Welcome to this brief grounding meditation practice.
This is a useful practice for any time where you feel that maybe the mind is very busy,
Maybe after a hectic day just to recenter ourselves.
This practice can also be used when we are experiencing strong emotions and as such this practice can be helpful in preventing us from becoming overwhelmed by emotions.
So it's important during this practice to take care,
Intuitively listen to your needs and respond to them as you see appropriate.
If at any time you feel that you're outside of your window of tolerance then feel free to open the eyes,
Maybe taking in the space around you.
Or maybe you might like to do this practice with the eyes open and focusing on an object in the environment.
The important thing is to be aware of what works for you and approaching this practice with kindness towards ourselves.
So you haven't already done so,
Inviting you to find a comfortable position,
Sitting on a chair or on a cushion,
Finding something that works for you and bringing attention to the body sat here right now.
Nothing to do and nowhere to go.
Pressing into the feet,
Maybe the weight of the feet pressing down against the ground.
What is any sensations that may be here?
Sensations of temperature,
Maybe you can feel the feet inside your shoes,
Your socks,
Maybe you can feel the gentle touch of air across the feet if you are barefoot right now.
Now guiding the attention towards the thighs and the buttocks and the areas of contact to the surface beneath you.
Feeling the weight of the body pressing down,
Feeling the thighs and the buttocks supporting the rest of the body.
Feeling the pressure against this surface that you are sat upon.
See if you can bring that awareness to a sense of gravity,
Pulling you down,
Grounding you into this seat.
And now bringing awareness to the back.
If you are sitting on a chair,
Maybe notice where the back touches the chair and notice where the back doesn't touch a chair,
Where there is a space.
And if you are not seated on a chair,
Maybe you can bring awareness to a sense of strength of the back supporting you in this position.
And now bringing the attention into the face.
Notice if you are holding any tension,
Maybe in the jaw,
Maybe frowning,
Maybe some tightness across the eyes.
Just gently seeing if you can allow this tension to release.
Maybe using the breath with every exhale,
Allowing the tension to go just that little bit more.
Now bringing the same attention across into the neck and the shoulders.
Try and see if you can get a sense of what the neck and the shoulders are doing right now.
Are the shoulders relaxed or are you holding them up in any way?
Just inviting yourself to soften in to this practice,
Releasing any tension that may be present.
And now guiding the attention to the hands resting upon your knees or upon your thighs or maybe one hand resting upon the other.
And again,
See if you can notice the sensations of weight,
Of pressing down,
The hands grounding into the surface upon your body.
Noticing any other sensations that may appear for you,
Temperature,
Tingling,
Maybe the urge to move the fingers.
Just notice what's there and allow it to let it go.
And now bringing the attention to the breath,
Notice where the breath is most present for you right now.
Maybe at the tips of the nostrils,
Maybe the back of the throat,
Maybe the chest,
Maybe the abdomen,
Maybe some other place.
Just bringing some curiosity to where you naturally feel the breath most within the body,
Not trying to force it or change it in any way.
And inhaling,
Focusing in on this small point and exhaling.
Using this area as our anchor,
Inhaling and exhaling.
And now using the breath,
Guide the attention,
Inhaling from the feet up the body to the buttocks,
Across the shoulders and into the face.
And then exhaling from the face,
Across the shoulders,
Down the buttocks and into the feet.
Bringing awareness to the body,
Sitting here right now,
Pressing down and grounding into this moment.
In your own time,
Gently opening the eyes and allowing the eyes to receive the space around you.
