I hope you'll turn to this meditation when you're feeling a need to feel deeply connected to the world and the universe around you.
This deeply spiritual experience can be really helpful especially if you're feeling lonesome or isolated.
So let's start by breathing in deeply.
That's right,
Fill up your lungs.
Fill those lungs with air expanding into the belly and releasing and relaxing your body into the chair or the sofa or the floor or the bed wherever you are.
Let your body be comfortable and let your eyes close.
Now feel that air as you breathe flowing past your nose,
Through your mouth,
Down into your lungs,
Then gently releasing as you exhale.
Follow each breath with your full attention as it travels through you,
Entering into your body,
Moving deep into your body,
And then releasing out.
Breathing in,
Know that you are breathing in.
Breathing out,
Know that you are breathing out.
As you inhale,
Notice that you're breathing the atmosphere of the earth.
This breath is shared with all the plants and trees and all the living beings on the planet,
Everything near and far.
You are all breathing the same air.
Picture a tree outside your window or imagine a favorite tree.
As you exhale carbon dioxide,
Imagine that tree breathing in the carbon dioxide that you're exhaling.
And then the tree exhales and offers you the oxygen it has created and you breathe that in.
With each inhale and exhale,
Feel the exchange.
Body breathing with the tree,
Really dropping into the sensation of breathing in the rhythmic unison with the tree.
The tree offers its oxygen and its exhale and you receive that oxygen and then offer the tree carbon dioxide.
And in this way,
You share the planet together.
Acknowledge any plants around you now,
Your indoors,
Those plants that are indoors with you,
Or the plants that are just outside of where you are.
Expand your consciousness to include all of the plants creating oxygen in the city,
Where you are,
The parks,
The forests,
The countryside,
The deserts and the mountaintops.
Everywhere on this planet,
Plants are breathing with you.
Allow yourself to cherish the intimacy of this shared breath.
Breathing in,
Know that you are breathing with all of the plants.
Breathing out,
Know that you are breathing out with all of the plants.
And with these breaths you are connected to all life on this planet.
We're also connected through water.
Imagine the journey of a raindrop falling to earth,
Flowing through rivers and soil,
Then rising into the sky again through evaporation.
The water in our bodies was once rain.
It flows through us,
Leaves and returns to the earth,
Rising,
Falling,
Cycling over and over.
Feel this water in your body.
Notice the way you are made up of so much water as you sit here in this moment.
Water is circulating through your body just as it circulates all over the earth.
The water within you was once part of a cloud,
A river,
A deer,
A slug,
A whale,
A fly,
A mushroom,
A tree and other humans.
The water within you once carved great canyons,
Froze into delicate snowflakes and reshaped landscapes as glaciers sliding across continents.
You carry the oceans within you.
You carry the rivers and the lakes.
The water within us is a reminder that all life on earth is a part of us.
Breathing in,
Know that you are breathing with the water of the rivers and the clouds and the seas.
Breathing out,
Know that you are breathing out with the water of rain and ice.
Now let yourself feel the wonder of sitting on the surface of this planet as it spins through space.
Gravity is holding you dearly,
Tenderly to this earth.
You are part of a living,
Hybrid,
Organic,
Inorganic spaceship.
A life support system more complex than anything humans have ever created.
This earth sustains,
Nourishes,
And supports you and all life in perfect balance.
Feel your body grounded,
Noticing the points of contact with the chair,
The floor,
Or the cushion supporting you.
Wherever we sit on earth,
We are gently held on the planet's surface by a vast life support system.
As the earth rotates,
Day turns to night,
Night to dawn.
While above us,
Skies reveal stars that have been there for millions of years.
We are all moving together around the Sun,
Circling the star at the heart of our solar system every year.
And as we rotate and we orbit,
Our entire solar system is also in motion,
Traveling around the center of the Milky Way galaxy,
Along with countless other stars,
Planets,
And systems.
Our galaxy,
Too,
Is part of a nearly unimaginable river of galaxies,
Moving through the vast cosmos.
Breathing in,
Know that you are breathing in with the enormous,
Slow turning of the Milky Way galaxy.
Breathing out,
Know that you are breathing out,
Flowing rivers of galaxies,
Streams of galactic superclusters,
Reaching across the universe.
And now,
Gently bring yourself back into this room.
Feel the support beneath you,
Your seat,
Floor,
The ground.
Sense yourself right here,
Right now,
Present,
Rooted in this place,
In this moment.
