Hello and welcome to this grounding nature meditation with Mindful Detroit.
Take a moment to go outside and sit down.
If you need to pause this recording.
If you can't sit outside on the ground,
Take a moment to get comfortable in a chair,
Maybe on a porch or a balcony.
Or if the weather isn't comfortable for you to be outside,
Maybe sitting in front of a window and opening it if it's okay so that you can hear some of the sounds from outside.
Take a moment to sit tall.
I invite you to use a mudra.
A mudra is a position or seal with the hands that helps direct energy in different ways.
So today we're going to use prativi mudra.
Prativi means earth.
So bring your thumb and your ring finger to touch.
Extend your other fingers and place the backs of your hands on your thighs or your knees.
If you want,
You could close your eyes or have them softly open,
Perhaps gazing down at the ground.
Now take a moment to feel the earth underneath you.
Perhaps you're sitting directly on the earth or maybe you're sitting on a cushion or a chair.
No matter what,
Feel that connection to the earth.
Might be the connection through the cushion,
Through the chair,
Through the floor.
Or it could be directly to the earth underneath you.
Feel that grounding,
Stabilizing energy.
Take a few breaths.
As you're breathing,
Notice any smells around you.
What smells can you pick up from nature?
Perhaps the smell of grass or earth.
Maybe there's rain.
Maybe there's flowers.
Maybe it's autumn and there's the smell of leaves.
Whatever it is,
Taking a moment to smell.
And then what do you hear in nature around you?
Could be birds,
Leaves rustling in the trees.
If you're in a city,
Part of nature could be sounds of traffic,
Construction,
Lawnmowers.
Sometimes these sounds can frustrate us or annoy us.
But can we try to let go of the frustration and just hear them as part of our experience,
Part of this fabric of sounds,
The symphony of sounds that's coming and going in and out of our ears.
Just taking a moment to connect to the various sounds around you.
Now if your eyes are closed,
You might slowly blink them open.
With a soft gaze,
Maybe eyes half open,
Just noticing what you see around you in nature.
Or if you're inside,
Maybe looking out the window and notice what you see.
Be it plants,
Animals,
Trees,
Buildings,
Streets.
Again,
No matter what environment you're in,
Looking at the variety and the varied aspects that make up nature around you.
Taking a moment to just observe,
Take in all of the different colors,
Shapes,
And textures.
Bringing curiosity and an open mind to whatever you're seeing,
To whatever you're hearing,
To whatever you're smelling,
And whatever surface you're sitting on.
Perhaps you close your eyes again now or keep them softly open.
Come back to your breath,
Following it in and out.
Feeling your ring finger and your thumb touching,
Feeling that connection point,
Feeling the backs of your hands on your legs and your body touching the ground or a chair,
Feeling those grounding,
Stabilizing connections.
When you are ready,
The eyes are closed,
Slowly blinking them open and releasing the mudra.
