each breath is an invitation to ground,
Beginning to wiggle your fingers,
Toes,
And as you prepare yourself to move through your day,
You can remember to allow your energy to root down,
To take a deep breath and root down.
Welcome yourself back,
Stable,
Secure,
And grounded.
