There are times when we all feel a little ungrounded within ourselves. Doing practices that enable us to feel more connected to the earth through our bodies can be a useful tool for helping us to feel calm and connected.
In this article, we’ll take a look at:
How to practice and set up
This is a meditation you can come back to time and time again for when you feel like you need to center yourself.
Grounding meditations can be practiced walking, sitting or lying down. For this meditation we’ll set up in a supine position. You’ll need a comfortable surface to lie down on. A yoga mat on a carpet is great because it is still firm but soft enough for you not to feel uncomfortable.
Once you’ve found a comfortable and quiet place to lie down, be sure to diminish distractions as much as possible. Turning off your phone is a great place to start.
You might want to place something underneath the back of your head for an extra layer of padding but be sure not to tilt the head up too much or to have the chin higher than the head.
Make sure that you are warm. Cover your bare feet with socks. You can cover the eyes if you wish, but ensure that you use something light to cover the eyes, like a sock or washcloth. If your lower back needs a little support, then put a bolster or rolled-up yoga mat underneath the knees to flex the hips a little.
Your aim is to be in a comfortable position but to still have a good sense of the ground underneath you. When the mind wanders, come back to the guiding voice. Take a deep breath and let’s begin this grounding exercise.
Grounding meditation script
This grounding meditation session will take between ten to fifteen minutes, depending on the length of the pauses.
Take plenty of time to ensure that you are comfortable and warm lying easily on your back… Allow yourself time to make any movements or fidgets that need to happen so that you can be still for the meditation.
Notice any sounds around you… Inside the room… Outside the room… Allow sounds to be present. There is no need for you to know where the sounds are coming from or what they are attached to. Simply hear the sounds… Be aware of sound…Bring your awareness to how you feel in this moment. Energetically, emotionally… Know that you are safe in this space to drop anything that you do not need… You are free to drop anything that you do not need in this moment… What would it feel like to drop something that is not serving you?
Make an intention for this grounding meditation practice. What aspect of your life or your body needs particular attention? Can you base your intention around that? What part of you needs to ground, to feel tethered, to feel held, to drop? What is your intention for this practice?
Bring your attention to your breath. Without changing anything simply notice the rhythm of your in breath and out breath… There is no need to manipulate the breath or make it purposeful. Let your entire body be breathed…
Watch the breath… The pull of the inhale and the push of the exhale… Is one part of the breath longer than the other… Is there space in between the breath or does it flow?
Give your breath all of your attention… Is there a way to make the breath easier, almost as though the breath is on the cusp of sleep?
Once the breath has settled into its most natural and easy rhythm let it be. No need to manipulate it in any way. Let the breath be… Let the breath be…
Is there a part of the breath that feels more grounding? Is there a part of the breath that helps you feel more connected to the earth? Explore that part of the breath… If you do not feel a sense of grounding within the breath, can you imagine feeling the gravitational pull of the ground as you exhale?
Now bring your attention to your outer body. Feel into the empty spaces of the body. The space at the back of the neck… The lower back… The back of the ankles… Let the empty spaces of the body soften… Let the empty spaces of the body ground a little…
Now feel where you touch the ground. Feel the back of the head… The shoulders and arms… The back of the ribs… The back of the hips… The back of the legs… The heels… Feel how your body meets the ground, not hard and rigid like a statue but soft like a cat lying in a pool of warm sunlight…
Visualise with every exhale that each of these points drops into the ground. Visualize that with every exhale, the body gives in to gravity… We spend so much of our daily waking lives resisting gravity but now is the time to go with the pull of gravity. The pull of the earth…
With each exhalation, let the muscles of the body fall away from the bones… Notice how it feels to give the weight of the body to the ground. Let the muscles, soft tissues and bones fall to and be held by the ground…
Feel the organs rest into the back body with each exhale… Notice how it feels to give your full body weight to the ground… Offer the weight of your body to the ground…
Feel the body grounded… Feel the body grounded, at one with the earth… There is no need to try and ground the body, it is a process of allowing. Can you allow the body to ground with each exhale. To drop…
What are the qualities of feeling grounded… even if you do not feel fully grounded in this moment, what are the qualities that you associate with being grounded? Calm, quiet, nurtured? … What are the qualities that you would like to feel? … What would it be like to try them on in your body, your mind, your life?
Return to your intention. What part of your body, mind, or life needs grounding? How would it feel to invite in the earthy sense of grounding?
Finally, bring your awareness to your center. What does center mean to you? It could be your heart chakra, your stomach, your spine. Bring your awareness to your center.
Imagine a deep connection between your center and the ground. A deep-rooted connection… You could visualize roots growing between your center and the ground, energy rising… Visualize your connection to the ground…
Know that this deep connection to the ground is always there and available for you to tap into… The ability to ground is always present… Rest with this for a few moments…
Now begin to take a few slightly deeper breaths. Feel your breath as sensation… Make some small movements with your hands and your feet… Begin to stretch and reach through your body…
Take a roll to your side and come to a comfortable seated position… Place the hands in prayer or place your hands on your heart center one palm on top of the other… Just one last time, feel your body connected to the ground… Feel your center connect to the ground, from the top of your head to the soles of your feet.
Begin to open your eyes. Wiggle your fingers and toes. The meditation is complete.
What is a grounding meditation?
“Get yourself grounded, and you can navigate even the stormiest roads in peace.”
― Steve Goodier
Within mindfulness, grounding helps to keep us in the present moment. Within yoga, especially yoga influenced by the work of Vanda Scaravelli, grounding is about our relationship to the ground and our response to gravity’s pull. This is what we’ll focus on in this visualization grounding meditation script.
Whatever approach you are coming from grounding is all about awareness and where that awareness is pointed.
Grounding practices are a great part of a self-care routine and some of the reported healthcare benefits from meditation practices include:
- relief from anxiety and panic attacks
- improved focus and mental clarity
- better sleep
- overall improved well–being and feeling of inner peace
- calms the nervous system, instilling a sense of peace and calm
- increased awareness
Starting a meditation practice can be daunting and tricky at times, so having a clear focus like grounding can be a great place to start. Many grounding practices are based around nature and the earth, so it’s not unusual to do a grounding meditation outdoors.
Just like many forms of mindfulness meditation grounding techniques are a process of centering while also connecting to the ground – literally to mother earth, mother nature. This type of meditation is almost a “remembering”. It is a way to re-establish our relationship with our center and with the core of the earth.
This style of guided grounding meditation is also a great way to practice present-moment awareness and the ability to feel complete and fulfilled in the moment. This is a great tool for when you feel uncertain and to reconnect to your roots, the earth energy, and the physical world around you.
What next?
If this grounding meditation script was useful, then why not check out this Loving Kindness Guided Meditation Script For Cultivating Compassion For Yourself & All Beings?
