This guided meditation is a grounding visualization.
Grounding is a practice designed to help you reconnect with your body,
With the earth,
And with the present moment.
Before we begin,
Please take a moment to find the position that feels most supportive for you.
Whatever it is that you choose,
Feel free to take a moment to adjust yourself as needed.
Feeling into the surface beneath you,
And inviting the awareness of being held by the earth,
And connecting to that awareness throughout this practice.
When you're ready,
Please close your eyes and gently bring a soft noticing to your breath,
Being present to the air as it moves in and out of your body,
And letting go of any need to control it.
Remembering that your breath often takes this journey beneath your awareness.
And now,
Invite your imagination to travel along with you,
Feeling yourself drifting from where you are now,
Through the clouds of this fantasy,
Until you land gently on a forest path.
You open up your mind's eye,
And you see trees all around you.
And ahead of you,
You see a path,
A path upon which you begin to walk.
And you're walking slowly,
One foot in front of the other.
And you're not quite sure where you're going,
But you're moving forward.
One step at a time.
You feel each footfall on the earth,
The ground giving just a little underneath you,
The earth making a place for you with each step.
You hear the crunch and rustle as you move forward.
Each stride lands in the earth's soft sigh,
As your foot raises up,
Each lift a gift of relief.
As you're walking,
A slight movement in your peripheral vision catches your attention,
And you turn to see a butterfly,
Which has landed on a grassy stump.
She remains there,
In movement,
Yet held in place,
Lightly fluttering her wings and soaking in a sunbeam that's dancing through the forest canopy.
As you pause to take this in,
You remember you're not in a rush to get anywhere.
And so you continue to pause.
You lift your eyes to look around you,
Taking in the trees that flank your path,
The tough,
Gnarled bark of the giants,
Wizened yet sturdy,
And the pale,
Silky skin of the saplings.
And the pale,
Silky skin of the saplings,
Not yet seasoned with life.
You notice the branches intertwining to arc above you,
And how the leaves crowning them have such variety that you smile at the limitations of language.
Whoever named a single shade forest green may never have wandered through a forest on a sunny day.
They may never have paused to wonder at nature's fancy,
Marveling at how chlorophyll,
Sunshine,
And rainwater mingle to create a tapestry of hues,
Each one impossible to describe,
With a single name.
You drink it all in,
Not only with your eyes,
But with each breath as it travels inward.
The air tastes crisp and verdant,
Carrying the undertones of mineral-rich soil,
Soil quenched by the clouds with their teardrop offerings,
Soil satiated by fallen leaves,
Soil satiated by fallen leaves,
The trees giving back to the ground that sustains them.
Your nose tingles from the vibrancy of the air,
The life inhaled with each breath bringing each sense alive.
Your ears are bathing in the sing-song gossip of birds,
Forest tales repeated by the whispering of trees,
And each swooshy sigh of the twigs and leaves as the breeze encounters them.
That breeze also ruffles the hair on your head while caressing your skin,
Spiking the peach fuzz on your forearms.
And while feeling this,
Feeling this subtle movement,
You also feel the weight of your feet,
Feet which are cradled by gravity,
Planted on the surface of the earth.
You are grounded in the air,
You are grounded,
Yet you are not stuck.
There is both stability and motion in you and in all that is surrounding you.
In this moment,
You feel into the oneness that is everything,
And the everything that is you.
This here is life,
Fully lived.
You look up to the sky and think,
Right here,
Right now,
I am complete.
Feel free to stay here as long as you need to,
Also knowing you can return at any time,
Simply by closing your eyes and giving this forest life and breath.
