Welcome to this grounding meditation,
A chance to find a sense of calm,
Focus and connection
in the midst of your busy day.
So many of us today find ourselves feeling somewhat dysregulated,
Stressed,
Rushed,
Overwhelmed,
Disconnected and lost in the ever-thinking mind.
A grounding practice is a lovely way to drop out of the mind and into the sensing body,
To anchor yourself in your environment and the present moment,
To centre and soothe yourself.
So coming to the practice now and adopting a posture that feels both alert and relaxed.
This may be sitting or lying down,
Allowing the whole back of your body to rest against
the chair or the bed.
And if you're sitting,
Having your feet planted on the floor.
Then if you feel comfortable too,
Closing down your eyes or you can lower and soften
your gaze in order to tune inwards,
Quieten,
Soften,
Settle.
And connect to your breath in its current natural flow.
Noticing the breath of the nostrils first,
Flowing in and flowing out,
Arriving and
passing,
Ebbing and flowing,
Leaning into the sensations of the breath here,
The coolness
of the inhale,
The warmth of the exhale.
Perhaps you feel some tingles around the nostrils as the air enters and exits.
And then tracing the breath down into the chest,
Feeling into the rise and fall of the
ribcage as you breathe.
And sensing the breath in the belly,
Inflating and deflating the abdomen like a balloon.
And placing a hand here if you wish to feel into this movement,
To dwell on how the breath
feels in the belly.
Now observing the whole body breathing,
Rising and falling,
Expanding and contracting in
rhythm with the breath.
And if at any time you find your mind has drifted off into thought,
That's okay.
Acknowledge this with a smile at your humanness.
And then re-route your attention back to the breath,
Training the mind to still and focus.
And with each exhale,
Think about releasing tension from your body just as much as you
can.
So inviting the brow to soften,
All the little muscles around the eyes to relax,
The jaw
to release,
Shoulders drop down,
Belly soften.
And legs be heavy,
Sinking in to surfaces below and discharging tension into the ground
on each out-breath.
And as you rest here,
Feeling your whole body route down as the ground rises up to hold
you.
Feeling the support of the chair or bed at your feet,
Backs of your legs,
Bottom and
back.
Feeling how the ground offers an anchor,
Stable and secure,
Cradling you,
Supporting you and
grounding you in the present moment.
And knowing you can always return to this anchor any time you're feeling adrift.
Now let's take some time to truly notice all the places that your body connects with
surfaces below.
Attending first to your feet,
Perhaps planted on the floor or resting gently on the bed.
Feeling sensations at the skin level,
Maybe the touch of soft,
Warm carpet or silky smooth
bedding.
And sensing deeper into the foot,
Perhaps feeling some gentle pressure or warmth at
those points of connection.
Really feeling into the support of the earth and then thinking about the feet sinking down,
Melting in and savouring the gentle support of the ground,
Allowing it to centre and soothe
you.
Then gently releasing your focus on your feet to attend to the backs of your legs,
Noting
the touch of clothes or furnishings against the skin and the steady support of the chair
or the bed.
Bringing your curious attention to sensations along the back of the legs,
Maybe observing
some warmth,
Pressure,
Tingling,
Noting if there are any differences in sensations between
your two legs,
The left leg and the right leg.
And then thinking about the legs getting heavy,
Softening,
Sinking,
Merging into the
ground below,
Continuing to breathe,
Relax,
Melt.
Now wandering your attention up to the base of your pelvis and feeling into your contact
points with the chair or bed,
Exploring for sensations here,
Perhaps there's a temperature,
Soft pressure,
Maybe even some pulsing or tingling.
Knowing that whatever you feel or don't feel is perfectly fine,
Just curiously exploring
how it feels to be connected and grounded.
And again I invite you to imagine your pelvis sinking into the surface below,
Rooting down,
Settling in,
Relaxing.
We know that grounding in this way can be very soothing to the nervous system,
So if
you've been feeling stressed,
Hurried,
Agitated,
This can be a lovely way to find balance and
to relax.
Now sweeping your awareness up along your spine,
Feeling the support of the chair or
bed against the whole of your back,
Noting the places that make deeper contact with the
chair or bed and those that connect more lightly.
And attending to those points of connection,
Observing sensations there and just lingering
on anything you find.
Continue to breathe and on your next exhale inviting the whole of your back to soften,
Melt and sink into the chair or bed below.
Enjoying that soothing,
Centering support of the earth at your back.
Now zooming out to become aware of the whole body,
Supported,
Held,
Grounded by the earth,
Connected to something much bigger than yourself.
And just savouring this moment of connection with the ground,
Your body and the present moment.
And lastly just taking a few moments to consider the qualities of the ground,
Its solidity,
Dependability,
Steadfast support and see if you can draw up some of that balancing,
Grounding energy to take into your day.
Noticing this energy flowing up through your contact points,
Visualising this and then
returning to your breath to breathe in that calm,
Centred energy and to breathe out residual
tension and worries.
Allowing your stress and concerns to discharge into the earth on every out-breath.
Just enjoying a few more mindful breaths while you savour the calming and balancing support of the earth.
And now beginning your gentle return to the day by inviting movement back into your body.
Perhaps wiggling your fingers and toes,
Drawing up your shoulders to create a little tension
and then releasing them back down.
You might like to stretch your arms up overhead and lengthen from fingertips to toes.
And when you're ready opening your eyes.
Thank you for your practice today.
I hope it provided you with a sense of balance,
Support and connection to take into your day.
Please know that you can return to this practice anytime you're feeling adrift
and need to anchor and soothe yourself.
