Hello and welcome to this grounding and stillness meditation a meditation that is inspired by nature,
By winter and just the natural rhythms you're welcome to begin by choosing a position that feels supportive enough for your body right now,
That might be sitting,
Lying down,
Leaning against something or even standing there's no right posture here,
The body gets to decide if it feels okay you might let your eyes soften or close and if closing your eyes doesn't feel supportive you can keep them open and gently orient to something around you,
Maybe a color,
A shape,
A point of light take a moment to notice where you are notice the room the space that you're in maybe notice the temperature of the room,
The temperature of your body let your nervous system register that right now,
In this moment,
You are here and nothing else is required of you this practice is not about relaxing,
Calming down or changing your state it's about allowing stillness to become available if and when it's safe enough and just to clarify,
Stillness here is not silence,
It's not emptiness,
It's not doing nothing when i say stillness i mean simply the absence of the man you might begin by noticing the places where your body is supported the floor beneath you the chair the ground the surface holding your weight but i want you to know that you don't need to drop into sensation deeply,
Just noticing that you are supported is enough if it feels accessible you can bring a gentle awareness to your breath but not to change it or to deepen it,
Really just to notice it just notice what breathing is happening on its own perhaps you feel it in the chest or the belly or maybe just the movement of air at the nose but if breath feels like distant or uncomfortable that's okay,
It can happen so you can just return to noticing contact or the weight or the warmth instead i want you to know that choice is always available here January often comes with pressure to begin again,
To reset,
To optimize,
To move forward quickly but winter doesn't move that way and many never sees them done either so for this moment we are stepping outside the rhythms of urgency and productivity not forever,
Just for now you might silently offer yourself this permission i don't need to be anywhere else i don't need to become anything i don't need to improve this moment i don't need to be anywhere else i don't need to become anything i don't need to improve this moment and let those words land only as much as it feels triffy not forcing stillness is not something that we demand from the body it's something that emerges when safety is present even in small amounts so you might gently ask without expecting an answer what helps my body feel a little more here what helps my body feel a little more here maybe it's adjusting your position maybe it's placing a hand somewhere comforting like your heart maybe it's letting your jaw clench or your shoulders drop just a tiny bit follow what your system responds to,
Not what it should do many of us were shaped inside systems that rewarded speed,
Endurance and compliance where rest had to be earned,
Where slowness was risky or unavailable so if your body resists slowing down,
That makes sense,
There's nothing wrong with that this practice isn't about overriding those patterns it's just about offering an alternative but gently and respectfully and maybe you're noticing any small signals of settling or actually maybe you're noticing restlessness or numbness or agitation and all of that is welcome here,
All of that belongs because stillness doesn't mean absence of sensation it just means that there is no demand to change what's present if it feels okay,
You can imagine this stillness not as something inside you but as something around you,
Like a wider feel a slower rhythm you can lean into so you don't have to hold it,
It can hold you and as this practice begins to come to a close,
You don't need to leave stillness behind you can take with you the memory of this space,
This permission,
This absence of demand a reminder that your body is not a machine,
That your worth is not measured by output and that choosing your own rhythm,
Even briefly,
Is both an act of care and a quiet form of resistance when you're ready,
You might begin to reorient noticing the space around you again the sounds around you,
The surface beneath you and moving whatever way feels right to transition,
Slowly or not and thank you and thank yourself for listening and for showing up in the way that you could today I am proud of you
