Planetary Meditation Practice
I want to invite you into a practice. This is an energy practice that is rich and nourishing, that I rely on when I’m feeling depleted, when it feels like I have nothing left to give.
Take a deep breath. Start breathing slowly deep into your belly. Don’t force your belly to expand, just breathe as deeply as feels relaxed and nourishing. I would say close your eyes, but you’re reading this, so instead, consciously shift your awareness from your eyes to your belly.
In your belly, imagine planet earth. Go ahead, no one’s watching. Put the whole planet in there, filling the bowl of your pelvis and the edges of your abdomen. Move a little, shifting your torso or hips, feeling what it’s like to cradle the whole planet inside of you.
Now take a deep breath and imagine that you, with Earth inside of you, are in the deep dark of space. You are a massive being around the actual planet earth.
The sun is shining at you. When you look around, it’s dark (it’s space), but you are aware of the heat of the sun shining on your face. The sun is beaming a never-ending stream at the earth. Feel the earth receiving the sun’s energy in your belly.
The sun’s energy is never depleted. It comes and comes and comes. It arrives on earth and begins to be transformed. Notice it landing on plants and transforming from wave to chemical energy. Notice it being eaten by animals and going from chemical to mechanical energy. Notice it going into humans and becoming everything that humans do: poetry and invention and sex and rugby and art. All of it happening on planet earth in your belly, with no effort from you. All of it fueled by the endless stream of energy coming from the sun.
Notice too, that into dark space there is energy leaving planet earth. The energy that is excess, that has completed its work, is not needed anymore and it goes out into space and is let go. There is a constant stream: energy in, energy transforming, energy released. There is no depletion, there is no grasping. You are bathed in this stream as it moves from the sun to the earth, around the earth, and out.
Feel the hum of energy transforming on earth. Feel your belly. Feel the bath of endless energy that you are swimming in. Feel the power you have to catch the stream of energy. Bring it personal. What in your life are the actions that transform energy? How do you catch the stream and use it to generate in your life? Notice that I’m not asking WHAT you do with the energy, I’m asking HOW you receive it. What activities bring you vitality? What does vitality feel like? Is it joy, playfulness, bubbles in your belly, fire in your heart, a shot of light out the top of your head? What makes you feel that way? How does it feel?
We’re coming to the end of the practice. Bring your awareness back to the room while also keeping the planet gently in your belly. Put your attention on what you’re going to do next. Feel the natural energy you just harnessed moving you forward into your next action. Don’t force it, just notice how by directing your attention, it flows. Whatever you observe is perfect.
I invite you to close the practice as you choose. It may be helpful to keep a sense of the cosmic energy flow moving through your belly as you go about your day. I get giggles thinking about carrying earth around inside my belly. Someone somewhere is chasing a cow, and that’s happening on planet earth, right there in my tummy.
- - - - - -
Image taken from NASA. Apologies for the North America-centric view of the planet .
