Sitting like a great tree,
This meditation is a grounding meditation using the metaphor of tree as a way of connecting to embodied experience and experiencing oneself as grounded and connected to the earth.
Let's start by noticing the position that your body is in right now.
And noticing the places that the body is making contact with the floor or seat.
Taking three deep breaths on the exhalation.
Imagine draining the brain,
Draining the energy from the head into the feet and seat.
And then you can imagine,
Extending that exhalation into the earth,
Through the feet,
Through the floor,
Into the earth.
Settling now the body into stillness,
Relative stillness.
Again with each exhalation,
Imagining that you're growing roots,
Extending from these places of contact that the body is already making with the floor and seat.
And extending through the floor,
Through the top soil into the earth,
Reaching down and out into the dark rich soil.
The unknown,
The unseen.
And from this rooted solid base,
Feeling the trunk of your own body,
The spine,
Moving upward towards sky.
Letting with the inhalation,
The sensation of reaching upward through the spine elongating through the top of the head,
Crown of the head.
And then with the exhale relaxing into this upright position,
Allowing the senses to be open,
Hearing,
Seeing as if your senses were branches reaching in all directions,
Aware of the space surrounding the body.
Feeling your roots reaching deep into the earth trunk extending up towards the sky branches,
Reaching in all directions.
Senses open heart center open.
Feel your connection through the feet through the seat through the eyes and ears and heart.
Feel your connection to sky and earth and towards all beings that come into your attention through sound through sight through memory through feeling stable like a tree mind open like the sky heart mind open like the sky breathing here as a tree and staying in this meditation for as long as you can,
As long as you'd like,
And carrying this tree with you.
Tree walking tree standing throughout the next few minutes of the day,
And returning to the stability and openness of the tree.
Whenever you start to feel anxious or unmoored feeling the body again as a great tree,
Old growth tree.
