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Mindfulness: Staying Centered and Grounded; dealing with fear during Coronavirus

Yesterday I listened to the news too much (I'm making a conscious choice not to do that for too long from now) I began to feel increasingly fearful, by bedtime I realised how much anxiety I was experiencing about the Coronavirus situation. I also realised how ungrounded and uncentered I had become over the course of the day.

Being grounded and centered is enormously helpful, it means that we can fully be present with ourselves and listen and take care of what we need. We may not be able to control or have any influence on external circumstances but we can find stability within ourselves which can help us to deal with what is happening externally much better.

It also means that we can be there more effectively for our animals (as well as the people around us).

There are MANY ways in which we can become grounded and centered, including the practice of being in the Present Moment which we learn to do in a Trust Technique session.

However for the purpose of this blog I would like to share another way of becoming grounded that I have used over the years.

You may prefer to stand or you can sit.

Keep nice and still, body relaxed, don't flex your knees, and remember to breath, be conscious of your breathing; in through the nose, out through the mouth.

Then imagine a beam of golden white light (light a torch beam if you like!) coming down from the top of your head and making it's way down your body, down your neck, down your spine, into your pelvis and down through each of your legs and into your feet.

Remember to keep breathing and keep your body nice and relaxed (don't flex your knees if standing).

Really pay attention to your feet, how do they feel, can you feel their connection with the floor.

If you can't it may help to stand upright so that you can feel the weight of your body on your feet.

Then imagine the beam of light going out through the soles of your feet into the ground beneath you. It could go straight down as two beams OR you can imagine roots coming out of the bottom of your feet.......just like a tree with the root system it needs to anchor it into the earth.......deep, deep down as far as they will go securely anchored into the earth.

Then imagine a different coloured light (you can choose whatever colour comes to you) coming up from the very bottom of the earth, whatever colour you choose imagine the solid energy from the earth that is attached to it, up the root system, up and into your feet.

(Really stop and notice your feet, how do they feel?)

Up through both of your legs

Up through your spine, neck and out through the top of your head.

Before you finish you might like to stop and notice how you are feeling in your body, what is your breathing like, you might like to see how things feel in your heart, what's your mind doing?

And finally do check on your feet, are you more aware of them and their connection to the ground beneath you?

It's good to do this at least once a day, more if needed.

In the current situation it maybe good to make time to do this each day

People take as long as they need with it, I think 5 to 10 mins is usually enough time.

Please do get in touch if you have any questions about it, I'm really happy to help people with this especially with the uncertainty that the Coronavirus is bringing up for all of us.

It’s always a joy for be to be outside in the natural world, I often like to just sit and take in what’s around me. Sometimes if I’ve been sitting for long enough I might find that a wild animal or bird comes a little closer.

Over the years I have realised that by sitting quietly in this way I am creating the same feeling of peacefulness, clamness and stillness that I have when I meditate and indeed when I am in the present moment.

The Trust Technique recognises that humans and animals share feelings; we don’t just share feelings with our own animals but also with any animal we meet or come across.

Last summer I came across three young deer grazing in the field, Roe deer, always nervy I think and they tend to run away as soon as they see a human. With these deer I decided to sit down quietly and focus and start to get present, I also acknowledged them as I came in and out of the present moment. They did notice me but I sat incredibly still and continued to come in and out of the present moment, I felt incredibly calm and still inside and I am quite sure that they picked up this feeling from me…..shared it…..they didn’t need to run away because all was peaceful. This carried on for quiet a while and in the end as they naturally grazed in the field they just moved more and more slowly towards me. It was lovely to experience the connection I felt with them in this way.

My other, quite magical, experience I had last summer was with a young badger cub. I love badgers, and was delighted to hear that some had been visiting my parents garden. I went to sit in the garden and waited to see what might happened. Similarly, as with the deer, I sat very quietly and focused on being in the present moment. It wasn’t too long before the badger arrived for her evening snack, I acknowledged her and continued to come in and out of the present moment. She came closer and closer to me. I must admit I found it hard to remain focused on the present moment because I felt very excited that this was happening, I wasn’t quite sure how close she was going to come. At one point I thought she was going to try and sit on my lap. I could have reached out and touched her easily but didn’t want to, it felt disrespectful to a wild animal in a way.

In the end I just sat with her in this way, it was a privilege for me to do so, to be that close to a wild animal. I am sure it was possible because I was calm and still inside and the feeling of peacefulness that we were sharing.

I include a photo taken of me with the young badger, this was towards the end of our meeting so I was taking some pictures of her myself.

Please contact me for more information. Part of having a Trust Technique session is to learn how to find peace of mind and so share it with the animals around us. When we do this with our own animals we can resolve issues and make positive changes in the relationship between us