Although the Jedi Path is often concerned with spiritual or intellectual matters, we all need to ground ourselves from time to time. This is a great meditation to do at the end of the day, or when feeling overwhelmed. It is also a particularly useful meditation for empaths, or people who are feeling dissociated, disphoric, ungrounded, or unsafe about something in their life.
Get comfortable. Light some candles, dim the lights, find a nice pillow to sit on. If you have a little fountain or some soft indistinct background music, basically some soothing white noise, that can also be helpful. If the room is chilly, maybe drape a robe or a blanket around your shoulders. Sit comfortably, either in a chair or on the floor with your spine upright in its natural curves , as if a string attached to the crown of your head was pulling you upwards.
Close your eyes. Take a nice deep, slow breath, in through your nose, and release it slowly with your mouth closed. Continue breathing at your own pace with slow, deep breaths. Let everything but the sound of your breath, the light smoky scent of the candles and the awareness of this quiet space around you drop away.
When you feel ready, begin to catalog your thoughts and feelings from the day. Don’t try to relive or re-feel them; pick them up and examine them as if they were personal and interesting objects on a table in front of you. Assess what feelings have broken through your shields, overwhelmed you, or have been making ripples in your usual demeanor. What is the origin of that feeling, where is it coming from? Don’t push for answers, let them float up as you calmly probe the experience. When you have an answer, let the feeling sink back down, or quietly tuck it away into the corner of your mind. Do this as many times as you need to.
When no more difficulties or thoughts seem to present themselves, focus yourself on your chosen anchor. An anchor is something that makes you feel rooted and safe, something you have deep but uncomplicated feelings for. You may choose anything you wish, an object, a memory, but in my opinion, the ideal anchor is the earth itself. Earth is solid, it is our home; it nourishes us, and literally anchors us to its surface with gravity as it whirls through space. It is heavy, solid, and reliable, with enough spiritual weight as an idea on its own to require very little work for it to serve as an anchor. Whatever you choose, let it be a stable form, an anchor for your consciousness.
Picture earth, our beautiful blue and green globe, floating in your mind. Feel the weight of it anchoring you down, both physically with its gravity, and emotionally. Feel rooted, and protected, like the weight of heavy blankets on a cold day. Let the solidity and safety of your anchor help the tumult of the day and anything that has been bothering you sink down from the surface of your awareness and dissolve. Continue breathing deeply.
Let that solidity and weight make you more aware of your body; notice any soreness in your muscles, or tension in your face. Slowly scan across your body, breathing into and releasing any tension you find, starting at the top of your head and ending with your legs and feet.
Sit with the warm weight and safety of feeling grounded and solid for as long as you like. When you are finished, take a long deep breath and start to breathe regularly again. Open your eyes slowly, stretch carefully, and unfold.
Feel free to share your experiences with this meditation in the comments below.