Anchoring Ourselves

A sensory meditation to start your day

Hi, everyone. My goal for these posts is to offer a meditation each morning, to help you center yourself before diving into the world. You might also find it helps to revisit the meditation in the evening as you step back from the whirlwind.

In yesterday’s post, I talked about how narcissists who crave control often intentionally destabilize the environment around them and take away external sources of safety. If we have to navigate this kind of climate, we need touchstones we can control, that don’t depend on what’s happening outside. We need to look inside ourselves for anchors and become quick and resourceful about connecting with them.

Children growing up in unstable homes tend to develop this skill very early. For me, books and stories were a lifesaving go-to. My internal world of imagination helped me stay connected with my own sense of identity and let me take a breather from whatever was happening around me.

Finding a safe place inside ourselves can also mean reconnecting with our bodies. In particular, if we focus on what we experience with our senses, we can step back from anxiety and panic.

Taste and smell are especially powerful senses. Both of them quickly pull us back into our bodies. They’re also strong connections to our memories. A scent can conjure a memory so vividly that you feel transported to another place and time.

We can harness these senses to help us stay grounded. For today’s meditation, I invite you to take a few minutes and think about a flavor – taste, smell, or both – that you especially love. This could be a favorite recipe, or a scent you associate with a particular place, or anything else that’s meaningful for you.

Think about this flavor, immersing yourself in what it’s like and why you love it. Then take a few more minutes to write about it. As you write, see how much detail you can use to describe your flavor. If it’s a food, you might want to write about what goes into it, or how to make it. If it’s a taste or scent associated with a special memory, you might choose to write about that memory. Imagine you want to share your experience with someone else. What would you tell them, to help them experience your flavor too?

if you’d like, please feel free to post your writing in the comments. Sharing is never mandatory.

Thanks for being here. Take care,

Kris