Meditation Resources
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Grounding Into the Safety of the Here and Now
If we find ourselves constantly worrying about little or big things, feeling restless, agitated, or experiencing a sense of gloom and hopelessness about the future, your body is most likely trying to protect you in some way and, unbeknownst to you, you are probably in ‘fight or flight’. We might even realize our thoughts are irrational but the body reacts as if there is a threat happening right now.
To quiet the worry or panic, it is best to acknowledge it is happening rather than trying to avoid it or distract from it. Re-orienting ourselves to the here and now, versus worrying about the future, can help connect to the safety of the present moment. When your body receives messages that you are safe, your body will disengage from ‘fight or flight’ and move into our parasympathetic nervous system, where there is safety and the ability to thrive.
The 6+ minute meditation below will guide you through connecting with all five of your senses so you can ground yourself in the safety of right here, right now.
5 Minute Guided Meditation
According to www.mindful.org:
“Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.”
Got it? We have the ability to be fully present, so just do it…be aware of what's going on around in you and around you and don’t get overly reactive or overwhelmed…easy, right?
Nope, mindfulness is not that easy because our modern human society has gotten so fast, complicated and removed from nature that we need to do lots of brain exercises, such as meditation, so we can cultivate our natural human ability to be fully present without judgment or overreactions.
Mindful awareness can connect us to the messages our body is trying to tell us; mindfulness can help us to be aware of our internal voice that is super judgy and harsh; and mindful self compassion can help soothe our discomfort when we make mistakes.
Taking a minimum of 5 minutes every day (or as many as you can do a week), to sit with your breath, your body, and your thoughts (allowing the thoughts to come and go) can build the ability to become more present of what is going on TO us, WITHIN us and AROUND us.
This 5-minute mindful breathing guided meditation is my gift to you. My hope is that it will serve to jump start your meditation practice and help your body connect into a sense of ease and comfort by activating the parasympathetic nervous system.
Belly Breathing Meditation
Background: Research has shown that deep belly breathing and engagement of the diaphragm can assist in disengaging from a fight/flight response, encourages engagement of the parasympathetic nervous system, releases tension or stress commonly held in the abdominal area; can be used during a panic attack.
Practice:
Sit quietly in a chair with both feet on the ground and your hands in your lap. Allow yourself to feel centered in the chair.
Bring all of your attention to the physical act of breathing.
Place one hand just above your belly button and the other on your chest, right over your breastbone. You can use your hands as a simple biofeedback device. Your hands will tell you what part of your body, and what muscles, you are using to breath.
Start the breath by exhaling while also pressing your belly muscles including the diaphragm towards your spine, while allowing the exhale to come out of your nose, which may feel like a sigh.
Then gently inhale through your nose and repeat pressing your belly towards the spine while exhaling. Do this a few more times using the hand below the belt line to guide you; when you feel ready, contract your belly muscles to press against your back with every exhale without the use of the hand.
Continue to breathe by expanding the belly/diaphragm with each inhale and contracting the belly with each exhale, all the while keeping connected to your breath.
If you heartbeat still seems elevated OR your upper body is not relaxed at this point, you can double your exhale for many breath cycles.
On your next exhale, contract the belly/diaphragm towards the spine and count how long it takes to press out the last few drops of breath… remember that number.
For the next inhale, make it half as long as the exhale. Example: if you counted to 4 while pressing out your last drop of breath during the exhale, then count to 2 for the inhale; if you counted to 6 while exhaling, then inhale for 3 counts.
Repeat the double exhale sequence until you start to your feel your upper body muscles are relaxed or less tense, which signals it is time to return to a rhythmic and balanced inhale and exhale through the belly.
Awareness:
You will start to notice that each time you breathe in, your diaphragm or stomach will expand... and each time you breathe out your diaphragm or stomach will relax. Again, don’t try to do anything – just be aware of the physical sensations of breathing in and breathing out.
Be open to feeling your shoulders relax or to spontaneous yawning; if either (or both) of these actions happen, that is good news as they are signs that you are engaging with your parasympathetic nervous system.
It is totally normal to be distracted by thoughts while doing any type of meditation. When you are aware your attention has moved away from your breath and to your thoughts, gently acknowledge the thoughts and then return to awareness of your breath.
Mindful Eating Exercise - Chocolate
Background: Meditation can be done in various ways and practicing ‘Mindful Eating’ can be an easy way to get meditation since eating is an activity we do several times a day! The key to meditation is to attend to something (i.e. breath, what you are eating, a sound or a smell) with an open mind, curiosity, and whenever you find yourself distracted, come back to attending to the something.
Practice:
Allow yourself at least 3 minutes for this exercise
Sit comfortably, place the chocolate within reach, and bring all of your attention
to your body and breath by scanning your body from your feet all the way up to
the top of your head and following your breath.
Notice if you are having thoughts or sensations in your mouth about the
chocolate that is nearby. Gently acknowledge the thoughts and sensations then return your awareness to your breath and the intention of curiosity about the chocolate.
Bring the chocolate into your hand and use your fingers to explore the feel, texture, and weight of the chocolate. Ask some questions to yourself such as ‘does this feel warm? smooth? dense? Then use your eyes to thoroughly inspect the chocolate, noticing its shape, color and any responses your body and mind might have.
Now smell the chocolate bringing it slowly to your nose and noticing how your body is reacting the closer you come to the chocolate. Appreciate and linger with the aroma and notice (and suppress) if there is an urge to put it in your mouth and eat it. Take a moment to pause and wonder if you smell anything else other than chocolate.
It’s time to taste the chocolate - - Hold it in your mouth for as long as possible and notice if you have salivated before or after the chocolate is in your mouth, notice if you are swallowing or having urge to quickly consume it. Please try to take time to allow the chocolate to melt in your mouth and allow your tongue to explore its textures and tastes. When the chocolate has been comprehensively explored, chew (if necessary), swallow and do your best to attend to the way it feels on your teeth and traveling down further into your body.
After the chocolate has been successfully delivered into your tummy, attend to your sense of smell and taste - - has anything changed?
Return to attending to your body and breath. Scan yourself from feet to the top of the head to see if you notice any shift in the way the body feels or any change in rhythm or quality of your breath.
Allow yourself to singularly focus on your breath, following the inhale and exhale a few rounds.
Awareness:
Has your fondness or appreciation of chocolate changed with this exercise?
Was it challenging to suppress thoughts and urges to eat the chocolate?