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Apr 7, 20203 min

Feeling Isolated? Try this 20-minute Connection Practice

April 6, 2020 | Bob Stahl, on mindful.org

The “web of life” meditation helps dissolve the illusion of that we are all separate by
 
cultivating feelings of safety, compassion, and love. Over time, this practice will increase
 
your feelings of connection not only to yourself, but also to your family, friends, work
 
associates, and fellow living beings, the world around you, and the universe.


 
This meditation will help you develop a deeper sense of connection—both to the present
 
moment and those around you. Read through the entire script first to familiarize yourself with the practice, then do the practice, referring back to the text as needed and pausing briefly after each paragraph. Set aside about twenty minutes for this practice. Find a comfortable position on a cushion or chair or lying on a bed or the floor. Turn off your phone or other devices so you can remain undisturbed.

  • Begin by checking in. Begin by taking a few moments to arrive and settle in by 
     
    bringing your awareness into your mind and body. Acknowledge how you are feeling
     
    and let it be.

  • Gently shift to mindful breathing, being aware of breathing in and out. There’s need 
     
    to manipulate the breath in any way—just breathing in and out, normally and
     
    naturally.

  • Shift attention to where you’re seated. Begin to feel the connection of your body on the chair, cushion, bed, or mat, and feel its connection to the floor. Reflect on the
     
    connection of the floor to the building you are in and its connection to the earth
     
    farther below.

  • Let your awareness expand to include the earth below you. Feel that sense of being
     
    held by the earth below you, and just allow yourself to be held by the earth. You are in
     
    a safe space and you can breathe in and out with ease in your body and mind.

  • Feel how the earth rises up to hold and embrace you. There is nothing more you need
     
    to do, nowhere you have to go, and no one you have to be. Just being held in the heart
     
    of kindness and letting be.

  • Bring to mind someone you would hold this way. Reflect on your loved ones being
     
    held in the same way—with safety and ease of body and mind. Reflect on how the earth
     
    holds all beings, whether they are acquaintances, strangers, or difficult ones—with no
     
    bias, no discrimination, no separation.

  • Reflect on how this earth holds all beings, forsaking none—whether they be small or
     
    large. Reflect on how this earth does not exist in a vacuum, that it is connected to a
     
    solar system and vast universe. We all are interconnected. Our bodies and the earth,
     
    the sun and the stars, are composed of the same matter—the same basic particles,
     
    joined in different ways. Feeling into that sense of connection and interconnection that
     
    we are all made of stardust. Feeling that sense of being home within your body and
     
    mind with a true sense of belonging and connection.

  • Return your attention to the breath. Just breathing in and out, feeling the grace of
     
    this universe—no isolation nor separation, feeling that sense of connection and
     
    interconnection and being at home in your being. Nothing more you need to do, go,
     
    get, or push away. Imperfectly perfect as you are, resting in the heart of this universe.

  • Let well-wishes form. May all beings here and everywhere dwell with peace.

Shared by Tawnya Blalock, CPC; ACC, ELI-MP • (434)774.8042

Life and Leadership Coach • Business Coach & Consultant
 
www.lifehousecoaching.com]www.lifehousecoaching.com

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