And as we begin,
As we commence,
Let's take the first few moments to ground intentionally
Through the body.
So if you've been pretty active either mentally or physically today
And you just need to take some time to anchor down,
The invitation is to breathe in through the nose
And as you exhale through the mouth,
It's like the bones just got a little bit heavier,
The hips got a little bit heavier and you're starting to anchor toward the earth centre.
The inhale brings clear energy in through the body and the exhale allows you to sink in
And arrive.
Taking just one more arrival breath,
Inhaling clarity,
Exhaling,
Arriving.
And then on the back of those arrival breaths,
Just gently let the lips close together
And we now invite the breath to move freely,
Easily through the nostrils.
For this grounding meditation experience,
We'll be exploring some breathing and then we'll touch
On some visualisation meditation and then we'll drop deeper into the body and the sense of ground.
So starting to simply become aware now of your breath.
Notice the quality of your breath.
Notice where the breath is felt the most.
And wherever you feel it the most,
Just let your awareness rest beside the breath as closely as you
Can,
As if you had a microscope and you were looking through,
Witnessing the breath in motion.
Nothing else matters,
Just you and this moment and your breath.
Let everything else dissolve around you and come
Into close contact with the life-giving breath that is present.
And over the course of the next few breaths,
Just start to let the breath take a little bit more space in the body.
Back of the ribs,
Sides of the ribs and front of the ribs inflate with the inhale
And as you exhale the ribs gently soften back toward the spine.
So over the course of the next 10-15 breaths,
The practice is to expand in the body
With this beautiful breath.
There is no right or wrong,
Just let it take up a little bit more
Space than you would usually.
It might work for you today to count up to five or six with the breath
And make it even as you exhale the same number.
That is the practice,
Don't over-complicate it.
Let it be simple,
Let it be effective and if the mind does drift and wonder which it will do most
Likely,
Are you able to gently become aware of that and come back to your breathing.
Explore.
Letting the breath take up more space and letting it root down also.
So imagine the
Breath were traveling from the lower body upwards as you breathe in.
So it's really
Starting in the base of your spine and drawing up to the chest with each inhale and as you exhale,
You witness the breath and your awareness descends down to the root of your spine,
Even to the soles of your feet.
Breathing in,
Filling up.
Breathing out,
Emptying.
Beautifully done,
Stay with it for a little bit longer.
Notice if the mind has already drifted elsewhere,
Where did it go?
So come back to a deeper inhale in and a releasing exhale out to re-center.
And you can do that every time the mind drifts off or dances elsewhere with the breath.
Just
Taking a deeper breath in,
That more releasing breath out to come back to center,
To ground back in the present moment.
I now invite you to find a space within your mind that is clear,
Like a blank canvas.
And we're going to place an image here of a beautiful old tree,
Strong,
Old,
Wide and tall.
And then scanning down to the base of that tree,
Have a look at the roots and the way it travels
Down into the ground.
Those thick pieces then splitting into thinner pieces and splitting again
Until they're very minute but still attached,
Embedded in the depth of the earth.
And I invite you to visualize for yourself roots coming from your body,
Down into the earth,
Feeling secure and centered,
Anchored in the present moment as you draw your awareness down to ground.
And just like this tree,
Drawing up,
Soaking up nutrients from the earth,
Imagine you were also doing that now.
Minerals,
Drawing up into the body
And whatever is not serving you,
Whatever is not needed for you right now,
Imagine just letting it
Go down into the root system until it worked its way all the way out the very tip of the minute
Piece of root into the earth.
Allow that image just to be present as you lie and imagine that
For yourself,
Drawing up nutrients and releasing whatever does not serve you through the root
System.
You could even connect this visualization to the breath.
The inhale invites in everything
You need from earth and the exhale releases what you do not need into the earth.
This is the exploration for the next few moments.
See where it goes for you.
And if the mind wanders,
Either coming back to the visualization of the tree,
Taking a deeper breath to center and returning to it.
Beautiful.
Releasing the image of the tree now and just letting the breath flow freely.
The next visualization we're going to drop into,
I'd like you to choose a natural environment to bring to mind.
It could be a forest,
A beach,
Somewhere on land.
Somewhere beautiful and calming.
Maybe it's a special place for you.
Maybe it's a special place that you used to go to to find calm.
Bring it into your mind's eye,
But also bring it into your senses.
Imagining the feel of the atmosphere,
The smell,
The sounds that are present.
And I invite you now to visualize yourself walking here in this natural pocket of nature.
And I invite you to look down at your feet and realize you have no shoes or socks on,
That you are barefoot,
The soles of your feet on the ground.
What textures would you feel with the soles of the feet on the ground?
What textures would you feel with the soles of the feet connected to the ground that you are exploring?
And imagine you are walking mindfully,
Heel landing first and then the midfoot and then
Ball of the foot and the toes and then the next foot steps.
And it's like a ripple gently patting the foot down into the earth as you stride slowly forward.
And how does it make you feel to connect to that image,
Walking barefoot with your feet on the ground?
And imagine you've seen something here in this natural landscape
That is a woken curiosity,
Something that's drawing you toward it.
You feel called to explore and you walk mindfully there with no rush at all,
Savoring and sipping in the environment that you find yourself in.
Listening to the sweet serenade of Mother Nature as you walk on through.
And here in this natural environment you see something shimmering in the distant,
You can tell that it's something that you've seen before.
And here in this natural environment you see something shimmering in the distant,
You continue to walk towards it.
You see something glimmer and shimmer and you want to know what it is,
You continue to walk toward it.
And as you start getting closer to this flicker of light,
You realize that it's a mirror suspended.
On a piece of nature in your environment.
And you see yourself as you walk towards this mirror.
With a look of warmth and calmness,
You witness yourself now as a reflection.
Is there anything you'd like to communicate to yourself while in this beautiful place internally?
Is there an affirmation from this place and this feeling that needs to be shared
With the version of you outside of practice?
Take the next few moments just to explore this visualization,
Seeing if anything wants to be communicated.
With a look of compassion and self-acceptance,
Receiving those words or that feeling or thought.
And gently allowing yourself in this visualization to sit or lay down on the earth.
Your head being cushioned by something natural,
Your head being cushioned by something natural,
Either a bed of leaves or a pile of sand.
And you look up to the sky and it may be beyond the leaves of the trees,
But you can see the blue,
The endless blue above you.
Feeling connected to the ground and supported by the ground,
You give your weight to the earth.
And acknowledging the expansive space above you through the sky,
You choose to simply drift here in this visualization,
Connected to ground,
Connected to
Breath.
Giving yourself permission to soften and to rest a little bit here in this beautiful space.
And for the next few moments in practice,
You can choose to stay there in that inner sanctuary,
Or you could gently dissolve that and let the mind go wherever it wants,
As you become aware of the sensations in your body.
Starting today in the feet,
Become aware of your feet,
Noticing whatever is there.
Tingling,
Warmth,
Numbness.
And then gently drift your awareness up through the base of the legs,
Calves,
Shin bones,
Muscles and fibers that connect muscles to bone,
Skin to muscles.
Just noticing any sensations in the body.
And then letting your awareness drift up through the knees,
The upper legs.
Noticing what's here,
Through the hips,
Hands,
Lower arms,
Lower arms,
Elbows,
Upper arms and shoulders,
Torso,
Starting at the base,
Working your way up to the shoulders through the torso.
Base of the neck,
Up to the crown of the head,
Working your way through your facial features,
Ears included.
And then noticing now the entire body.
And just like a tree,
Feeling strong and sturdy,
Yet fluid and flexible to the changing winds and changing weather of your life.
Steady yet fluid.
Ancient and wise as your roots,
Yet fresh and new with curiosity like the buds of the leaves
Upon your branches.
With that image,
Inviting in a sense of anchoring,
Centering,
But openness and curiosity.
And when you're ready,
You'll start to deepen the breath once again,
Noticing any sounds in the immediate environment.
And when you're ready,
You can start to invite some subtle movements into the toes,
The fingers,
Maybe a stretch feels good.
And in your own time,
You can blink the eyes open.
And when you're ready,
You'll start to deepen the breath once again,
Noticing any sounds in the immediate environment.
