Part Two: Naming and Recognizing Our Inner Sangha | Guided Meditation with Peggy Rowe-Ward

A warm welcome to you wherever

you are on this beautiful

day.

This will be a short guided

meditation.

Connected to this series on

connecting with our inner community.

And this short meditation

is going to focus on

land ancestors.

Thich Nhat Hanh always reminds us

that we have blood

ancestors, spiritual

ancestors and land

ancestors.

And land ancestors are especially

useful in helping us

to ground.

And to come into the present moment.

So I invite you just to settle

in to wherever you are, whatever

posture.

Invite your body to be relaxed.

Dropping into your bum

and thighs on the chair

wherever you're seated.

In each breath, just

inviting yourself

right into where you are.

Perhaps your feet are on the ground.

Or you can experience

the thighs connected with the earth.

That's great. Just tune in to the

land where you're at.

Become aware of what's growing

around you right

where you're at.

Or not growing.

And in this moment where I am, the

earth is very red.

Just notice that.

What is the earth like where you

are? Is it sand or mossy

or moist or dry?

And just notice that as you bring

your attention to what is

beneath your feet.

And if you feel ungrounded,

it can be useful to imagine

Great,

ivy vines that are going into the

earth.

From all four corners of the room or

the chair.

And I like to imagine there's a big,

beautiful, like, hook

on that, like a big anchor.

And that anchor can drop through the

soil

through the water

through the stones

through the layers of crystal,

water,

fire.

And be aware of the vertical

energy that runs through your body.

Earth to sky.

You're aware of what the sky is like

in this present moment,

time of day,

time of year,

Sky is always different.

Their clouds,

clear sky.

And in this moment where I am,

there's a beautiful soft rain.

And then aware of what connects

us energetically, horizontally.

Tuning into the side

seams of the body.

Charles Darwin reminded us we used

to be fish in our

evolutionary journey.

So I like to imagine those gills

on the sides of my body breathing.

And notice when in nature

you're connected with

this horizontal energy that

connects us with trees,

rocks, mountains,

rivers, water.

And these are land ancestors

in this moment in time.

Trees.

The rocks.

And just imagine tipping forward and

backwards just a little bit on your

pelvis as you lean

into the back side of your body.

Lean forward.

And then find yourself right

where you are.

Land ancestors under

our feet and over our head.

All around us.

So this is our outer family in

this moment. Now breathe in and

notice inside

the interior of your body.

Notice what you notice.

The trees can help us feel

even more rooted and grounded and

nourished.

Rocks can help us feel even

more stable and solid.

The earth receives

everything.

Great equanimity.

Great patience.

Tune in to see if any of these

qualities of our ancestors are

alive in your interior

sangha today.

The Paramita of patience

Diligence.

See, you get bonus points for

being right here, right now, for

diligence.

Let's see if you can tune in

to the quality of support

that the earth offers us

every second

every minute.

Feeling this whole

acceptance, whole bodied.

Lighting up the incense of your

heart with

our land ancestors

that are alive in us in this

moment.

We're never separate from them.

We're never alone.

And just anchor in.

You can even pad it in with your

hands, any goodness

from our short

meditation with land ancestors,

with the earth.

Naming any qualities

of goodness that resonate.

Gently coming back and opening your

eyes and lighting up the incense of

your heart.

Grateful

to be alive.