23. In Case of Emergency, Press Play: Roots

When you need a reminder that you’re connected to more than your Wi-Fi, press play.

It’s easy to feel isolated when life gets busy or overwhelming, but the truth is we’re connected in more ways than we can imagine.

In this guided meditation, you’ll use your breath, visualization, and the grounding image of a tree to reconnect with yourself, the earth beneath you, and the people and living things that share this world with you.

Together we’ll slow down, breathe deeply, grow strong roots, and remember that even when you feel alone… you’re part of something much bigger.

We Didn't Plan For This Special Series

This series exists because so many of you reached out and said, “I didn’t plan for this either.”

If you’ve gone through a diagnosis, a loss, a life change, a career shift, a divorce, becoming a caregiver, moving, starting over — we want to hear your story.

EMAIL US: WDPFTPodcast@gmail.com

You don’t have to have it figured out. You just have to be willing to share honestly.

How Yoga Changed My Life a Podcast

Send Us Your Stories!

If you have a story about how yoga, meditation, breath work, journaling, or movement changed your life, we want to hear from you! 

These podcasts are really about the same thing — how people move through the seasons of life they didn’t plan for, and what helps them along the way.

If you’d like to be on the show or share your story:  Fill out our guest form or email us at yogachanged@gmail.com 

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For th...

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi, this is Adrian. Welcome back to another episode of In Case of Emergency Press Play, a special series from how yoga changed my life. Every breath you take has been shared before. Whether with trees, oceans, with animals, with the people who came before us, and the people sitting beside us today. Today's meditation is an invitation to slow down and remember something we often forget: that none of us are separate. We'll explore the quiet connections that exist between you, nature, and every living thing. There's nothing you need to fix or accomplish here. Just breathe and remember you belong. So get comfortable and let's grow some roots. When you need a reminder that you're connected to more than your Wi-Fi, press play. Welcome to the present moment. Take time to make yourself comfortable where you are. Close down the blinds of your eyes. Begin to settle into a place of stillness. Deepen your breath. There is nothing to do right now. No pressing deadlines. No schedule. No distractions and no worries. Just this time for you. Take a deep breath in from the base of your belly to the top of your throat. Lengthen your exhale on each breath for an extra second and fully embrace this peaceful moment. Draw your awareness to the ground beneath you. Stable and supportive. As you continue to breathe, start at the crown of your head and feel your crown becoming lighter and lighter. As light as a feather. Travel this light, airy feeling down through your body. Your head, neck, down over your shoulders. Follow this lightness down over your torso, your hips, thighs, knees, all the way down to your feet. Imagine we are all sharing the same breath. Each time we inhale, we are inhaling molecules from our friends, neighbors, animals, even our past ancestors. We are all interconnected. We all share the same soil, the same essential human experience, even the same breath. To breathe consciously is living. Picture its bark and branches. Take a moment to feel its energy. Sense the calm and healing energy of your tree. Trees are often referred to as the earth's respiratory system. They filter the earth's air of carbon dioxide, and their roots and branches have an uncanny resemblance to our own systems, our respiratory and vascular systems, and that of our animal friends. We can even take this resemblance further onto a larger scale, and those same roots and branches have a similarity to the vast array of rivers and streams around us. Trees share our earth, purify our air, and provide us with safety, nourishment, and peace. They are a tangible connection to the idea that all things are interconnected in a way that's just outside of our understanding. Feel your breath enter your lungs slowly and controlled. Hear as it exits your nose and cleanses your body. What's the texture of your breath? Does it glide smoothly or is it hesitant and catching? Allow no judgment to pass. Just simply watch your breath. Deepen your inhale and feel your mind relax. Extend your exhale and feel your body relax. Allow your limbs to become warm and heavy. Feel them sink and snuggle down into the earth's waiting embrace. Visualize a vibrant golden light speckled with glints of red and fragmented orange dancing all around you. As you inhale, picture this intensely warm and comforting energy entering through your nose and diffusing throughout your body. On your exhale, all staleness, tension, and darkness are gently expelled and replaced with this gentle light. Extend this golden energy to the back half of your body, and feel it brighten with each breath. Your back, your legs, the entire back surface of your body is glowing. Your body is comfortably supported, and this energy is allowing you to go deeper. Envision that with each breath, this energy is allowing you to grow roots beneath you. Your vibrant roots are sinking further and further into the earth. The farther your roots grow down deep into the earth, the more relaxed and calm you become. More stable and grounded. The more connected to your essential nature. See how your roots intertwine, dance, and develop. Broaden your awareness to the other energies and roots growing around you. Picture others glowing brightly, their roots intertwining. We are all sharing this space, this breath, this earth. With each breath, this network of roots grows brighter, clearer, and more vibrant. Breathe into it and explore this connection with a sense of awe and wonder. Allow it to fill you with a sense of community, peace, love, and gratitude. Whenever you're complete, gently guide your mind back through your roots to your body from my heart to yours. Wherever you are right now, take a breath. Loosen your grip a little. Be bold. Listen. And be impeccable with your words. Do meaningful work and leave things better than you found them. We didn't plan for this, but we're here.