In this rough and tumble world, it can be exceedingly difficult to find grounding. Most of us live in an environment of stress where it feels like we are just bouncing along and unable to get a grip. The stress whips us up and it’s hard to find grounding and perspective. The tornado of stress is the center of our attention and everything else falls to the wayside. It feels turbulent, dangerous, and unsettling. There could be a myriad of factors that play into this: your work, your partner, your boss, family life, money, and so forth. Unfortunately, the list of stressors is a lengthy one.
I find that the meditation below helps calm the world around me down and reminds me that everything I need is already inside of me. I hope you find it useful.
Find a place where you can sit (or stand) in peace without being bothered.
Take a few moments where you can just breathe: in through your nose and out through your mouth, three times.
Start a breathing technique: inhaling 1, exhaling 2 up to 10 and repeating. Let your focus stay on breathing rather than the stress.
Pay attention to your breath: is it quick? Have you been able to deepen it? Notice any qualities about it.
Once you feel grounded in your breath, let’s find deeper roots: find your center. This could be your heart, your head, your belly–it’s different for everyone. For me, it’s just an image I imagine in the center of my chest: a little piece that I can remember and activate. For me, it helps to imagine it “click” into place and spread light.
Focus on your “center” whatever or wherever it may be. This is the part of you that stays grounded and can never be unattached from you no matter what the world throws at it. You will always have your center, your grounding if you look and feel for it.
Breathe into this center. Know that nobody else can take this away from you, it is yours and yours alone, safe forever inside of you. Even when you feel like other things have been taken from you through your life, know that you will always have this. It’s ready for you whenever you need it, you just have to remember that it’s there.
Spend as long as you want on your center, feeling its grounding effect and peace. When you’re ready, returning to breathing.
Finish up with three stress-relief breaths: big breaths in through your nose than noisily out through your mouth. Just let it go.
Whew. That felt good, right? Never forget about finding your center and know that it’s yours forever. This meditation doesn’t take long, but you could make it last for twenty minutes. I find it paramount to be able to step away from life and take a moment to just sit with yourself and remind yourself that you can always find grounding even if life feels crazy. Meditation is needed the most when life is a whirlwind. It helps to get into the practice by doing it every day for a little bit so it’s that much easier to find grounding. Use this meditation to stay hungry and fit!
