So,
Hello and welcome to this guided meditation to help you sense into the earth of your body in a gentle and compassionate way.
So go ahead and find a comfortable seated or lying down posture,
Whatever feels most supportive for your practice in this moment.
And wherever you are,
I invite you to lengthen your spine,
Let your muscles relax,
And to sense into the touch points between your body and the earth,
The surface beneath you.
So maybe sensing into the soles of your feet,
The backs of your legs,
Your back,
Just really feeling the places,
The ways in which you are held by the earth beneath you.
And then slowly let your awareness trace your spine from your tailbone all the way up and into your lungs,
Into your chest and your heart,
And just feel a few breaths moving into and out of this place,
A few natural,
Effortless breaths.
With each inhale,
Sense the way that you are receiving fresh energy,
Fresh oxygen from the plant life abound on this planet.
And then with each exhale,
Sense the way you are giving back to that very same plant life.
And I invite you now to,
With your eyes closed still,
Sensing into your whole body.
Even without seeing our body or moving the body,
You can probably still sense it.
You can still feel it.
And sense into this body of yours as if it were its own earth,
Sensing into your body as if it holds a vast array of landscapes,
Holding and embodying all of the elements,
All of the weather patterns,
Sensing your whole body as if it were an earth itself.
And then refocus your attention on the breath and sense each inhale as a loving inhale that nurtures the whole earth of your body,
And exhaling to release what the earth of your body no longer needs.
So continuing to breathe this way,
Really sensing each breath as a nurturing breath,
A compassionate breath that nurtures the very earth of your body,
Really allowing your body to receive nourishment with each inhale,
And consciously letting go with each exhale.
Now the breath is not the only way that we nurture our bodies,
That we replenish the earth of our body.
There are countless other ways,
Other inputs that can serve our well-being or detract from it.
And so I'll invite you just to sense into one or two ways that you can nurture the earth of your body for the rest of the day.
How can I serve the earth of my body today?
And then come back to your breath,
Imagining that each breath could extend out to reach all the farthest places of you,
Breathing into your whole body,
Down to the tips of your toes,
To your fingertips,
Breathing up to the crown of your head.
And really softening with each release.
Then continue to breathe naturally,
And if it feels inviting for you to place one or both palms on the center of your chest,
On your heart space,
I invite you to do so.
And then I invite you to silently repeat,
May I honor the earth of my body.
May I listen to the earth of my body.
May I befriend the earth of my body.
And then come back to your felt sense of the earth beneath you,
Really feeling the touch points between your body and what's below.
Maybe taking a slow,
Steady,
Deep breath in and out.
You can open your eyes when you're ready,
And I invite you to carry this practice with you through the rest of your day and the days to come.
And being patient and forgiving and gentle with yourself.
We don't always honor or listen to or feel like we are friends with our body.
But it is something that we can practice again and again.
Something we can come back to whenever we forget.
