Ground, Center, Connect

This meditation can help you work with boundaries, and it’s especially helpful in the morning. If you practice it first thing, you begin your day by reminding yourself of the ways that you are connected to others and the world, and also recognizing the boundaries that feel right to you at that moment. If the idea of your "unique essence" doesn't quite fit for you, you can visualize your favorite color or music, or you can repeat your name over and over.

Transcript

So this is the ground,

Center and connect meditation.

And in this meditation we'll be using our imagination and creativity.

So if you find visualization difficult,

I suggest just to give it a try,

See what happens and do your best to just keep an open mind and let it be an experiment.

So please begin by sitting upright with both feet on the floor.

This really is the best posture for this particular meditation so please take a few moments to find a comfortable upright seated position with both feet flat on the floor.

And when you feel comfortable you can let your eyes close either partially or fully.

So taking a few breaths now to let go of any unnecessary tension.

And if you like putting a hand over your heart or in some other soothing gesture as a reminder to bring not just awareness but kind,

Loving awareness both to yourself and to your experience.

And we'll begin by bringing our attention to the soles of the feet on the floor.

So feeling the sensations of the soles of your feet,

Maybe feeling the weight of your feet,

The pull of gravity,

The way the earth's core keeps you here.

You don't float,

You are connected to the earth always,

Grounded in the earth always.

So as you perhaps begin to feel more of that connection I'd like you to imagine that you have roots that extend out through the soles of your feet and down through your tailbone the same way that a tree sends its roots into the earth.

So please visualize these roots extending from your feet and tailbone all the way down through the layers of the earth and then imagining them wrapping around the earth's radiant iron core.

There's so much energy in the earth's core.

Just imagining that as these roots wrap around that core that that radiant energy is actually traveling up the roots,

Up through the layers of the earth,

Radiating up and beginning to fill your body.

So radiating up through your feet and then up through your spine,

Legs,

Trunk,

Belly,

Back,

Chest,

Arms,

Up through your neck and head entirely filling your body with this radiant earth energy.

And imagine too that you have a cup in the center of your chest,

In your heart and that this cup is being continuously filled and replenished with this radiant earth energy and it overflows continuously like a fountain.

So imagining this cup here knowing that this cup can never be depleted or taken from you no matter what.

So you have your own connection to this energy source and a way that your energy is constantly being replenished.

The earth is feeding you energetically.

And then just noticing how you feel in your body having grounded,

Grounded into the earth.

And then letting go of this focus on grounding and shifting your awareness inward.

So now that you've got this foundation of groundedness and connection tuning in to your inner experience noticing just whatever your impressions might be of your inner landscape right now.

And I invite you now to get clear in your mind about what your unique essence is.

So this may not be something you have ever thought about before but all you need to do is say your name silently to yourself and notice what comes into your mind.

It might be an image,

A color,

A texture or quality of light.

Now don't overthink it just see what comes to mind and go with that.

And once you feel clear enough just imagine filling yourself up with whatever you identified as your unique essence.

Realizing your essence,

Saturating every cell and filling you completely.

And you can take your time.

Once you feel completely filled with your essence imagine that you are sweeping through,

Sifting through your body,

The energy of your body and filtering out anything that doesn't belong to you or anything that you may be holding on to that you no longer need.

And you may need to sweep through,

Sift through a few times.

When you feel that you've sifted everything out I'd like you to take that material,

All that you may have absorbed from others or that's yours but no longer serves you and offer it as compost back to the earth.

So in your mind making an offering of all of that material,

Not throwing away,

Not throwing it away,

Not judging it,

Just making it an offering and trusting that the earth can take this material and transform it so that it can be nourishment for new growth.

That's what the earth does.

And now that you've sifted through and pulled out and made an offering of what you no longer need I'd like you to fill yourself again with your own essence because you may notice that you have a bit more room having cleared some space.

So please continue to fill yourself up until you feel completely saturated and full with your own unique essence.

So now that you are more centered in yourself please visualize just the energy around your body and notice what sort of energetic boundary you want around you.

Knowing that your boundary can extend out as far as you need it to.

Get clear about what sort of energetic boundary you need right now.

Does it need to be a soft boundary or a firm boundary?

Maybe it needs to be a reflective boundary.

Just see what feels right and then imagine that you have just the boundary you need.

Your best guess on just the boundary you need.

And then please visualize this boundary as clearly as you can.

Noticing how far out it extends,

Noticing if it has certain color to it or a quality.

Just getting as clear about that boundary as possible.

Now that you feel clearer about your boundary I'd like you to consider the people,

The beings and places that feel supportive and comforting to you.

These might be benevolent ancestors,

Spiritual figures and guides,

Family,

Friends,

Loved ones,

Mentors,

Teachers,

Leaders,

Activists,

Writers,

Artists,

Musicians.

All the people who give you that sense of support,

Comfort,

Maybe inspiration.

These could be people who are alive today or people who are no longer alive but who you know through memory or the work that they did and that still exists in the world even if they're not here in the body.

And there might also be some pets or animals who you love or have loved or feel a kinship with.

So see if any animals come to mind.

And these might also be certain places you have lived or places you have visited,

Maybe places where you felt a sense of safety and belonging.

Just letting any places like that come to mind.

And as you reflect on these people,

These beings,

These places,

Just recognizing the connection that you have with them at all times and remembering that they have your back and they are always with you no matter what.

So anytime you feel afraid,

Uncertain,

Overwhelmed,

You can connect with these people and beings and places and feel their support and maybe sometimes even ask for their help.

When you don't know what to do or you know what to do but it seems like too much,

You can ask for their help and it's so important that you know that and that you do that.

So just taking another few moments to really soak in this experience of grounding,

Centering,

And connecting.

Realizing now how you feel in your body,

How you feel in your mind and spirit.

And whatever you notice,

As best you can,

Just allowing yourself to feel the way you feel,

Knowing that there's no particular way that you're supposed to feel right now and that however you feel is okay.

And then as you feel ready,

Gently open your eyes.

Okay.

Reviews

Nameste 🙏

Wow! Thank you for this 🕉

❤❤❤❤ thanks for posting

Very helpful, thank you!