Morning Practice In The Rain

This gentle, nature-connected body scan bubbled up on a rainy morning during the first week of the awareness of the impact of the COVID-19 virus on our world. There was an intuitive sense that we humans needed deep grounding as well as a visceral reminder of our healing connection to the breath of the trees. This meditation overlays the sounds of birds and raindrops during a sunrise shower. You'll feel more optimistic, centered, and resilient in these uncertain times.

Transcript

Morning meditation in the rain. It's mid-March. It's the rainy season in this part of the Midwest. I'm deeply grateful for my covered outdoor seating area. And I'm situated where I can hear the rain, I can see the rain. I can visualize the mist and the fog coming off of the street lights. And I see three great big old oak trees. The ones that line the streets. And it's still too early, There's no leaves out on them yet. I can visualize them just sucking up this rain, Sending shoots of gratitude down into the earth. My inhalations seem to match those of the tree. I imagine inhaling from the roots through the entire body as if I could soak up the moisture in the ground. As I inhale, I notice there's parts of the body that feel a little stiff, A little tight. And so there's gentle movement that comes, Clenching and unclenching the teeth and the forehead, Softening through the eyes and the temples around the back of the ears. Neck wiggles, Releasing through the back of the neck, Top of the shoulders, Shoulder circles in one direction, And the other direction. Gently moving through the elbows, The wrists, The hands, Clenching fists, Interlacing fingers, And releasing so the arms feel heavy and relaxed on my lap. Deep inhalation, Noticing how the breath feels around my face and temples, Crown of the head, Wiggling through the hips, Little cat-cow with the pelvis, Constricting and releasing around the waist and the solar plexus and the glutes, Jiggling out through the thighs, The knees, The lower legs, Lifting the heels, Coming up on tiptoe and setting them back down, Wiggling out the toes, Releasing any tension there, Feeling very grounded, Both feet flat on the ground. I notice the sensation of the ground beneath my feet. There's an awareness that even beneath the cement patio, The moisture from the rain is seeping in. There's a sense of support and nourishment beneath me. I imagine the soles of my feet softening, Energetically shooting down what feels like invisible roots past the patio, Past the cement, Deep into the soil. I imagine that these roots emanating from my feet would mimic the roots of the oak trees going deep and going wide, Connecting to the heaviness, The literal groundedness of the soil beneath my feet. I notice how I can release tension from the knees, The kneecaps, The back of the knees, Down through the shins and the calves, Through the ankles, To the feet, Into the soles, Feeling heavy and weighted from the knees to the earth, Each breath a little deeper, A little slower, A little more intentional. I notice how I could release tension through the pelvis and the hip joints, The heaviness in the glutes, In the back of the thighs, The top of the thighs and the inner thighs, Through the pubic bone and the tailbone and the pelvic floor. I feel that heaviness from the hips, The glutes, Through the thighs, To the knees, Past the shins and the calves and the ankles, Through the feet to the soles, And deep down into the earth, Heavy and grounded and weighted from the hips to the feet. I notice how I could release some gripping around the small of the back, The back of the kidneys, The tailbone, The back of the hips, Around the waist, The side bodies of the soft belly. I notice I could relax more through the solar plexus and the upper part of the belly, Imagining even my stomach and liver and spleen, Intestines, Could all just let go. There's a softening around the navel. And on the in-breath, I notice that gentle receiving through the belly. The belly expands to receive the breath and just gently releases to let it go. There's movement even below the navel around the pubic bone as I inhale and soften through the groins and the upper part of the thighs, Through the waist, Through all the organs in the soft belly. There's that sense of heaviness, Release and letting go from the lowest ribs through the soft belly to the groins and the pelvis, From the back of the waist past the small of the back, The pelvis and the hips, Heaviness, Weightedness through the glutes, And follow that sense of relaxation and letting go all the way down through the legs, Through the feet, And out into the earth. I'm sitting with the next couple of breaths, Noticing how grounded I feel from the waist to the earth. Each exhalation, I can get deeper, Heavier. Each inhalation, There's a sensation of tendrils of gravity reaching up from deep in the earth through my feet and legs, Hips and belly, And the exhalation allows those tendrils to draw me into deeper connection, To gravitational pull, Into the heaviness and weightedness of the earth. I begin to notice the movement of breath through the lowest ribs, A gentle fanning out as I inhale, A gentle release as I exhale, In contrast to the heaviness and weightedness from the waist to my feet. The sensation through the ribs feels lighter and airier, And as I inhale more deeply, I notice a softening of the muscles connecting the ribs, The softening through the base of the sternum, Around the kidneys of the back body, Feeling that opening through the back ribs, Around the spine. I feel that gentle release and yet a sensation of lightening, Buoyancy. Each inhalation, The ribs open, Soften, Receive a little bit more. Each exhalation, There's a sense of openness and lightness. I begin to notice the sensation of air as it fills my lungs. I'm aware of the gentle massage of the heart with each in-breath and each out-breath through the middle part of the chest, The ribcage. Just beneath the breasts, There's a sensation of openness and movement, Receptivity. I begin to notice that sense of lightness and softening through the shoulder blades. As I inhale, Imagining for just a moment I could even breathe through the back body, That I could breathe through the spine, Through the shoulder blades, Through the upper part of the back and through the top of the shoulders. There's a sense of softening of all the muscles surrounding the spine as I inhale as if the spine could just also receive the breath. There's expansion through the back body and there's release and softening. I notice the movement of the breath at the sternum, Through the ribs on the right side and the left, Gentle movement beneath and through the breasts, A little massage through the armpits as I inhale deeply. I notice that movement, The upper ribs expand, A gentle connection and touch through the armpits and into the shoulder joints. There's a softening through the collarbones, Through the notch at the base of the throat, Inhaling deeply through the armpits, The upper chest. I notice a gentle connection to the upper arms, The inner arms, The outer arms, Tops of the shoulders as if I could breathe into the rotator cuffs. And as I exhale, I could breathe down to the elbows, To the bony knobs of the elbows, The crease of the inner elbows. And then there's a softening through the forearms. There's a sense of release through the wrists, The inner wrists, The back of the wrists. I notice the connection of the wrists into the back of the hands, To the knuckles, To the backs of each of the fingers. I imagine the breath could move along the back of the hands, The back of the fingers, To the fingertips, The tips of the thumbs. And I notice the breath coming from the sensation through the upper chest, Through the armpits, Through the crease of the elbows and the inner wrists, Into the palms of the hands. There's an awareness of the fleshy pads of the palms, Receiving the breath into the hands, A tingling sensation at the very center of each palm, A gentle energetic boost through the fleshy pads of each of the fingers and both of the thumbs. There's a sensation through the hands, Through the fingertips of lightness, Of buoyancy as you inhale, Imagining the breath moving from the fingertips through the hands, Past the wrists, To the forearms, To the elbows, To the upper arms and the shoulders. And as you exhale, You allow the hands and the arms to let go. You notice that sense of buoyancy from the waist as you inhale through the front body and the back body. You see the lightening through the top of the shoulders and the back of the neck. You imagine you could breathe through the carotid arteries on the right and the left sides of the neck. Your lower jaw, Lower teeth soften. And your next inhalation comes from the notch at the base of the throat that flows into the mouth. You notice the sensation of the air around you as you inhale, The sensation through the inner walls of the mouth, Of the breath flowing over the tongue and deep into the back of the throat, Allowing the lips to soften, Inhaling through the mouth, Feeling the movement of the breath through the teeth and the gums in the back of the throat. There's a softening at the base of the skull, The back of the neck, Around the hairline at the back, And you imagine lightness and breath flowing up around the back of the skull, The back of the ears, To the crown of the head. Each inhalation, Visualizing it coming from the waist through the back body, Up the back body, Past the shoulders, Past the neck to the crown. A lightness and buoyancy through the back body, Even through the brain. You notice the breath at the notch at the base of the throat and the softening through the throat, Through the lower jaw and the chin, The lower teeth and the upper teeth. As you inhale, There's a softening through the cheeks, And you notice the awareness of the cheekbones releasing towards the ears. There's a softening through the ear canals, That sensation where the ear canals generate energy and connection around the TMJ area. You can soften around the right TMJ and the left, And you feel that release through the inner ears, The ear canals, The outer ears, Even the skin around the back of the ears. Your next deep inhalation flows from the mouth to the lips, To the nostrils, To the bridge of the nose, Through the skin on the front of the face and through the eyes. There's a sensation with each inhalation that your eyes could soften and release just a tad more. There's a gentle intermingling of the eyelashes of your lower lids with the eyelashes of the upper lids and the softening of the skin around the eye sockets, The release of the eyeballs and the muscles behind the eye. With your next inhalation, You visualize all the images stored in your optic nerve and notice as you exhale how you could let that go. Images in your mind's eye, Images from visions and dreams, Images of everything you witness and observe. For the next moment, For the next breath, Even that could soften and release. You notice the softening through the eyebrows, Out to both temples and through the forehead, Gentle release, The space between the eyebrows, Imagining the bone of the forehead and the brain behind letting go. There's a sensation that as the eyebrows release, So do your thoughts. You bring your attention inside the brain, Inside the skull. With each breath, There's an awareness of all the busyness, All the dreams and plans, Everything you're worried about, Consumed with. Each inhalation is just an awareness of one more thought, One more thought train that you could soften and release so that in this moment, As you inhale, You notice the sensation of the breath. You notice the temperature, The breeze in the air on your face and on your eyelids, Across your cheeks, In your nose. There's an awareness that this softness, This gentle breeze, Can permeate through the bones of your face and your forehead and your skull, Going deep into your inner self, Into the brain, Into all the busyness and activity, All the changes you may be going through or experiencing, Difficulties you're having, Grief, Emotion, Memories, Each breath softening through the face, Through the brow, Through the brain. There's a sense of lightening, Remembering the heaviness, Weightiness, Groundedness from the waist to the earth, Through the low body, The memory of lightness, Openness, Airiness, Softness and gentleness through the upper body, As you inhale, Feeling grounded and light and buoyant all at the same time. There's a sensation of openness around the crown of the head, Noticing the soft spot at the very top of the crown. Imagine you could soften it. Imagine that you could release tension, Gripping, Even through the skin, Around the skull, Visualizing each hair follicle, And notice what you could release in the same way that you visualized that grounding through the feet, Through the roots into the soil. Imagine through the crown of the head that you could emanate roots of energy and joy and connection out through the crown of the head, Connecting to all that is, Connecting to whatever is nearby, Connecting to those that you love who are with you, Connecting to those that you love who are further away, Connecting to those that you love who are with you in spirit, Who have passed on, And feeling that connection expand to the nature around you, Imagining these roots emanating from your crown through the softness at the third eye and the forehead, Connecting to each tree around your property wherever you are. Imagine that connection to each shrub, Each blade of grass, And each wildflower. Imagine how those trees and shrubs and flowers are all connected through the air that they breathe, The air that they inhale, The CO2 that they draw up, And the oxygen they release, Bringing to your mind's eye the image of a favorite tree, Someplace you've connected, Some image that you've seen. And imagine that you could actually observe that tree as it inhales, As it receives in the air that it needs, And as it exhales and shares with you the air that you need. You feel that connection. You inhale, And as you exhale, You visualize sending your breath, Your out breath, Your CO2 to that tree. You visualize that tree embodying your breath, Breathing it through its systems, Through its method of understanding and catalyzing that breath into oxygen, And it exhales that oxygen and sends it back to you. You inhale, And you exhale in joint reciprocity with all of nature. And notice how that feels. Notice the gentleness of your face as you visualize your breath giving and receiving. Is there a gentle smile at your lips? Is there more softening through your eyes and through your brain in this awareness that we inhale and we exhale in the most gracious dance with all of nature? As we give and we receive, We notice a bubbling up of gratitude, A sensation of joy and connection, And awareness that in every moment, This is all we need to breathe and be breathed by the nature around us. Staying with this image of your inhalation and your exhalation in dance with nature, Imagining how you will embody this as you step into the rest of your day. How will you remember the sensation of the heaviness, The weightedness, The groundedness, And your connection to gravity and the earth that you waste to your feet? And how will you remember that airiness, Lightness, Sense of joy, And connection with each breath that you take throughout the rest of your day? We end this meditation with that intention in every moment, In moments of panic or grief or anxiety, Moments of uncertainty or confusion. There is this grounding, This heaviness, This weightedness through the low body. There is this connection with each breath to each tree, To each aspect of nature. There is this gentle smile each time you come into a quiet space and notice your connection. May you take this practice of grounding and breathing and connecting with you into your everyday life and share it with everyone that you meet.

Reviews

Lovely to “breathe and be breathed”. We all need connection and sometimes it is just a matter of a few deep intentional breaths. Thank you for this beautiful morning meditation.

Wow. Just wonderful. Thank you. 🙏🏼