Compost
a grounding practice & guided audio
Despite the hot days of summer, when compost seems to be most actively breaking down nutrients to be used, this is the time of year that most reminds me of compost. When seasonal plants pull from their foliage the nutrients they will need to hibernate during the winter, dropping what is leftover to the earth to provide shelter to the bugs. Bugs that will burrow around the roots, creating space for growth and water and nutrients that they leave behind after feasting on their autumn harvest.
It is this time of year when I start to turn inwards and notice what needs to be released within me, what wisdom I should glean before letting something go, where I need to rest and be nourished, and where a patient waiting is being asked of me.
What in your life is asking to be released?
Click here for the recorded version on Insight Timer.
A Practice
It is best to start this meditation standing up or sitting with your feet flat on the ground. Find a place where you can settle yourself and sense the presence of the earth supporting you and surrounding you. Providing air for you to breath and weather for you to experience. It can be inside with a window cracked open or outside in a space where you can close your eyes if you want. Take some long, deep breaths. However many you need to take to bring yourself back to your body and this place.
As you move through the meditation, let your attention rest gently in the areas of your body being named, sensing where that part of you exists. You might engage with this through movement, through energy, or some blending of the two, remembering that even if a part of your body is not physically present, you can still release from the space it once or would still hold.
Start by noticing the places where you body is being supported, the earth beneath you, holding you up. Remember the wisdom of the earth and sense the composting occurring beneath you. Breath in the smell of the composting world around you. Know that anything you release into the earth will also be composted.
Bring your awareness to your toes, sensing the space they occupy and wiggle them a little, releasing any tension into the earth. Start rocking back and forth on your toes and heels, feeling the way your feet interact with the support beneath you, releasing any tension into the earth. Leaving your toes touching the earth, begin to rotate your ankles, noticing anything that needs to be released and allowing it to go.
Moving up your shin and calves, tightening them and releasing again. Noticing the bending space of your knees, stretching your legs, flexing your foot and relaxing, leaving a bounce in your knees. Moving up your thighs, extending appreciation for the way they hold you and others, a child, a pet, a lover.
Continuing up, bring your attention to your sex, noticing any tension and allowing release, allowing this to be part of your whole being. Move into your hips, rotating them in whatever way feels good to you, releasing your hold on them. Sink into your pelvis, your source of creation and creativity. Noticing what might be blocking you and release it into the earth.
Let your belly relax as your sacrum drops down, letting go of whatever you are carrying there. Work your way up your spine, allow yourself to move each spinal process, releasing as you go, until your whole spine is moving, head swaying, sending anything no longer needed to be composted.
Slowly notice your fingers, wiggling them or flinging away that which is does not serve you and then move up to the palms of your hands remembering the gentle touches they offer to loved ones, releasing anything you are ready to let go of.
Rotate your hands, noticed the movement of your wrists that extends into your forearms. Let your wrists soften as you move your forearms as if you are painting the space around you. Notice you elbows and allow them to soften as you paint.
Bringing your attention to the movements in your upper arms, a symbol of strength and protection, letting go of anything that is no longer needed. Begin to rotate your entire arms, gathering in the energy and air around you, allowing it to wash over you. Letting this settle on your shoulders as you work through any stiffness, releasing the heaviness of things no longer serve you and gifting that to the earth, letting it be composted.
Bring your awareness to the expansion in your chest as you roll your shoulders back. Staying in your chest, breath into that expansion, noticing any tenderness that is arising, allowing it to be, staying with it as long as you need. Breathing with it.
When you are ready, begin to notice if there is anything you are holding in your chest that you are ready to release, allowing it to melt away and dropping down into the earth.
Now bringing your awareness to the fullness of your breath in your throat, notice anything blocking it, breathing into that space as you noticing any tightness around the stories you tell yourself. Staying here as long as you need. Just continue to breathe into it.
When you are ready, turn your awareness to those things that are ready to be released. Allowing them to melt down, sinking into the soil to be composted along with the rest.
Find a place to lie down or sit so you can fully relax your body as we continue.
Bring you awareness to your jaw, noticing any tension or emotion you hold there as you breath in and allowing it to melt away as you breathe out. Wrinkle you nose and release, squinch your eyes and release, furrow your eyebrows and release, noticing any tension held in your face and letting it melt down into the earth.
Imagine your head being held or place your hands on your scalp, noticing any tension there and letting it melt into the earth.
As you breath in, imagine your breath surrounding your thoughts and as you exhale, allow it to sweep away anything that needs to be released. Continue this until you feel completely relaxed physically and energetically.
Begin to notice the air entering your nostrils, allowing yourself to linger on any scents in the air. Notice the way the air touches your skin. Become aware of the support beneath you, the earth supporting you. Extend gratitude to the earth for this time together. Rest here as long as you need.
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Spiritual companioning is a supportive, non-religious space to explore what gives your life meaning and grounding.
It’s a conversation-based practice where you’re invited to slow down, pay attention to your inner life, and notice what feels true, steady, or alive for you. You don’t need any particular beliefs. My role is simply to listen with care, ask thoughtful questions, and help you make sense of your own experience. It’s a space for reflection, curiosity, and discovering your own path.
Wildbody companioning is a supportive, body-centered practice that helps you gently re-friend your body.
It’s a space to slow down and notice what’s happening inside you without judgement, your sensations, tension, ease, or fatigue. There’s no agenda and nothing you have to fix. My role is to offer grounded presence, simple prompts, and curiosity so you can reconnect with your body in a way that feels safe and doable. It’s about rebuilding trust with yourself, learning your own signals, and finding a more compassionate way of being in your body.