Grounding Meditation:

This is a great practice for when we are feeling out of balance, confused or depressed. It's a good to have tools or resources that we can turn too. It's normal to feel anxiousness within our own bodies and from the people and environment around us. But without mindfulness and grounding, we can feel as if we are being swept away by these emotions and sensations. I offer this simple grounding meditation. Remember, we are not trying to get away from the unpleasant feelings, we are using this to be with. Enjoy.

1.Find a safe and stable place to sit. It can be the ground or a chair.

2.Begin by feeling your body connected to the ground or chair, especially the pelvis, legs, and feet. Allow the ground or chair to support the weight of your body.

3.Begin to inhale, filling and expanding the whole body with air, from the toes to the top of the head. Exhale very slowly letting go of tension in the body as the breath moves out. Do this several times.

4.Bring in the image of a tree, a tree you like from your memory or imagine a tree, a Giant Sequoia, Redwood or Oak tree. 

5.Now imagine that you are resting with your back against the tree, Feel the bark, feel what it's like to be supported by the tree and the ground. Embody this experience. 

6.Now imagine that you merge with the tree, become the tree, you and the tree are one. Feel your roots, deep and long, stable and strong. Embody this.

7.Begin to sense you branches, strong but fluid. While the roots are strong and solid the branches can sway and move with the strongest winds. 

8.Let your arms and hands begin to rise above your head like the mighty branches of a tree. Let them move back and forth while feeling the stability of the roots, your roots.

9.Let the arms come down, touching the ground or the chair, representing the warm earth. Feel the stability and stillness. Embody this.

10.Eventually come back to the breath as it comes into the body and leaves the body. When you're ready you can open your eyes.