Sensing Into Being 'Fortified'

Adapted from Francis Weller's Entering the Healing Ground workbook. We begin with breath and a brief body scan, connecting to the earth and an image of what it means to feel fortified in our mind, heart, and bodies.

Transcript

Hi there, Welcome to this brief meditation. This is grounded in Francis Weller's work on The Wild Edge of Sorrow. If you have not read that book, This was recommended to me by my therapist almost six years ago and has been A book I continue to come back to just in terms of understanding my own relationship with grief and even widening and expanding my understanding of grief as I know it to be and how it shows up in my life. And so today this practice is going to be from the workbook called Entering the Healing Ground and it is a companion guide to the wild edge of sorrow. And this practice is called the fortified ground. And so when you're ready, Go ahead and find a comfortable seat or lie down or stand. See what's going to make sense for your body today. And then as you settle into your body, Just see if you can deepen your breath here. So, You know, Breathe into the chest and the belly. And then full exhale through the nose or the mouth. And again, Breathe in full belly breath in. Breath out. And just starting to call back yourself into yourself. So any parts that may be Felt distracted or far away, See if you can bring them in. To this moment, To this breath. To this body. And just doing a quick body scan from the top of the head. Down the forehead, The jaw. Down the neck. The torso, The hips, The arms, And the legs. And as you can, See if you can notice the bottom half of your body here. So maybe you're seated and you feel the weight of your hips. On the floor, Chair, Cushion. If you're standing, Maybe you notice the feet on the ground. If you're lying down, Just noticing the backside of this part of your body. Just see if you can drop in down to the bottom of your feet here, The bottoms of your feet. And sensing this connection into the earth. Filling in to possibly even the layers of the earth. Connected here. The body held by this earth. And then starting to guide your awareness up and just start to notice the upper half of your body now. And then see if you can even get a little bit taller in your spine. So even if you're lying down. Notice if there can be some length in your body. And if you're seated, Just feeling what it might be like to be in a position as if you were on a throne here. So you're not overextending yourself. But you're also seated here, Present. Aware Maybe even imagining some sort of tether or string. Moving from the top of your head up into the sky. And this is where the imaginal practice will come in. And so as you're seated here, Lying down, Standing, Imagine yourself at your most fortified. What does this look like for you? Are you open, Peaceful? Grounded. What other words or ideas or feelings would you choose to embody as you fortify yourself here? As you enter this ground. This landscape. And take a moment and imagine what this could feel like in your body. Would you be a relaxed alert? What might your posture be like? What might be different in how you breathe and move. What might be the same. Maybe even start to take notice where this sense of fortification feels present in your experience right now. Grounded yet alert. Open and yet supported, Sturdy. Take about three more breaths here. As we move out of this space, Just noticing the edges of your body. Noticing the size, The width, The length, The depth. And as you move from this space, See what it might be like to bring in this sense of fortified, Being fortified in your body and your heart and your mind as you move throughout your day. All right. Thank you for joining me for this practice. Take care.