Sitting comfortably or lying down,
Allow your shoulders to drop and relax,
Letting your lower body feel relaxed and feel your feet and the seat of your body into the floor or bed below you.
Now if you're comfortable,
Gently close your eyes or you're welcome to soften your gaze.
For the next few breaths,
Bring your full focus of attention onto your breathing.
Notice the feeling of the air flowing in through your nostrils,
Down into your lungs,
And down into your belly as you inhale.
And on your exhale,
You feel the release of any tension,
Releasing anything that no longer serves you as you let the air out slowly.
That's right.
Now imagine you are sitting by the side of a gently flowing stream.
This might be a stream that you know or it might be something that you can create in your mind.
Taking time to notice,
Creating what you'd like.
Is there a light breeze blowing as you sit here?
Can you see the breeze glistening on the water?
Can you hear the water and feel the soft grass or bed of leaves beneath you?
Imagine this stream however you like.
Know you are in control and you are safe.
It's your imagination.
Now imagine that there are leaves floating on the surface of this stream and the leaves are gently flowing down past you.
Go ahead and notice what colors they are,
What shapes.
Just watch them as they pass by you.
That's right.
Just watching.
They come and then they flow down,
Gently floating past you down the stream.
For the next few moments,
I wonder if you can take every thought that pops into your head and place it on a leaf.
Every thought.
Wanted and unwanted,
Positive and enjoyable,
Or challenging.
Every thought.
And now you know your thoughts may show up in your mind in the form of words or pictures or something else.
However a thought arises,
Simply place it on a leaf and let it float by you.
You can watch it for as long as you like,
Floating far away down the stream.
Remember,
Doing this regardless if they are positive or challenging or neutral.
Simply place each thought on a leaf and let it float down the stream.
That's right.
I wonder if you notice that your thoughts momentarily stop as you're watching the stream.
And I wonder if sooner or later they'll pop up again.
This is natural and expected.
When they do,
Simply put them on the leaf and watch them float down.
And down.
And away.
And away.
That's right.
Allowing the stream to flow at its own rate.
There's no need to try and speed it up.
The aim here is not to wash away the leaves.
What you want to do is let them come and go in their own time.
Just sit and watch your thoughts be put onto a leaf and float down the stream.
If you're finding this frustrating,
Put that thought on the leaf and let it go.
If you're finding this relaxing and enjoyable,
Put that thought on the leaf and watch it float down.
Just let them float by.
A leaf may get stuck on a rock or a current.
Just let it hang around.
There is no need to force it.
Simply sit and watch and know sooner or later another leaf will come along and give it the nudge it needs.
You know things work out as they should.
We don't need to force or control.
Simply allow your thoughts to be placed on a leaf and floated down away.
Down away from you.
Further down.
You can put the idea or thought of a person or a past situation or a future situation on the leaf and let it go down the stream.
Just continuing whatever thought pops into your mind.
Place it on a leaf and watch it slip by.
Continuing down the stream.
Now,
From time to time your thoughts will hook you and you'll lose track of placing them on the leaf.
This is normal and natural.
Our attention wants to wander and it will happen.
As soon as you realize this may have happened,
Simply come back to your stream.
Even placing that thought of being distracted onto the leaf and letting it go.
That's right,
You know that even when you are not in relaxation,
You can place thoughts on leaves and watch them float away.
Knowing they will be taken care of downstream.
There's another thought right behind it.
As our time now comes to an end,
Begin to let go of your imagined stream.
Begin to feel the room around you.
Bringing your attention back to where you are now.
Notice what you can hear,
What you can feel.
And when you're ready,
You can refocus your eyes and notice what you see.
You may like to take another minute and sit quietly before carrying on with your day.
You may like to drowse,
Drift off to sleep.
Drowse,
Drifting off to sleep.
Holding this sense of presence and spaciousness.
Take a deep breath in now and let it out.
