Stability & Groundedness

This practice is to support the cultivation of stability and groundedness within. By connecting to the groundedness of earth and forms of life around us, you can more deeply connect within you to these qualities as well. This practice provides us with the steadiness we need to move through turbulent or difficult times in life.

Transcript

As you hear the sound of the bowl you can find a posture that supports your body right now.

I invite you to let this posture be one that feels particularly comfortable,

Peaceful,

Restful.

So the body has a chance to really feel supported.

You can choose to let your eyes be closed or find a gaze point.

As we begin to arrive into this practice,

Our intention is to really cultivate a sense of being here,

Sensing and feeling within and around us how we can point into stability,

Groundedness.

So as you turn the attention inward,

I invite you to just begin to get a sense of what's here arriving with you in this practice.

You want to try to figure out where or if there's a sense of stability or groundedness,

But rather just being able to meet the conditions as they are.

As you feel into the inner landscape,

Noticing how the mind is.

Maybe feeling a bit perturbed,

Moved,

Jostled,

Restless.

Feeling into how the body is.

Is it fatigue,

Tired,

Or is it rest in the storm?

And also the landscape of the heart.

The heart holds many different moments of emotional movement through our life.

So just becoming curious as you settle into feeling a sense of what's here.

However the movements in this inner landscape are,

In this moment,

Our practice is to learn to choose to be with them in a way that is supportive,

Healthy,

And wholesome.

So as we practice,

There's no need to move or push away or try to change whatever's happening inwardly.

Rather,

We'll direct the awareness in an intentional way to support meeting whatever these conditions are,

Or however they'll change and unfold.

So feeling into this posture that you've chosen and the particular place that you're in right now,

The location.

And in the location you're in,

Feeling into the environment that's here supporting you.

Beginning to attend to your sitting indoors,

The sense of the structure,

The position of the way that the room or the container that you sit in is built surrounding you.

Feeling into that.

Your sitting outdoors,

Just beginning to attend to all of the elements of nature that are here,

Providing support,

Providing containment for this practice.

Maybe to feel the sense of the earth beneath,

The trees or the plant life.

The density of the structures,

The form of earthness that sits around us,

Really just beginning to feel into that.

Now allowing the attention to shift into the body,

Feel into all of the contact points that the body has with the direct support that it's receiving beneath it,

Behind it.

Just allow yourself to take note of those contact points,

Allowing the body to really receive and feel in connection to those points of support.

Letting the body rest into the same workshop.

Now we'll shift from the feeling,

This sense of resting into all of this support.

Beginning to anchor into the supportiveness of the breath.

Starting to feel the movements of your breath.

You might be curious about where does the breath feel most grounding or calming for you to focus on right now.

It's as to attend to it at the nostrils,

At the chest,

At the belly.

Maybe it's to sense it through the whole body.

And as movements in life arise,

As they will,

And our attention is grabbed by them,

Sounds,

Thoughts.

We have a choice to incline and feel into with the awareness what is supportive here to steady,

Calm,

And ground being right here.

So being curious about this within the movement of the breath to really attend intentionally to the qualities that feel this way within.

This might be to really attune to the rhythm or the pace of the breath.

Feeling if it's slow or smooth,

Or just into calm or steadiness that can arise.

To really feel and sense more intimately the exhale.

Maybe to feel the temperature in this warm release the exhale.

Training and inviting the attention to steady to this breath in support of elements that are felt in the breath to ground calm steady.

ATES No matter what distractions or pulls or experiences take the attention away.

Those are all part of what's here too.

We have a choice in relating to what unfolds in that moment and how to meet it.

So choosing to rest back in,

Finding the sense of being present right now,

Attuning to the breath.

Knowing that when we attend intentionally to what feels healthy,

Wholesome and supportive we can steady ourselves in this one.

Maybe with the breath we feel a movement of the wind and it offers scent or smell,

Temperature.

Some elemental force around us that arrives into the experience of the breath.

And so feeling what it's like to begin to sense or attend how that which is around us is supporting arriving inwardly to support steady breath.

So continuing to allow the focus to be with the breath if that feels helpful but also seeing if you can choose to include tending with the sensory doors that which is around us here supporting and steady,

Providing a sense of calm and groundedness.

This might be just simply to feel how the element of air wraps itself around our body,

Our vitis with flow of oxygen.

It might be to feel or sense the moisture or airiness in the air that supports.

Maybe it's to energetically attune to how the plant life,

Tree life offering its oxygen to us but also its form,

Its present,

Its solidity,

Its stability.

Even if indoors we can feel that the structure of the house or the things that support our ability to just sit.

Allowing awareness to sensitively attend to feeling what elements that which is around us,

The qualities,

The movements,

The forms that are here and welcoming that into the awareness to feel how that supports such a calm and groundedness.

Remembering to include this earth beneath us,

The depths of many miles beneath us,

Many forms of solidity.

All brought together by forces that allow gravity,

Allow for a sense of stability and rudeness and solidness to be here so including that too and how that supports the inner well-being for calm.

So as best you can really feeling the 360 nature of that which is all around us to lean the awareness into to feel and sense how that supports calm and stability.

Now which is above to the signs behind,

In front and below.

All right.

Getting into how attending in this intentional way really supports whatever the movements of the mind,

Distraction,

Things that feel restless or pulling can really support the choice.

Now invite us to and continuing to feel the breath,

Feel all of the 360 sense of that which is here around us supporting calm and stability and now to really invite feeling the entire landscape of the body itself that is amidst,

Present with the breath and everything that's around us.

So as we turn the attention to the body,

Allowing awareness to investigate,

Pointing,

Feeling into where in your body there's a sense of solidity,

Calm,

Groundedness.

Can you feel into the earthness,

The hereness,

The formness of the body,

Density that lets you really feel those calmness within.

Maybe you feel this in the sense of the weightedness,

Density or heaviness of muscles.

Maybe this can be sensed in the solidness,

Structuredness of bones.

Maybe this can be felt as a more global sense of the body.

It's really being present to how all of the parts of the body,

Limbs,

The legs,

The torso,

The head,

All of it is in and of itself this formness,

This beingness,

This groundedness that we can feel into,

Feeling our body just as it is.

So choosing feels supportive to you to maybe anchor into a location in the body,

Explore this sense of where it feels calm or grounded and steady and how that's expressed or maybe it's a more global sense of the body.

Sitting and attending,

Where it feels helpful,

Is it the breath,

Is it to feel the environment around you,

Is it to feel your body,

Just sweetly and kindly attending,

Whatever qualities support,

Feeling calm,

Feeling steady,

Feeling grounded.

Remembering no matter where the mind goes and whatever experiences happen,

They're all part of the body.

So you can invite the attention to know,

Be present to it,

Watch the flickerings,

Watch the movements,

Meet them with kindness and gentleness and then return,

Support yourself or anchoring into where it feels most helpful to be here.

Breathing in,

Connecting within and around within this body,

What's here to support calm,

Grounded and steady,

Breathing out,

Releasing,

Relaxing and receiving that sense of wellbeing.

We arrive into the last few minutes of our practice,

Just continuing,

Trusting that meeting each moment in this intentional way supports our wellbeing.

BE Order Enteen.

Just appreciating the goodness that's here.

This goodness that's been cultivated.

Awareness,

Presence,

Kindness.

And how that really supports our inner well-being.

So appreciating your state of mind,

Your heart,

Your body,

And whatever's here now.

Appreciating the goodness and the support from all of the forms and the experiences and the qualities around us.

From nature,

From non-living things,

From other beings.

From this earth.

And support,

The ability to take care,

Cultivate more health and wholesomeness and well-being.

Just appreciating that supportiveness that's always here to feel into.

That helps strengthen and allows us to feel our inner sense of well-being.

May the goodness of our practice be to the support of our well-being as we move through the day.

As we move through what's to lie ahead.

And to the interactions with all of the beings that we are in connection with.

Reviews

Thank you so very much. I really need this now.