Simply Settling (S4E3)
Some days we just feel a little bit wired and unsettled. This meditation is a simple yet effective tool for helping to settle the mind, the nerves, and the spirit. In the meditation, I use the visual of a snow globe all shaken up and slowly settling. Think of this as that but for your mind.
Subscribe via your favorite platform:
Spotify ∙ Apple Podcasts ∙ Overcast ∙ Pocket Casts ∙ Castbox∙ RadioPublic
Support the podcast and help me…
Creating content of mostly-online bite-sized mindfulness offerings, such as this podcast episode!
Collecting resources and cultivating insights that I publish regularly in my monthly newsletter and in my membership community
Researching and developing curriculum for longer mindfulness and Buddhist meditation offerings
Increasing of accessibility of mindfulness teachings to those without easy access to a teacher or in-person offerings
Transcript
Set yourself up in whatever posture is supportive for you in this moment.
If you aren't sure what posture that might be, you can bring your hands to your body and tune into what would serve you right now, depending on your aches and pains or however your body is showing up energy-wise.
You may choose to lie down or stand or sit on your couch or your bed.
You may already have closed your eyes, and that's fine. But I'll invite you to open them again.
One way of settling the system is by looking around the room.
You might even say to yourself what you're seeing.
It could be out loud or a silent mental note.
You can also turn your neck to make sure you look above, behind, and below you.
There's nothing you need to do about what you see. Just notice it, and then whenever you feel ready, bring your head back to center and close your eyes if that feels supportive. Or keep the eyes looking part way down.
feel the support of the ground beneath you. And notice what qualities are present at the contact points of your body on the ground.
be there's hardness or softness or dryness or wetness.
you can keep part of your attention tuning into this support while also noticing the sounds going on around you or inside you.
You don't have to do anything about the sounds. Let them flow in and flow out.
turn your attention into your body, inviting it to relax, and forget what you think you might know about how you should be meditating.
With that permission and this invitation to relax, allow any movements that might wanna happen. They could be small or big, but allow them to come from the body rather than a need to fix or desire to work. This can be a gesture or rocking, for example.
Eventually, whether now or in a few moments, this movement may get smaller and more subtle.
this point, you can turn your attention inwards again.
I like to use the image of a snow globe. When you first arrived, you might have felt like it was all shaken up.
What is that like right now?
There's no goal. The flakes don't have to have settled.
Simply ask yourself, what is it like right now?
In the remaining moments, you can either choose to turn your attention toward an anchor, or continue dropping in the question, what is it like right now?
As best you can, receive the sound of the bell before jumping out of your posture.
Once you've let it come and go, you can blink your eyes open and take any closing rituals you like to take.
Thank you for your practice. Until next time, take care of yourself because that's how we can best take care of others.
