How To Use These 3 Meditation Anchors To Ground Your Practice

An extra stocking was hung By the chimney with care, In hopes that in Summer 2020 Baby Tran would be there (2).jpg

During meditation, we use anchors that keep us grounded present moment. You establish your anchors and then if you become distracted, you gently call yourself back to the practice. Use one or a combination of the 3 anchors to ground your practice. As humans we are either clinging to a moment - we are enjoying, but holding too tightly instead of savoring, in a state of aversion, we get distracted by something that brings us out of the present moment that we don’t want - like a sound or unpleasant thought, or we are in a neutral state where we may be daydreaming.

While you’re meditating, you may be distracted by something that is not your original anchor. Instead of fighting it (sound of a car, people chatting, etc.) intentionally take your awareness from the body and move it towards that sound and rest there. Then, name the sound and notice space in between sounds while softening the body and let go of tension you’re experiencing around this distraction. Once you’ve listened enough and want to return to the original anchor, guide yourself back. In this way - the aversion isn’t diverting your meditation. Instead, it becomes a part of your mindfulness practice.

  1. Body Anchor: Notice how your body is sitting, what parts of your body are touching the ground, notice temperature or pressure - possibly movement. Cultivate awareness where sensation is - imagine a bright light around this part of your body and sit with this sensation for 30 seconds. If you drift - guide yourself back to your body. Over time you train this muscle to cultivate mindfulness in your everyday life

  2. Breath Anchor: Use your inhales and exhales as your anchor. Notice how your breath is cool on the inhale and warm on the exhale. You could focus on breathing into different parts of your body to release tension, like your shoulders, lower back etc. Using the exhale to release tension.

  3. Sound Anchor: You can utilize a sound bowl or a chant during your meditation as well as noticing the space between the sounds. There are wonderful chants I like to use for chakra balancing from Beautiful Chorus or you can notice the natural sounds around you and allow them to guide your practice - naming each sound and allowing it to be your guide.

Practice using these anchors with this meditation. Enjoy!

Molly Black