In this audio,
You'll be guided through a quick and gentle somatic practice that you can use to feel more embodied and grounded.
You may find it helpful to listen to this recording a few times before practicing on your own so that this becomes a practice that you can reach for in moments of overwhelm or when you just want to slow down and pause and come back to your body and the present moment.
For those of us that tend towards overthinking and a busy active mind,
Sometimes mindfulness meditation and observing the thoughts can lead to more distress and so a body-based mindfulness practice like this can really be a nice alternative.
And so you can actually start with your eyes open and just take a moment to look around and get a sense of the space that you're in.
Maybe really attending to the distance between you and walls,
Objects,
Or if you're outdoors,
Whatever is surrounding you,
Looking for things that are kind of sturdy and firm.
What is the container,
The space that you're in,
And where are you located within it?
And then notice what's beneath you,
What you're resting upon,
Getting a sense of where your body is making contact with whatever is supporting you physically.
And just noticing what that support allows you to do.
Can you relax into that just a little bit more?
Do you get a sense of it being able to hold your weight?
And what's it like to become aware of that?
And then allowing the breath,
Allowing the breath to gently invite the awareness inside the body,
Following the sensation of the breath.
And as you bring your awareness into the body,
Taking a moment to maybe explore where you might already be feeling settled or a sense of comfort.
You might even ask the question,
Where am I already feeling ease?
Where in my body feels easeful,
Maybe soft?
But allow your awareness to go there.
Don't overthink it too much,
But allow your awareness to settle at whatever feels most comfortable in this moment.
And then just resting there for a few moments,
Maybe seeing if you can take that in just a little bit more.
Can you take just a few more teaspoons of that feeling?
And notice how it feels to start tracking for what's already okay.
So often when we turn our awareness into the body,
It's because something feels loud,
Something is tense,
Something is hurried.
But this time we're attending to what's slow,
To what's soft and gentle.
And then we're just going to rest there and just take that in for a few more breaths.
Taking in as much or as little of that sensation as you need,
As feels most available to you.
And then letting that go.
And then once again,
Bringing your awareness to what holds you,
To where you're resting,
To what supports your body.
And then gently expanding the awareness outwards.
If your eyes have closed during this practice,
You can open them.
Taking in your surroundings and just maybe reflecting,
Checking in for a moment what feels different,
Maybe in your body and mind now compared to when you started this practice.
Or is there anything about your surroundings that seems different?
Do you perceive those surroundings differently?
I hope you enjoyed this practice.
I hope you feel a little more settled now,
And I hope that it feels useful,
Something you can quickly and easily implement whenever you need.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
Take care.
