In Meditation: Ep. 1 - Grounding

Olivia Allen  0:00  
Welcome to the Living Well podcast by the Well Being Collective at Hart House. The living world podcast is a space to support and examine what it means to live and be well, for Indigenous, Black and Racialized folx through dialogue, meditation and reflection.

Olivia Allen  0:17  
These episodes are recorded on Indigenous land. Tkaronto, "where the trees stand in the water"-- land that has belonged to the Haudenosaunee, the Huron-Wendat, and the Chippewa, and today is a part of the Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the credit. I encourage all of us to reflect on why we acknowledge the land and the importance of living and acting in solidarity with indigenous peoples globally. Join us for our guided meditation series In Meditation, where you will be led by various facilitators, as you sink into a practice that will help you to re-centre connect to your breath, and shift awareness to the present.

Liz Coucean  1:03  
Hi, this is Liz. My pronouns are she and her and I am so excited to be leading you through this grounding meditation practice today. This is a beautiful way to reconnect back into your body, especially if you're experiencing sensations of stress or overwhelm, or if you've got assignments coming up or deadlines around the corner or you're just looking for an opportunity to really reconnect to your body and reset your nervous system. This is the perfect practice to do that. I remember many years ago when I was a student at University of Toronto, a lot of times I would find myself really caught up in the thoughts that were going on in my mind and I was less focused on what was happening in my body, and this can sometimes create feelings of disconnection when we're focused on one area and we're not aware of other areas where we might be accumulating tension. So, for instance, I would be studying really hard for an exam and I wouldn't notice until maybe a couple days later that my shoulders were really sore because I was just holding so much tension in my shoulders.

Liz Coucean  2:22  
 So I'm going to be guiding you through this grounding body scan and just allow yourself to be aware of what's happening in the body. Without any judgment without analysis. We're simply practicing being present with ourselves. So with that being said, I'll invite you now to just come into a comfortable seated or laying position.

Liz Coucean  2:51  
Finding some space where you're free from distractions

Liz Coucean  3:00  
and just start to tune into your 

Liz Coucean  3:02  
breath.

Liz Coucean  3:08  
Maybe taking some nice, long deep breaths in through the noseand out through the mouth.

Liz Coucean  3:22  
Inhaling nice and fully and exhaling completely.

Liz Coucean  3:33  
Let's do that two more times together. Big nourishing breath in and just sighing it out.

Liz Coucean  3:45  
One more time just like that. Inhaling and exhaling

Liz Coucean  3:57  
Good. And just start to allow the mind to settle as you stay connected to your breath.

Liz Coucean  4:06  
You might even feel the air gliding in through the nostrils and moving down the throat into the chest and the abdomen, and then just tracing that breath as it leaves, the belly moves through the chest, back out through the throat and through the nose

Liz Coucean  4:36  
just being aware of your own breathing rhythm

Liz Coucean  4:52  
and seeing if you can find a sensation of relaxation here.

Liz Coucean  5:00  
and if that means you need to take a few deeper breaths in and out, and that's okay

Liz Coucean  5:20  
from here. Just bringing your awareness to your head.

Liz Coucean  5:28  
Feeling the scalp and the back of the head.

Liz Coucean  5:37  
Feeling the muscles in the face.

Liz Coucean  5:47  
Allow your cheeks to soften here.

Liz Coucean  5:57  
And if it's comfortable with the eyes closed, just gliding awareness down to your neck and your shoulders.
 

Liz Coucean  6:09  
Just feeling the shoulders in space.

Liz Coucean  6:17  
Feeling the right arm and the left arm.

Liz Coucean  6:27  
Becoming aware of all your fingers.

Liz Coucean  6:37  
And just transitioning awareness over to your chest and the upper back.

Liz Coucean  6:45  
Reconnecting to that movement of the breath, gently rising and falling.

Liz Coucean  7:02  
And then let's descend awareness down into the middle of the spine in the abdomen

Liz Coucean  7:14  
Beautiful.

Liz Coucean  7:26  
And then starting to move into the low back and the low belly,

Liz Coucean  7:33  
just observing sensation and whatever might be arising.

Liz Coucean  7:49  
And then just gliding awareness down into the hips.

Liz Coucean  7:58  
Just simply being aware of the hips.

Liz Coucean  8:05  
The right thigh and then the left thigh

Liz Coucean  8:14  
becoming aware of the right knee. And then the left knee.

Liz Coucean  8:24  
Driving awareness to the shins and the calves

Liz Coucean  8:36  
Beautiful.

Liz Coucean  8:39  
And now this slowly descending lower still into the ankles,

Liz Coucean  8:53  
Feeling the ankles and now the tops of the feet

Liz Coucean  9:02  
and the soles of the feet.

Liz Coucean  9:13  
Feeling all 10 toes.

Liz Coucean  9:26  
And now

Liz Coucean  9:29  
feeling as if roots were growing from the soles of the feet and

Liz Coucean  9:39  
penetrating into the earth.

Liz Coucean  9:47  
Nice roots might feel like smooth tree branches

Liz Coucean  9:56  
or strings of lights.

Liz Coucean  10:03  
Just imagine these roots just stemming all the way into the core of the Earth.

Liz Coucean  10:28  
And the soles of the feet feeling connected to the Earth.

Liz Coucean  10:39  
Inviting a sensation of feeling anchored.

Liz Coucean  10:53  
And allow all awareness just to dwell on the feet.

Liz Coucean  11:28  
When you're ready,

Liz Coucean  11:31  
just drawing awareness back to your breath.
Liz Coucean  11:41  
Taking some nice, long, smooth inhales and exhales.

Liz Coucean  11:51  
Just releasing that visualization.

Liz Coucean  12:00  
Just coming back to feeling your whole body.

Liz Coucean  12:07  
Being aware of the temperature of the body.

Liz Coucean  12:24  
And simply being aware of one area is calling out more than another.

Liz Coucean  12:37  
And just offering compassion and gratitude for all parts of the body.

Liz Coucean  12:53  
Just inhaling a sensation of gratitude. And allowing that to permeate all the cells.

Liz Coucean  13:14  
Beautiful. Let's take a few more breaths in together.

Liz Coucean  13:23  
And out.

Liz Coucean  13:28  
Just start to notice how you're feeling now versus the beginning of this practice.

Liz Coucean  13:37  
Notice what might have changed or shifted, notice what might have opened.

Liz Coucean  13:51  
When you're ready, you can invite gentle movement back into your body maybe starting with the fingers and the toes.

Liz Coucean  14:07  
Whenever you're ready, slowly blinking the eyes open and

Liz Coucean  14:15  
arriving once again in this space that you're in.

Liz Coucean  14:27  
And then perhaps setting an intention to maintain this connection to your body as you carry on with your day.

Liz Coucean  14:43  
Thank you so much for listening to this meditation and feel free to return back to it at any time whenever you need. I wish you a very grounding and present rest of yourday and week ahead. Thank you so much.

Olivia Allen  15:42  
Thank you for joining us in this practice today. We would love to hear from you. You can find us on Instagram @harthousefitnesscentre. You can find the Living Well Podcast anywhere podcasts are available. today's podcast was produced by Shayla with the music