In this lesson we're going to cover a couple of brand new approaches to self care that I'll bet you have not experienced in exactly the way that I'm about to present them to you.
We'll go over a brand new approach to getting grounded and centered and from there I'm going to share with you the basic four questions for inner alignment practice.
So without further ado let's jump in.
About grounding and centering.
Bringing our awareness to how the body is feeling can sometimes help us to feel more grounded and centered regardless of what's happening and when you're in a situation or a mind frame that's feeling out of whack or ungrounded the first thing to do if you want to change that and come into a greater degree of coherence is to know how to get grounded and centered fast.
There are many different grounding and centering practices and you've probably if you've hung around this insight timer community for very long you've probably come across a few.
Now I'm going to show you something else you can do that will help you to take it even deeper.
So first of all you're probably familiar with the idea of chakras and in case you're not in Sanskrit the word chakra means disc or wheel and it refers to the energy centers in your body.
These wheels or discs of spinning energy each correspond to certain nerve bundles and major organs.
Each serves to focus consciousness in uniquely specific ways.
So you're probably familiar with the seven chakras right?
At the root,
The sacral,
The solar plexus,
The heart,
The throat,
The third eye and the crown.
Well there are many many more chakras than we typically talk about.
In some systems they actually acknowledge as many as 144.
In the four-question system we don't go quite that far but we do expand our awareness to include three chakras below the physical body.
And so just take a minute and consider this that there are three focused points of consciousness beneath your physical body extending deep into the earth and consider that this is actually a part of you.
Just as much as your nose or your hands and let yourself notice the way that thought feels to you.
You might send a little hello down to that deepest part of yourself and in so doing open up your awareness to a flow of resource back from that part of yourself.
Whether that feels like strength or stability or life force or embodied earth wisdom or something else.
Whatever that is for you just notice the way that thought feels to you for a moment and let yourself take it in.
And meanwhile I want you to also consider that there are five additional chakras,
Five more focused points of consciousness above your physical body extending far into the cosmos.
And just let yourself notice the way that thought feels to you.
And again you might send a hello up to that most expansive part of yourself and in so doing open up your awareness to a flow of resource back from that part of yourself.
And that might feel like higher wisdom or awareness or inspiration or healing.
Whatever your expanded self has for you that you might be able to benefit from right now.
And so just take that in and allowing your attention to relax and expand and take in this idea that your whole being is expanded between these points below the body and above the body and everything in between.
Relaxing your focus so that you can take in everything without focusing on any one particular thing.
Good.
And so now as you're just allowing this expanded awareness of your own being I'm going to invite you to ask yourself four specific questions and then to relax and notice what happens in your body in your experience in response.
And the first question is,
Where is my point of power?
Where is my point of power?
Just allowing yourself to lean into whatever arises.
It doesn't matter if it makes any sense.
Let go of it having to mean something and simply stay with it.
Allowing yourself to fully be with whatever it is for as long as it feels interesting.
And feel free to hit the pause button so you can allow yourself whatever time you need to fully take it in.
And then press play when you're ready to continue.
And now I invite you to ask yourself the second question,
Which is,
Where can I put my attention?
Where it will do the where it will do the most good.
And again,
Just relax and notice whatever arises.
And it might be a feeling or a thought or an image or a sensation.
And it might even seem like a distraction.
Or like your mind temporarily went away for a second and all of that's good.
Just notice and be with the way whatever you're noticing feels to you.
And again,
Feel free to pause this recording until you're ready to go on.
And so now,
I invite you to ask yourself the third question,
Which is,
What are my resources?
What are my resources?
And again,
Just taking your time to let yourself notice whatever happens.
And pausing now if that feels good.
And so now I invite you to ask yourself the fourth question.
What am I currently unconscious of?
That if I knew it,
It would make all the difference.
What am I currently unconscious of?
That if I knew it,
It would make all the difference.
And again,
Just allowing whatever happens to be observed.
Allowing yourself to just notice whatever comes up.
And again,
Pause the recording if you need to.
And come back when you're ready.
And now give yourself a chance to really take in how you're feeling in your whole body.
Noticing what's different from when you began.
