Do you want to take on regular meditation, but struggle with being able to sit comfortably?
Are you unable to meditate as long as you would like to because of pain?
Does the act of focusing on the breath cause you anxiety?
Do you feel unable to take a full breath?
If you answered yes to any of the above, then this approach may be very helpful for you. If you answered yes to more than one of those questions, then this is without a doubt worth your time.
Rooting is an approach to mindfulness that moves beyond the breath as being the sole focus of return in ones practice. This approach works to establish a body on the earth connection that the breath both anchors on and arises from, and with that tune the body and mind to hold this connection well beyond just the cushion or chair you meditate on.
By taking a multi-systems approach to assessing your body’s ability to both sit on the earth and through your body, Noah will help you learn how to ground your body, and undoing so provide an anchor for your breath to ground your mind.
Rooting has been developed by Noah both through his own meditation practice, as well in helping many of the clients he has served in his rehab practice find greater comfort in their own.
How is this different from typical mindfulness meditation?
In some ways, not much. In others, a lot.
One major purpose of mindfulness meditation is to develop and cultivate awareness of your mind and its thoughts. With that you may practice choosing how you both interpret and react to both your own thoughts, as well as all that happens in the world outside yourself.
Just as exercise in all its forms tunes the body, meditation is a way of tuning the mind. All of us likely have little hope of reaching our highest, most mature potential in this lifetime if we do not take up some form of regular meditation.
For many of us our mind churns and oscillates between states of rumination and anticipation; rarely existing truly in the present tense. A common approach to remediate this is to learn to focus on ones breath.
There are many reasons for this, and it works extremely well for many. However some individuals have very disorganized and restricted breathing patterns, making either sitting a difficult task for any prolonged period, and very often a deep breath impossible.
For many, their bodies and in particular their ribcage and pelvis have become restricted both in shape, as well as where air is able to expand and the shapes they may need to take in order to fully respire.
In short; for many the very nature of how their body has to breath prevents them from sitting comfortably, or even sitting at all. A mind that has no earth to rest on will have great trouble being present.
This process aims to restore possibility to your body, in order to allow it to sit comfortable on the earth and through itself. Your will learn to sense your weight being pulled into the earth, and with that your breath can expand from that place. In this way, you truly learn to get out of your head, and into your body.
What does the process of Rooting work look like?
You will meet initially with Noah to both get to know your story and goals, and with that he will take your through an assessment. This assessment will look at how freely your body (head to toe) is able to rest on the earth. With that he will assess you ability to breath fully and without compensation through your diaphragm, and expand fully without compensation through your torso and pelvis.
Through this Noah will gain a very good idea of what limitations you may be experiencing, and with that what options and freedom you and he will need to work on establishing in order to allow your body to truly sit through itself, on the earth, and take a full deep breath.
You will likely be given exercises to perform in order to reshape and condition your body to do this, while immediately focusing on a new method of returning to the here/now in your mindfulness meditation practice.
Who is this useful for?
Anyone who may experience:
Back, hip, knee, shoulder, neck or head discomfort with attempting a regular seated meditation practice.
A history of anxiety that interferes with attempts at traditional mindfulness meditation.*
A history of panic attacks or panic disorder.*
Difficulty in starting and/or maintaining a traditional mindfulness meditation practice.
Difficulty in experiencing carryover from their mindfulness practice to their life away from the cushion.
*Note: Noah is neither a liscensed mental health professional, nor suggests that this approach supersedes management of any mental health challenge.
HOW LONG ARE SESSIONS?
All sessions are one hour, with the exception of the 90 minute Initial Assessment when you and Noah first meet. That is longer in order to allow for both a comprehensive assessment of where you are at, while still leaving plenty of time to begin working on what needs to be addressed to reach your goals.
HOW DO I BEGIN?
Simply contact Noah, and you and he will take it from there.