A vital part of settling into meditation is being able to relax your body.
There's a very close interconnectedness between your body and your mind and a relaxed body will naturally relax your mind.
It's essential for us to feel comfortable in allowing our body to relax into our sense of ground but to really and truly be able to let go and relax our bodies into our ground we need to really trust our sense of ground.
Of course we can spend time in meditation becoming aware of the sense of our physical ground,
The feelings and sensations of the ground below us or the cushion or chair pushing up from below us,
The feeling of it really supporting us and holding us as we relax.
But there's also a subtle sense of ground and this is a connection to a feeling of steadiness within ourselves.
We can begin to feel steady when our body starts to relax and let go.
So if we can spend some time gradually allowing our physical body to relax into our sense of ground our whole system starts to ease,
Relax and feel grounded.
It's almost like we have to give ourselves permission to really let go instead of trying to make ourselves relax.
So let's give that a try now and see how it feels for you.
We'll do a settling meditation where we won't worry too much about keeping our awareness on our breath but rather spend time allowing our body to relax into our sense of ground.
Before we begin find yourself somewhere comfortable to sit.
It's really helpful to have your back tall and straight but don't be too rigid.
Allow a sense of ease and movement in your body.
In this meditation I'll give you a bit of guidance and then I'll leave a space of silence.
This is a space we can really drop into your own experience and feel what is happening for you.
We'll start by doing a couple breaths together.
We'll breathe a really full deep breath in through our nose and then a long slow breath out through our mouth as if we're breathing out through a very fine straw and as you breathe out through that fine straw you can really feel your body relax down as you do it.
So take a full deep breath in through your nose and then breathe a long slow breath out through your mouth through a fine straw and as you do that really feel your body relaxing down.
Take a second full deep breath in through your nose and then a long slow breath out through your mouth feeling your body relax as you do that.
And now as you rest there,
Breathing naturally,
Rest your awareness onto the rhythm of your out-breath as a resting and settling breath and follow your out-breath down feeling your body relax deeper and deeper with each out-breath.
Now move your awareness slightly to become aware of your sense of ground.
Notice the feelings and sensations of the ground or the cushion or the chair pushing up from below you.
The feelings and sensations of the ground supporting your body,
Holding you as you rest there and allow yourself to relax.
If at any point you notice that you're distracted,
No problem,
Just notice that you're distracted and then notice what is happening in your body.
Do you feel any sense of holding or contraction within your body?
And then allow any holding or contraction to soften and relax again into your sense of ground.
See if you can really trust that sense of ground,
Trust that it will always support you and hold you and breath by breath,
Especially the out-breath,
Keep allowing your whole body to really let go and relax into your sense of ground.
Keep being inquisitive of the feeling and sensations of your sense of ground,
The sensations of the ground against your skin,
The feeling of the weight of your legs gently holding you down into that sense of ground.
And notice if you can really allow your whole body to trust that sense of ground and allow your whole body to really let go.
As you breath by breath,
Gradually allow yourself to relax into your sense of ground.
You may notice that you don't have to worry too much about trying to hold your mind on something to try settle your mind.
You may notice that as you keep allowing your body to really relax into your sense of ground,
It naturally frees up the tightness that can be found when trying to settle your mind.
As we bring this meditation to a close,
Allow yourself to hold that connection to your ground with you as you go out into your day,
As a sense of steadiness and stability within.
As you find yourself gradually being able to settle into your ground and meditation,
It's really helpful to start forming a connection to your body.
As human beings we can be instinctively quite disembodied for a number of reasons.
For me the journey of connecting to my body was something that really opened up incredible doors to deep meaningful meditation and healing.
