Hey there.
In this session,
I'll offer some suggestions on how to meditate to develop an inner core of strength and increase your sense of confidence.
Whenever you're ready.
Go ahead and let your eyes close or just gaze down at the ground in front of you.
You can take a few slow,
Deep breaths if you like.
Breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth,
Long and slow.
And let your breathing return to normal.
And see if you can become aware of the sensations of sitting.
One aspect of confidence comes from feeling safe and grounded inside.
And we can access that sensibility and develop it through meditation.
As you sit.
See if you can begin to feel the weight of your body.
So notice the places where your body touches the ground.
Can you feel the sense of heaviness?
That firm.
Steady contact.
With the Earth.
Let all of your attention Begin to rest with those sensations of weight and gravity.
Like a stone sinking down through a clear pool of water.
Let your attention Begin to think down through your body.
All the way down into your lower body.
To the places where you touch the ground.
Keep coming back to the ground.
The heaviness and solidity of the earth.
Feeling grounded is the first part of developing inner strength.
See if you can let this experience of weight the contact with the ground.
Steady your mind.
Feel that support.
Of the earth beneath you.
How your body is held up.
By the ground.
Noticing whatever's stable.
Solid about those sensations.
What's the effect on the rest of your body as you notice this?
Does anything settle?
Or relax.
How's your breathing right now?
Next from this place of groundedness.
I invite you to bring your attention to your spine.
If you're sitting.
Feel how your spine is upright.
How the torso rises up from the pelvis.
What's it feel like to bring your attention to your spine?
Can you tune into the sense of strength?
In your back.
How it supports your body.
Give structure,
Form and alertness.
Sense your head and neck.
Shoulders.
See if you can sense all the way down your spine along your back.
Notice any sense of alignment.
Strength.
Or clarity that comes from sitting up straight.
Take some time to rest your attention here.
With this experience of being upright.
Feeling the strength and the support of the spine.
You might still be aware of your breathing.
And try to give more attention to that sense of alignment.
Clarity and uprightness.
You can imagine the space between each vertebra in your spine.
Gently extending.
Getting a little bit longer.
As your sit bones root down into the ground.
And the crown of your head rises up ever so slightly.
Allowing your spine to extend to its natural length.
So to develop a core of inner strength.
We'll begin to bring these two experiences together.
The sense of being grounded.
Rooted in the earth.
And being upright.
Rising tall to the sky.
So come back to feeling your lower body.
The contact with the ground.
See if you can sense the stability.
The firmness and weight there.
And this is like your root.
Ground.
And then sense your spine.
Rising up from this solid base.
Feel your torso,
Shoulders.
Neck and head.
Feeling the alignment as your spine rises up to the sky.
Even as you remain steady and grounded.
So we balance these two forces.
Downward into the ground.
Rooted.
Table.
And upwards to the sky.
Alert.
This is your core of strength.
Feeling the solidity and steadiness of the ground.
Together with a clear,
Strong,
Upright spine.
Let yourself really feel what it's like to be here in this way.
Cutting every muscle.
Every tissue and cell register the experience.
Of being grounded and alert.
Of having an inner core of strength and stability.
Connected to the ground.
Extending to the sky.
Stable and alert.
Whenever you're ready,
You can let your eyes gently open.
Just take a look around you.
Thanks so much for taking some time to practice together.
I hope to see you again.
