Are Roots Enough?

If you have ever been to any type of meditation, breath work, yoga class etc, at some point there is a grounding exercise.  It may begin with imagining growing a root from the base of your tail bone and extending it into the earth.  Until this last year, I focused on grounding myself daily, but now understand that is only part of the practice. 

My new intention begins with imagining a tree.  I send a root into the ground/the center of the earth, then bring my attention to the branches and leaves reaching up to the sky.  I expand my energy up and beyond to Universal Source/God/Spirit.  Now I am grounded and connected “above”.  Next, I bring the two energies together into my heart chakra and feel heart centered.  I then feel the energies flow from my heart chakra and expand outward.  This is how I want to be all the time!  I feel calm, balanced, clear headed, and peaceful.  

Since I have been doing this heart centered and expanded practice, I have found how much I enjoy interacting with people when I go shopping.  Instead of pulling my energy in protectively, I feel expansive.  I have also realized how nice people are.  It is a goal of mine, to see if an exchange with a seemingly grumpy cashier changes to joy after our interaction.  I usually ask a simple question like “How is your day going?” to get some energy flowing.  So far it has worked, with the exception of one postal clerk at a local post office.  I haven’t been back to try again, but wish him all the best!