Grounding Meditation

Ground and connect with your body in this two-part meditation. Begin with lower belly breathing to calm and center your energy, then transition to cellular breathing, fostering a deeper sense of presence and balance.

Transcript

This practice will be done completely in a lying down position. So whether you want to rest and lie down on your yoga mat or a comfortable rug, Find a place quiet, Preferably dark room, Lying on your back. Many people find it more comfortable to put a thin pillow to rest their head on. This takes some strain off the cervical spine, The back of the neck, And ensures that the head is kept in a completely aligned position. You want to make sure that the forehead is the same height or higher than the chin. Many times when people lie flat on the mat, They tend to bring their chin too high. So whatever is the most comfortable way for you to lie down, Utilize that. We're going to be bringing the feet flat and the knees up. You can move your body position a little bit here to find that optimal place where your body just feels completely aligned and relaxed. So the distance of the heels to the buttocks will be a little different for everyone. So find where it makes sense for you, Where your body feels most aligned and comfortable. The feet are going to be wide a bit if you're on a yoga mat at the sides of the mat, But a little wider than hips. And gently be bringing the knees together so it's as if the legs have created a series of triangles. The arms could be on the sides of the body, Palms down, Or you could bring the hands and they could lightly be on the lower belly. This lower belly breathing practice keeps all our awareness below the ribs and above the pelvic floor. It's as if we're dropping our awareness away from the mind and where we usually associate our thoughts, The wandering mind, The monkey mind, Worries of the past and future. We just drop it into the body. The body is the gateway to calm, Awareness and wisdom. So dropping all the attention into the lower abdominal area, The belly, The sides, The obliques, And the lower back. There's three things to focus on here on the inhale and three things to focus on on the exhale. So we're going to start off with an exhale. Empty out, Really empty out with your exhales in this practice. So as you breathe in, The belly swells, A slight arch in the lower back, And the pelvic bone, The bottom of the spine, Pushes gently into the mat. Then as you exhale, The belly shrinks, The lower back flattens. Really exhale fully so at the bottom of the exhale, The pelvic bone, The bottom of the spine, Comes off the mat a teeny bit. So once again, Inhale, Lower belly swells, Lower back arches, Pelvic bone pushes into the mat. Then as you exhale, The belly shrinks, Navel of the spine, Flattening the lower back. Exhale even more. You might even feel your core engaged, Which is fine, And the pelvic bone tilts a little off the mat. When you're doing this practice, Inhale through the nose, And you want to just breathe into about 70 or 75% effort. We don't want to bring in any tension into the body on the inhale. Just let that belly swell, The diaphragm engaging, But with the exhale, Feel free to breathe out much more full than you're used to. When you normally think you're done with your exhale, Breathe out even more, Really flattening that back, Really emptying out that whole lower belly. So let's begin. We'll do a couple minutes on our own. I'll do, Lead us to one more, And then you're on your own for about seven breaths. So let's exhale, Then breathing in, Belly swells, Lower back arches, Pelvic bone into the mat. Then we exhale, Shrinking the belly, Flatten the back, Gauging the core a bit, And let the pelvic bone tilt off the mat a little, And breathe in again, And on your own for about two minutes, Reminding yourself that if the mind wanders, Don't judge it. Just note the mind wandering with curiosity, Gentle sense of humor, And then bring your awareness back to the lower belly in the next breath. So let's do four more breaths here, Completely emptying out with the exhale. Connect to this unbelievably relaxed state at the bottom of the exhale. Just hold for about a moment before you breathe in. We're gonna do one more breath altogether, So wherever you're at, Take a nice exhale, Empty out, Empty out, Flattening that back. Now breathing in, Belly swells, Lower back arching, Pelvic bone into the mat, And breathing out, Shrinking the belly, Flattening the back, Gently letting the pelvic bone tilt off the mat. Breathe out even more, Breathe out even more, Till there's absolutely nothing left, And then hold the breath at the bottom of this last exhale for 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, And take a relaxing inhalation, Letting the arms and the sides of the body go palms up now. Now moving into a practice, Sometimes referred to as whole body breathing or sometimes cosmic breathing, As we feel very relaxed throughout the body. You want to feel as if the pores have opened up, And you're taking in this oxygen, This life-force energy, Not just through the nose and the respiration system, But as bringing all this oxygen and life-force energy in through all the pores of the body. So the body opens up as if the cosmos is just breathing into you, And on the exhale, It's a feeling as the whole back of the body just dissolves and melts. It's a sense down through your mat, Into the floor, Down into the earth. So on the inhale, Breathing in through all the pores, Oxygenating the blood, Oxygenating down through the cells, And as you exhale, The whole back of the body just dissolves and descends, Really connecting to this soft, Cotton-like quality to the body. Just like we were doing earlier, Let the exhales be really long, Really full, Really connect to this feeling of dissolving with the exhales. Take four breaths like this, Really connecting to this feeling that it's really a very accepting and passive experience with the breath, As if the cosmos is just breathing you. You're not making an effort. So as you're breathing in, You're trying to engage the diaphragm. It's as if the pores have just opened up. Cosmos breathes into you, Saturating the body with awareness, Saturating the body with this life force energy, And as you exhale, It's just that it just releases, Just dissolves, Softening the body just a bit more with every exhale. Let's do this for three breaths, This cosmic breath. So through this practice, Connecting to the state of calm, Relaxed, Moment-to-moment awareness, With a real sense of kindness and compassion to ourselves, That this emotional state is available to us any time, During any part of the day, And bring your attention to someone in your life, Possibly someone going through a bit of a hard time, Sending them these qualities of calm and relaxed. They cultivate the sense of moment-to-moment awareness, The ability to just let go and let be any afflictive emotions, Sending to them feelings of joy, Contentment, And recognizing that you're engaging in these practices not just to improve the self, But you cultivate these qualities to raise the energy level of people around you, Sending forth to them kindness and compassion. So before we conclude this practice, Reminding ourselves, Experiencing our days with a sense of calm, Mindful, Compassionate, With a genuine sense of joy and contentment. As you slowly come out of this practice, Feel free to move your body however you feel you need, Maybe just moving the hands and fingers and the toes a bit. Perhaps you need the feeling of stretching a little. Before you come back to sitting, You're gonna roll onto your side, Right or left, Whatever feels natural, And bring the knees up closer so it's in fetal position. Take about 30 seconds to transition from this position into sitting, And you could slowly move into the next part of your day. Thanks for joining me.