This is a nice simple mindfulness meditation to allow yourself to rest deeply into your body.
Feeling grounded naturally eases up your thinking mind and lets you feel a bit of rest and space within your mind and body.
Contradictory to what a lot of people think,
We're not trying to stop thoughts or get rid of them,
To have a completely clear mind.
You could train your mind to have no thoughts for a while,
Which may be quite nice,
But it's not all that useful in our daily lives.
You need your thinking mind to be in the world,
To have conversations with others,
To do your work,
To look after your family,
To process everything in your life.
What is much more nourishing and much more grounding is for us to just notice the thoughts.
Let them be as they are.
Let them arise and move through as they will,
Without engaging them or without pushing them away.
You will notice that they will naturally evaporate on their own.
Thoughts themselves are not the problem.
It's our reaction to them that can create a struggle.
So by getting used to just noticing the thoughts,
Letting them be and gently bringing yourself back to your breath,
Without judging yourself and withholding a sense of compassion for yourself,
You will steadily find the capacity to be able to feel grounded no matter what is going on in your life.
As we rest our awareness on the breath,
We can allow it to guide us down into our body,
To start to feel relaxed,
Feel grounded and as a resource there to support us as we let go.
Let's start by first making sure that you're comfortable.
Find a position where your body can really relax.
Either sitting on a meditation cushion,
Sitting on a chair,
Lying down or wherever is comfortable for you so that you can fully relax.
It's good to have your back straight and tall so that you feel fresh and alive but don't be too rigid.
Allow a sense of movement and softness into it.
I like to give you the space to really be with yourself,
With your own experience and practice what we're doing at the time.
If you have me continuously talking,
It slightly takes your awareness away into your head instead of really resting in your body.
So I'll give you some guidance and then leave a space of silence for you to really relax into your experience.
In these moments don't worry I haven't left you,
I'm just giving you a little space to be and feel how it is for you.
Once you're comfortable,
Gently bring your awareness onto your breath.
You have the feelings and sensations of the breath in and out of your nostrils,
The feelings of the air in your throat and in your chest but I quite like to put my awareness of my breath into the expansion and compression of my belly,
Lungs and ribs.
This really brings your awareness away from your thinking mind and into the quality of the body which will help you to feel grounded.
Let's do a few breaths together to harmonize us into a similar rhythm.
Take a nice full deep breath in through the nose,
Hold for a second and then breathe out slowly through the mouth,
Feeling your body relax as you do that.
For a second time now,
A nice full deep breath in through the nose,
Hold and then breathe out slowly through your mouth,
Feeling your body relax as you breathe out.
One more time,
A deep breath in through the nose,
Hold and then out slowly through the mouth,
Allowing your body to fully relax.
Now,
As you relax,
Put your awareness onto your natural breath,
On the feelings of the breath expanding and contracting the ribs.
If you notice that your mind is distracted,
Don't worry,
Just notice that you've drifted and then gently bring your awareness back to your breath and then into feelings and sensations within your body.
Thoughts will arise,
Move through and evaporate on their own,
So it's best to just leave them to be as they are and put your awareness into your body.
Don't worry about trying to do too much,
Just think,
I only have this one little thing to do right now.
There's nothing else I need to do,
Nowhere I need to be.
Right now,
The only thing I have to do is rest my awareness on the breath within my body and let everything else go.
So spend a little while just really allowing yourself to relax on the breath and as you find yourself distracted,
Just notice it,
Let the struggle go and come back to the breath within your body.
Shift your awareness slightly to become aware of your out-breath as a relaxing and settling breath.
As you breathe out,
Really follow that breath down and allow it to guide you down into a relaxed and rested body.
Try now for a bit to really let go and deeply relax with each out-breath.
Now,
As you relax,
See if you can put your awareness onto the ground of your body.
Feel the sensations of the ground pushing up from below you,
The earth supporting you.
Feel the pressure of the cushion or the chair on your legs,
Your bottom or your pelvic floor.
Maybe you can feel the weight of your legs holding you down nicely,
Resting on the ground,
Supported.
And as you feel that holding support from the ground,
Really allow your whole body to relax down deeply into that sense of ground.
Again,
If you're distracted,
Don't worry,
Just notice the distraction and gently bring your awareness back to your breath,
Back into your body and then allow yourself to melt down into the support of the ground.
Really feel your whole body relax into that ground.
When you're distracted,
You might also find that there's a sense of holding or contraction within your body.
If you notice this,
Hold it with a sense of compassion,
Soften around it.
Let it relax and gently bring your awareness back to your breath,
Back into the body,
Resting deeply into the ground.
Try to bring a sense of compassion for yourself,
Appreciation for what you're doing.
You're on a path that will not only bring calm and joy to your life,
But also to those around you.
See if you can now for a short while,
As you relax,
Allow a sense of love and a sense of joy that naturally sits within your being to bubble up and expand,
Filling your heart and your body with love,
Both for yourself and for those around you.
Really allow yourself to feel it and also just let it be as it is.
As we bring this meditation to a close,
I'd like to remind you to go at your own pace.
Everybody is different.
Everybody is in a different stage in the path.
The more you practice,
The easier we'll find it to really feel grounded.
Just remember to bring a sense of ease,
A sense of compassion and a sense of enjoyment to it,
Both so that it's inspiring for you and so that you can begin to really trust and let go into the experience.
If you need to stay with something for a while,
That's absolutely fine.
Trust your instinct and go at your own pace.
If you've enjoyed this meditation,
You can have a look at my course,
Journey of Self-Discovery and Self-Healing,
Where I guide you step-by-step to learn how to relax,
Be fully embodied and open up into your subtle body.
This is a strength that is truly nourishing and helpful for you in your everyday life,
Allowing you to deal with stress and anxiety from a much more grounded place.
You will sleep better.
You will have more self-compassion and self-love.
You can feel more relaxed and focused and your relationships will improve,
Bringing happiness to both you and to those around you.
