I thank you all for joining me today.
My name is Amanda and I am honoured to be your guide for the next half hour while we sit together and go on a beautiful nature immersion.
If you haven't done so already,
I invite you to close down your eyes and start letting your body drop in to where we are right now,
Feeling whatever it is that's beneath you,
Chair,
Bed,
Couch,
There's no rules here.
Just feeling it and letting yourself fall deeper into whatever it is,
Trusting it with all of your weight and giving yourself over,
Taking a minute to tune in to the natural rhythm of your breath,
Watching as it enters and exits your body,
Not trying to change it in any way,
Just accepting it for how it is and in that practice accepting yourself for how you are,
Knowing that right now in this moment in time,
It's just a version of you,
Tomorrow will be a new version,
The day after and the day after,
So accepting today's version of you for exactly who they are,
Knowing that you're doing your best,
We'll start by gently guiding the breath all the way down into the belly,
Feeling the belly rising with each inhale and falling with each exhale,
Feeling the cool air passing through your throat,
Through your chest,
Into your belly and then all the way back out again,
Just continuing with slowly and steadily breathing,
Filling your belly with fresh,
New air,
Remembering that this is an effortless form of meditation and in effortless meditation,
We don't try and focus on only one thing,
We don't try and steal our minds and we don't force ourselves in any direction,
We simply use an anchor to come back to whenever we happen to notice,
There's no judgement,
There's no right and wrong here,
Letting go of your belly breathing now and just starting to lengthen your exhale,
You're not being precise,
You're just having an intention for your exhale to be longer than your inhale,
Even just slightly,
You're not straining in any way,
You're not exhaling to the point of discomfort,
Just a slightly longer exhale than inhale,
With each lengthened exhale,
Feeling your body softening,
Loosening and sinking into the support beneath you,
Just imagining any excess tension melting away with each lengthened exhale,
When your mind roams,
Don't be hard on yourself,
It's all part of the journey,
It's your mind clearing itself up,
Debugging and making connections that need to be made,
Only at the point that you become spontaneously aware of thinking,
Gently,
Easily,
Lazily,
Guiding your awareness back towards your anchor once again,
Using no effort whatsoever,
No force and no control,
Just allowing an easy,
Lazy,
Effortless practice,
Keeping your eyes closed,
You can let your breath return to a natural rhythm,
Pointing me now at your mansion,
We're taking a walk through our local national park,
Not far from your home,
The weather outside is beautiful,
Seeing yourself leaving your home,
Clothes that are comfortable to stroll in and as you walk away,
Feeling anything that you've been worried about or holding onto,
Falling away,
Leaving it behind,
Not carrying it on this beautiful walk,
You know you're at the entrance to the park,
Where you see a set of stairs leading downwards,
Surrounded by shrubs,
There's a railing to hold onto for safety,
You just take one step at a time,
With each step down,
You notice the air getting a little bit cooler,
The light getting a little bit dimmer,
The sounds of the city disappearing,
Replaced by the song of birds,
The whispering of leaves,
Maybe even a distant trickling of a stream,
At the bottom of the stairs there's a wide flat path,
It feels familiar to you,
You've been here before,
You know your way,
Feel at home in this new world,
You let yourself stroll down the path,
Not in any hurry,
Letting yourself look around,
Taking in the different colours,
Different shades of green,
Brown and grey,
Speckles of red and blue and yellow in tiny little flowers,
Letting yourself see different shapes of leaves,
Different texture on trees,
Mossy rocks,
Admiring the patterns and the trunks of the impossibly tall trees,
Letting your gaze wander upwards,
Feeling tiny beside,
It's not until you look up that you hear how loud the birds actually are,
Different songs,
Different sounds,
Realising that above you in the canopy,
The whole other world again,
A world that you can never know,
A bit further down the path you see a bench overlooking a valley,
You let yourself rest there,
Letting yourself look out over the tops of the trees,
Knowing that they're hiding something special,
They're protecting a world,
Using that view of the valley as your anchor,
Knowing that your mind will roam when it does,
When you happen to realise,
Reminding yourself once again about the valley that you're looking over,
The tops of the trees,
Carpet of green against the backdrop of blue.
So now,
One last look over the valley,
Noticing how this rest has made you feel,
Rising slowly from the bench,
Your way back to the path,
Towards the stairs that brought you down,
Holding on to the railing,
Climbing one step at a time,
Feeling light on your feet,
As though you're floating up the stairs,
Each step up,
Noticing the air getting a little bit warmer,
The light getting a little bit brighter,
Sounds of the city reappearing,
Making your way back to your home,
Finding the pile of things you left behind,
Making a choice whether to pick them up again,
You can leave them there for later if you'd like,
Making your way back to your space,
Your chair,
Couch or bed,
Wherever your body actually is,
Just resting for the last few minutes,
Allowing the effects of your meditation to slowly sink in,
Nothing to do here but rest,
It'll let you know when it's time,
Gradually starting to deepen your breath now,
Feeling whatever the tips of your fingers are pressing against,
Noticing again the soles of your feet,
What they can feel,
Perhaps wiggling your toes and your fingers,
Moving your tongue in your mouth,
And if it feels right,
Stretching your head from side to side,
Keeping your eyes closed for as long as you need to,
Into your body,
Becoming aware of your space once again,
My name is Amanda,
It has been an honor guiding you today,
I hope that you take these feelings of calm with you for the rest of your evening.
