Root [a meditation]
I’d like for you to imagine me sitting beside you, reading these words on the page, line and after line. You don’t have to think of my words as a specific message or focus on the words I am choosing, but more of the feeling that comes from taking them in.
I will read to you about grounding and connecting to your root and earth energy. If you don’t know what that means or if that made you squirm in your seat, notice the discomfort and you might just sit with it and let go of what you initially think.
Earth energy is all about embodiment; rooting yourself in your physical existence.
After you read (hear) the following words, you may choose to write or just sit and let it sink in. These words on the page that I’ve titled, Root, will explore embodiment through practices that build body awareness, noticing your breathing and writing your own words.
You might want a little bit of space to move, a notebook and a writing utensil or any additional tools that you like to use to write. These words in their entirety can be read seated in a chair or lying on the ground or even in your bed.
To start, you can settle right into wherever it is you are. That might be seated in a chair, on the ground or stretched out somewhere. Find a comfortable place where you can lengthen your spine and feel some part of your body on the ground underneath you. Wherever you are, notice what parts of you that are meeting the floor and the earth underneath it. Soften down the length of your body into this surface. Sinking, settling, resting, relief.
Take a deep breath in and then let it be free.
Everything that makes up all that is outside of us is also found within. All the elements out there also make up what’s in here; earth, water, fire and air. There is space, space and way more space than we can even imagine, sometimes light in the darkness and then there is aso thought and time. The element of earth resides some of it’s energy inside you.
To turn inside, you might close your eyes and let them soften like melting butter or ice or sunscreen on your skin in summer.
When you settle your spine and let your awareness go inside, sensations in your body might come to the surface. Sensations like vibrations and a little bit of tingling might be what’s arising for you. Or bigger flips of the tummy like butterflies fluttering.
This may take a little bit more focus, but you might let your attention to your sensations deepen and choose three areas that you feel right now.
Face neck shoulders back abdomen arms elbows hands hips thighs knees or feet
and all the layers underneath.
What sticks out to you the most? Not with attachment, judgement or both, just feeling what you feel and moving inside to what’s coming up right now.
And what now?
And now?
And what now?
Gently notice your breath and the sensations of it moving out and in. Have you ever tried equalling out your breath where you inhale and exhale for the same amount of time?
If you’d like to try it right here for a moment, you can start by letting out any remaining air in your lungs.
And then take a slow inhale for 4 3 2 1
Let your exhale come naturally and count down for 4 3 2 1
Repeat a few times, if you’d like;
inhaling for 4
exhaling for 4
inhale
exhale
A steady rhythm of breath to slow things down, to settle the mind and body together. To merge a connection between you and and what’s keeping you alive, something that’s always with you. The breath breathes on its own, but you can ultimately decide whether to slow things down or speed things up; to calm or energize.
With your body and breath anchored and stable, experience being held by the floor underneath you and the earth just under that surface. What’s right here supporting you?
What support can you feel right now that’s not directly here?
You could go on to imagine this surface underneath you like a bed of soil; firm, yet soft enough to allow roots to move throughout. Your body held along with your experience right now. Who you are, what you’ve been through, what’s ahead, all supported in what’s under you, around you, and within you.
The stem and roots of a beautiful bloom might start growing downward; into the soil underneath, rooting you deeply yet still with the ability to move freely.
This soil is nutrient rich, full of all you need. You just have to ask and you will receive. “What do you need at this moment?” Receive what you need right now. You don’t have to think, you don’t have to name it. Whatever you need is available in abundance.
With rest and a breath, give yourself to this moment and any shifts that are happening right now.
What comes up?
You can move your body whenever you want. You can move in a way that feels good. You can stretch, you can dance, you can wiggle or continue being still.
Let your thoughts come out on paper or maybe just into the space that’s around you.
To be grounded is being with what is. It means sitting with discomfort and all the ups and downs; giving into feels, resting, rooting, riding the waves of the world, digging in dirt, sharing your work and letting your feet touch the Earth.
To root, to rise, to run through the woods, to hug your grandma who birthed your mother, uncles and aunt. To eat roots, like potatoes, turnips and carrots. To be in your body; to feel, to taste, to see, to hear, to laugh and to cry when you are sad.
Take a few moments to sit and be still. Nothing to do, nothing to fix, nothing to solve or get better at. Be right here in your body and breath. In your own sense of embodiment.